Combat errors after 7/12/22 patch

[ChipDancer]

Actually I have a ton of errors, most have been resolved by simple disabling extensions, but some I simply cannot figure out. Part of the problem is that there is simply no verbose to tell us which extensions/mods are broken, and with the kind of money being spent on FGU this is something we should have to help us diagnose our add-ons.

My specific error occurred at the beginning of our first combat of an otherwise stealthy adventure when none of my mobs could attack the players.

Error:
[7/15/2022 11:37:01 PM] [ERROR] Script execution error: [string "scripts/manager_action_attack.lua"]:666: attempt to call field 'calculateMargin' (a nil value)

Player attacks have no issues.

Any help or direction would be most appreciated, including some form of built in add-on diagnostics. :)

Thanks in advance,

ChipDancer
;)

[Zacchaeus]

You need to test in a new campaign without extensions. If you don't get any error with that then as you have figured out the issue is being caused by an extension. Enable them one at a time until the error appears and then you'll know which one it is (it could also be a conflict between two extensions mind you).

Most extensions have been updated following the recent update so make sure that you have the latest version of the extensions that you are using, Extensions obtained via the Forge will update automatically but if you got them elsewhere you'll need to got to the source and re-download them manually and update your extension folder.

[Moon Wizard]

The function "calculateMargin" does not exist in the provided rulesets; so this is definitely an extension that needs to be updated. Check out Zacchaeus's answer.

Regards,
JPG

[Deslock100]

Ammunition Manager seems to throw that error for me. One down. Now to find out what is causing the effects button to throw an error. Some ext. aren't playing nice.

[Deslock100]

Found it! Upgraded NPC actions blows up the base effects button on a clean load. "[Error] Script execution error: [string "effectlist"]:20: attempt to index local 'c1' (a nil value).

With several warnings before that.

[bmos]

Ammunition Manager seems to throw that error for me. One down. Now to find out what is causing the effects button to throw an error. Some ext. aren't playing nice.It's not Ammunition Manager, it's Kelrugem's Extended Automation (which he has publicly stated is not updated yet). You can read about it in the Ammunition Manager thread (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?61372-PFRPG-Ammunition-Manager&p=656182&viewfull=1#post656182).

[Deslock100]

I did see that when I went to the forum thread, but did not come back here to correct my post. Sorry about that.

[Tooting Dog]

Exactly! There has to be some naming convention so we can identify a problem. Turning off-and-on extensions and reloading is a total PITA. I thought I had one of my problems identified but when I started adding in my other extensions, something else must be also causing the same problem. I get this popping up a bunch of times when I open a battle map:

UtilityManager.isClientFGU - DEPRECATED - 2022-07-12 - Contact forge/extension author

[edit] Looks like I'm having problems with Turn Indicators which does not appear to be in the forge.

[bmos]

There is sort of a naming convention in that most extensions have filenames that do hint at the source.
Kelrugem's extensions do not.

There's not (afaik) a way to get that deprecation warning to tell you what extension is calling it, however, since the code doesn't know what extension called that function.

But, if it helps, that was deprecated early last year so look for an extension that is pretty old.

[mattekure]

If you are referring to my 5E Indicators extension which is on DMsGuild, an update was pushed several weeks ago that fixes this error. Make sure you are on v16

[similarly]

Yeah, hunting errors in extensions can be a pita, surely. I have a LOT of extensions.

To save time, instead of going one-by-one, I do things in halves. I turn off half the extensions. If the error is still there, I turn off half the remaining extensions, etc. until I'm down to just one. Still takes a while, but process of elimination goes faster.

[ChipDancer]

Thanks all for the great discussion. I know it's not FGs end responsibility to handle all the extensions and mods, but since FG does allow them and has the FORGE, which has paid options, I do think there is some responsibility in at least getting us a system to verify which extensions/mods are causing issues. I won't pretend to know how this would be done as I'm not a software engineer, but an example, Skyrim and Fallout 4, both use mod loaders to check the mods before starting the game and alert you to any incompatibilities. I think something similar would be worthwhile and while it's not FG's purview to resolve said issues, it would be a start as we could then reach out to the devs of said extensions/mods directly without spending hours or days trying to determine it ourselves.

(^_^)

ChipDancer

[Zacchaeus]

The problem is you can't check extensions before you load your campaign since that's when they get loaded. Furthermore the way extensions work is to override the ruleset code; so when there's an error FG just knows that the code is wrong but doesn't know what caused that error.

The advice I always give DMs is not to use extensions at all if you aren't prepared to have them break. But if you are prepared to have them break then limit yourself to just two or three really good ones that do something special in your game. That way if they break you have only a handful of possibilities. I see many people now, and unfortunately many new users, using 50 or more extensions. And that IMO is 45 too many.

(Also the development team size and budget on Fallout and Skyrim runs into hundreds and millions - well beyond Smiteworks scope).

[ChipDancer]

Zacchaeus,

I completely understand, but I can still hope! Unfortunately, in order to use FG to run our campaigns as we would if we were at the table we're forced to rely on said extensions and mods as the Pathfinder v1 rule set is seriously lacking automation and features in many areas and I don't foresee FG going back to add them in. Still, in my opinion, FG holds the most promise of the current virtual tables, and I am looking eagerly to see what happens over the next year!

(^_^)

ChipDancer

[Tooting Dog]

One of the problems I had was that many of my extensions were purchased prior to the Forge system over on some other site. With Forge, I then repurchased a lot. However, I've since forgotten which are not on the Forge and thus are not getting automatically updated and I forget about which ones those are and the need to proactively look to see when they update.

So I am guessing that extensions do not get reviewed by Fantasy Grounds. If they were reviewed, I would think a naming convention could be enforced. Bummer. When there is an update, I enjoy seeing the acronyms for the official content fly by and see what is being updated. With the extensions, it appears to me they are some binary code or just some random ones and zeroes and I have no clue whatsoever what is being updated there. I may be off base, but I'd think a naming convention would have been in the cards from the get-go.

[bayne7400]

Yeah it is hard to tell what extensions get updated. They are not named so you have to go into the vault unzip the folder and read the name inside there. What would be cool is if the extensions list has a date code right beside the name inside FG (07-20) so people could see if it has been recently updated.

[Lo Zeno]

there's an idea in the wishlist to show human readable names of the extensions (and modules) that get updated, you can vote on that here:
https://fgapp.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=137225

[Tooting Dog]

It is sad there has to be a vote on this as I think this is something pretty common sense and I would think something like a quick look-up table to a clearly understandable name that gets spat out would work. Though, I may be swimming in the pool of the dunning-kruger effect.