Game quits when firing at a ship.

Wraith Plugin

In testing the new wraith plugin, there is a mission in which you are supposed to run away from some very difficult enemies. The enemy ship is spawned by a mission started by boarding a ship. They jump into the system after a delay, and attack the player. That all works fine, but if the player tries to fire at one of the enemies, or the ship which you are supposed to board, the game quits. Debuglog below.

CODE

EV Nova debug log

Output on 11/12/2009 at 10:28 AM

game engine was compiled Dec 25 2008
game engine version is 1.1.0 x86

opening data files & loading prefs
initializing monitor
system software version is 1061
initializing QuickTime
building trig table
opening files in Nova Files folder:
opening files in Plug-Ins folder:

loading sounds
creating window
initializing sprite world
creating scratch frames
creating offscreen buffers
starting music
initializing strings
initializing status bar
initializing objects
initializing buttons
loading object data
warning: Hel'A'Forius (423) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Hot'A'Tanius (424) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Thre'Say (519) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Thre'Say (519) lacks landing description
warning: Thre'Say (519) has a bar but no bar description
warning: Hon'A'Iona (520) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Hon'A'Iona (520) lacks landing description
warning: Hon'A'Iona (520) has a bar but no bar description
warning: Io'Tu'Hon (521) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Io'Tu'Hon (521) lacks landing description
warning: Io'Tu'Hon (521) has a bar but no bar description
warning: Ka'A'Cula (522) lacks landing description
warning: Ka'A'Cula (522) has a bar but no bar description
warning: Three (523) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Three (523) lacks landing description
warning: Three (523) has a bar but no bar description
warning: Ymene Biostation (530) lacks landing description
warning: Thre'Hy (532) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Thre'Hy (532) lacks landing description
warning: Thre'Hy (532) has a bar but no bar description
warning: Wra'Nath (533) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Tu'A'Luo (534) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Tu'A'Luo (534) lacks landing description
warning: Sayleon (535) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: K'Vyli (537) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Hylon (543) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Hylon (543) lacks landing description
warning: Hyp'ii (545) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Hyria (546) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Hyria (546) lacks landing description
warning: Styx (932) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Cellardoor (933) lacks landing picture for stellar type
warning: Cellardoor (933) lacks landing description
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from V'Shen (434) to Wolf 359 (162)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from V'Shen (434) to Nesre Primus (132)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from V'Shen (434) to Alphara (131)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from V'Shen (434) to Tichel (129)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from V'Shen (434) to Tau Ceti (143)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from V'Shen (434) to Nesre Secundus (133)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from V'Shen (434) to Kerella (134)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from V'Shen (434) to Archenar (142)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from Io'Tu'Hon (438) to Sol (130)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-010 (440) to V'Shen (434)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from Fy'Zer (444) to V'Shen (434)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from Ka'A'Cula (446) to Sol (130)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from Hon'A'Iona (455) to Sol (130)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from A'Sey'Hyon (458) to Sol (130)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-009 (632) to Three (452)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-007 (639) to Ka'A'Cula (446)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-007 (639) to A'Sey'Hyon (458)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-007 (639) to Io'Tu'Hon (438)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-011 (640) to Three (452)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-003 (644) to Hon'A'Iona (455)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-003 (644) to Hyporia (451)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-003 (644) to Styx (457)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-003 (644) to K-010 (440)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-003 (644) to Portu'Luse (436)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from K-012 (650) to Three (452)
warning: assuming implicit reciprocal link from Ymene Base II (772) to Scheall (491)
warning: stellar Wormhole (482) does not exist in any system
warning: stellar Xqrzax (549) does not exist in any system
warning: Graviton Pulse (445) lacks outfit picture
warning: Gamma Ray Burst (446) lacks outfit picture
warning: Hyper. Displacement Torpedo (447) lacks outfit picture
warning: Ability to Tunnel Through Space (Youth) (448) lacks outfit picture
warning: Ability to Tunnel Through Space (Youth) (448) lacks description
warning: Ablility to Tunnel Through Space (449) lacks outfit picture
warning: Ablility to Tunnel Through Space (449) lacks description
warning: Swarm (carried) (450) lacks outfit picture
warning: Swarm (carried) (450) lacks description
warning: Swarm Bay (451) lacks outfit picture
warning: Swarm Bay (451) lacks description
warning: Ymene Ray (453) lacks outfit picture
warning: WGB (X) (454) lacks outfit picture
warning: Self-Replication (455) lacks outfit picture
warning: Self-Replication (455) lacks description
warning: Self-Duplicate (456) lacks outfit picture
warning: Self-Duplicate (456) lacks description
warning: Detonate Artifact (457) lacks outfit picture
warning: Detonate Artifact (457) lacks description
warning: Adrenaline Burst (458) lacks outfit picture
warning: Adrenaline Burst (458) lacks description
warning: Warrior HD Torp (459) lacks outfit picture
warning: Warrior HD Torp (459) lacks description
warning: Repulsor Beam (461) lacks outfit picture
warning: Repulsor Beam (461) lacks description
warning: Advanced Hyperspace Tunnelling (462) lacks outfit picture
warning: Advanced Hyperspace Tunnelling (462) lacks description
warning: Ymene's Beam (463) lacks outfit picture
warning: Ymene's Beam (463) lacks description
warning: Swarm Beam (464) lacks outfit picture
warning: Swarm Beam (464) lacks description
warning: Invisibility Cloak (557) lacks outfit picture
warning: Invisibility Cloak (557) lacks description
warning: Mystic Abilities (558) lacks outfit picture
warning: Mystic Abilities (558) lacks description
warning: Wraith (Adult) (168) lacks hiring description
warning: Wraith (Youth) (169) lacks hiring description
warning: Wraith (Child) (170) lacks hiring description
warning: Striker (262) has a trade-in value of 1163000 but costs only 1000000
warning: Striker (271) has a trade-in value of 1230500 but costs only 1050000
warning: Wraith (Adult) (416) lacks hiring description
warning: Wraith (Youth) (417) lacks hiring description
warning: Wraith (Child) (418) lacks hiring description
warning: Wraith (Warrior) (421) lacks hiring description
warning: Wraith (Mystic) (422) lacks hiring description
warning: Wraith (Warrior) (423) lacks hiring description
warning: Wraith (Mystic) (424) lacks hiring description
warning: Wraith (Adult) (425) lacks hiring description
warning: Manticore (438) lacks purchase description
warning: Manticore (438) lacks hiring description
warning: Ymene (500) lacks purchase description
warning: Ymene (500) lacks hiring description
warning: Swarm (501) lacks purchase description
warning: Swarm (501) lacks hiring description
warning: Sayle (502) lacks purchase description
warning: Sayle (502) lacks hiring description
warning: Bio-Station (503) lacks purchase description
warning: Bio-Station (503) lacks hiring description
warning: Ymene (504) lacks purchase description
warning: Ymene (504) lacks hiring description
warning: Ymene (505) lacks purchase description
warning: Ymene (505) lacks hiring description
warning: Ymene (506) lacks purchase description
warning: Ymene (506) lacks hiring description
warning: govts 138 and 176 are simultaneously allies and enemies
warning: disaster 128 (An enormous food surplus) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 129 (A glut on the market) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 130 (A minor drought) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 131 (A seasonal lull) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 132 (An excess of trade) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 133 (A recent increase in trade) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 134 (A spate of break-downs) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 135 (A good harvest of bio-agents) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 136 (An excellent harvest) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 137 (An enormous surplus) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 138 (Damage due to student pranks) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 139 (An excellent harvest) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 140 (A large number of prisoner deaths) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 141 (A series of good raids) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 142 (Damage due to student pranks) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 144 (The discovery of a new drug) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 145 (A shortage in supply) has an unusually small price delta
warning: disaster 146 (Another good harvest) has an unusually small price delta
loading mission data
warning: mission 967 makes reference to nonexistent düde resource -1
warning: mission 1004 makes reference to nonexistent düde resource -1
warning: mission 1105 makes reference to nonexistent düde resource 298
warning: mission 1110 makes reference to nonexistent düde resource 302
propagating mission bit effects
showing splash screen
loading sprites
checking memory
loading ship sprites
warning: Pirate Valkyrie (288) lacks target picture
warning: Pirate Valkyrie (289) lacks target picture
warning: Pirate Valkyrie (290) lacks target picture
warning: Pirate Valkyrie (291) lacks target picture
warning: Pirate Valkyrie (401) lacks target picture
warning: Wraith (Warrior) (421) lacks target picture
warning: Wraith (Warrior) (421) lacks shipyard picture
warning: Wraith (Mystic) (422) lacks target picture
warning: Wraith (Mystic) (422) lacks shipyard picture
warning: Wraith (Warrior) (423) lacks target picture
warning: Wraith (Warrior) (423) lacks shipyard picture
warning: Wraith (Mystic) (424) lacks target picture
warning: Wraith (Mystic) (424) lacks shipyard picture
warning: Ymene (500) lacks target picture
warning: Ymene (500) lacks shipyard picture
warning: Swarm (501) lacks target picture
warning: Swarm (501) lacks shipyard picture
warning: Sayle (502) lacks target picture
warning: Sayle (502) lacks shipyard picture
configuring sprites
initializing player
initializing main screen
opening last pilot file
load pilot data 1
load pilot data 2
load pilot data 3
load pilot data 4
load pilot data 5
load pilot data 6
load pilot data 7
load pilot data 8
load pilot data 9
making alias
dumping pilot log
propagating mission bit effects
---preparing main screen
setting up world
setting up main screen graphics
doing main screen
---
entering game
adjusting sounds
showing intro screen
drawing stuff
drawing more stuff
changing window attributes
playing game
landing on spob 424 (Hot'A'Tanius)
preparing to activate cron 162 in 180 days
preparing to activate cron 163 in 150 days
entering system 522 (Lil'E'Song)
evaluating ncb set string 'b2001, S920, S922, A919, S973' (mission ship goal complete Meet with T'Nya (919))
beginning mission Check on Disabled Wraith (920)
beginning mission T'Nya escort (Child) (922)
aborting mission Meet with T'Nya (919)
beginning mission
preparing to activate cron 164 in 120 days
preparing to activate cron 169 in 120 days
entering system 523 (Ran'E'Shepos)
mission ship goal complete
evaluating ncb set string 'S923' (mission ship goal complete Check on Disabled Wraith (920))
beginning mission Ymene in system (for check on disabled wraith) (923)

This post has been edited by Jalisurr : 12 November 2009 - 02:00 PM

Hmm... very odd.

Only ideas I can think of:
"govts 138 and 176 are simultaneously allies and enemies" this is a long shot, but firing on one of these may start some sort of feedback loop or other.

Also:
warning: mission 967 makes reference to nonexistent düde resource -1
warning: mission 1004 makes reference to nonexistent düde resource -1
warning: mission 1105 makes reference to nonexistent düde resource 298
warning: mission 1110 makes reference to nonexistent düde resource 302

This may not be the case either, but I know that whenever my missions call for a nonexistent dude, the game crashes when the dude enters the system (Win Nova). Is it possible that a "reinforcement fleet" may be causing the crash?

Beyond that, all I can recommend is you try to reproduce the crash in other circumstances. Maybe running just one of the missions, or fighting the "strong enemies" in another system, etc.
Good luck!

This post has been edited by n64mon : 12 November 2009 - 04:01 PM

Neither the simultanius allies and enemies nor the nonexistant dudes
can have caused this problem, as neither of the resources are at all involved in this mission. Other missions involving the same ships have caused no
problems.

Oh... then the only thing left is to resort to the emergency method.

Edit: word choice. I don't think straight late at night.

This post has been edited by n64mon : 13 November 2009 - 12:41 PM

Does any weapon fired by the player cause this issue?
Or, is it related to a specific weapon?

Does the issue crop up before the player enters the system where this ambush occurs?
How about after the player has left that system?

What are the parameters for the involved missions?

Hmm...the ship that the player is flying in this mission only has one weapon, which is a turreted beam.

I haven't seen this issue anywhere other than when firing at those ships in that mission, which only occurs in that system. Firing at the same enemy ships in other missions does not cause this issue.

The involved mission is one in which the goal is to board a ship which starts out disabled. On boarding the ship, it Sxxx's another mission, which causes a ship to jump in and attack the player. The player has no goal related to the attacking ship, as they are supposed to flee. Attacking either involved ship will cause the game to quit.

On just the information you've provided so far, I haven't been able to recreate the issue.

When a strange bug crops up, the devil's usually in the details, likely in something that hasn't been mentioned yet.
Until something about this situation really jumps out and says "This Is Suspicious!", I'm afraid trial and error is the only way to go about this.

• Missions have a large number of parameters. What specific details can you tell us about the two in question? If the bug is being caused by the missions, it may be something you don't realize is related and haven't mentioned yet. Is there a pop-up desc for when the player boards the ship? Is the first mission accepted from the spaceport? Complex NCB expressions in either mission? The problem might be any odd thing.

• Is this particular weapon used by the player in situations other than during this mission? What details can you tell us about it?

• Does the bug occur if that turreted beam is replaced with some other weapon when the mission runs?

• Does the bug occur only after boarding the disabled ship, or can it happen before boarding?

• If you remove the Sxxx'ed mission from the boarding mission, and fire on the disabled ship, does the bug still occur?

• If you create new missions from scratch, with different RID's from the current pair, and only the special-ship related information and Sxxx preserved, does this bug occur with them?

• What about if you recreate the two missions with no dudes/govts/ships/syst/TurretedBeamWeapon the same?

• If you change the ship goal for the ambush mission to 'Observe', does the bug still occur? How about for the boarded ship?

This post has been edited by Eugene Chin : 14 November 2009 - 12:23 AM

QUOTE

What about if you recreate the two missions with no dudes/govts/ships/syst/TurretedBeamWeapon the same?

This is probably the best recommendation. Take all the extras out, and add them back in one by one. The "Observe" idea is also a good one.

I think the "one-time-only" ship & beam would be the primary suspect. I would a) try flying that ship around and doing other things, and B) try flying the mission without the special ship.

This post has been edited by n64mon : 15 November 2009 - 01:09 AM

OK, so the game quit because of a mission which wasn't related to the two ships, but I probably should have mentioned it anyway. When the player jumps into the system, I also have a mission running with an invisible dude and ship goal 'observe' to make a message appear when they jumped into the system. Removing this mission caused the unexplained crashes to stop.