Force Selection Screen Bug (Sometimes)

[Polskers]

Hi all,

Got a difficult issue to reproduce here and I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem.
I'm running latest version of the game and sometimes I experience an error where the force selection screen does not close when I hit "accept" after choosing my armies. I find that it doesn't happen if I use up as many points as possible, but if I leave any points and can still pick a unit, it doesn't close out. This is usually the case - but sometimes not, either!

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a fix in the works? I seem to remember this being mentioned in the past but I'm not sure.

Thanks!
All the best.

[rbodleyscott]

This is a known bug, and should be fixed by the free update that will be released on 16th February.

[Polskers]

This is a known bug, and should be fixed by the free update that will be released on 16th February.

Brilliant! Thanks so much, glad to hear that.

[Polskers]

This is a known bug, and should be fixed by the free update that will be released on 16th February.

Three different attachments I've posted, it looks like the force selection screen doesn't close during deployment if you still have points to put into your army, but will close, seemingly, if you click accept a final time and start the battle. If you use up all your selection points when choosing an army, it closes the force selection screen presumably because it assumes you are done all the way.

Any idea as to what is causing this bug? It seems to not affect FOG2 Medieval, so it's curious that it's still present here.
Or am I perhaps doing something incorrect? I'm updated to latest patch with latest DLC.

Screenshot 2023-02-17 144414.jpg (518.51 KiB) Viewed 1236 times

Screenshot 2023-02-17 144923.jpg (572.31 KiB) Viewed 1236 times

Screenshot 2023-02-17 145358.jpg (547 KiB) Viewed 1234 times

It's not affecting my enjoyment of the game any, just something I am noticing.

[rbodleyscott]

I really thought this bug was finally laid to rest. Oh well, I will have to look at it again.

[Polskers]

I really thought this bug was finally laid to rest. Oh well, I will have to look at it again.

No worries, take your time with it - I am certainly in no rush and it doesn't bother me any, it just is "there", if that makes sense. I can't begin to imagine how complex it must be to try and iron out these bugs!

[rbodleyscott]

I am unable to reproduce this bug on my system.

Is your computer fairly old/low spec? Previously the bug was thought to be due to two operations getting performed in the wrong order (because sometimes one had not been fully actioned before the other was actioned, which resulted in the overlay not getting closed. This seemed to be more likely to occur on a slower system). The fix was supposed to allow the overlay to close even if the operations did get actioned in the wrong order.

Do I understand correctly that even when the force selection gets "stuck" like this, hitting Accept again makes the force selection overlay disappear, allowing the game to proceed?

If I remember correctly, before the fix, once it got into this state, hitting Accept did nothing, so the force selection overlay was really stuck on the screen, preventing the battle from being played properly.

Is anyone else (who is reading this) still getting this issue?

[tyronec]

I was seeing this before the latest patch but in the same situation it looks to be fixed now.

[Polskers]

I am unable to reproduce this bug on my system.

Is your computer fairly old/low spec? Previously the bug was thought to be due to two operations getting performed in the wrong order (because sometimes one had not been fully actioned before the other was actioned, which resulted in the overlay not getting closed. This seemed to be more likely to occur on a slower system). The fix was supposed to allow the overlay to close even if the operations did get actioned in the wrong order.

Do I understand correctly that even when the force selection gets "stuck" like this, hitting Accept again makes the force selection overlay disappear, allowing the game to proceed?

If I remember correctly, before the fix, once it got into this state, hitting Accept did nothing, so the force selection overlay was really stuck on the screen, preventing the battle from being played properly.

Is anyone else (who is reading this) still getting this issue?

No sir, my system is from 2021, so it's definitely fairly recent. My primary system is a Razer Blade 15 Base Model.

You do understand correctly that when I hit accept and start the battle, the overlay disappears and I can play the battle as normal. There is no Force Selection screen past that point if I proceed with the actual combat and the battle can be played properly, as you stated.

However, I am pleased to report that since the update I received today today (1.6.7 I believe)), I haven't been able to replicate the problem either and I've tested out six different battles and combinations in a number of eras. Not sure what has been fixed if anything but I am no longer getting the issue whatsoever.

The issue seems to be fixed for me and I'm not sure what did it!

[rbodleyscott]

The issue seems to be fixed for me and I'm not sure what did it!

Me neither.

[Polskers]

The issue seems to be fixed for me and I'm not sure what did it!

Me neither.

Unfortunately, playing today and the issue seems to be back, BUT not with every battle.

Tested the start of ten battles, and it happened to me in four. Those four battles happened to be the first battle of the Julius Caesar campaign AND the first battle of the Philip of Macedon campaign. It was fixed, on both occasions, by using up all my points so I had basically none left, but when I left points leftover, the force selection screen didn't disappear. In the other battles I tested - the start of the Hittite campaign and the Ramesses II campaign, leaving points leftover didn't cause the force selection screen to persist on the screen and so there was no issue the overlay.

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Screenshot 2023-02-27 143854.jpg (527.76 KiB) Viewed 1157 times

Not sure what the issue is but perhaps it can be looked at, at some point, for a patch. I'm sure I'm not the only one having this issue but it's so inconsistent seeming. It's very interesting, however, that I noted it with those two campaigns. I do however think it could just be a "generalised" bug that happens to show up there.

[Paul59]

The issue seems to be fixed for me and I'm not sure what did it!

Me neither.

Unfortunately, playing today and the issue seems to be back, BUT not with every battle.

Tested the start of ten battles, and it happened to me in four. Those four battles happened to be the first battle of the Julius Caesar campaign AND the first battle of the Philip of Macedon campaign. It was fixed, on both occasions, by using up all my points so I had basically none left, but when I left points leftover, the force selection screen didn't disappear. In the other battles I tested - the start of the Hittite campaign and the Ramesses II campaign, leaving points leftover didn't cause the force selection screen to persist on the screen and so there was no issue the overlay.

Screenshot 2023-02-27 143244.jpg

Screenshot 2023-02-27 143854.jpg

Not sure what the issue is but perhaps it can be looked at, at some point, for a patch. I'm sure I'm not the only one having this issue but it's so inconsistent seeming. It's very interesting, however, that I noted it with those two campaigns. I do however think it could just be a "generalised" bug that happens to show up there.

It might be significant that the Hittite and Rameses II campaigns are both new from the latest DLC, while the Julius Caesar and Philip of Macedon campaigns were made many years ago.

I managed to recreate your issue with the Julius Caesar campaign, but I got rid of the force selection screen by simply clicking on the Accept button again.

[rbodleyscott]

I managed to recreate your issue with the Julius Caesar campaign, but I got rid of the force selection screen by simply clicking on the Accept button again.

This being the case, and together with the fact that there is no good reason to not use up all your force points (other than to test for this bug), I don't think we should worry too much about it.

That being said, have you encountered it (since the update) only with campaign battles, or with single custom battles as well?

[Paul59]

I managed to recreate your issue with the Julius Caesar campaign, but I got rid of the force selection screen by simply clicking on the Accept button again.

This being the case, and together with the fact that there is no good reason to not use up all your force points (other than to test for this bug), I don't think we should worry too much about it.

That being said, have you encountered it (since the update) only with campaign battles, or with single custom battles as well?

For me, I don't actually play custom battles, unless I am testing something. I also never fail to use all my force points, apart from loose change. So no, I haven't noticed it in Custom Battles.

However, I have just tested a few custom battles for you, and the problem did occur a few times there. I also noticed another relevant clue; the issue only occurs when the game offers you extra generals. I went back to check the Caesar and Philip campaigns, and the extra generals were offered there too!

[rbodleyscott]

I managed to recreate your issue with the Julius Caesar campaign, but I got rid of the force selection screen by simply clicking on the Accept button again.

This being the case, and together with the fact that there is no good reason to not use up all your force points (other than to test for this bug), I don't think we should worry too much about it.

That being said, have you encountered it (since the update) only with campaign battles, or with single custom battles as well?

For me, I don't actually play custom battles, unless I am testing something. I also never fail to use all my force points, apart from loose change. So no, I haven't noticed it in Custom Battles.

However, I have just tested a few custom battles for you, and the problem did occur a few times there. I also noticed another relevant clue; the issue only occurs when the game offers you extra generals. I went back to check the Caesar and Philip campaigns, and the extra generals were offered there too!

Ah thanks Paul, therein lies a clue. I will look into that.

[Polskers]

I managed to recreate your issue with the Julius Caesar campaign, but I got rid of the force selection screen by simply clicking on the Accept button again.

This being the case, and together with the fact that there is no good reason to not use up all your force points (other than to test for this bug), I don't think we should worry too much about it.

That being said, have you encountered it (since the update) only with campaign battles, or with single custom battles as well?

Oh yes, I don't think it's that huge of an issue, not game-breaking at all, more of an inconvenience than anything and like you said - there's no good reason to not use up the force points anyway, so it's definitely not something to worry about. I'm not going to fret over it. It was more to bring it to your attention.

Still, I appreciate you guys checking it out! Much appreciated regardless.

[Karvon]

A problem I've run across in playing a campaign, I think it was an Assyrian one in STE, I detached forces in the garrison stage - adding some extra so I could rearrange my forces a little - but though the amount was displayed it only showed 1 pt of X being available so I couldn't actually purchase any additional troops. I reloaded a couple of times varying the amount and got the same result no matter how much I detached.

[rbodleyscott]

A problem I've run across in playing a campaign, I think it was an Assyrian one in STE, I detached forces in the garrison stage - adding some extra so I could rearrange my forces a little - but though the amount was displayed it only showed 1 pt of X being available so I couldn't actually purchase any additional troops. I reloaded a couple of times varying the amount and got the same result no matter how much I detached.

It is possible that the extra points were used to purchase compulsory picks.

To investigate further, I would need more details as to which stage of the campaign it was.

[rbodleyscott]

I managed to recreate your issue with the Julius Caesar campaign, but I got rid of the force selection screen by simply clicking on the Accept button again.

This being the case, and together with the fact that there is no good reason to not use up all your force points (other than to test for this bug), I don't think we should worry too much about it.

That being said, have you encountered it (since the update) only with campaign battles, or with single custom battles as well?

Oh yes, I don't think it's that huge of an issue, not game-breaking at all, more of an inconvenience than anything and like you said - there's no good reason to not use up the force points anyway, so it's definitely not something to worry about. I'm not going to fret over it. It was more to bring it to your attention.

Still, I appreciate you guys checking it out! Much appreciated regardless.

This bug (feature) is in fact also present in Medieval if there are extra generals available. Because of the convoluted way the program flow interacts with the VizQ and the popup, and because we are not going to get an opportunity to massively play-test any attempted fix, there would be a risk that the "fix" would introduce a different bug.

As the current version of this "bug" does not actually prevent play, but just sometimes adds a couple of extra mouse clicks on the rare occasions you forget to spend all your points - think of it as a second opportunity to spend the extra points rather than wasting them - it is probably better just to leave it.

[Polskers]

This being the case, and together with the fact that there is no good reason to not use up all your force points (other than to test for this bug), I don't think we should worry too much about it.

That being said, have you encountered it (since the update) only with campaign battles, or with single custom battles as well?

Oh yes, I don't think it's that huge of an issue, not game-breaking at all, more of an inconvenience than anything and like you said - there's no good reason to not use up the force points anyway, so it's definitely not something to worry about. I'm not going to fret over it. It was more to bring it to your attention.

Still, I appreciate you guys checking it out! Much appreciated regardless.

This bug (feature) is in fact also present in Medieval if there are extra generals available. Because of the convoluted way the program flow interacts with the VizQ and the popup, and because we are not going to get an opportunity to massively play-test any attempted fix, there would be a risk that the "fix" would introduce a different bug.

As the current version of this "bug" does not actually prevent play, but just sometimes adds a couple of extra mouse clicks on the rare occasions you forget to spend all your points - think of it as a second opportunity to spend the extra points rather than wasting them - it is probably better just to leave it.

Is it present in Medieval? I didn't know that - I've never actually experienced it there interestingly enough. However, that's good to know - it seems to me that you are indeed right, probably best to just leave it rather than messing around with it. Thanks for having a look though!