Oops, no, it didn't work! The ratings HAD been there, but after closing the game and re-opening some time later, the ratings had disappeared again?! |
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Thank you, Tom7, I could fix the ratings. And of course -> noname, thank you, too: your levels are always great! |
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Thanks, I fixed the moderately interesting bug with losing ratings and uploaded new versions for windows and OS X. Unfortunately, this (mostly) corrupted the ratings in your player file when it saved your .esp again. It's possible to manually recover them if you have a backup of your player file. If you look at the file in a text editor, you'll see a section that starts with "-- ratings". Each line in that section is a checksum of the level and then the encoded rating. If you see any that start with "0123456789abcdef", then these are buggy ones and you might as well delete them. You can just copy and paste any good ones from your old file. Also if you haven't really done anything with the new version, just copying your old .esp file to the new version should work fine now.
If anybody lost all their ratings and doesn't have a good way to get them back, I could maybe make a recovery mode, but it would be nice to avoid that complication. Let me know. Data-loss bugs are the worst kind, so I'm really sorry about that!
noname: Thank you for all your great levels and cogent feedback and enthusiasm; it's been a pleasure! |
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13292. Anonymous (117.204.134.206) –
27 Aug 2016 09:47:35
[ Another failure ]
Broken Mario Bros.?
(http://sketdance.wikia.com/wiki/Special_Mariko_Broken) |
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BTW: I forgot to mention that my ratings are missing as well. |
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And I would like to thank Tom7 for making this game, and to everyone who made levels and played my levels. I've had a lot of fun with this game for the past 11 years. |
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Thank you so much, Tom! Is seems to work normally on OS X El Capitan. |
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Yes, the other data (solutions, preferences) seems to be imported correctly. Only ratings are missing.
BTW, the website says that the default installation folder should be fine, but on Windows that folder is a subfolder of Program Files, and it seems that all modern Windows (I think starting from Vista?) by default do not allow modification of any subfolders of Program Files except during installs/uninstalls. At least in Win 8, any writes by a program to its own folder under Program Files are redirected somewhere (I can't remember where). Not sure about the case of Win 10, but when I tried to install the 64-bit Escape to the default folder and start the program (without moving/copying any player file), the Default player is shown but cannot be selected: if I try to select it, it gives an alert which says,
Couldn't read player Default.esp
ENTER: OK
and if I then press ENTER, Escape just quits. Of course, my solution is to install to another folder not under Program Files. But this means that the default folder in the installer is probably not working for new Windows, contrary to what the website says. |
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Thanks for the excellent feedback!
It seems that maybe a simple solution for the accidental-enter issue would be to just let the restart action be undone like other moves. This would complicate things a bit (right now undo is implemented by just truncating your current solution) but I think it could be made intuitive and I do understand that frustration.
I vaguely remember that solution bug, which is a bit harder because I don't really understand the solution management code any more (I was in the middle of redesigning it in 2009 I think, which is what caused the bug). Will look, and your pref seems like it'd be straightforward.
I will look into the ratings being missing this weekend; if I can reproduce it, it's probably a shallow bug. I guess the other data (solutions) was imported correctly? |
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Bug: After copying my noname.esp to the folder of the new 64-bit Escape and opened the file with 64-bit Escape, all my ratings are gone. |
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BTW, it seems that some players prefer that when one solves a level again, the new solution replaces the default solution if faster, and is discarded if slower. I myself prefer that new solutions are always stored, without discarding anything. So I suggest that when the solution management system is redesigned, the player can choose whether new solution replaces old solution or is just stored, in the form of a setting in the preferences menu. |
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If I understand correctly, N7DOT's venting is not really about bookmarks. Rather, it is about being easy to lose one's progress when one accidentally hits the Enter key. Imagine a keyboard where the arrow keys are close to the Enter key, and that the player wants to make 500 moves to put the level into a certain state. Suppose, say, after 490 moves, the player accidentally hit the Enter key followed by an arrow key. Then there is a 3/4 chance that the player is back at the beginning without any memory of the 490 moves. What if the player cannot remember the sequence of moves he made? This could happen in a bot-intense level.
I don't think one can do much about the above without making the interface very annoying. The only thing I can think of is to prompt the user whenever the Enter key is hit.
On the other hand, there is a bookmark bug that seems to be introduced in the 2009 version, and is still in the current 2016 version. This bug is apparently not in the 2007 version. The bug is that one cannot make more than one bookmark per level. If one tries to make a second bookmark to a level, then one of the following happens:
(i) if the player is at a move number larger than that of the stored bookmark, then no new bookmark is made; the stored bookmark remains the only bookmark;
(ii) if the player is at a move number smaller than that of the stored bookmark, then the current position replaces the stored bookmark; the originally stored bookmark is loss.
I also found that after one solves the level, if one then makes a bookmark which is shorter than the solution, then the bookmark replaces the solution, and the level is regarded as unsolved if there are no other solutions for the level in the player's file.
I actually looked at the source code back in 2013, and I think I have found the culprit. I made a post in this feedback thread back in 2013. The post is dated 03.30.13 02:29:15. I hope this is of help, and sorry for the long post. |
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I saw some complaints in the level comment threads about something frustrating relating to bookmarks. Can someone summarize the bug for me? I'm sorry for not paying attention for so long, but I'm actually in a position to fix stuff now, so it would be useful to know. :) |
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(Fixed bugs on the server, unrelated to this new version, where comments showed up as gibberish and nobody could post here--I hope?) |
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Hi folks,
I uploaded a new version of Escape for Windows and OS X, both 64-bit and compiled with new compilers and stuff. It's not possible to auto-update to these, so you'll want to move your player file and any custom levels manually (just ask if you don't know how to do this -- I should write up a little help page anyway) into the new app. But hopefully for the next 10 years it will be able to update from the net. :)
I know about the following bugs. On windows:
- Console window shows. It's harmless but annoying
On macOS:
- Colors are wrong in little main-menu animation,
- Weird artifacts in level thumbnails,
- Menus and editors can have the "wrong" colors
I know what's causing all of these, and will fix, but I wanted to get these more-or-less-working versions out there so that people can play and alert me to anything else that needs to be fixed.
Long live Escape! |
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right on.
excellent as always,
an additional ten points for Dude Ascending |
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Do you ever have anyone else help you work on these projects? I have been watching you videos since the release of Play Fun and find that you are developing software I myself am quite interested in. (AI and more recently the dynamic conversion of 2D games to 3D)
I may not have a PhD or near as much knowledge as you in the programming/well overall general world (May not would be quite an understatement) Though I would love to collaborate, or at least reach out to you regarding some of the problems I am running into with similar programs I wish to write.
Hope you do manage to finish this project and soon develop software that revolutionizes the world! (Well, assuming you want to do that kind of stuff) If you do have a moment please feel free to reach out to me at gay.carson.andrew@gmail.com |
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All your work on escape is appreciated. You brought enjoyment to many people. I keep checking here in the hope that someday escape will be reborn!
Thanks Tom! |
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Thanks for reminding me that people still play it! :) |
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Is that Berk from "Trapdoor"? http://bogleech.com/trapdoor/td-berk2.jpg
(also http://media.spelpappan.se/2013/09/The_Trapdoor.png ) |
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So do I! I hope it's not gone forever. |
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Thanks, and I hope so too!
I prefer the bass and occasional tambourine too... it's just a matter of not being set up in my new place yet. This one was taking way too long to record, and so I went stripped-down on the technical tracks. Next time. :) |
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Awesome!! Bromides and What a waste are both really great. Hope we don't have to wait another 5 years for the next one :P
BTW, whatever happened to the bass that was on previous AADs? The more-fully-arranged "rock" songs on Pro se ick and Method etc were awesome. |
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