Naming-related bugs

[anon123]

There are a few bugs regarding 'n'aming monsters.

Problem
There are a few bugs related to monsters' names, or 'n'aming them. These are the following.
1. Named non-uniques transformed with a PoEX don't keep their name, but cannot be re'n'amed under the pretense of "But the -foo- already has a name!" This only happens with monsters that are named by default, such as Kranach, Glod, Garth or royal guardians.
2. Royal guardians change names when they're animated as undead, and can't be 'n'amed. Their new forms probably shouldn't be initially named.
3. There's a rare bug that causes the same effect as problem number one, but without using a PoEX (at least with blink dogs).

How to reproduce it
1. Throw a potion of exchange at the aforementioned monsters, then try to 'n'ame them when they transform.
2. Find or wish for enough royal guardians until you get a corpse, then 'a'pply the Necromancy skill and note the results.
3. This one is hard to reproduce intentionally. So far, I've only seen it happen in the ID and with blink dogs (pretty much the only monsters I use the name command on).

Here's a savegame of a PC immediately next to a blink dog on I8. It is the first one ever generated during that game, hasn't been transformed with any potion, hasn't called for help, and has never been named by me before. Nonetheless, I'm unable to name it no matter what, getting "But the blink dog already has a name!" as a response.


http://BillionUploads.com/dlh7jwt6foej

Notes
See above.

[j.t]

1. and 2. have been fixed.
3. the upload is not available anymore. Could you re-upload it or send me an email? Thanks!

[anon123]

3. the upload is not available anymore. Could you re-upload it or send me an email? Thanks!

Sure :) You can find it here as NameGlitch.zip:

http://dropcanvas.com/f000p

[j.t]

Thanks, file received. Now I "just" need to get the old Winbeta 4 working again in DEBUG mode. ;)

[j.t]

I got the Winbeta 4 sources working so I could analyze the "blink dog naming" problem. Right now I discovered the following:

- the blink dog has no name (the character array starts with a 0), but the internal "named monster" flag is set

I checked all statements that modify this flag, all seem ok to me.

- if the blink dog summons another blink dog, I can name the new blink dog (the "named monster" flag is unset), but I'm still unable to name the old one afterwards

So, more debugging needed I guess.

[j.t]

I created a new character, went directly to the ID and down until the first blink dog was created. The "named monster" flag was not set, so I could name it without any problems. I think the code is ok (blink dogs are handled in the same way ofter monsters are handled). But there may be some special circumstances where this bug shows.

@anon123: can you remember if anything special happened in the provided save game? What did you do before you went to the ID? You said it was hard to reproduce... how often did this problem appear?

[anon123]

@anon123: can you remember if anything special happened in the provided save game? What did you do before you went to the ID?

I don't think there was anything noteworthy. I used the question system to get a high Learning stat, pressed > in the first wilderness square to read all my books, went to Terinyo to get the puppy, sheriff and druid quests, went to the bandit village to make my first kill, identify some shop gear and get the Pick Pockets skill. Then I entered the ID, clearing every level and then descending as usual, to gain some levels. When I found that blink dog I tried to 'n'ame it, but couldn't!


You said it was hard to reproduce... how often did this problem appear?

It's pretty rare. It must have happened only 3-4 times as far as I recall. The savegame I posted was the last one. That's when I decided to put this problem in my notes and then post all name-related issues here.

If it happens again, should I post another SVG?

[anon123]

Wait, I just remembered I play using a patched executable. From now on I will test things with PCs created and played with an unmodified winbeta4 binary.

[j.t]

Ah, that could be an explanation. I think we can blame the modified file then. I'm closing this bug until it happens again with the unmodified winbeta.

[anon123]

I was able to reproduce this bug under the Windows port of 1.2.0pr1, with an unaltered binary, of course. Savegame available here (http://dropcanvas.com/0vk9x/3). Try to 'n'ame the outlaw leader in the bottom left of the screen, and it will give the same message.

[j.t]

@anon123 I might have found something. Did you attack the outlaw leader with a missile before trying to name him?

[anon123]

No, I only used my bolt spell. There were two of them, I got them in a straight line and shot two bolts. The first one did, the other (this one) panicked and ran away.

[j.t]

Thanks... internally bolts and missiles use the same routine. On one line this routine uses the wrong flag-collection, so that instead of the "was attacked by player"-flag the "has a name"-flag is set.

[Carter]

Thanks... internally bolts and missiles use the same routine. On one line this routine uses the wrong flag-collection, so that instead of the "was attacked by player"-flag the "has a name"-flag is set.

would explain some funny behavior around bolt spells not aggro'ing monsters in certain circumstances.