BETA 3: REPORTING BUGS

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from Elemental Forums

We're seeing a lot of beta tester bug reports that are not following the reporting guidelines.

As a practical matter, there is only one thing we really need and that is the crash file.

In your c:\programdata\stardock\elemental - war of magic directory are zip files when the game crashes.

Inside those zip files is the debug.err and the .dmp file that when we load it, will actually let us open the game and see the exact place in the code it crashed.

Screenshot of the directory:

http://screencast.com/t/MzE5MmQ1Yz

If you're running Windows XP, it's in the hidden \documents and settings\ directory thing.

Use DropBox (http://www.dropbox.com) to share these files.  

There's about 3 separate crash bugs in beta 3 that once fixed should dramatically improve the stability.  I'm not going anywhere for the 4th of July so if I can fix them, I'll put up a new EXE for people to try but I can't do much without those DMP files.

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Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

And what do you want/need for bugs which do not cause crashes?

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

It's all in the reporting guide which is a sticky in the beta forum.

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Gotcha.  Looks like I missed the debug.err file in my prior postings.  I'll correct that.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

hmm, im not sure what im doing wrong but i cant seem to find the zip files. im pretty sure im in the right place but... i dunno. ide love to give my crash files if i could find them.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

If you are using Win 7 (Pro 32 bit), they should be in "C:\ProgramData\Stardock\Elemental War of Magic", where "C" is the drive letter of the drive Windows is installed on.


Best regards,
Steven. 

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

What happened with food production buildings? I can build only one Skathling pit, and that's all...

UPD solved, look like it's a bug with Empire race

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Would it be helpful to upload all my dump files all at once? I have no idea what causes some of the crashes but I have about 32 memory dumps at a total of 72.4MB. I didn't report on them because I got tired after while and most of the errors seem to have been reported.

 

Edit:

At any rate, I've uploaded all my dumps here with an included copy of latest Debug.err and DxDiag:

http://jerome.agadak.net/elemental/Beta3%5B.805%5D/dumps/

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

What other information would you like when the .ZIP files are not being generated as a result of a crash?  I've had over 20 now, and no .ZIP's to speak of.

  • Win7 Ultimate 64-bit
  • Intel 2.4GHz Quad Core Q6600
  • 8GB RAM
  • nVidia GeForce 8500GT
  • Realtek High Def Audio [on board
  • debug.err
  • dxdiag.txt
Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Ragatag, reply 9
What other information would you like when the .ZIP files are not being generated as a result of a crash?  I've had over 20 now, and no .ZIP's to speak of.


Win7 Ultimate 64-bit
Intel 2.4GHz Quad Core Q6600
8GB RAM
nVidia GeForce 8500GT
Realtek High Def Audio [on board]

 

All of that info is in the dxdiag file you're supposed to post - so just included it in your posts.

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

Crash report zip. I open my folder C:\Program Files\Stardock Games\Elemental War Of Magic . I cant find any Zip files and Im crashing alot. Anyhelp?

 

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting ryansee, reply 11
Crash report zip. I open my folder C:\Program Files\Stardock Games\Elemental War Of Magic . I cant find any Zip files and Im crashing alot. Anyhelp?

 

It's in C:\ProgramData not Program Files. It's a hidden folder so make sure you set it to show hidden folders in the folder options.

Reply #15 from Elemental Forums Top

For people not finding it in XP, check "All Users\Application Data\Stardock\Elemental - War of Magic" instead of your user directory.

Reply #16 from Elemental Forums Top

Regularly crashing and only loads saved games once in every 7-8 tries.

Tried to link the files as suggested:-

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8726401/Elemental0_805-2010-07-03T00-03-55-354.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8726401/Elemental0_805-2010-07-03T00-27-26-610.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8726401/Elemental0_805-2010-07-03T01-05-20-488.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8726401/Elemental0_805-2010-07-03T01-48-55-123.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8726401/Elemental0_805-2010-07-03T03-43-32-08.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8726401/Elemental0_805-2010-07-03T12-57-51-975.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8726401/Elemental0_805-2010-07-03T12-57-51-975.zip

Looks a great game and cannot wait until fully operational.

Until then I will keep playing and only say a few expletives when I have to restart.

 

Reply #17 from Elemental Forums Top

Um how do i report a crash that doesnt seem to register as a crash?  My town is in the process of going up from lvl 3 to 4 and the game stops working.  Doesnt even crash and close saying ti crashed.  Do i get a screen cap and dxdiag.txt?  Or do i just simply post the 4 zip files?

Reply #18 from Elemental Forums Top

[.305] 300 turns in. 290 turns loads but auto-save and pre-auto-save do not.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8370296/Elemental0_805-2010-07-04T14-45-35-262.zip

 

added a .DMP. The .zip was corrupt, assume it never got formed. 890 + turns, was loading more troops on a transport for delivery to an island.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8370296/Elemental0_805-2010-07-04T17-33-45-118.dmp

Reply #19 from Elemental Forums Top

As reported before, under Windows7 Ultimate 64-bit, no .ZIP files are created following a game crash to desktop.  Crashes do not cause any error messages, and act as if the exit() C function is getting called.  Such crashes have been experienced after 5 turns of play up through over 200 turns of play, and seem very random.

So far, I have been unable to load a save game.  All attempts end the same way; I get the music, game cursor, and scrolling scenery indefinitely (longest period that I waited was one hour).  Have to CTRL-ALT-DEL to run Task Manager and End Task.

Had one odd situation where the game allowed me to create a city without the appropriate gold reserve.  Resulted in a gold deficit (-370) and prevented the game turn from advancing.  The entire interface was fully functional, but pressing the advance turn simply did nothing.

 

 

Reply #21 from Elemental Forums Top

Game interface froze after selecting a building to build and clicking 'Done'.  Cursor moves, music plays, but no mouse scrolling, keyboard input, and GUI non-responsive.  Had to CTRL-ALT-DEL to recover via Task Manager; no .ZIP was generated.

Reply #22 from Elemental Forums Top

Posting a link to my main post. I have been experiencing the same issues and wanted to post here in case this is where the DEVs are looking :)

https://forums.elementalgame.com/386702

I included all requested reports in that link. Except the Zips which are not being dumped in my computer.

 

Reply #23 from Elemental Forums Top

I have reported a crash problem for the last three versions of the beta. Last one in this post (with zip file link in dropbox)

https://forums.elementalgame.com/386222

Reply #24 from Elemental Forums Top

Inexplicable crash: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8947534/Elemental0_806-2010-07-10T18-45-46-417.zip

_________________________________________________________________________________

Windows 7 x64
ASUS M4A785TD-V Motherboard
AMD A3 720 BE Processor unlocked to quad core @ 2.8 ghz
4 GB DDR3 RAM at 1333MHz
ASUS Brand ATI Radeon HD 5770 Video Card
Latest ATI video drivers
Playing game at 1900X1200 w HQ settings

Reply #25 from Elemental Forums Top

I don't remember what I was doing when these crashes occured. Now, when I start a new game, it just hangs while creating the map.

 

Here's a few more zip files for ya...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8949112/Elemental0_806-2010-07-10T21-24-27-195.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8949112/Elemental0_806-2010-07-10T21-29-59-661.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8949112/Elemental0_806-2010-07-10T22-56-11-657.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8949112/Elemental0_806-2010-07-10T23-24-22-104.zip