Frikbot / QW

[redrum]

I got a tough one here.
I'm running / attempting to run a QW server with Frikbots.
Right now when someone logs in a bot is formed:

===========
ClientConnect

called when a player connects to a server
============
*/
void() ClientConnect =
{
ClientInRankings(); // FrikBot
bprint (PRINT_HIGH, self.netname);
bprint (PRINT_HIGH, " entered Spisi's Fragfest!\n");

// a client connecting during an intermission can cause problems
if (intermission_running)
GotoNextMap ();
stuffcmd(self, "impulse 100;\n"); //adds a bot when player connects to server

The problem arises when a second client attempts to log on. The server crashes every time when a client attempts to log on while there is an active bot.

Can someone point me in the right direction to solve this issue?

[Urre]

It's like with any kind of bug/error reporting, you need to tell us *how* it crashes. What is the error message? Or does it crash the entire engine back out to OS?

[redrum]

IFNOT 12540(foe)entity 2 branch 44
bot_fight.qc : bot_dodge_stuff
bot_ai.qc : BotAI
bot_phys.qc : PostPhysics
<NO FUNCTION>
runaway loop error
SV_Error: Program error


That's the error that shows up in the server console.

[Spike]

unfortunatly this is not a newly discovered bug, and is fairly fundemental in explaining why frikbots never gained any real popularity in the qw scene.

Aaaanyway, the problem boils down to the QW engine trying to be a bit cleaner than NQ.
There's a bit where it clears ALL the entities fields before calling SpawnClient instead of only a few.
This means that some field on the frikbot is cleared and results in the player entity ultimatly linking to itself in the linked list marked with the player_head global. Which results in runaway loop errors.

The easiest solution is to rebuild the list entirly each time, rather than just adding to it. Or just using find instead of the list.
Alternativly you could spawn the bots from entities spawned via the spawn() builtin instead of finding unused player entities.
Unfortunatly with just relinking, there's a small time period where the list will be broken (disconnect at the 'right' time and it'll never be fixed). So you're best off removing the player_head global and fixing the code around it (nextent 32 times maybe?).

Or you can edit the engine, find the offending memset, and comment it out. (SV_Spawn_f in sv_user.c should be where it happens)

[FrikaC]

[redrum]

[redrum]

Attempting to fix the QW engine is beyond my skills.
Would anyone with more talent than myself be willing to take on this task?

[FrikaC]

I will if you pay me.

[redrum]

Hmmm......

How much are we talking about?

[redrum]

[Dr. Shadowborg]

/me comes out of a giant fast food franchise mascot statue

1 mill - er, uh, 1 HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS!!! Bwahahahahahaha!!!

/me strikes Dr. Evil-esque pose replete with the pinky finger thing

[redrum]

Is this asking too much? Sorry if it is.

[Dr. Shadowborg]

[FrikaC]

[redrum]