bugs Simtropolis 9.0.x - Bugs & Issues Report Thread

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

I saved an old image of mine off the forum, and noticed that my pc didn't recognize it as an image file. I also noticed that coding had been added to the file name. Anti-piracy or something?

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

55 minutes ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

I saved an old image of mine off the forum, and noticed that my pc didn't recognize it as an image file. I also noticed that coding had been added to the file name. Anti-piracy or something?

That sounds unusual. Although we have made enhancements (to be announced soon) for how images are loaded on site pages to reduce loading times, the actual storage of images on the server (and way they're uploaded) remains unchanged. File names have random characters added to make sure they're unique. Since if someone uploaded two pics with the same generic name (like image.jpg), then otherwise it'd replace someone's existingly uploaded image.

If you provide an example of where images aren't downloading properly when saved, we'll look into what the issue might be.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

1 hour ago, Cyclone Boom said:

That sounds unusual. Although we have made enhancements (to be announced soon) for how images are loaded on site pages to reduce loading times, the actual storage of images on the server (and way they're uploaded) remains unchanged. File names have random characters added to make sure they're unique. Since if someone uploaded two pics with the same generic name (like image.jpg), then otherwise it'd replace someone's existingly uploaded image.

If you provide an example of where images aren't downloading properly when saved, we'll look into what the issue might be.

My images on the first page. None of them are recognized by my image editor. I have made plans to remaster and restore my images in old threads, but the initial tasks are not going well. At this point, I have to make screen grabs, re-crop, and convert. Saving them directly would save a step, and those steps add up when you're talking about hundreds of pics. I'm starting with this thread, because it's the least amount of work. When I'm done, the images will be indistinguishable from the originals, but at a 6th of the weight.

Grab from page 2, as I'm going to start replacing page one right now.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

I right clicked and did save as for the first two pics in your post. They are recognized just fine as JPG images for me. CB also downloaded a couple and no trouble for him.

Image names as downloaded:

• 60c7ad5eaa48c_CarFerry6x3.jpg.c2e8466d9cbdbd856e810b7f4df39901.jpg
• 60c7ad85be74b_Jaguar3x2Porsche2x2.jpg.d025ed04946912f8aec9415e21105c1f.jpg

Is there any difference for you after doing a Ctrl+F5 to force refresh the page? Also, if right clicking and opening each image up directly (in a new tab) before saving?

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

3 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

I right clicked and did save as for the first two pics in your post. They are recognized just fine as JPG images for me. CB also downloaded a couple and no trouble for him.

Image names as downloaded:

• 60c7ad5eaa48c_CarFerry6x3.jpg.c2e8466d9cbdbd856e810b7f4df39901.jpg
• 60c7ad85be74b_Jaguar3x2Porsche2x2.jpg.d025ed04946912f8aec9415e21105c1f.jpg

Is there any difference for you after doing a Ctrl+F5 to force refresh the page? Also, if right clicking and opening each image up directly (in a new tab) before saving?

Actually, there are 3 pics in the first post, a factory, a mansion and a prison. i just replaced those pics. I tried saving them in attachments and enlarged version. Same results.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

5 minutes ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

Actually, there are 3 pics in the first post, a factory, a mansion and a prison. i just replaced those pics. I tried saving them in attachments and enlarged version. Same results.

I see all three of those in your first post of the thread. They are stored as attachments on ST and they also download and open fine. I'm now completely confuzzled for what the trouble is.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

3 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

I see all three of those in your first post of the thread. They are stored as attachments on ST and they also download and open fine. I'm now completely confuzzled for what the trouble is.

 

28 minutes ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

My images on the first page. None of them are recognized by my image editor. I have made plans to remaster and restore my images in old threads, but the initial tasks are not going well. At this point, I have to make screen grabs, re-crop, and convert. Saving them directly would save a step, and those steps add up when you're talking about hundreds of pics. I'm starting with this thread, because it's the least amount of work. When I'm done, the images will be indistinguishable from the originals, but at a 6th of the weight.

Grab from page 2, as I'm going to start replacing page one right now.

They are not saving as image files.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

4 minutes ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

They are not saving as image files.

We've tested with both Firefox and Chrome and they save as images for us. We've opened them in GIMP,  my very old Photoshop Elements 2.0, and PDN with no trouble.

I presume they are saving as something for you. How about zipping up what you are getting so we can look at that?

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

2022-04-18 16_43_25-The WolfZe Appreciation Thread - SC4 - Custom Content - Simtropolis — Mozilla Fi.rar

While I can see the image on my desktop, when I load it into my 2006 Microsoft Image Editor(I know, old but it's a tank) i get a message saying that the editor doesn't recognize the format.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

It does seem the culprit will be your editor.

Opening in GIMP shows this first:

 

Then when I agree to Convert:

 

And my very old PSE has no qualms at all:

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

Well, like I said, I can do it through screen grabs, but it's just an extra step. It would be nice if attachments had a folder option, to keep all the nuts in one individual basket.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

@SIM-ple Jack

With this it seems to rule out an issue with the site changing the format of the images. It appears like they'd be saved with the specific color profile (sRGB) which then your 2006 era tool is unable to process. It is a bit unusual though, since researching sRGB suggests it's been around for over 25 years now.

One possibility might be once downloading all the images, to then convert them using the batch processing feature IrfanView has.

I've used this before and it has a whole host of options for the image format.

For example:

 

And the Advanced options:

 

It probably has more options than needed, but just a possibility in case worth looking into.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

Actually, as it turns out, this wasn't as labor intensive as I thought. WZ's were the only pics I didn't have back-ups on. Everything else here is on a hard drive and will be easy to batch process.

[hugues aroux 3,784]

Hello, strangely, the text field of the search form has disappeared under FireFox (visible under Chrome)!

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

35 minutes ago, hugues aroux said:

Hello, strangely, the text field of the search form has disappeared under FireFox (visible under Chrome)!

Oddly I'm unable to reproduce the issue of the search box missing. Using Firefox here too, and it still displays fine.

Perhaps try a force refresh (Ctrl+F5) and check whether it then shows up. We've not changed anything to the search box in a few weeks, so it's odd why it suddenly isn't displaying. One possibility is it won't appear if blocking scripts from Google. Maybe a Firefox Add-on you've got installed might be interfering?

[hugues aroux 3,784]

Pffffuu ... Damn ... on my side I just noticed that under chrome, the field disappeared too. While visible ten minutes ago.  I didn't change anything in my browsers ... too weird !

[hugues aroux 3,784]

I found the problem.  I'm using MalwareBytes browser guard, (for a long time) which suddenly doesn't like google anymore <<google is goofy!>> ... it just bypassed the google form (well part of a related script, I guess). I disabled for ST.com the "ads/trackers" function ... and everything is fine.  Sorry for the noise ...

[MarkShot 631]

Is it my imagination or has ST just start stuttering?  I am seeing my ID in double vision.  Time for trip trip to to the the optometrist optometrist ?  Thanks.

[Wiimeiser 444]

Most of the site's files seem to have disappeared altogether. Downloads are returning a 404 error, for example.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

Somebody touch the "Red Switch"? It looks like somebody touched the "Red Switch"! 'Cause this is what happens when you touch the "Red Switch"!

Woke up in the middle of the night, just about when you posted, and saw that the site was all flooey. I just figured the site owner put in a "dead man script" to self-destruct the forum, in case the STEX ever got moved.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

@MarkShot @Wiimeiser @SIM-ple Jack

Oops. Sorry guys, as it took a while for me to arrive and fix that this morning. According to logs it occurred at 07:25 EDT and lasted for about 6 hours. I'm pleased to confirm the issue has been resolved now. It wasn't too difficult to resolve, as I've a method which only takes about 15 mins or so once I arrived on site.

It was a weird problem which occurs very sporadically every several months, by where the site storage configuration gets reset. In other words, the locations where files are stored on the server point to the default locations, which isn't where the files actually are. I've yet to identify the direct cause, although we've had a few theories for how it might be onset by a freak server overload in database processes, or a glitch within the board software itself. Hence it caused STEX files to not download, and also missing attachments and profile images not showing. No files were missing, so it was just the way they weren't being fetched from the proper locations.

There is just a small extra thing I still need to look into which I noticed during the fixing, so if you see the site going offline for a bit that'll explain why.

Thanks all, and apologies that happened earlier.

-CB

[TheMurderousCricket 5,055]

The CAM entry in the "Gameplay mods" section is being blocked by Norton as a "known malicious site" with the rest of the files working fine and not returning any safety alerts. Is this normal or have the CAM download been tainted?

[twalsh102 1,601]

This is not unusual for some Anti-Virus software (especially Norton) that seem to mark any download that is not known to them (or seldom accessed in the grand scheme of things} as "known malicious site". You may need to add the site as an exception to Norton.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

Indeed, this would be another typical false positive report with SC4 files which contain executables. It wouldn't be surprising if this isn't the only instance, as installers have been notorious for this in the past. The likely reason is since some genuinely malicious software is bundled using the same type of installer since it's a software distribution framework. So then Norton or other vendors notice this using their detection algorithms, which becomes automatically flagged up.

What I've just done is renamed the file to add "(CAM)" at the end of the STEX entry name. This then updates the URL which in turn Norton Safe Web doesn't (as of writing) list it as a dangerous file (as per here). Should the warning return, I'll submit a dispute with Norton to get this cleared.

I remember doing this several years ago when they mistakenly did this to the entire Simtropolis domain name. To Norton's credit they resolved the matter promptly.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Afternoon folks,

For quite a while now ST has been showing the banner incorrectly for me on higher screen resolutions. This probably should be fixed.

A quick look into the CSS shows that the banner has some incorrect CSS positioning on high screen resolutions.

(incidentally, why is the banner CSS applied to the body HTML element? It'd be better off being applied to the header element directly)

If you're unable to change this behaviour but can change the CSS, if you use the following, it will make it line up correctly with the rest of the site text:

body {
    background: url(//www.simtropolis.com/custom/images/Corina-Nebula-Header-1a.jpg) top no-repeat;
    background-position: top center !important;
    background-color: #F2F2F2;
}

Example with the corrected CSS:

This would be the ideal outcome (background-size: contain;), but because it's applied to the body HTML element it does not look right:

 

-- SA

[TheTimvh1 873]

Hey, TheTimvh1 here. Not sure if this is the correct topic forum for this or not, but I just tried updating a file and post-update the file retained the pre-update info above the new changes. It's a total mess and there's no way to delete the file so I can re-upload. May I request an admin delete my Medium Hockey Rink lot so I may re-upload it without such clutter? Thank you.

 

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

On 03/12/2022 at 5:02 AM, Shadow Assassin said:

For quite a while now ST has been showing the banner incorrectly for me on higher screen resolutions. This probably should be fixed.

Thanks for the heads up. I've implemented the fix as you've accurately explained, so this should now be properly resolved.

As a side bonus, the fix to move the CSS into the header element makes it now display on narrow-width mobile devices too. Previously this was missing, as it only showed a generic blue background on there (a lot of the base code is from the IPS board software suite). Although I don't have a widescreen monitor to confirm the header is correctly centered, I tested by extending my browser window across 2 screens. It now does display properly, so I think it's all sorted now.

 

2 hours ago, TheTimvh1 said:

May I request an admin delete my Medium Hockey Rink lot so I may re-upload it without such clutter? Thank you.

Certainly, all done. I've removed your file. Once you've re-uploaded it, I can switch back that review you received so it places it on the new file.

Here's a copy of the v2 description text just in case it's needed:

Spoiler

20huskies' Medium Hockey Rink v2

Just a medium-sized 2x2 hockey rink to compliment the 1x2 lot released by 20huskies.

As a fan of his work, I have enjoyed following his posts, and noticed that some of the images he's posted on various on-site forums include a 2x2 custom version of his Hockey Rink lot, though for some reason he has chosen not to upload it to the STEX (his choice, of course).  Therefore, I decided to recreate it myself, and with his blessing, am uploading it to the STEX.

All credit goes to 20huskies, of course.  After all, this is merely a recreation of something he himself made for his use in-game.

To install simply place the file into the main 20huskies' Hockey Rink folder.

Make sure you have the following dependencies installed as well.

20huskies Hockey Rink (optional, but highly recommended).

20huskies W2W Stadium Village Pack 02 (required)

BLaM Blank (required).

Note: Update 2.0 fixes a problem with the lot not appearing in-game due to a lot ID conflict coupled with the main model being tied to the original lot. Thankfully, I managed to obtain a prop variant of said model courtesy of 20huskies himself, thereby allowing me to relot this relot (sounds weird, I know) in a manner that fixes the aforementioned problem. Said prop is of course included in the download (with 20huskies' kind permission, of course).

For those of you who already downloaded the original release of this relot, I strongly recommend you redownload it. Otherwise, it likely won't show up at all in-game.

Enjoy, TheTimvh1

 

(And no worries. I moved your post into the Bugs thread here, since it's a little more suited than the SC4Devotion topic.)

[TheTimvh1 873]

6 minutes ago, Cyclone Boom said:

Certainly, all done. I've removed your file. Once you've re-uploaded it, I can switch back that review you received so it places it on the new file.

Thanks a bunch. I've just reuploaded it, btw. So everything's good.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

On 12/7/2022 at 8:37 AM, Cyclone Boom said:

Thanks for the heads up. I've implemented the fix as you've accurately explained, so this should now be properly resolved.

As a side bonus, the fix to move the CSS into the header element makes it now display on narrow-width mobile devices too. Previously this was missing, as it only showed a generic blue background on there (a lot of the base code is from the IPS board software suite). Although I don't have a widescreen monitor to confirm the header is correctly centered, I tested by extending my browser window across 2 screens. It now does display properly, so I think it's all sorted now.

Can confirm it looks OK now, nice work 👍

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

Site Downtime Explanation

Apologies everyone for the downtime for the past day or so. Thankfully nothing serious, as it was just the annoying "config reset" bug, where internal settings get reset to defaults and needed manually fixing up. This has happened before on several occasions, and it's still uncertain as to the direct cause other than a few theories.

Good news is the trouble has now been successfully averted I'm pleased to confirm. There is no loss of data.

-CB