ID:2150721
 
Resolved
Missiles did not behave correctly.
BYOND Version:510
Operating System:Windows 10 Home
Web Browser:Chrome 53.0.2785.116
Applies to:Webclient
Status: Resolved (511.1358)

This issue has been resolved.
Descriptive Problem Summary:

Sometimes the webclient will continue to draw a missile (generated with the missile() proc) standing there after the missile has reached its target. While investigating this, I discovered a number of other irregularities:

1. Missiles appear to instantly cross space in webclient.
2. Missiles may be blocked by dense atoms in webclient (unverified, but would explain some otherwise random things), and may stick around indefinitely after hitting somethign.
3. Missiles are confused by moving targets in webclient, and may stick around indefinitely.

Numbered Steps to Reproduce Problem:

Create an environment with moving and unmoving mobs and a verb that generates a missile() towards them. Hosting in webclient, you will never see your missile when used against an unmoving mob.

For the sake of detail: all my test missiles are generated from an object prototype. Some have icons, some have maptext. All prototypes used have a glide_size specified.

Code Snippet (if applicable) to Reproduce Problem:
missile(obj/prototype,src,target)


Expected Results:

Missile is animated crossing the screen at a rate commensurate with glide_size until it reaches target; missile then vanishes.

Actual Results:

Missile fails to appear or appears near the target and stays.

Does the problem occur:
Every time? Or how often? Missiles generated under the conditions described above misbehave with 100% consistency, though as described above the manifestation varies somewhat.
In other games? In both RealmLike and a test environment.
In other user accounts? Yes, it was reported by a player.
On other computers? Yes, see above.

When does the problem NOT occur? When doing the same thing in Dreamseeker.

Did the problem NOT occur in any earlier versions? If so, what was the last version that worked? I am unsure.

Workarounds:

Targeting the turf at a mob's feet at least prevents the obvious glitch of the missile hanging around or jumping around erratically, but it does not render the missile.
Lummox JR resolved issue with message:
Missiles did not behave correctly.
While I didn't retest this with moving targets, the logic for those shouldn't really impact the results I got with this fix, so I expect this is taken care of completely.

Turns out basically a lot of under-the-hood changes that happened a while back never properly impacted missiles the same way. As a result there were a number of problems: gliding being done twice (with the second time working from an adjusted position that wasn't correct, usually undoing the previous glide) and the missile's visual position never updating.
Thanks for the prompt fixes.

I notice the reports were moved. For my own future reference, are all webclient bugs considered beta bugs? I had thought that referred to the build of BYOND being used. If I misposted, I apologize.
In response to AlexandraErin
Indeed they are. The reasoning behind this is that the webbclient itself is still considered a WIP.
Yeah, I still keep all the webclient bugs in the beta section. No biggie.
So, I downloaded and installed the beta, and most of my issues seem to be gone, but this one is not 100%. It's no longer intermittently leaving missiles behind, but it still isn't rendering the missile's voyage along its path. To every appearance, the proc does nothing when viewed in webclient. I tried varying a few of the conditions (specifying an icon versus an obj prototype, with and without maptext), and nothing.

Well dang. I'll have to run some more tests. If you have a test project that shows the problem more readily, that'd be a big help.
Sure do, let me upload it.
http://files.byondhome.com/AlexandraErin/ maptextvalign_and_missile_src.zip

I just used the same test environment I was using for maptext, so it should all look very familiar to you. Missiles work as expected in DS. In webclient, nothing.
Thanks. I'll take a look at that tomorrow. There probably won't be a release tomorrow but I expect I'll get that sucker fixed for the next one.
Thanks a lot. Even just knowing that they're bugs and not just me not getting it is a huge load off.
Yeah. Missiles are, not surprisingly, not very well tested because they don't show up in a lot of games--especially lately, with animation being available.
And here I thought my back-to-basics, bare-bones approach to things would make everything so much simpler.