Actual Unit Icon Bug

[Hackworth]

i ran into this one today. i was hosting an MP mission. the blue vehicles in these screen shots are AI controlled. 8/4D MICLIC breaches the northernmost minefield. 4M is supposed to proof the lane with 4M followed by 7B who will mark the lane. Bravo company would then pass through based on an event that all three vehicles that are part of the breach are successful in reaching a WP located on the oppossite side of the breach. these elements did not successfully breach the minefield, therefore the company did not pass through. so, when checking the AAR, i noticed a couple oddities.

i noticed that 4M was hung up in front of the breach. so, i assumed they hit mines. but, when i switched to actual vehicle icons, i noticed both vehicles in 4M successfully reached the opposite end of the minefield and continued to their next waypoint. however, the unit icon when set to "show actual position" shows the platoon still on the north side of the minefield. the "actual" unit icon and the actual vehicles do not agreeing with eachother in this instance.

these two screen shots are taken of the same "game" time.

Actual Unit Icon: http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss148/Feitsmann/SS_16_45_46.jpg

Actual Vehicle Icon: http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss148/Feitsmann/SS_16_46_18.jpg

the two vehicles icons closest to the east side of the minefield constitute 4M.

so, in this case it seems the event conditioned that these three units reach a WP on the opposite side of the field did not occur even though 4M actually hit and passed through the WP. the actual unit icon continued to show on the friendly side of the breach although the actual vehicles had passed through. strangely enough, 7B should NOT have moved to mark the lane unless 4M reached the WP on the opposite side of the minefield (move here if 4M reaches WP##). 7B moving out is NOT set to a universal event or condition, whereas the condition for Bravo company to pass through the breach is. so, 7B moved out because the vehicles in 4M actually hit the WP, but the universal event that should have caused Bravo company to pass through did not fire

are events/conditioned based on the "actual unit icon" or on where the actual vehicles are when it comes to reaching a waypoint? i can't think of any reason the 4M unit icon would hang up where it did. also, i don't understand why that when 4M actual vehicles hit the WP 7B moved out, but it did not count toward the universal event that should have caused Bravo to move out and pass through the lane. i was hosting the mission.

[GH_Lieste]

That does look odd...

Where is the waypoint that all breaching units must reach? What logic is used for the test? Does it do the same in single-player or is it only a MP issue?

[Hackworth]

haven't tried single player yet with this version, but i will in a bit. the WP is on the road east of the northernmost minefield. the logic is simple if IRRC -- if 4M has reached WP x, if 7B has reached WP X, and if 8/4D reached WP X. that should cause the event "Bravo Breach" or whatnot to be true. what's funny is that 7B should not have advanced at all if 4M has not reached the eastern WP at the minefield.

like i said earlier, i'll take another look at it in SP and see what happens. it takes a while in the mission before this series takes place and the player must achieve a minor OBJ prior to setting off the breach, so it's not too easy to test.

[Ssnake]

Maybe the units had a radio damage and couldn't sent a position update?

[Hackworth]

they were all AI controlled Ssnake. these screen shots are from the AAR -- with the "actual unit icons" and "actual vehicle" icons options selected respectively. i didn't even notice the discrepancy until i was viewing the action looking for the units. from the map, it seemed to make sense. the units were bogged down in front of the minefield. i thought one hit a mine or generally goofed -- maybe avoiding the field instead of trying to pave the lane. then i realized all of this. goona test it again here in a minute. i took a look at the events, WPs, etc. to ensure everything makes sense and i don't see any problems. heh, i can create some complicated crap sometimes, but this isn't it. i'll get back to you with the results of the next one. also, this mission was created on the FIRST release of PE. i haven't played it much in the last year or so, but we played it frequently in MP for at least a year after i made it. i've never seen any of these issues before. and it was tested heavily before release both in single and multi player. again, i'll get back to ya after i try it again.

[GH_Lieste]

Which mission?

[Hackworth]

ugh, it took 26 minutes to get to a point to test. no problems this round. i watched the map while they breached and evertying went off without a hitch. i went ahead and checked the AAR in both show actual units and show vehicle icons and there were no issues. i did open the mission earlier today in the editor to check the conditions. i closed and did not save it before testing it. i don't know if that makes a difference.

Lieste, the mission is Icepicks_M3A2_v1.0. here is a link:

http://www.steelbeasts.com/Downloads/p13_sectionid/267/p13_fileid/795

i'm not playing the winter version (if it's in the download). that has issues because it's hard as hell with no concealment... j/k lol.

oh and this was played in single player, but not in the mission editor. i wanted to test it as played. i hear playing from the editor can sometimes cause erroneous issues. but maybe that's hearsay.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Hackworth
CRAP/!!! WRONG LINK... CORRECTED

[Ssnake]

1. Even computer-owned vehicles can have malfunctions, including radio damage. If the radio is damaged, no position updates can be sent to anyone.
2. Position reports are based on the leader vehicle's position. If the leader gets separated from the rest of his platoon (but not separated enough that SB Pro considers the unit to be split) it may happen that the map position differs from the actual vehicle positions.
3. Furthermore, packet loss in a network session ("Network overload") can result in weird things.
4. Therefore I'd like to make sure that we can rule out these options before we start the bug hunt machinery.

[Hackworth]

i'll test it a bit a few more times. i'm going to update it and rerelease it again with some of the new functions activated.

4M is a 2 vehicle platoon of M1A1 mineplows. both vehicles are beyond the breach while the icon remains on the opposite side. i double checked it last night and the condition for Bravo Coy to breach actually allows for 4M to reach the waypoint just east of the minefield (denoting that it's proofed the field) OR if it reaches it's BP after hitting the "proofed" WP. the unit reached both but didn't trigger the event. also, these units are not within range of the enemy and the enemy does not have a line of site on them. then again, i played it through last night and didn't hit a problem at all...

i'll try and reproduce it in a scenario that's shorter. if that doesn't happen, well, i'll blame it on a freak incident.

RE: #4, i hear ya. i don't want to cause more work for you guys.

[Ssnake]

Triggering events based on a specific unit reaching a specific waypoint can occasionally be problematic. I prefer to use regions around those waypoints as a reference, it's a bit more robust that way.

[Hackworth]

good tip! i'll keep that one in my back pocket for use later