iPad crashing

[kingt]

I know I wrote about this before in another thread, detailing some of the instances where crashes appeared.

I'm now in a MP battle that has plenty of units on the map, and since each one has its own animation I was wondering whether it's possible to turn that off somehow on the iPad (I believe it can't be) or whether it will be possible in future updates in case the units' animations combined are indeed responsible for the crashes. Maybe it's too much to handle for the GPU?

I experienced two crashes in three turns in such a game, and I don't have any other apps or processes running in the background (no notifications, no location tracking, not even email setup or anything else that would use system resources).

I have also noticed that if I zoom out, I can experience some lag in those animations, especially when there are plenty of infantry units around, as those boys keep moving. But zooming back in at maximum level fixes things.

Alternatively, is it possible to remove animations from custom scenarios?

[pipfromslitherine]

Can you let me know what iPad version you have, and the iOS you are running? I spent some time last week further reducing the memory load of the game, as I think the iOS update may use up a little more memory, making life tougher for a game as large as BA.

It's definitely possible that running very large custom scenarios might use more memory than we have tested with here. Can you let me know the scenarios in question, as there may be something we can do.

The animations are actually being stored as memory mapped files, which means they don't count toward memory use (the lag you see is the system loading them in and out of memory from the "disk"). The optimisations I have added would help considerably with the kind of scenario you are talking about.

Cheers

Pip

[kingt]

It's an iPad 1 running iOS 5.1.1 which is the latest available version for it. I also have BA 2.0.6 if it matters (I haven't updated to 2.0.7 yet).

It happened to me in custom scenarios like Ortona, Fortified Line and GJS Vimont. In regular scenarios it happened more frequently in maps like On the Beaches and Dune Fight, and maybe others as well, but I can't recall exactly as I haven't played those in a while. Basically, the more units on the map, the more lag / crashing chances, or at least that's what I observed.

Thanks!

[pipfromslitherine]

Further to this KIngt, I think I have found a bug in the 5.0+ implementation of the iOS virtual keyboard. As I type into it, it uses more and more memory - seemingly without limit. This does not happen on my 4.3 iPad. I am going to try and get some tech support from Apple on this if I cannot find a workaround. It would definitely explain why crashing on MP text entry seems to have popped up as an issue again after I thought I had solved it in some prior updates.

Cheers

Pip

[Mockingbird]

Hello, I'm glad you are working on this problem as I have had crashing problems ever since 2.07 came out... randomly when loading and saving games in single player. MP seems OK as long as I don't type any messages. I'm using an iPad4 with IOS 6.0.1

[pipfromslitherine]

You've not mentioned the loading and saving issue before. Can you give me any more details? Are there any saves which consistently crash, or is it non-repeatable?

We don't have a 4 as yet, so hopefully it is not something specific to the new model...

Cheers

Pip

[kingt]

Good to hear you found the issue. I hardly type on the iPad while in-game to prevent crashes - sorry to everyone that thinks I'm ignoring them in battle, that's not the case, it's just that I don't want to get any crashes and have to replay the turn.

I had crashes in single player games too, which taught me to save often. But I rarely play them and they were not so annoying as multiplayer games crashes.

[Mockingbird]

My "workaround" has been to reboot the iPad. After it restarts I can play single player games normally (loading games and saving) for a period of time before the single player game becomes unplayable usually after a few days to a week.

I usually shutdown BA before opening another application. I do the same before I open it even though the iPad has plenty of memory in an attempt to clear out the buffers. I play BA sometimes every day, other times every couple of days. Beats me what is going on... can be a bit aggravating hence the post.

Before 2.07 I didn't remember having this problem... but I did upgrade from an iPad 2 to the iPad 4 model shortly after 2.07 came out... maybe it has something to do with the new processor. No other apps have failed me like BA has lately.

Love the Game by the way, just reporting my situation.

[pipfromslitherine]

Hmmm - something of a coincidence that you both have iPad 4s. I guess we will have to grab one and see - if it is a new problem specific to that model then we will of course get a fix out for it asap.

Cheers

Pip

[kingt]

Hmmm - something of a coincidence that you both have iPad 4s. I guess we will have to grab one and see - if it is a new problem specific to that model then we will of course get a fix out for it asap.

Cheers

Pip

No, I have an iPad 1. That's why I thought it crashes.

[pipfromslitherine]

Sorry. My mistake, lost track of whose comments were whose. Should have taken note of your Stug-ness .

Cheers

Pip

[pipfromslitherine]

My "workaround" has been to reboot the iPad. After it restarts I can play single player games normally (loading games and saving) for a period of time before the single player game becomes unplayable usually after a few days to a week.

I usually shutdown BA before opening another application. I do the same before I open it even though the iPad has plenty of memory in an attempt to clear out the buffers. I play BA sometimes every day, other times every couple of days. Beats me what is going on... can be a bit aggravating hence the post.

Before 2.07 I didn't remember having this problem... but I did upgrade from an iPad 2 to the iPad 4 model shortly after 2.07 came out... maybe it has something to do with the new processor. No other apps have failed me like BA has lately.

Love the Game by the way, just reporting my situation.

Do you by any chance remember what iOS version you were running on your iPad 2?

Cheers

Pip

[Mockingbird]

Hello Pip, I was using 6.01 but only a few days after the update because I got the iPad4 shortly afterwards. Anyway, since my post I've not had any issues playing the game and I tried many combinations of loading, saving and playing the game so far... Maybe the fix was to post? Anyway I'm getting my post count up and maybe some day I'll grow up to be a Stug or more .

Makes me think that just bringing up the problem made it go away. We'll see in the coming days and weeks.

Thanks for your time.

[kingt]

Makes me think that just bringing up the problem made it go away. We'll see in the coming days and weeks.

That would be great if it worked out like that, but I still see crashes on iPad 1, most likely because it's iPad 1. I'm still grateful the game works on this "old" thing. I wouldn't play it on a Mac/PC with mouse and keyboard, something I didn't think I would ever say about such a game.

[Mockingbird]

Well guess what, played a MP game (first turn) a moment ago and when I tried to type in a reply message wishing them a good game BA crashed to the "desktop"... so I restarted BA and played the turn and then returned it to the server without typing a message... This worked fine. Shortly thereafter I received an email about the multiple attempts to load the same turn.

How this relates to crashes in single player may relate somehow to typing a message in multiplayer... So until this is fixed I'd better remember to not type in any messages.


Thanks.

[pipfromslitherine]

We have a bug report in to Apple about memory use and crashing, but I have no idea what the turnaround time is likely to be, or if there is a workaround we can implement in code. We could fairly simply implement a very rough keyboard of our own, but then (e.g.) foreign users wouldn't have their special symbols etc...

Cheers

Pip