Bugs, bugs, bugs...

[Becka]

I hope this is not a dupe. But its not like this board is about to explode with threads, anyway.

Does anyone know of weird bugs? This is one I experienced:

This was late in the game and I was the Dutch, playing on the map of the Americas, and the Spanish had dragoons completely surrounding my colony, but we were not at war. Suddenly, the dragoons actually ENTERED my colony, but they did not take it. They stayed for a while, (I could even see them when I looked at the colony screen if I remember correctly) and then they left just as mysteriously as they came.

Has anyone else experienced this or anyother weird bugs?

------------------
Calvin, go do something you hate. Being miserable builds character.
-Calvin and Hobbes

 

[LandGrabber]

I've never seen the bug you described, but I might have a possible explanation.

If a sneak attack or a declaration of war by the Spanish went unnoticed by you, the Dragoons (if forified) would appear in the Colony display screen displacing any colonists you had working the square they occupied. Once peace was declared the Spanish would not be allowed to fortify your squares and the dragoons would disappear from your colony display (but not the main map.) You said you were at peace, and you didn't mention if the dragoons ever attacked so you may be right in it just being a weird bug.

A bug I find quite common is seeing a Colony's production show up in a different colony. This seems to happen sometimes when I reload a previously saved game. A colony producing 60 rum will show no increase, while another colony (that isn't producing any rum) will get the 60. This isn't a real problem since you don't actually lose any production, its just a hassle having to transport the stuff to the right colony.

(Its not just one item either, it the entire turns production that shows up in the other colony, including horses, food, muskets, etc. This means you might just get a few of these items in the new colony and have to waste a wagon hold to get them where they belong.)

 

[Becka]

Originally posted by LandGrabber:<br /><strong>Once peace was declared the Spanish would not be allowed to fortify your squares and the dragoons would disappear from your colony display (but not the main map.) You said you were at peace, and you didn't mention if the dragoons ever attacked so you may be right in it just being a weird bug.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I'm pretty sure this is a bug, because the Spanish Dragoons were in the box in bottom left corner of the colony screen, you know, the one that shows ALL of the colonists in a colony, colonists/soldiers at the stockade, colonists working squares, colonists in buildings, and this is also the box that shows your percentages of tories. It was really weird!

[ September 10, 2001: Message edited by: Becka ]</p>

 

[LandGrabber]

Was it a captured colony?

I think my production bug may be related to the fact that the AI gets confused as to which colony is which. I suppose if you've captured a number of colonies from other powers, a bug could creep in that would make the AI think one of your colonies was still under its control. Just a thought.

Are you playing the DOS or Windows version?

 

[Becka]

The colony that happened to was a colony I had built, and (I am pretty sure on this) had never been occupied by any other nation. I remember seeing this happen and thinking, "Hmmmm. That's unusual." It may have even happened twice.

I'm playing the DOS version though I was probably playing it while I was running Windows, using the MS-DOS prompt in the Start button.

 

[LandGrabber]

I too, play the DOS version (from a shortcut on my desktop). I've got the true Windows Version also, but have found it even more bugy (?) than the DOS version (that's even with all the patches and upgrades). The only real advantage the Windows version has over the DOS is the bug with the Tax Rate is fixed.

Back to your bug.

No offense, but I not completely sure it is a bug. It's been quite a while since I've fought a war with units near my colonies. It might be that the Foreign Units showed up in the Units Present display (lower left), simply because they are 'units' and they are 'present', regardless of who they belong to. Maybe I'll pull up one of my saved games and see if I can recreate this.

On the other hand, if the production bug I mentioned is caused by the AI getting confused with which colony is which, it is certainly conceivable it could think one of your colonies is one of its colonies. (I wonder if this bug would work the other way, could you click on a foreign colony and take control of it. At least for a few turns.)

 

[Becka]

Originally posted by LandGrabber:<br /><strong>On the other hand, if the production bug I mentioned is caused by the AI getting confused with which colony is which, it is certainly conceivable it could think one of your colonies is one of its colonies. (I wonder if this bug would work the other way, could you click on a foreign colony and take control of it. At least for a few turns.)</strong><hr></blockquote>

That could very well be. I wouldn't be surprised if the AI got confused as to which colony was which. They're kind of stupid that way. <img src="icon12.gif" border="0"> <br />If I'm ever playing it and that thing happens again, I'll try and click on a foreign colony to see if it does work the other way around. That could be interesting.

What was the bug with the Tax Rate? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

[ September 15, 2001: Message edited by: Becka ]</p>

 

[LandGrabber]

In the DOS version, at some point in the game, the Tax Rate fluctuates wildly. In my case it almost always drops to 0% (that's a zero!). Once it reaches that point, it starts over again with the King trying to impose new taxes and to build the rate back up. Of course by that time I've usually got a Custom House and a good supply of those items I usually have to buy from Europe, and so can tell him what to do with his Taxes.

Now I've nothing against lower taxes, but since it is such an important part of the game I'd really like it to remain functional. The upgrade for the Windows version does fix this, but with the REF bug, it just isn't worth playing that version. (I think I may have come up with a means of beating the REF bug, but you have to have both versions of the game.)

(Personally I think the tax bug shows up after Fugger joins congress, but that's just an impression I have. I can't claim it to be true.)

 

[Becka]

I didn't even know there was a tax bug! Was it a widespread thing? I don't remember it. Maybe I just didn't notice.

 

[LandGrabber]

Yes it is wide spread. In fact (as I mentioned), it was so universal MicroProse fixed it in the upgrade for the Windows version.

I don't think I've ever played a game (using the DOS version) in which the rate didn't reset to zero. Maybe if I didn't select Fugger, or played an entire game without saving and reloading it might be possible to keep the rate from changing. I might be able to skip Fugger (if you get a custom house early he isn't that important), but the game is just too long to play at a single sitting.

BTW, I mentioned the REF bug without explaining it. In the windows version, quite often (4/5 times in my case) the last 4 or 5 units of the REF never get off their ships. So the only way the game can end is by the time limit of 1850. I've never played it that far so I don't know what the result would be, but I suspect you'd get a message saying you'd lost since you hadn't achieved independence.