[karajorma]

Try the builds in the 1.1.1 patch instead.

[Parias]

So, jumping on this as I badly want to see the other missions converted to co-op (and from your recent comments Karajorma it sounds like you're still badly in need of some testing for this).

Come on guys, this is co-op for one of the best free games ever we're talking about here! Let's get some more enthusiasm in place!

I gave The Strike a try tonight in my local testlab (an overpowered gaming PC and a slightly under-powered laptop, both on the same local network) , but hit some problems right out the door (literally); both player 1 and player 2 will tube-launch successfully. However, from player 2's perspective, player 1 is still "stuck" inside of the launch tube and hasn't actually launched, along with a number of other fighters.  Upon inspection it looks like all of the fighters that are supposed to tube-launch simply don't from player 2's perspective - i.e. red, green, and blue squadrons stay stuck in the tubes, while yellow squadron (which I think starts the mission already in space, although I could be wrong?) appears fine.

This is all on the client end - from the host perspective, the fighters are in space and working fine, which means both players effectively go out of sync. Not completely so though - if the host player parks himself in front of the broken client player in space and shoots, the client player will see the projectiles but they just appear out of thin air (because on his screen the host player is still in the launch bay). As another side effect, the client player will also get random debug spam about docking bays already being occupied any time an AI ship in one of the playable squads dies and tries to respawn:

Code: [Select]

Network Killing off Delta 4
Network Killing off Red 3
Network Killing off Red 4
WARNING: "Docking bay "Stbd Tube5" is already occupied with ship ""!" at lua.cpp:11832
Frame 2850 too long!!: frametime = 3.741 (3.741)
Frame 2852 too long!!: frametime = 0.254 (0.254)
WARNING: "Docking bay "Stbd Tube7" is already occupied with ship ""!" at lua.cpp:11832

Yeah - basically all side effects of the tube-launch not seeming to work correctly from the client side

This was in a standard multiplayer game - I'll attach the logs from the client where the issues occurred (I can grab the host logs too if you need them).

As for the standalone server, I actually couldn't get far enough to test the mission properly. I could launch the standalone server, open a game client on my other system, and join it. But a few seconds after I started "The Strike", the server crashed (before my client even hit the mission-loading state) with the following pair of errors:

Code: [Select]


Desktop (debug):

---------------------------
Error!
---------------------------
Malloc Failed!

ntdll.dll! ZwWaitForSingleObject + 21 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObjectEx + 67 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObject + 18 bytes
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe! <no symbol>
[...]
[ This info is in the clipboard so you can paste it somewhere now ]


Use Ok to break into Debugger, Cancel to exit.

---------------------------
OK   Cancel   
---------------------------

(Hit Cancel)

---------------------------
Microsoft Visual C++ Debug Library
---------------------------
Debug Error!

Program: D:\Diaspora\fs2_open_Diaspora_R1_Debug.exe

HEAP CORRUPTION DETECTED: after Normal block (#85165) at 0x0942B760.
CRT detected that the application wrote to memory after end of heap buffer.

Memory allocated at d:\code\freespace\diaspora_dev\code\globalincs\windebug.cpp(1784).


(Press Retry to debug the application)
---------------------------
Abort   Retry   Ignore   
---------------------------

Other missions worked fine, it was only The Strike that caused it to shoot itself in the head. The corresponding server log is also included in my attachments.

I think once the tube launch issue is tackled, I can then move on to checking out the other bits in more detail (combat landings, latency, etc).

[attachment kidnapped by pirates]

[karajorma]

That's rather strange. The tube launch aspect of The Strike is the part I tested the most heavily and it did work at one point.

I'm currently on holiday and it will be a couple of weeks until I'm in a position to have two PC's again so that I can check this. But I'll definitely look into it as soon as I get home.

[ksotar]

Well, finally I played it. First, and most important: it works with recent nightlies! Tubes launch, Cylons arrive, goals fail - everything like it should be

Looking closely into it I found that notorious multiplayer (MP) problem is in full power here. It shows itself the most in mods like SWOT where:
  1) speeds of ships and projectiles are much greater then in original FS;
  2) ship sizes are smaller;
  3) autoaim is used;
  4) maybe some other factors.

It leads to your ability to hit target (which obviously drops in MP) drop almost to zero. If we express this in numbers it will be like this. I have following accuracy against fighters:
  1) FS (no mods except MVPs) single player - ~25%
  2) FS MP - ~12%  (still playable I think)
  3) SWOT or Diaspora - ~0-1%

It is all due to client-server data discrepancy, you can easily see this effect by watching your projectiles "hit" the enemy on your screen, and enemy ship could even start to burn, but its HUD damage stays like it was. I have a video how it is seen from client and server: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tinl9RIEBdY

BTW,

Code: [Select]

-cap_object_update 0 wouldn't do any good here - enemy ships may appear to fly more smooth, but it is only on client side, on server side discrepancy may be even worse due to the low update rate.

But I hope we could overcome this problem in some time - there are several people on it.

Later I'll write down some unrelated issues with this mission, which I hope could be fixed without messing with the engine.

[karajorma]

Well I'm glad the mission itself seems to be mostly working. I'll happily look into any remaining issues.

[ksotar]

Here it goes.

I played as a client with no player as a server. I used 01-oct and 15-oct nightlies with no notable difference between them.

1) Strangely enough server doesn't react to "\" presses (while client do). That's just minor issue since "launch by time" performs just fine.
2) On the second respawn my client has "Glide" state locked (and I can't get rid of it pressing keys) and in this state he appears in the tube, and glides all the way to the left through the "Theseus" no matter of its hull structure (like if "no collision" is on). Third respawn is ok since it is outside the Theseus (but no "Glide" is on as well).
3) Theseus turrets animates and behaves somehow erratic (see the screen).
4) I haven't investigate in details, but seems that AI wings doing nothing, at least I didn't feel any cover from them (which is supposed to be from the briefing).

That's all I remembered for now, maybe there will be more.

[ksotar]

UPD By "AI doing nothing" I mean, for example, that nobody attacks missile launchers with me.

[karajorma]

They don't make any attempt to cover you?