Possible bug (major effect in the game!)?

Karibu · #1 February 14th, 2003, 12:51 PM

I just registered into this forum to ask your opinion of the following:

I play SEIV pbw. Last turn I noticed that one system over 200 ship enemy fleet simply disappeared leaving only 9 ships behind. They didin't go any other system, for I see those systems also. I don't believe they cloacked either, because I looked movement log stepped(day by day) and I saw that fleet moving 3 sectors and then 200 ships simply disappeared.

Also, that player skipped turn, so his AI was playing for him. Is AI able to do something we humans can't in pbw?

Firstly: with simultaneous turns if you want to cloack your ships, you have to do it at the beginning of the turn. It can't be ordered to be done in the middle, after you have already moved.

Secondly: If that player had resource shortage, ships would be scrapped from here and there, few at the time, not 200 ships all together.

Thirdly: If AI decided to scrap those ships, it would have to be done at the beginning of the turn, not in the middle. Furthermore, scrapping is not possible in the middle of the space (except if you have space yard ship included in the fleet).

Any opiniosn & comments here, plese. Should I sent this turn I received to someone for a closer look? If there is a bug which scraps fleets containing over 200 ships, I want to know that. I contacted that player, whose fleet disappeared, but I am still waiting a response.

Oh, yes. The game is Gold and patch 1.84 included.

[ February 14, 2003, 10:52: Message edited by: Karibu ]

Fyron · #2 February 14th, 2003, 01:43 PM

The most likely explanation is that a Stellar Manipulation was used. Either the star blew up, the system was turned into a nebula, or a black hole was created. Check carefully for those things in the area.

dogscoff · #3 February 15th, 2003, 02:08 AM

Could they have hit a third player's minefield?

[ February 14, 2003, 12:10: Message edited by: dogscoff ]

Karibu · #4 February 15th, 2003, 02:20 AM

There was no third party minefields, I am sure of that. I would have known it. Also there was enough minesweepers in the fleet to take any amount of mines. Also system was not turned into nebula, black hole, etc. Only thing that happened was that fleet disappeared.

dogscoff · #5 February 15th, 2003, 02:33 AM

OK then... maybe a third player used crew insurrection to grab a few of the more powerful ships in the fleet (maybe carriers?), and then there was a battle in which most of the ships were destroyed.

If it's a psychic race using allegiance subverters, then there might have been a subvert-o-fest, which could have resulted in a very destructive battle.

PsychoTechFreak · #6 February 14th, 2003, 03:32 PM

Other possible causes:
- Ships can be scrapped, no matter about the number of them. Everything you need is a spaceyard, and I guess in this case it could have been a SY component of just one of the ships

- Can ships be hidden in a fleet or do you always see the number of ships in a fleet?

- Part of the fleet could have been sent to an obscuring sector storm (I often like to do things like this)

- Random events.

[ February 14, 2003, 13:35: Message edited by: PsychoTechFreak ]