Vanishing buildings
 

Whenever a big (multi-hex) building is hit by a large enough bomb or shell in the top left corner, the whole building icon vanishes. For game play, the game still shows there is a building there but there's no corresponding graphic. This happens regardless of the scenario. I've searched as well as I can but can't find any discussions about this. Perhaps it's just on my end? Any help?

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

The top left corner is the registration hex for large buildings but there is something going on with your game on your computer that nobody else is seeing otherwise we'd be flooded with the same reports and we're not.

I just tested this and targeted the upper left of the multi hex building with Hvy arty... the building has not vanished

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1617276775

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

I had them vanish and I was like cool total collapse, now I can move through the area...found out REAL QUICK the building was still there...and a stuck T80...

So they didn't go anywhere.

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

I have seen it once or twice in the distant past.
Some multi hex buildings do seem to have a problem when placing them.
To my knowledge roads are the only terrain feature that can be added to that hex once the building is placed.

however try filling a large area with trees & placing different multi hex buildings.
Some change the ground to clear & place the building as expected.
Some also clear the trees in the top left corner hex.
Some do not clear the ground the trees remain but the graphics for them vanish.
Not sure on this but a couple from memory clear terrain features from the hex row above.

Sorry if I ruined your day

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

Sorry for double post one of these may be the culprit - to my way of thinking possibly the one that clears a terrain feature in the top left corner. What happens when its replaced with a shell hole?

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

It must be my PC but it's bizarre that it only affects that one feature. I've been playing SP since it's inception and haven't seen it before but I did upgrade my PC a few months ago. Any thoughts on what the cause might be?

I also have a graphics hiccup when I play scenario 12 (Operation Jupiter)... I get grass hexes popping up over the regular hexes on the left side of the map during game play. They go away when I hit the 'clear' key but come back when the game resumes. As I recall, I may have seen that in other scenarios as well (maybe it's the older ones).

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

I'd reinstall the game, you got some kind of corruption going on.

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

Multi-hex buildings vanising if the key hex is destroyed has always been an SP "thing". I put in code long ago to make the other hexes of the multi-hex building register as a building (in the original SSI code, the hexes other than the key were left as clear or whatever terrain IIRC). That was long ago in the MS-DOS days of the game.

But it still comes up from time to time.

As to your weird scenario - looks like you have a corrupt set of terrain tiles?. As zovs said - reinstall, but I would do a windows disk check as well, there may be lost clusters.

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

Thanks everyone. Looks like I need to dig out my old game CD and do a reinstall.

I know you've heard it before but Don, Andy and the team... you're the best! Thanks for continuing the SP legacy long past when most other games fall by the wayside. :up:

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

Which scenario was it and which building was it SPECIFICALLY that you saw this happen to? Scenario number and X/ Y coordinate from the top of the screen is all I need if you cannot make a screen shot.

There used to be a problem that when the registration hex was off screen the multihex building disappeared but that was fixed so long ago I forget when that was.

I DID see a building vanish when I rubbled the registration hex in scenario 6 the barakady but it was very brief and the main building was restored to the map almost instantly But during the moment the hex was being rubbled the building winked out then re-appeared. Is that what you are seeing ?

The next question is what is your preference set to for animation? Animation controls far more than just shots fired or movement. It affects how many sounds you hear fired from a squad and a host of other things. If you have it turned down turn it up...if it's up turn it down halfway and try that

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

It happens in all the scenarios, as far as I can tell (even MBT). A good test scenario is #726 (Battle for Rome). If you buy some heavy artillery and target hexes 22,62 or 29,61 or 50,52 or all of them you should see the multi-hex building(s) disappear if they get a direct hit in the top left corner. It doesn't happen every time there's a direct hit though.

I've attached before and after screenshots that shows the building at hex 29,61 is fine after being hit but 22,62 vanished.

I have my animation level set at 1 and sound turned off. I haven't tried your suggestion yet regarding that but I will if necessary.

EDIT: I can't figure out to attach the screenshots. They're in the 'attach files' section under 'additional options' but they don't appear when I post the message.

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

First off if this was known to you and it appears others WHY wait until we announce we are assembling the next patch ????

Second..... the only arty available to both sides in that scenario are mortars and they don't have the power to rubble a building like that.

I did tweak the test scenario and bought the Germans some 170mm and pounded 22,62 10+ restarts of the save game I had made the turn before the arty was due to arrive. 8 times the building did not disappear. Twice it did and it stayed disappeared on the next turn BUT it was restored on reloading the autosaved game.

MAYBE ( maybe.... ) if that had been reported earlier then MAYBE we might have looked at it but not now. Right now it looks like a 20% chance this might happen and I had NOT seen it until this test but the solution is when it does happen to save the game then restart it and the building will be restored

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

I don't visit this forum very often and had no idea about a new patch. I just dropped in hoping to get some help with a little glitch.

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

If it happens just save the game then restart the save and the building will be restored. It's now on next year's to-do list. The fact that 80% of the time it doesn't happen and that the building will be restored by restarting the save if it does indicates a very subtle issue or combination of events causes the problem

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

DRG. I asked about it last year on the MBT side of the house and you told me, save and restart it will come back AFTER I had driven my T-80 in the not-there/there building. The issue for me was it wasn't an issue, once I understood why and such. Now a full collapse from one hit of artillery would be cool and does happen in real life, does not mean it needs to be here in the game.

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

Yeah BUT but when a player tries to enter a building hex this message...

Enter this building hex [Y/N]

Needs to be answered Y to move into the hex.

Yes?

So you saw that message but didn't see a building and drove into it anyway?

This is not a common problem otherwise we would have more than once a year reports but as I said it IS now on the list for whenever we do more code work but because it's only a 1 in 5 chance of happening it will be a real treat to figure out

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

If the attachment is too big it won't show. That's why using Imgur (https://imgur.com/ )and linking to the post that way is better if the screen shot is a significant size....or just keep trimming it down until it only shows exactly what you are trying to show

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

No. Not when the multiple hex building collapsed vanished I did not see the Hey idiot do you really want to enter this building with your tank question. What I saw were open spaces that I moved into and crashed into the building and was stuck.

Re: Vanishing buildings
 

Yes BUT you cannot even move into the building hex visible or not until answering Y or N so you cannot just drive in without doing that unless you were playing at the time with a pre-warning message EXE.

This obviously made a big impression as this is at least the third time you have used that example. None more recent?

Either way it is going to be looked into and maybe Andy can find the cause of what amounts to an intermittent issue but not for this release.