[bug] Massive sync loss

from Sins Forums
On Saturday we played a 5-6 hour long game.  Somewhere in the middle of the game we ended up with a situation in which two of us lost sync with our third player - without crash - so badly that when we looked at the starmap on his machine he occupied 1/4 of the map and on both of ours he was wiped out and ceased to exist.  Literally we went into star systems that he owned - and he could see our fleets moving in - and when we got there we saw that star system occupied by the AI rather than him while on his map we were parked in his system.  Exiting, rebooting, and reloading the save did not resolve the issue.  Turns out we had been playing 'out of sync' in this manner for hours.  I'm guessing that the 'sync fix' in the past made it so that the game doesn't crash any longer when you are out of sync thus it tolerates the problem and things get out of hand so long that basically people are playing 'in their own paralle universes' so to speak.  In any case, just thought I'd bring it up.  We have played 3 or 4 multiplayer games using the beta and this is the only time that such a thing has occurred.
6,358 views 24 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
There was a similar report as well a little while ago. Are you playing with Alloy enabled? Monk had a theory that it's caused by Alloy, because the sync issue was fixed in 1.05.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if saves or anything would actually help track it down, for 1.05 they had to use a special logger to debug it.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
I don't think the sync bug was fixed in v1.05. I have had quite a few games (in v1.05) where I notice things are out of sync. I then let everyone know that a minidump will soon occur, and it does (within 5-10min).
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
I have had this problem once in non-beta; no minidump occurred, but some time passed before we realized that we were no longer playing the same game (although the chat was still working). However, it hasn't happened since so I couldn't tell you anything more about it. :-\

-RaptorJesus
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
No, we were actually playing a LAN game all in the same room. Sadly we played for a few hours without noticing this as each of us was being assailed pretty hard. Only when we thought one of our players was about to be knocked out did we start asking him if he needed help....then he stated that he had wiped out one comp and was on a second thus suddenly raising the question of what the heck was going on.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Oh, yes, a LAN desync issue was definitely reported. I would suggest emailing [email protected] directly and asking if there's anything you can do, I know they treat sync issues with priority and will be very interested in any info and in getting it resolved.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
In such a game, everyone can win!!!
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
In such a game, everyone can win!!!
End of quote

You see? They thought of everything. ;p
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
This is the most ugly bug of sins. Not carrier bug not even that minidumps, because after crash u just restart game and play again. When desynchronized often u have no idea that u r not playin multiplayer game - i hate it and faced it many times on ico. ;( I hate being tricked.
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
There was a similar report as well a little while ago. Are you playing with Alloy enabled? Monk had a theory that it's caused by Alloy, because the sync issue was fixed in 1.05.
End of quote


Annatar,

Here's the link to the thread you referenced:
other beta MP-desync thread


Of course, the above doesn't apply to LAN-desync issues. Anyone experiencing these issues should however send any save files, etc. to [email protected]


thanks,

the Monk
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
 :CONGRAT: Dankoo. I knew I wasn't that crazy to have imagined it :)
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
I knew I wasn't that crazy to have imagined it
End of quote

Well, you could have...

the_Monk, you've got a good memory of what's where.
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
Well, you could have...
End of quote


Inconceivable!

the_Monk, you've got a good memory of what's where.
End of quote


He probably used My Replies :P
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top
He probably used My Replies
End of quote

Oh hey! I thought I'd seen it before but thought I was just crazy from a long night of posting.

Edit: Now I see it right at the top of the page...
Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
He probably used My Replies :p 
End of quote



Sure Anny.....take away my "l33tne55"  ;p 

Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top
I do my best, Monk, as always :)

Oh hey! I thought I'd seen it before but thought I was just crazy from a long night of posting.

Edit: Now I see it right at the top of the page...
End of quote


Can't live without it, it's so handy. Especially when you're trying to sneak in a forum refresh at work, since it never suffers from the sometimes-slow-to-update thingamajig.
Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top
I declare thread jacking!  :HOT: 
Reply #17 from Sins Forums Top
Pfft, any info that could be given already was prior to the jacking of the thread!
Reply #18 from Sins Forums Top
I know, but I wanted to get a post in. :)
Reply #19 from Sins Forums Top
Post away. Hijack the thread yourself since the current discussion's not terribly important.
Reply #20 from Sins Forums Top
Lan desync has happened to me twice today. Both computers continue to run the game but one shows different planets occupied and fleets in different positions etc. Last week on a small map had no problems playing with the same computers etc. 2 people on local area network. Version 1.1b Both of the desyncs started out very early in the game, less than 25 min.
What should I send to support? Both computer's save files? anything else?
Reply #21 from Sins Forums Top

KayakNFly,

That should be enough (maybe a replay if you've got it).

Having said that, in a previous version the DEVS had a special "debug" .exe for testing SINS MP-desync, so I'm not sure how helpful that information will be.

thanks,

the Monk
Reply #22 from Sins Forums Top
What should I send to support? Both computer's save files? anything else?
End of quote


The replays, if they run from game start to the desync and beyond.
Reply #23 from Sins Forums Top
Got a reply from ironclad support. Said there isn't anything to do right now. They plan on comming out with a new 1.1 beta patch that will have MP Sync logging, and when that comes out to send the logs to them. But as of now they said no time line... so for now I quess i'll just hope it doesn't happen. :(
Reply #24 from Sins Forums Top
Good to know they're working on it.