Petition Firaxis on OOS?

[Horadrim]

I recently started playing this MOD and it is a fantastic concept and a good MOD. However I really want to play it online with my friends, I find the AI arent too challenging where as my mates can utilise the many aspects of this mod far more efficiently and we have started several great games.

However ive yet to finish a single 1; OOS completely kills this MOD. After 251 turns yesterday with 13 comps on Tectonics/Lakes (absolutely amazing map script BTW) we have hit an OOS that completely kills the game. The first few we saved and reloaded a turn past and there was no problem but their frequency has increased and now they occur every turn. Even if we play on past the OOS 10 turns then re open and save it it will OOS 2 turns later.

Having read these forumns for a few hours last night im well aware of the complexity of solving OOS and that pretty much an infinite ammount of events could cause them to occur. The most important thing i read was a statement by Kael saying that Firaxis didnt release all the script for identifyting/fixing OOS with the SDK.

Has any one thought to ask firaxis for the missing script?
I know companys seldomly release things like this but the game was written in a fairly accessible script "Python" and the developers clearly wanted modding to be achievable hence the SDK.

Firaxis MUST have had some tool for identifying OOS problems during multiplayer while developing this game. A scenario from this MOD was included on the BTS disk so the designers must have some contact with Firaxis, has any one ever asked them for help?

Cheers V.Much for reading, all comments welcome.

 

[James the Wise]

Firaxis must have used an in-house utility or similar to test for OOS's

The fact that this was not included with the SDK is suprising, but surely it would be entirely possible for them to release what ever they used to the public

Currently FFh2 is very often unplayable and ALWAYS frustrating and tedious due to OOS's

which is a massive shame especially as every other part of this mod is so great

We really need to get the ball rolling on this one, Kael or anyone else linked to Firaxis around here could possibly make a start ?

 

[3141592]

The problem is, is that the OSS test may not be Firaxis' to give away. If it is ingrained inseperably in the graphics engine then it would be gambro's as well. Fraxis also might have also bought it from someone else. Those are just a two examples, the real one may be different, but I believe the idea is somewhat in that vein.

 

[Horadrim]

The idea of it being ingrained in another companies piece of software is interesting and if this is the case i understand why it would never be released but i would like to know for sure that this is the case. I would like to know in detail if possible what was used. It would be nice if someone with contacts to firaxis could ask them.

 

[CypherKnight]

Not sure if I'm speaking out of turn but here goes,

As I understand it, the current focus of the FFH team is mostly gearing up or working on the Ice phase of FFH which is the scenarios. If you look in the current build of the game (I don't remember exactly where) you can see the scenarios titles.

Kael said that multiplayer is important to him and he wants to get it work. I think he and the team are doing the best they can on a difficult problem. I think you're being impatient.

It's too bad we can't force a sync between players. Kinda like what they do with secure ID tokens.

 

[Horadrim]

I dont think im being impatient i just want to know if any one has asked about it. Its a pretty simple question; Has any one asked firaxis for the rest of the synch code? If yes then what did they say? If no would you be prepared to ask?

The part of the game ur talking about where you can view scenarios is the espionage screen. (or at least it was on multiplayer build H, its disapeared on I)

In addition after extensive play testiing im sure the source of most my synch errors is related in some way to a difference in OS. Vista and XP just dont seem to mix.

 

[Xuenay]

Kael said that multiplayer is important to him and he wants to get it work. I think he and the team are doing the best they can on a difficult problem. I think you're being impatient.

Kael has also said that without access to the sync code, he can't do much. Getting this would allow him to really fix the issues.

 

[rocklikeafool]

Kael has also said that without access to the sync code, he can't do much. Getting this would allow him to really fix the issues.

And the major problem there is...would Firaxis be at liberty to release that. If Firaxis can release it (assumin they didn't buy it from nother company, which basically means they can't), then would they even be willin to do so? It's a big load of Bullsh(e)it that's more complex than it should be. Basically, there's potential legal issues, potential contact issues, and potential code issues. It's a huge clusterf(ah)uck.

 

[Horadrim]

And the major problem there is...would Firaxis be at liberty to release that. If Firaxis can release it (assumin they didn't buy it from nother company, which basically means they can't), then would they even be willin to do so? It's a big load of Bullsh(e)it that's more complex than it should be. Basically, there's potential legal issues, potential contact issues, and potential code issues. It's a huge clusterf(ah)uck.

Ye but has anyone actually asked firaxis thats what i really wan to know. Has Someone with a bit of weight asked e.g. Kael

 

[rocklikeafool]

Well, ask Kael specifically, man. PM him.

 

[Horadrim]

Well i will eventually, but as i only just started posting on this forumn i didnt want to go whinning to the lead designer when the question may already have been answerd previously.

 

[rocklikeafool]

I see your point. But I don't think anyone's actually recieved the sync code, whether they asked or not. Huh, otherwise, I'm sure it'd be a well-spread-round commodity.