problem in alloy production

[afterburn25]

there seems to be some kinda bug where my alloy will never get above 1k. i am producing 300 alloy and it will never go above 1k in fact it will go less sometimes. i tried buying some on the market and it buys it and adds it for a split second then it drops below 1k. this game is now useless as i can not do anything at this point.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

I haven't had this problem.

Do you mean that your alloys per month will not go above 1k, or that your alloys stockpile will not go above 1k? When you are buying alloys on the market, are you talking about a monthly trade or a one-time purchase? Do you have enough energy stockpiled to pay for the trade you are trying to make?

Also, what version of the game are you playing and are you using any mods? Have all of those mods been designed to work with that version?

[AngleWyrm]

Originally posted by tempest.of.emptiness:

Have all of those mods been designed to work with that version?

This is not a good indicator; some mods merely have their descriptor file updated (sometimes by someone who isn't the original creator), and some mods continue to function properly even though they were made long ago.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

Originally posted by AngleWyrm:

Originally posted by tempest.of.emptiness:

Have all of those mods been designed to work with that version?

This is not a good indicator; some mods merely have their descriptor file updated (sometimes by someone who isn't the original creator), and some mods continue to function properly even though they were made long ago.

I can't prevent mod authors or mod modders from engaging in bad practices. The first step is to check each mod to see what version it says that it works with, and if it doesn't say that it works with the version one is using then that is a good reason to stop using it.

Even if a mod does claim that it works with the version one is playing, that does not guarantee that it isn't causing a problem. That is a more complicated issue best left to investigate after every easier possible cause has been eliminated. When investigating a problem with multiple possible causes it generally makes sense to start with the most likely culprits.

[AngleWyrm]

Originally posted by tempest.of.emptiness:

Originally posted by AngleWyrm:

When investigating a problem with multiple possible causes it generally makes sense to start with the most likely culprits.

This is how to search for culprits.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

Originally posted by AngleWyrm:

This is how to search for culprits.

That is a good technique, but if your first split is half chosen at random instead of splitting off the ones that are likely to be at fault then you are reducing your efficiency. Identifying likely culprits and excluding them from your first test potentially allows you to pool all the troublemakers into one group and exonerate all the rest, which will reduce the number of checks you need to do.

[AngleWyrm]

Originally posted by tempest.of.emptiness:

Originally posted by AngleWyrm:

This is how to search for culprits.

That is a good technique, but if your first split is half chosen at random instead of splitting off the ones that are likely to be at fault then you are reducing your efficiency.

If you wish to pre-sort the list according to a scoring system of likely to be at fault, then by all means go right ahead. One could then measure the value of that sort by how many trials it saved off the search compared to unsorted, and the cost in time added vs time saved.

[Red]

I think i've had a bug like this before. My resource numbers made no sense and made it up as it went along. Had to start a new game.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

Originally posted by AngleWyrm:

If you wish to pre-sort the list according to a scoring system of likely to be at fault, then by all means go right ahead. One could then measure the value of that sort by how many trials it saved off the search compared to unsorted, and the cost in time added vs time saved.

Since knowing the requirements of the mods you are using should be something that one does before one starts using those mods, the time added should be essentially zero - which makes the step worthwhile even if somehow it doesn't save any time in the search process.

In the case of someone who is using mods and doesn't know what the requirements of those mods are, there will of course be some time added by having to go and look up those requirements. However, since I believe that doing so is a necessary step before using the mod, and not an extra step associated with the search process, I am inclined to say that the time spent should be considered a time debt for using the mods that is finally paid. As such, the time added to the search is again essentially zero.

[AngleWyrm]

Originally posted by tempest.of.emptiness:

Originally posted by AngleWyrm:

If you wish to pre-sort the list according to a scoring system of likely to be at fault, then by all means go right ahead. One could then measure the value of that sort by how many trials it saved off the search compared to unsorted, and the cost in time added vs time saved.

Since knowing the requirements of the mods you are using should be something that one does before one starts using those mods, the time added should be essentially zero - which makes the step worthwhile even if somehow it doesn't save any time in the search process.

Sorting is not free, it is a physical act and it takes time to do.

It requires looking at each mod to compare it to the scoring system of Likely To Be At Fault (which now includes some sort of historical knowledge lookup) in order to decide where to put it.

Whereas I did not take the time to look at each mod, and found the error in five tries out of a set of 59 mods. Therefore I conclude the additional information is more expensive than it's worth.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

Originally posted by AngleWyrm:

Sorting is not free, it is a physical act and it takes time to do.

I think we've derailed this thread enough. If you want to discuss sorting strategies, make a thread in the off-topic/random discussion section of the forum. The OP hasn't responded yet to even say that they are using mods, so what method to use to search for a problem mod isn't even germane yet.