The Open Cave

I posted a question in the General Discussion forum regarding abnormal operation of the boat. I have now been able to reproduce this problem several times.

I log in to TOC and go to Nexus. I then link to CoD and go to the ferry terminal where I find the boat at the dock with the gangplank in place. It doesn't matter what time I do this. The first time as I reported in the other posting, I arrived a coupled minutes before departure time and boarded the boat. Ten minutes later, the boat hadn't moved.

I think the boat either grounded or there is a software problem.

Cal

It was working Sat evening before we got booted out. Maybe they need to restart the server.

If you this problem occur the next time, please quit Uru and send us your logfiles. (Especially the Python.0.log)

Opa

It just happened again. Same sequence of steps.
I zipped up the log folder and sent it to you at support@the-open-cave.net Attn: Opa

Hope this helps.
Cal

Everything is okay in your log files. However, I saw that the timespan was betwees ##:47 and ##:49.
You can only see the boat departing and moving if you are in the age before ##:00/##:15/##:30/##:45. If you enter it at, e.g., ##:46 the boat will be in the harbor again, for you. Then you'll have to wait until ##:00.

If I arrive at the dock betwee ##.47 and ##:49 as I did, I would not expect to see the boat docked but rather just arriving. I'll do some more testing but I think there really is a problem. I'll let you know what I find.

Cal

New test:
I logged in to TOC, linked to Nexus->CoD. I went to Ferry Terminal and found the boat docked. Time was :05. I waited and the boat departed at :15 on schedule. I then linked back to Relto and linked back to CoD using KI /cod command. Went to the docks and the boat was docked. Time :08.

I am wondering, now, if the boat sequence restarts when you link out of CoD and then return. Based on this, I would expect the boat to be docked every time I link to CoD either from Nexus or with KI command. The boat would then depart at the next quarter hour and maintain the schedule while I am in CoD.

This does not seem logical, however. I would assume that in the TOC server, there is only one boat subroutine and it would run continuously. That way, any time someone logs into CoD, they might see the boat at the dock but more likely it would be somewhere out on the lake.

If each user has his/her own boat subroutine, then the first scenario is logical.

Maybe I'm nitpicking! The first few times I was on TOC, I didn't even know there was a boat. When I first heard about it, I could never find it. I thought the white boat out on the lake was the boat in question...but it never moved! I've got a lot to learn about ToC. I love it even with its idiosyncrasies. I hope it doesn't get shutdown. I am watching the legality question closely that was posted recently. I would assume that if all the CoD software resides on the server and nothing is distributed to client systems, there should be no problem.

Cal

It's quite simple. The boat is controlled by a Python script that checks your time and calculates the seconds till the next quarter. After that amount of seconds the boat tour animation will run for you. Everything happens locally, even though simultaneously for everyone in the age. Alas, the boat animation cannot easily be synchronised globally and therefore not be resumed when joining the age after it departed. Therefore, the boat will only depart and tour or it's docked.

I hope I could explain it a bit more.

OK! I got it. I understand what's happening, now. Thanks everyone and cancel the bug report.

Cal