Developers: Don't waste your time.

[Leo213]

I see all the minor updates being added to the engine, but honestly until the "disappearing objects" bug is fixed, all these minor updates are a waste of the developer's time.

This bug is absolutely game breaking and I've seen parts of the world completely wiped out, along with various quest related items. I've lost dozens of hours of game time due to this issue.

Worst of all, it's been a very VERY long time since this problem surfaced and I believe it's safe to say that this will be the cause of Exult's untimely demise, if that hasn't already happened.

I'm not even completely sure why Exult in its current form is still available for download, considering it will likely ruin many saved games.

Stick to DosBox folks, that version works perfectly without having to deal with all the impossible to track issues that a new engine brings.

[Dominus]

Aren't we all glad there is an internet?

[Matt]

What a happy chap. I've followed Exult off and on for 12 odd years and it truly is an amazing achievment.
Rest assured Leo, the devs are working on it. For free.

[Jaesun]

I still to this day have never experienced the disappearing objects bug. :shrug:

[Leo213]

Don't get the wrong idea, Exult is an amazing achievement which is now completely crippled by this bug which I believe is also the same bug which causes the game to randomly crash (happens every half hour to an hour). I was just a bit peeved due to losing a large chunk from Britain, the quest items I was able to replace via the handy CTRL+B/INSERT cheat options, but just knowing that it will only get worse and worse is enough to turn me off from the engine entirely.

Jaesun999, it probably already happened to you, but you didn't notice because either the items that disappeared were something you would have overlooked anyways or maybe it was something like trees, maybe you got lucky and the engine only wiped out some garbage, etc. Rest assured that you WILL notice when it decides to remove an important chunk, like the Britain Museum which happened to me not long ago but I ignored it thanks to the above cheat option.

With that said, my original post should be taken more as the developers should try to fix this bug above all else and if not possible, should just take a break until someone does. Losing chunks and on a very rare occasion, quest progress, is game breaking enough to overlook all of Exults features that make it a better Engine over the original, and actually cause the opposite to happen.

[EagleEye]

Thing is, it's a very complex interplay between the object-caching code and NPC schedules that's extremely hard to reproduce. They're trying to fix it, but in the mean time, if you save frequently, then if you encounter the bug, reload your last save. Again, extremely hard to reproduce, meaning it's not likely to happen twice in a row. (Also, those crashes may be caused by the trees being restored when you reenter an area despite never being removed, thus making 2 (or more) trees. Saving and loading will fix that, so try saving and loading every half-hour and see if that stops the crashing.)

[monotremata]

Ive also never encountered this bug and Ive been playing Exult for yeeeeears now. Crippled? I don't think so, Ive beaten both the Black Gate and Serpent Isle numerous times with absolutely no troubles.

As for sticking with DosBox, you do know that there is a similar bug in the original as well right?

[Dominus]

I think everything that needs to be said is written in http://exult.info/forum/viewtopic.php?p=358191#p358191. The bug does exist and people have run into it, including me. The bug is also extremely hard to trigger on purpose which makes me wonder what the people experiencing this bug have done to deserve it

Seriously I'd like to know how you people play with Exult that makes you trigger it more than others.

@Leo, good find about the duplicating objects, now your skills need to find a sure way to trigger the disappearing objects

[drcode]

I wonder, should one of us try to fix it? I don't think it would be very hard, but the two things stopping us are:

1. Don't want to duplicate someone else's effort.
2. It's so hard to get the problem to appear that there's no telling if we've actually fixed it.

[Colourless]

DrCode you should keep an eye on IRC.

[N]

Is it helpful to have savegames with "missing" objects? The only time I remember the bug popping up (years ago) was when the drawbridge to Castle British vanished.

(man that was a pain... always casting help to get inside... and I can't remember how I ever got out...)

Can you even interact with the drawbridge? I mean... it's so weird that it just vanished!

-N