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Trenloe
April 19th, 2012, 18:05
I'm sure I've seen posts or heard lachancery mention it during a game, mentioning weird screen corruption/artifacts when using the RMC ruleset? I've never seen it before from my side (but I don't GM it).

There's a mention of it appearing here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=123386&postcount=8

It suggests it's related to the "ring bell" on the combat tracker.

Lachancery - when we played last week with Dakadin's modification to the ring bell (only on the active player's turn) can you remember if you saw any screen corruption?

Strange that it might be related to ring bell - but it could well be due to a directX audio/video issue. After all, this is one of the only times that FG does any audio...

Blackfoot
April 19th, 2012, 18:25
I'm sure I've seen posts or heard lachancery mention it during a game, mentioning weird screen corruption/artifacts when using the RMC ruleset? I've never seen it before from my side (but I don't GM it).

There's a mention of it appearing here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=123386&postcount=8

It suggests it's related to the "ring bell" on the combat tracker.

Lachancery - when we played last week with Dakadin's modification to the ring bell (only on the active player's turn) can you remember if you saw any screen corruption?

Strange that it might be related to ring bell - but it could well be due to a directX audio/video issue. After all, this is one of the only times that FG does any audio...
I definitely saw it on the player side during the battle in the keep, but I don't remember seeing anything last week.
Actually.. during the game 2 weeks ago was the first time and only time I've seen it.

dr_venture
April 19th, 2012, 18:32
When I was doing my testing of the ruleset a few weeks back, I saw the screen artifacts, but I was running without any clients connected - just the GM only. Thus, I believe , no chime was occurring at any point.

Trenloe
April 19th, 2012, 18:32
I definitely saw it on the player side during the battle in the keep, but I don't remember seeing anything last week.
Actually.. during the game 2 weeks ago was the first time and only time I've seen it.
That was a session which was completely combat tracker based, right? 30-odd turns I seem to remember, with a "bing" ringbell each player turn on each computer.

IF (of course) the ringbell is causing the issue... :)

Trenloe
April 19th, 2012, 18:34
When I was doing my testing of the ruleset a few weeks back, I saw the screen artifacts, but I was running without any clients connected - just the GM only. Thus, I believe , no chime was occurring at any point.
Oh well - the bell might not be it then... Unless there are 2 causes - one on the GM side and one on the player side.

Trenloe
April 19th, 2012, 18:35
When I was doing my testing of the ruleset a few weeks back, I saw the screen artifacts, but I was running without any clients connected - just the GM only. Thus, I believe , no chime was occurring at any point.
Were you running the combat tracker? Stepping through NPC entries?

Blackfoot
April 19th, 2012, 18:38
That was a session which was completely combat tracker based, right? 30-odd turns I seem to remember, with a "bing" ringbell each player turn on each computer.

IF (of course) the ringbell is causing the issue... :)
That's right. Definitely a tracker heavy session.

dr_venture
April 19th, 2012, 18:48
Yeah, all I did was open a new session and run a combat between 4 characters and about 8 orcs - nothing else. Combat is where I always run into my Rolemaster problems.

Blackfoot
April 19th, 2012, 18:51
Interesting... sounds like it is getting narrowed down.

Trenloe
April 19th, 2012, 18:54
Yeah, all I did was open a new session and run a combat between 4 characters and about 8 orcs - nothing else. Combat is where I always run into my Rolemaster problems.
OK, if you had PCs in the combat tracker, the ringbell code would still get executed:


if state and getType() == "pc" then
-- Turn notification
local msg = {};
msg.text = getName();
msg.font = "narratorfont";
msg.icon = "indicator_flag";

ChatManager.deliverMessage(msg);

local usernode = link.getTargetDatabaseNode()
if usernode then
User.ringBell(usernode.getName());
end
end

JohnD
April 19th, 2012, 18:55
That session which was the end of the 30+ round combat was the one where I was just observing; I also noticed some artifacts.

The following session, where I was playing (no combat), I did not have any artifacts (although did have that one problem where a shared map disappeared for a few minutes).

Dakadin
April 19th, 2012, 22:19
I added the new functionality to Extend RMC where the GM can turn off the ring bell option so I would be curious if it still happens with the bell turned off.

I am hoping someone can provide me with enough information that I can make it happen by replicating the same steps. Then I can try to track down if it is being caused by the ruleset, FG or DirectX. Please let me know if you can get it to happen consistently. I haven't been able to but I know it only happens with the combat tracker open for me.

phantomwhale
April 19th, 2012, 23:11
I had one player getting artefact issues. In the end, I think it went away (might have been with a new computer) so the finger points at directx / drivers there I think. This was with SW ruleset though, but probably not something that is directly ruleset specific, I'd guess.

Dakadin
April 19th, 2012, 23:43
I think that is the cause also because I've seen it in at least 3 rulesets and I've experienced these things with other DirectX applications. It tends to happen with DirectX application when they are in windowed mode or when tabbing to other applications in full screen mode. I just want to see if it was the same as some of my previous experiences or if something else possibly causing it also.

Ardem
April 22nd, 2012, 02:24
I been getting screen issue every game, however I thought it was due to having my screen over two monitors so just lived with. However on further thought I only ever see this issue when players are connected not when I am testing things. However I have no actual idea what causes it, as it can start right in the beginning or during the middle of the game at any point. even though it is distracting it is no debilitating.

But could be wrong.

lachancery
April 23rd, 2012, 05:23
I was paying attention to when I was seeing the artifacts tonight, and it was indeed always when the combat tracker was opened. I shared multiple images throughout the night, and did not see the artifacts then. I connected to myself as one of the characters was missing, and that's when it started (but I did have 3 others players connected as well).

Moon Wizard
April 26th, 2012, 09:24
Another possibility is that there is some sort of hijinx going on in the background (endless loop across the network sort of thing). You can turn on network diagnostics to the console.log file by starting FG with the -n command line option. You need both sides of the conversation to get a good picture of what is happening. Just remember to note the time when it starts occurring, then grab the console.log file on both sides. Just another tool to track down issues.

Cheers,
JPG

Trenloe
April 26th, 2012, 15:14
I managed to recreate with no players connected - but I had 2 PCs in the combat tracker, along with a couple of creatures. After cycling through 30+ rounds I started to get some artifacts appearing - which is the first time for me. I removed the PCs and they went away. I put the PCs back and I couldn't recreate!

Blackfoot
April 26th, 2012, 16:36
Maybe it would help to define what the 'artifacts' appear to be.. if we could figure out what's getting drawn... then it might say something about why?
From what I saw it looked like a poorly scaled version of something that floated around with the mouse. It 'might' have been a scaled version of the tracker window.. I'm not sure. The 'artifact' was a somewhat vertical rectangle with assorted pixels/gibberish on/in it.

I've only seen this issue during one game... but it was quite evident while it was there.

Moon Wizard
April 26th, 2012, 17:51
If you can recreate with no one connected, then definitely not network related.

As Blackfoot mentioned, perhaps a better idea of what "artifacts" means, or a screenshot if possible, would help narrow the field.

JPG

Trenloe
April 26th, 2012, 23:41
I managed to recreate some "blinking" artifacts today - but they didn't stay around so I couldn't get a screenshot.

It's not 100% reproducible, but try this:


Add 1 NPC and 1 PC to the combat tracker.
Open the defence/offence tab just for the PC (press the "shield" icon) in the PC entry on the CT.
Step through lots of rounds.
Keep an eye out for momentary or more permanent screen corruption - for me I tend to see it to the left side of the chat window or around the modifier stack. It usually appears as the CT steps onto the PC entry.

Dakadin
April 29th, 2012, 06:20
I was able to get some screen shots of the issue in my game last night. I know I was changing a field on the combat tracker at the time one of them appeared.

JohnD
April 29th, 2012, 19:02
I was able to get some screen shots of the issue in my game last night. I know I was changing a field on the combat tracker at the time one of them appeared.
Actually, that is pretty close to what I was seeing when observing that long combat (30+ rounds) as well, except mine were displaced vertically as well as horizontally from the active screen(s).

unerwünscht
April 29th, 2012, 19:50
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13897

I don't know if this is the same error we getting or not. But check this thread for a possible solution.

Trenloe
April 29th, 2012, 22:51
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13897

I don't know if this is the same error we getting or not. But check this thread for a possible solution.
The circle is complete!!! ;) This thread was started off with a reference to the thread you're referencing. :)

We may have lost sight of it though - so good to be reminded...

Has anyone actually tried removing the bell completely? Extend RMC can reduce it (if an option is used to only ring the bell to the player on their turn).

Dakadin
April 30th, 2012, 02:48
I had the bell turned off so it wasn't trying to ring it. I was running it in windowed mode instead of full screen mode. I also had Acrobat Reader, Google Chrome and Calculator open at the time. Does it happen for the people running it in full screen mode?

Ardem
May 1st, 2012, 09:13
Yes it happens in full screen mode as well, unfortunately. I tested this thinking that windowed mode was the issue. The anomaly is close to what i get but more jagged, and when I move a layer over it is disappeared o moves around the screen.

Dakadin
May 1st, 2012, 15:28
Ardem, did you Alt Tab out of FG at any point during your full screen session where you experienced this issue?

Ardem
May 6th, 2012, 15:11
Tonights game, played in full screen mode, and even with alt tabing I did not have any issues.

Only when combat window came out did I start getting artefacts. It is definitely to do with the combat window.

Dakadin
May 7th, 2012, 18:06
I only see it when something is happening with the combat tracker also.

JohnD
May 7th, 2012, 20:04
Last Friday I had nothing until I rolled my initiative and got the artefacts intermittently after that.

Ardem
May 7th, 2012, 23:54
Anyone tested with without extend rmc, only cause we all using extend and I don't think I noticed this issue for the first couple games I have played.

Perhaps there is something in there, and combat tracker, around the first time the first changes of Extend. Also only happens if I am connected to a external user.

Dakadin
May 8th, 2012, 08:11
Ardem,

That might be a possibility but I know I've experienced it with the 4E ruleset in the past but not nearly as often as with the RMC ruleset.

I don't mind testing it outside of my game but I won't be testing it in my game. Personally I can deal with the screen glitches since I just have to click something in that area to clear it up but I wouldn't want to use the RMC ruleset without Extend RMC. But then again I am a bit biased. ;)

We might be able to come up with a good checklist of things to test and then see if we can find a time where a few of us can join up and test it. It might help us to narrow down the causes of the issue. I do think they are related to the combat tracker which at first seems strange since the table resolver really has more going on. But I was thinking about it earlier and I wonder if it is because of the fields that are linked to the character sheet. I think the combat tracker is the only place where linked fields occur in the RMC ruleset and I wonder if it might be impacting it but that is just a guess.

lachancery
May 29th, 2012, 19:18
This is a FYI,

I have been observing when this has occurred in my games over the last couple months. I have yet to find a situation that invalidates these two statements:

1) combat tracker must be opened & shared with players.

2) network issues happen; either a disconnection or quality/packet loss.

I have discussed an idea to test this with Dakadin - simulating bad network conditions while capturing network traffic as JPG instructed. When we have a chance, we'll run these tests. Posting this ahead in case someone else has the skills and the time to do it before us.

Ardem
May 31st, 2012, 06:12
Agreed with your two statements, I only got one hiccup last game. Which was with a shared combat screen.

The big difference is I did not have the singapore user, which seemed to have seen a better dice lag experience, but I did suffer one crash and some dice lag, but not as bad when I have the long distant user attached.

Dakadin
May 31st, 2012, 07:54
Ardem,

Are you using FG v2.8.1 or v2.9? If using v2.8.1 is it possible that FG was using more than 1.8 GB of memory?

I am just curious which version the crash happened in and if it is something we need to look into more or if it might already be resolved with v2.9.

Thanks,
Dakadin

Ardem
June 1st, 2012, 06:43
2.8.1 still at the moment. Not ready to jump to 2.9 yet.

Not concerned over the crash as it could of been RAM related, what was surprising the game ran smoother without a person who would of had a longer ping. Except for a couple of minor moments.

Blackfoot
June 4th, 2012, 04:14
Interestingly... I saw the artifact glitch tonight in the 3.5/PF ruleset. I didn't have the tracker open, I was running 'windowed' with no players connected. I was running the 2.9 test version.