Gamebreaking (well, Foundrybreaking) bug.

vheraun · September 2013

SECOND TOTAL EDIT:

In my quest, I'm using two timers. They both function perfectly in the foundry itself, but they don't work in the published version. What (usually) happens is that they are actually triggered, but the time between the ticks (they're deathfall timers) is awfully longer than expected (e.g., a tick that takes about 3 seconds in the foundry takes about 30 live). The breaks between the ticks are not always set (as far as I can tell) and it all seems pretty random. Any ideas?

avistar001 · September 2013

vheraun wrote: »

So, I have half-created a quest (still in beta state and with half the maps), and I wanted to publish it to give it a try in the actual game and to give a friend of mine the chance to test it. So, I did publish it, only to find out that a particular timer doesn't work. It works perfectly fine in the foundry, but in the game it does nothing. Is this a known bug or something? (the timer is in range of what it affects and seems to have no other problems - as I said, it works wonders in the foundry)

EDIT: Upon reading this a second time, it didn't sound as disastrous as I wanted it to. Let's suffice to say that players won't be able to do a thing in my foundry if this timer doesn't work.

Morning Vheraun, Tell us about your timer, what did you use?

vheraun · September 2013

Edited with new data.

crok2 · September 2013

Mobs health points scale to your level. At higher levels they take longer to die. Sounds like you tested it with a low level foundry toon.

edit: They also gain new abilities at higher levels, just as players do.

eldarth · September 2013

...and you need to be very careful that they spawn at the proper height, and are "sealed off" from nearby mobs by invisible walls. And if you have something that walks a path it *will* teleport over/around walls/pits/obstacles a certain distance to in order to continue it's path. Since pathing in the Foundry is limited at best you need to be careful. You also need to be careful at higher levels mobs and guards have "knockback" attacks that could knock your timer mobs over path edges and such if you don't box them in well.

Edit: Something else I have found useful is to have a teleporter that will take me to a platform overlooking the timer mechanism so I can trigger the start and then go and actually observe how the timer is operating.

vheraun · September 2013

Health scaling wouldn't be a problem, it's a deathfall timer. But I was planning to do just what you said eldarth. I'll be back with more info.

vheraun · September 2013

Tried it again, doing what eldarth suggested. Apparently it works fine when I'm in the same room. I'm inclined to blame distance, though it is not beyong 250 units. Tried moving the room as close as possible (since both rooms are big caves) and I'll try it again once it's published.

vheraun · September 2013

Ugh. Still doesn't work. I made a complete edit of the original post. Please people, try to help...

eldarth · September 2013

Ah - a deathfall timer make sure you are spawning them very close to the center of clear area - and make sure it is clear all the way down if you are adjusting fall times. I have had spawns appear close enough to an edge that they catch and stick on a cavern wall.
What cavern are you using for drop-timer? I've had good luck with the corner path - it's got a fairly good size hole in it.

Edit: And you're dropping single-unit mobs? I know multi-unit mobs sometimes spawn in random locations around the encounter center point unless you specifically place each unit.

vheraun · September 2013

eldarth wrote: »

Ah - a deathfall timer make sure you are spawning them very close to the center of clear area - and make sure it is clear all the way down if you are adjusting fall times. I have had spawns appear close enough to an edge that they catch and stick on a cavern wall.
What cavern are you using for drop-timer? I've had good luck with the corner path - it's got a fairly good size hole in it.

Edit: And you're dropping single-unit mobs? I know multi-unit mobs sometimes spawn in random locations around the encounter center point unless you specifically place each unit.

Hey there, thanks for checking back in. I'm using the cave room with the hole in the middle. I'm dropping single-unit mobs (namely Drow Assassins). I'll try placing them closer to the center, but I don't think this is it, when I teleported there they were dropping normally.

vheraun · September 2013

Edited again, after failing with another timer.

builderx · September 2013

This is why we need a timer trigger object ASAP.

kithlis · September 2013

The encounters you are dropping - is the spawning circle (the blue circle around the encounter in Layout mode) centered around the area where the player is standing?
If the deathdrop timer encounters are too far away from the player, they will not spawn (and hence will not drop/die) when you expect them to. This is only happens in LIVE. In the foundry it always works regardless of where the spawn circle is located.

reiwulf · September 2013

Yeah, a real timer would be very nice addition.

vheraun · September 2013

kithlis wrote: »

The encounters you are dropping - is the spawning circle (the blue circle around the encounter in Layout mode) centered around the area where the player is standing?
If the deathdrop timer encounters are too far away from the player, they will not spawn (and hence will not drop/die) when you expect them to. This is only happens in LIVE. In the foundry it always works regardless of where the spawn circle is located.

This could actually be it. But no, the spawning circles are very far from the player. The timer is in the next room, but, both rooms being cave ones, they are **** big. I can get them no closer... here's a screenshot. Please help me out with this one, it's been driving me crazy...

Here's the link to the screenshot (nothing fishy, on my halfling rogue's honor): http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a536/Sotos01/Foundry_zpse9ce266c.png

The timer is on the room on the left, while the room with the stuff the timer affects is the one next to it (on the right). The player will be standing in the red circle on that room.

kithlis · September 2013

vheraun wrote: »

The timer is on the room on the left, while the room with the stuff the timer affects is the one next to it (on the right). The player will be standing in the red circle on that room.

Yeah, I'm betting that is your issue. One way I have gotten around that, is to have two cave rooms and have them about equidistant on either side of the room the player is standing in:

[Timer Room1] {Player Room} [Timer Room2]

Then use an encounter that has 2 enemies. In the detail mode, drop one enemy in Room1 and the other in Room2. The blue circle in Layout mode should center somewhere between, and with some small adjustments, should end up right around the player.

I also like to use a different cave room. It is Cave Room - C Shape Small, as almost 1/2 of that room is a hole, and reduces the chance the encounter gets stuck on something. It's also a bit smaller so it fits in more places.

Also, looking at your map - if there is a way to obscure part of the {Player Room}, you could just drop the timer-encounter in that same room. Then you wouldn't need to try to use a different one. Some well placed decorations/walls should prevent the player from seeing the encounters fall, and prevent them from trying to initiate combat.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: And YES, real timers would be amazing.

valwryn · September 2013

Getting timers to work properly on the real servers is a nightmare. You can setup everything to work properly when you're building it but it just won't work right Live. Neverwinter Nights was notorious for this. I'm curious about this too, let us know when ya got everything working right.

lolsorhand · September 2013

I've only ever used a mob on mob timer, for a short flash I had one easy guard encounter vs 20 hard ones.

eldarth · September 2013

Set up a platform below the cavepath and just above the deathplane (y=-70 perhaps) so you can watch the victims drop and put a teleporter to that platform so you can get to it after timer is started on live servers and watch what is happening (maybe even put a light source in the middle so you can see everything well.

It could be that the deathplane is broken and they scaled it down to only do lava/fire type damage.
If so, you should be able to see the victim standing on the deathplane taking damage.

Gamebreaking (well, Foundrybreaking) bug.

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