Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site clyde.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!jona
From: jona@clyde.UUCP (Jon Allingham)
Newsgroups: net.games.hack
Subject: Re: saved game bug (!)
Message-ID: <810@clyde.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 27-Feb-85 08:00:33 EST
Article-I.D.: clyde.810
Posted: Wed Feb 27 08:00:33 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 28-Feb-85 20:28:57 EST
References: <> <289@nmtvax.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Whippany NJ
Lines: 46

> In article <> rst@tardis.UUCP (Robert Thau) writes:
> 
> >A peculiar thing that happened to the top scorers on one of the local
> >machines (not me, and not this poor PDP-11):
> >
> >The "top scorer" is really two guys who switch off.  At one point, the
> >two managed to simultaneously restart two instances of a game that one
> >of them had previously saved.  Both encountered the same levels, with
> >the same objects on them.
> 
> >Saved games here seem to be pretty flaky regardless (often the game
> >fails to restart and you simply lose) --- anyone have any similar experiences?
> 
> I haven't seen anything strange with the save-game function, because I don't
> use it, but I have seen strange things.  For example, if two people here are
> playing on the same account (with the same login name, of course), they will
> often get the same levels.  If one player is on level two when the second 
> player goes down to level two, then when he gets there, the level will be the
> same as the first player's level.  If one of the players becomes two levels
> ahead of the other, then when the other player goes down a level, it will be
> the same level, but it will also be as mapped out as it was when the first
> player left it, and all the stuff that was there when the first player was,
> will be gone.  Also, the monsters will be there, but they won't move when
> attacked!
> 
> Verrrrry Strange! Interesting, anyway.
> 
>                                    -Lautzy (El Guadious One)

It's not really strange at all. Since you are allowed to move both up
and down in the dungeon, hack needs some way of keeping levels around.
It does this with lock files that are tagged by the name of the user
and a level number. When going to a new level, hack first looks to see if
there is a lock file for that level, if so, it means that level has 
already been found and uses the existing level. Sometimes if hack
crashes, there will be some lock files sitting around which will prevent
you from getting a new level for any level there is a lock file for.

Solution? : periodically have the administrator remove any lock files
sitting around. Just don't remove any that happen to be in use
( although it wouldn't be that major a catastrophe )

-- 
Jon M. Allingham	(201)386-3466	AT&T Bell Laboratories-WH

"Beam me up Scotty, no intelligent life down here!"