CURRENTLY not reproducible Base runs out of battery charge when other players login while offline

Discussion in 'Archive (Read Only)' started by RandoCalrissian, Aug 8, 2020.

  1. RandoCalrissian

    RandoCalrissian Ensign

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2020
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Build: V1.0 3047 (observed in the last few beta 12.x versions, though)
    Mode: Survival
    Mode: Dedicated Server

    SERVER NAME: Private
    SEED-ID: 1011345

    If applicable:
    MODIFIED PLAYFIELDS: Don't think so

    Reproducibility: It's happened enough times that it seems somewhat reproducible.
    Severity: Minor

    Type: Solar Panel/Battery

    Summary: Batteries are drained when other players have logged in while offline.

    Description: We've noticed that when someone logs into our server and plays for awhile, the other players' bases will be out of battery power the next time they log in. We've all got bases that don't come anywhere near using all of their battery power every night. For example, one is 15 panels, a fridge and grow lights, so it shouldn't ever run out of battery power.

    Steps to Reproduce: Build base that will self sustain with batteries and solar panels. Have someone else login for long enough to run down the batteries if they never get new charge (possibly important: have them be nowhere near the base, we're spread out over an entire planet).

    Logs: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uyhj9y5h1crk1i5oiHLgOHEklIEGuxZ6/view?usp=sharing
     
    #1
  2. RandoCalrissian

    RandoCalrissian Ensign

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2020
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    So we've tested this more and have found that plants don't grow, vehicles aren't repaired and manufacturing doesn't complete as well.

    1.1 has a bug fix for plants not growing when far away, so maybe this is a similar/the same issue?

    The game seems to work as expected for the last person to be logged in. For example, if another player logs out before I do, my base functions as expected, keeps charge, plants grow, etc. If I log out first, theirs works and my base loses power, food spoils, manufacturing freezes, etc.
     
    #2
  3. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

    • Developer
    • Moderator
    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2016
    Messages:
    3,403
    Likes Received:
    6,066
    How much time is involved minimum to trigger this ?
    & are these the correct steps ?

    1) Have 2 players minimum on a server far apart on the same playfield both with bases setup to run of solar & have enough power stored in the battery's to remain powered.
    2) Have one of these players leave the server for X amount of time
    3) The player that left rejoins the server & checks the power when they return

    I have been checking this out & haven't been able to trigger anything so far.
     
    #3
    Germanicus likes this.
  4. Leftcoast

    Leftcoast Lieutenant

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2018
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    19
    Have there been any updates on this?

    We are seeing this on my groups server as well and I cannot explain. Our bases seem to randomly run out of power over night while no one is logged in. The only way I have manged the bases I control is to turn power off before I log out.
     
    #4
  5. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

    • Developer
    • Moderator
    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2016
    Messages:
    3,403
    Likes Received:
    6,066
    I'm afraid not each time I check on 2 different servers I use the solar power has been fine when I return.

    You are 100% these bases have enough power stored in their battery for a over night period & also enough to get through any bad weathers if these bases are on a planet ?
     
    #5
    Germanicus likes this.
  6. Leftcoast

    Leftcoast Lieutenant

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2018
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    19
    I will try and document the situations with more detail. We feel we have observed both solar batteries and fuel tanks going empty.

    Is there a reason the bases use power while everyone is offline? I would have assumed before that when players are offline the playfields unload or something similar.
    I understand why that makes sense in a realistic perspective, however from a game perspective we all have jobs, kids, etc, and cannot always log on to do daily chores and maintenance in game.

    Thank you as well for all your hard work and dedication, the game is looking better and better every patch.
     
    #6
  7. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

    • Developer
    • Moderator
    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2016
    Messages:
    3,403
    Likes Received:
    6,066
    If the server is left online a calculation is done when you return which takes into consideration the power consumption of the base & how long you have been offline/away.

    You could alternatively also shut the server down also whilst you & others cannot play.
     
    #7
    Germanicus likes this.
  8. Leftcoast

    Leftcoast Lieutenant

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2018
    Messages:
    31
    Likes Received:
    19
    Many of the bases I am managing in the current build as of 11/30/2020 have been having the batteries/capacitors drain while offline. I have noticed this issue for the last few builds as well.

    I noted the most current incident, a solar power only base with a charged up batteries bank, 6000 units, went dead while offline. Base currently uses 123 PU if food processor is left on, and the average solar input is 820. A full day of charge adds more power than is needed by a good margin yet the base sometimes has a dead battery upon logging in.

    I can provide more details as required. I am not sure what all is needed.
     
    #8
  9. byo13

    byo13 Captain

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2020
    Messages:
    415
    Likes Received:
    638
    They will request you to fill the bug form template.
    Screenshots are good and maybe a save game showing a drained battery would help as well.
     
    #9
  10. Kats

    Kats Lieutenant

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2020
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    36
    It looks like the ticks issue since all your works with a timer are having issues. I thought it couldn't happen in multi since the only way I have found to trigger it is to sleep in space. That's weird.
    Batteries may run out when this bug is happening. But if it is that same bug, I am surprised it could happen in multi since players can't sleep unless it is possible to sleep if there is only 1 player playing.
    What about the date, the time on the map?
     
    #10
    Last edited: Dec 7, 2020
  11. jbrown

    jbrown Commander

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2019
    Messages:
    20
    Likes Received:
    8
    This is a long running issue with power management. It has been a bane of trying to operate a base for a LONG time. There are multiple bugs related to this, possibly all attempts by Eleon to prevent exploits.

    First, there is a corruption that can occur that will cause any base to INSTANTLY empty its fuel tanks, spoil its food, etc, as soon as there are no players in the playfield. Never learned what triggers it, but deleting certain server save files (not the master, and forgive me, I did not run the server) would fix this, until it happened again. It was also related to the vanishing ship bug, where ships would vanish from where you parked them, and appear somewhere else on the playfield, where you'd used them previously... like the game was stuck on that earlier data point.

    Another issue seems to be related to exactly what was happening when you logged out. Solar, for example... if I log out when solar is at max, I log back in to batteries more charged than when I left. If I log out at night, or during a storm, I log back in many "game" days later, and solar has drained or not recharged.

    Similarly, if you are running constructors, forges, etc., even if they would have completed their task soon, and you'd still have days of power left, and enough solar to keep operating in stasis, when you log back in, it will have calculated as if you were running at maximum output the entire time, draining your fuel.

    As for using power when other players are around... if other players are close enough, your base won't be in stasis, and you will burn power when offline. The cure for that is simply to make sure your base is on a planet away from other players, and you get together at a common hub for meet ups.
     
    #11
  12. jbrown

    jbrown Commander

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2019
    Messages:
    20
    Likes Received:
    8
    Bear with me, this is not a traditional bug report, as this is not version specific. It's been ongoing since at least version 10, and likely before (I simply had not played multi-player until Version 10).

    This is only a mullti-player bug.

    Frequently, with bases on various planets, the power will drain 100%, all fuel gone, all food spoiled, plants reset to srouts (thank goodness they no longer die). This will happen regardless of how much fuel in the tanks, or how much time the game claims you have of power left.

    Now, logging out, and back in later, you come back to empty tanks. Yesterday, I logged out with full tanks. Over 120 hours worth of fuel with equipment off, but I had 1 constructor and 1 forge running, and it claimed I had over 30 hours with them running constantly.

    I logged in this morning to empty tanks. BUT, the constructor and forge had stopped working minutes after I logged out, based on what was still in queue when I repowered the base. So, the game went into stasis early, but did its power calculation as if it had been running that equipment all night. And it got that calculation wrong, as well.

    My ship parked right outside operated correctly. It went into stasis, and used less than an hour's worth of power in that 24 hour span.

    Let me repeat that. A CV parked outside, on, used 1 hour of power, while the base used more than 30 hours worth of power at full blast, or 150 hours idle, while it remained mostly idle, for less than 20 hours.

    This does not always happen, it seems to occur on certain planets, to certain bases, and I think I know why. A friend's multi-player server was the first time I observed a similar bug, and he would fix it by deleting a number of files the server created, every time the problem cropped up. That would fix it for a while, then the corruption would happen again, and our power would drain.

    It is worth noting when that bug was occurring, the base would instantly lose all fuel and power, and instantly spoil all food when you logged out. Log out, and back in in 10 seconds, and everything's spoiled and empty.

    There is a calculation the game does, when you enter a playfield/log into the game, that tries to look at how much time has passed, and then determines what the power/spoil state of the base is. That calculation is overly punative, with various extra anti-exploit checks, it seems, that are confusing it, and harming the player.

    Right now, my base is untennable, and I will have to move to another planet and hope that this does not re-occur.

    It's worth noting having a base operable 100% on solar power has no effect. This calculation appears to ignore solar. I have had this happen to space stations where they received 3-5 times their power requirements entirely from solar, even running equipment. And still returned to empty tanks, and spoiled food. You load in to an unpowered base, and instantly the power kicks back on from the solar, but the batteries are empty. So this punative power management calculation completely ignores solar batteries, solar power, etc.

    I would beg the developers to take a full audit of every flag and bit of code related to power management of bases, and how this is governed when the base is in stasis/player's offline for multi-player. Remove any and all punative codes, so that the base does a basic calculation KNOWS if it goes into stasis not to calculate for constructors and forges, and applies solar reasonably. Never, ever, ever should you log into an unpowered solar run base in space. And even on a planet, that shouldn't occur. Nor should the base take your fuel as if it ran your constructor all night, when in fact it went into stasis and the constructor never finished anything.

    And, if after doing that, some players can exploit to run constructors offline without using power... so what? Is that REALLY game breaking? I don't see how. But, power in the game currently is totally broken, and it is worthless to even TRY to set up well managed bases in multi-player.

    I am sorry this is long, and not a well formatted bug report, but I've reported regularly on this specific bug, and it's really getting old. Players in multi-player just operate assuming this is how it is. It shouldn't be. I should be able, under the rules, to set up a self operating base that always has power. And not burn through all my fuel just refilling tanks the bug emptied.
     
    #12
  13. Pantera

    Pantera Administrator Staff Member

    • Developer
    • Moderator
    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2016
    Messages:
    3,403
    Likes Received:
    6,066
    Can you supply me with a save game with your character left at the base on the playfield this happens for you ?
     
    #13
  14. Storpappa

    Storpappa Ensign

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2020
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Sever: Avalon
    Version 1.5.2
    We saw it on 1.5.1

    End of game day was 7 hours ago
    Prior to logging out, base tank at 100%, plant lights on, plants had just been harvested
    Solar capacitors working and full/filling
    Base showed 80 hours of power left

    Logged in 7 hours later, capacitors drained, fuel tank emptied, base dead
    When it happened earlier this week, an attack came in, and we didn't think to check the base, ran out to defend. We noticed it when the base didn't shoot. We have been watching it after all the repairs were completed.

    This morning, checked P first thing. Was refilling tanks when an attack came in.

    Where do you want a game file sent?
     
    #14

Share This Page