CCE crashes on start, enabling CS/AM maps on installation

[olddust]

Hi, I recently downloaded the freeware for this game and am very grateful for the ability to still play online after nearly 20 years. 

 

That said, I have tried to play Central Conflict Extreme (AM map that I really like) online 4 times now and it crashes due to a memory error as soon as it loads.  I don't have a screenshot handy, but can post one if necessary.  It works just fine in skirmish and I have not had this problem with any other maps and I've played at least 25 different standard maps online so far.

 

Also, why do the Counterstrike and Aftermath maps not come enabled when using the freeware installer?  I don't think most people know they have the option to enable them because 90% of the people hosting games for a standard map are hosting for the original RA maps.  The AM maps are much better suited for 4+ players and its unfortunate the only time I can play them is when I host.

[Iran]

If you select the message box with the error message (and memory address) in it and press Ctrl+C all the text in the message box will be copied.

 

Where did you download the game from?

[FunkyFr3sh]

yes, a screenshot or the address it shows in the error message would be nice

 

And about the maps, the are different game packages, let us know how u installed/updated the game and what version u used

 

I have the map packs also turned off in my installer, actually only because there are ways to many maps when the am/cs maps are turned on. But i will enable them on next update

[olddust]

I downloaded mine from one of Iran's mirrors.  Running W7

[FunkyFr3sh]

does that happen every time ? cause i couldnt reproduce it can you try to copy your game folder to another pc and try it there?

[Iran]

It's crashing in printf() for some reason. Could you re-download the installer and try again (I did some updates since you downloaded it, like I made the sidebar fill up with cameo icons and extended the power meter etc).

 

I had someone else with the same crash.

[Iran]

Also, why do the Counterstrike and Aftermath maps not come enabled when using the freeware installer?  I don't think most people know they have the option to enable them because 90% of the people hosting games for a standard map are hosting for the original RA maps.  The AM maps are much better suited for 4+ players and its unfortunate the only time I can play them is when I host.

They should be enabled in my installer. Funky and I only fairly recently figured out how to enable them without also requiring the expansions to be enabled, the game normally does checks if you have the expansions enabled before being able to use the maps and we worked around that. The expansion multiplayer maps also aren't that popular because in the past no one played with the expansions turned on online.

[FunkyFr3sh]

would be interesting to know if that crash also happens with the old online version without patches, if you like to check it out come to the chat

 

http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=cncnet

[olddust]

I re-downloaded Iran's installer today and re-installed the game and have tried 6 times.  5 times the games never connected at all and the one time it did connect it went out of sync right away instead of crashing due to the memory error.  Also, when I'm hosting and sending the map to others it doesn't show the progress bar anymore, just sits there.  The longer side bar is nice, but it throws off my estimate with the power output bar.  No problems with any other maps yet.

[Iran]

I've taken a look at the map file and this map file has a special setting to enable the Aftermath units, this setting isn't needed at all (and some of the other Aftermath maps I checked don't have it). If you're playing with non-AM players that's probably the reason why it's desyncing.

 

I can't replace the map file with a 'fixed' version because then the map will desync with people who already have it. I've prepared a modified version of the map that just has this keyword removed, but I'm not sure why the keyword is there at all (though all official RA1 multiplayer maps have messy settings that the game ignores), are there any special units placed on the map or anything?

 

I've attached the modified map, it should show up as "Central Conflict Extreme FIX TEST" at the bottom of your map list. Place the  .MPR file in the attached ZIP in your game folder. I'm not sure if this fixes the desync issue but I just tested the original map and it also gave me an out of sync error at start.

 

EDIT: Actually I'm not sure if this fixed version will desync with Aftermath players if I replace the original version with the fixed one.

 

CCEF.zip

[olddust]

When I play online the Aftermath units and changes are disabled on AM maps (unless I choose to enable them and then only people who have them enabled those can join my channel).  If someone doesn't have the map, it gets transferred like other mod maps before the game starts.

 

I'll give your fix a try later today.

 

Thanks.

[Iran]

That's because of a "feature" in the game, when you have the Aftermath expansion turned on and you're hosting a game, if a player without the Aftermath expansion joins the channel for your game your game gets turned into a non-Aftermath game even if the player without Aftermath expansion turned on leaves. I added text to the host screen that shows whether the game is still Aftermath or not if you're hosting with Aftermath enabled.

 

I tested the "fixed" version of CCE and it was working online, when I tested the original version I also got the "Out of sync" error at the start.

 

I added an option in the config tool to force the Aftermath expansion online, what this does is enable a "mod" (that doesn't change gameplay) which because of the game's checks for mods require other player to also have this "mod" (the force Aftermath expansion online option) enabled. There's also a version that removes the extra production facility build speed multiplier cap ("fast build speed") that normally is enabled when Aftermath is turned on. You can find these options in the "Multiplayer" tab of the config tool.

[olddust]

Just tried the CCE Fix map, worked with 2 people, but when I tried 3 people (that I've played with before) it wouldn't connect, twice.  The second time there was a split second where it connected, then immediately lost connection with one guy and with the 1 remaining player it was fine.  The guy who we lost connection with was who I connected with the first time 1v1.

 

Also having issues with:

 

King of the Hills Extreme (AM)

Holy Grounds (AM)

 

Either never connects to players to start or goes out of sync on both maps.  Can you look at those?

[FunkyFr3sh]

if it goes out of sync right at the start then its caused by closed ports, if its in the mid of the game then its caused by something else

[Iran]

If connection is lost and it doesn't show the out of sync dialog the fix works, the loss of connection should be normal, it happens randomly at start or when a player leaves before start. You should try it out more with that map and other maps to see if there's a real issue with connection lost errors compared to maps that are known to work normally.

 

King of the Hills Extreme (AM) has the same issue that CCE has, that special setting I talked about. However at a really quick look I can't find anything that could cause the "Out of sync" issue with Holy Grounds (AM). Are you sure about Holy Grounds?

 

I've attached a fixed King of the Hills Extreme (AM).

 

@FunkyFr3sh: We should test these fixed versions of maps to see if they're compatible with the normal AM version.

KotHF.zip

[olddust]

If connection is lost and it doesn't show the out of sync dialog the fix works, the loss of connection should be normal, it happens randomly at start or when a player leaves before start. You should try it out more with that map and other maps to see if there's a real issue with connection lost errors compared to maps that are known to work normally.

 

I will try it again today.  After we couldn't connect to the fix I tried a different map with the same people and it worked fine.

 

King of the Hills Extreme (AM) has the same issue that CCE has, that special setting I talked about. However at a really quick look I can't find anything that could cause the "Out of sync" issue with Holy Grounds (AM). Are you sure about Holy Grounds?

 

I tried both maps multiple times (HG more than KOTHE).  They either wouldn't connect at all, or before I could deploy my MCV the game would go out of sync.  No connection more frequently.

 

I've attached a fixed King of the Hills Extreme (AM).

 

Will try this too, thanks.

 

Also, for what its worth, since I downloaded your update yesterday two games have gone out of sync towards the end.  Prior, never had any go out of sync unless it was before we could even deploy the MCV.

[olddust]

To update CCE, I've tried it twice today and both times it connected with 3 or more players.  More than half way through, both games went out of sync, so there's still something wrong.

 

Was able to play KOTHE today without any issues.

[Iran]

The issue with out of sync errors is that it's likely that one of the other players are causing the out of sync. Players not running my patch will have corrupted memory after they play certain mod maps, if they play another map (say if you're hosting your AM map) without restarting their game the game will out of sync. But it might also be that CCE might be at fault.

 

Do you get any out of sync errors hosting standard maps? There might still be some map settings for CCE that is causing the out of sync. Are you hosting my "fixed" version of the map?

[olddust]

Yesterday it went out of sync on Desolation, towards the end.  I was not hosting, though.  It also happened on another map, but I can't remember which one or if it was standard.

 

And yes, I was hosting the fixed version.

[Iran]

What do you mean with "towards the end"? What things were happening? Was a base being destroyed?

[olddust]

For example, 4 people were playing (ffa).  2 people eventually lost.  Shortly after it went out of sync.  This happened twice on two different maps the same day.  I also had a game freeze up and had to close the game from task manager after nearly 2 hours.  And, last night a long game eventually just got so choppy connection wise that you couldn't do anything (3 ppl).  It was fine up until this point.  In the later part of the game it would constantly freeze and lose connection briefly with the same player and reconnect and do the same thing, lasting almost 8 minutes.  Eventually we lost connection to him for good, but it didn't improve at all and I eventually lost connection to the other player, too.  I was running a trace route the entire time, so I know it wasn't my connection. There's no ladder so I don't see any incentive for someone losing to purposely make the game unplayable or crash.

 

All of this tends to happen on longer games, almost like there's still a memory leak somewhere, if not on your client on the client someone else downloaded.

[Iran]

If it's connection being choppy it's not memory leaking. If one of the players you're playing with has shitty internet or has torrents running you'll get that.

 

I'm interested in the out of sync issues you are having late game. Your the first person to report these, once I have some time I'll try to reproduce them.

[FunkyFr3sh]

turn on the fast connection and make sure you play with people that also have the fast connection on, cause losing connection to all players is usually caused by server lag (with fast connection turned on you play without the server)

 

type !slowcon ingame to get a list of all people that doesnt have the fast connection turned on

[olddust]

If it's connection being choppy it's not memory leaking. If one of the players you're playing with has shitty internet or has torrents running you'll get that.

 

I'm interested in the out of sync issues you are having late game. Your the first person to report these, once I have some time I'll try to reproduce them.

 

My computer knowledge only goes up to about 2004, but based on my experience, if a program is experiencing high RAM usage (from a leak, crash or other problem), or maxing out the CPU power it can cause the Internet connection to become unstable.  I actually had experience with this (and not just from running Renegade servers) and it can cause the inability for others to communicate with your open ports.  The person who I was having connection problems with was blaming me the whole time.  I don't think any part of it was intentional and we didn't have issues until the later part of the game.

 

I also just had another memory crash on Path this time, 3 players.  Tried to get a screenshot, but print screen didn't work and I had closed the game before I tried to paste it.  It wasn't the same crash error from before.

 

turn on the fast connection and make sure you play with people that also have the fast connection on, cause losing connection to all players is usually caused by server lag (with fast connection turned on you play without the server)

 

type !slowcon ingame to get a list of all people that doesnt have the fast connection turned on

 

If you mean P2P, I have that enabled.

[olddust]

To update Holy Grounds, finally connected by joining someone elses game who was hosting the map and it immediately went out of sync.  I've played most Mega AM maps now, only had problems on the ones I've mentioned so far.