[Crash] Desync Bridge? WTF!?!

[bad_avatar]

Anyone have a clue as to why my map desyncs when certain units die or use abilities on this bridge (at least I think)?

Why on earth would this happen? When I remove the bridge and replace it with regular terrain, no problems! Triggers are not causing this; I've had them all disabled.

It only happens when two AI-driven evil heroes start crossing the bridge while chasing the defenders (on the left) toward the player base to the east.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[cohadar]

Are there any terrain modification spells involved?
WarStomp, Shockwave....

 

[WaterKnight]

Has the bridge animations? Walkable destructables change the terrain height according to model and animations are not synced. Does everyone see the bridge?

 

[bad_avatar]

Thanks guys. Answers:

@cohadar - Would carrion swarm, impale, or storm bolt qualify?

@WaterKnight - Everyone can see the bridge. I couldn't find any animation names or even fields in the object properties. It's a "long stone bridge" destructible.

 

[WaterKnight]

The mentioned abilities do not create terrain deformations. Does the problem occur regularly and immediately? Can you upload the map/a downgraded version that contains the problem?

 

[bad_avatar]

Be happy to; thanks! Here is a version of it with most triggers removed but object data intact. Note that I have managed to duplicate the issue with all relevant triggers turned OFF so I know this is not trigger related!

To duplicate the split, let the game start for a few seconds. Then click on any defender in one of the 5 lanes and type the following:

getu 666
getu 667

This will bring the "Avatars" to them. If they avatars run away from the base after the fight, they are targeting someone in that direction so click on a unit at the opposite side and type the same thing to move them to a point where they will cross a bridge.

The split will usually happen when they cross the bridge (90% of the time), and disappears when the bridges are replaced with regular terrain.

 

[bad_avatar]

UPDATE: After testing it with WaterKnight, we couldn't reproduce the desync. So I tested it using my desktop and my wife's laptop and it worked fine. It seems to only happen when I use my Dell Studio 17 laptop - Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz, 4GB ram, Radeon 3650. Anyone know why a particular computer would desync? I've tried using all the same graphic settings... What a frustrating problem! This laptop was going to be my mapping laptop throughout the Christmas holidays!

 

[fr0ggE]

I've had a mysterious desync in my map in an area using the same bridge model! I didn't know what was causing it, but never thought it could be the bridge until I saw this thread.

Quick thought: why don't you try using a different bridge doodad and see if it still desyncs. If not, try making a custom bridge with the bridge that works, but changing the model to this one. Then see if it still desyncs.

Let me know if it works....it might fix my map, too!

 

[WaterKnight]

Taking a peek at the triggers, there are some things that are not so good/should be careful with.

You have localplayer-blocks that display text messages. That alone is no problem but you create new strings to display, which desyncs the string table. I do not know how critical that is. It was mentioned by others in these forums a few times. You also play sounds in localblock which is a problem in case you want you use some other functions/actions on that sound like GetSoundIsPlaying. It is normally advised to have a sound for each player and set the volumes locally. Although I could not prove it yet, in rare cases, Waits are said to be desync-prone.

Misc:
Do not use Waits in Integer A/B loops. Integer A/B are global, you may overwrite them in another trigger before the loop has finished. Running events in the loop body should also be avoided because of this. bj_lastCreatedGroup is not set when any group is created but when you do Unit - Create Units..., that group contains the units being created then. It's not even freshly created everytime, so destroying bj_lastCreatedGroup would disable some functionality.

Whatever, since I still do not know how to reconstruct it but it happens for you regularly, I can only direct you to decrease the map contents further to surround the cause. Start with imports and object editor stuff please, as the map sizes 5 mb and the loading process is rather long.

 

[bad_avatar]

Thanks for the suggestions - I've made some updates to the triggers for the map (would you be interested in seeing a version with more triggers?).

As far as the DESYNC goes, I'm still at a loss. Any help from anyone would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[bad_avatar]

Update: I've tried several bridge models and custom models but they all give a desync when certain units try to cross them. The most annoying part is that this is computer specific and nobody else seems to be able to replicate the problem.

 

[WaterKnight]

Then rather find out what are the differences between the units that cause the problem and those that do not.