Annoying bug on Biosphere

[IceHunter]

Suddenly I couldn't "build" anything. Ie, squads, guards, officiers, armours etc.

The cursor changes to "Yep you can build here" but nothing happens when I click.

Seems the computer couldn't either, because the there were fewer and fewer of the red guys (as i toasted them).

[xander]

First (and this is a stupid question, but sometimes stupid questions yeild results), is your task manager full? If the task manager is full, then you will not be able to create new units without deleting a few first. Now, I assume that this is not the case, as Doc Sepulveda would have told you about it.

Second, make sure that you have the latest verion of the game. If you open up the menu, and look under options, somewhere it should tell you what version you are using. The most recent version is 1.21 or 1.22.

Now, a question: you say that the computer is producing fewer units. Is it possible that the computer is encountering the population locks? Each island has a population lock --this counts your DGs and the red DGs. After several minutes, even if you do nothing, the computer should stop producing units, because it hits the population lock. As an aside, you can flood an enemy island, and stop the CPU from creating new units. If you send units from your spawn points to another island, they will not be counted against the first island's population limit, so you can produce a theoretically infinite number of DGs.

Now, I am going to assume that (1) your task manager is not full and (2) you are hitting population limits. In the case of the first assumption, if the task manager is full, you will need to destroy a few units, and life will be good again. In the case of the second assumption, it limits the possibilities a bit.

Now, when you say you cannot produce any units, what kind of framerates are you getting? I do not know if this affect Windows in the same fashion, but on the Mac version, at low framerates, the mouse doesn't respond as well. Try holding the button down for a second or two, then releasing it. If that doesn't work, click a few more times, to make sure that the computer gets the 'mouse up' signal.

On the other hand, it sounds like assumption (2) from above may be inaccurate, which implies that you have found a genuine bug in the game. If that is the case, can you reproduce it? Under what circumstances? Please be as specific as possible -- how long had you been playing the level? What kind of performance are you getting? Are there any error messages? Is there something that you can do that will trigger the problem? What happens if you exit and reenter the level? What happens if you exit the level, quit the game and restart the game? What happens if you reset the level? What happens if you reset, quit, then restart the game?

xander

[Rowedekhelicon]

This happens to me, too, sometimes, but I was never too bothered by it. A simple restart of the game fixes it.

[xander]

This happens to me, too, sometimes, but I was never too bothered by it. A simple restart of the game fixes it.

Indeed, if it can be fixed by restarting the game, it is not a huge bug, but it is annoying, and if we can come up with enough information about what causes it, IV may be able to fix it, which would be the best of all worlds.

xander

[IceHunter]

Perhaps the game runs out of memory after having run for a long time (which it had).


(I know what you mean about lag, the last level is almost unplayable because you have to repeat the damn gestures 20 times before the computer gets it - oh for a button to press. Oh well)

[Rowedekhelicon]

Perhaps the game runs out of memory after having run for a long time (which it had).


(I know what you mean about lag, the last level is almost unplayable because you have to repeat the damn gestures 20 times before the computer gets it - oh for a button to press. Oh well)

I run AnalogX's MaxMem in the background. Handy little utility. I also use it while working on large graphic files and such. You get occasional slowdowns while it frees memory, but it's worth it because the rest of the time is hitch-free and you don't have to worry about crashes. If I don't have it running while I'm playing the biosphere level then the game just gets slower and slower like you say until I get a windows message warning me that my virtual memory is low. It's annoying that we should have to go to such lengths to fight memory leakage, but I'm going to let it slide since the game rocks.

[xander]

Perhaps the game runs out of memory after having run for a long time (which it had).


(I know what you mean about lag, the last level is almost unplayable because you have to repeat the damn gestures 20 times before the computer gets it - oh for a button to press. Oh well)

Version 1.3 (which is in beta testing at the moment, and, given the lack of activity in the beta boards, should be out soonish) includes an alternative to the gesture system -- from what I understand, it is a more traditional point-and-click system. Be patient, and you won't have to deal with gestures anymore if you don't like them.

xander

[IceHunter]

Be patient, and you won't have to deal with gestures anymore if you don't like them.

xander

I thought they were kind of amusing, now they are a bit of a burden

[Rowedekhelicon]

Amusing? Pah.. I find them rather efficient actually. I can run a specific command by gesture far faster than I would using a button menu. Sometimes it's so quick it's almost a flick of the wrist.

[xander]

Amusing? Pah.. I find them rather efficient actually. I can run a specific command by gesture far faster than I would using a button menu. Sometimes it's so quick it's almost a flick of the wrist.

Personally, I like gestures as well. However, for every person that loves the gesture system, there seems to be someone who hates it. It then makes sense for IV to make it optional. Again, the gesture system is not going away; a second option is being added.

xander

EDIT: vv see my point vv

[IceHunter]

Amusing? Pah.. I find them rather efficient actually. I can run a specific command by gesture far faster than I would using a button menu. Sometimes it's so quick it's almost a flick of the wrist.

I don't find it efficient when I have to repeat it 20 times to get the desired result.

[Rowedekhelicon]

Personally, I like gestures as well. However, for every person that loves the gesture system, there seems to be someone who hates it. It then makes sense for IV to make it optional. Again, the gesture system is not going away; a second option is being added.

Hey, options are always good. I'm not arguing with the addition of the new system as long as we still have our old one. I just thought the gesture system was good for more than amusement factor.

I don't find it efficient when I have to repeat it 20 times to get the desired result.

Hmm. See I guess I never had that problem. Did you try out MaxMem? It's a tiny download.

[IAmVeryBad]

I also had this problem on Biosphere, I have not programs running but officers (but they don't occupy space in Program Manager) I got about 1/2 way through the level then I was unable to create anything. I left the level and returned with no improvement. I haven't reset the level yet, I would rather not have to start again. I am not having frame rate issues and I can select my officers and buildings with out problems. I have the steam version of the game and I shutdown my computer every night so my game should be up to date. In the level I created a chain of officers to direct my DG from one island to the next, so I am still producing more and more DGs. I am just not allowed to start new programs. I had been playing a while (I don't watch time when I play games), I had the pattern buffer level clear of virii but I had yet to initiate the things to change the buffer green. After doing that and holding back the invasions of RDG I went onto Receiver level. I completed that whole level with hardly a snag (Save the damn Soul Destroyers, which I have the hardest time trying to kill). From there I went to Biosphere, and was able to take 3 outer islands before the bug began. I hope in this mess of data is something useful to fix this issue.

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Update : After shutting down my system, farting off for a few, and other assorted time killing, I was able to return to my game. The level was in progress, but I was able to create new units. So this may have to do with play time.

[NEO|Phyte]

from a different thread about the same issue:

ive noticed this one too. heck, I came here to report it, but I saw this topic first.

The only possible thing I can think of that could cause it is that somewhere in the code there is an accidental limit to how many times you can spawn a program.

Just go on a binge-run of the game. Ive made it 5 levels at most before I hit the bug.

just created a map to test my theory.

It took ~10 minutes and a lot of engineers, but there is indeed a cap on how many programs you can run in a single sitting of the game.