The Castle Doctrine Forums

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2013-04-01

Posts: 1,235

Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

I just completed a major update to the server.

Behavior of the game shouldn't change in any way.

But maps are now cached in a central table, instead of being duplicated in multiple tables, for an enormous space savings.  For example, the same house map starting state is often preset for multiple robbery tapes.  Before, that same house map was stored in each tape.  Now, only one copy of that map is stored in the central map table, and the robbery tape simply references that map.

This takes us from 86 KiB per user down to 22 KiB per user.

I've tested it extensively, and it seems to work without any hitches.  But, you know, if you see the server suddenly behaving strangely, please report it to me:   jasonrohrer@fastmail.fm

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2013-04-01

Posts: 1,235

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Oh, as another example:

6800 robbery tapes are currently stored.  But among those, there are only 1400 unique maps.  Clearly, a lot of duplication was happening before.

largestherb

Member

From: england

Registered: 2013-05-27

Posts: 381

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Error: Unexpected response from server.

resulted in death. three times in a row. trying to rob Roscoe Cox. you broke something!

dalleck

Member

Registered: 2013-04-13

Posts: 250

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Error: Unexpected response from server.

resulted in death. three times in a row. trying to rob Roscoe Cox. you broke something!

Same here.  Except I didn't rob anyone .  I just can't get into my house.

---

The rich aren't safe. Nobody is safe. -jere                   ...but the smell wafts out from the pit, obviously. - Jason Rohrer

And the more dickish they are, the more I feel like beating a house to destruction after finally figuring it out. -bey bey

jere

Member

Registered: 2013-05-31

Posts: 540

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Ah, I died too. I thought it was my fault because I sometimes quit while robbing a house (meaning to leave) and couldn't remember if I did that.

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Golden Krone Hotel - a vampire roguelike

dalleck

Member

Registered: 2013-04-13

Posts: 250

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

AAAAIII!!! Jason, the game is broken!!!

Money is growing in all the houses.

On the plus side, whoever gets back in after the fix will be a very wealthy man....

Last edited by dalleck (2013-06-21 23:03:36)

---

The rich aren't safe. Nobody is safe. -jere                   ...but the smell wafts out from the pit, obviously. - Jason Rohrer

And the more dickish they are, the more I feel like beating a house to destruction after finally figuring it out. -bey bey

dalleck

Member

Registered: 2013-04-13

Posts: 250

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Looks like we got nothing to do except update the wiki.

Get onto it people!

---

The rich aren't safe. Nobody is safe. -jere                   ...but the smell wafts out from the pit, obviously. - Jason Rohrer

And the more dickish they are, the more I feel like beating a house to destruction after finally figuring it out. -bey bey

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2013-04-01

Posts: 1,235

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Wow, yeah.  You know.... the one thing that I guess I forgot to test here... robbing houses.  A simple typo.  And worse than that, it was causing the house maps to be wiped post-robbery (which is why people couldn't get into their own houses, eventually).

Feeling really stupid right now.

Fixing it.  Will have to restore from backup.

Sorry everyone!

bey bey

Member

Registered: 2013-04-20

Posts: 386

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Things happen. Glad there is a backup.

We'll just all rob your house when it's working again.

---

In fact you can be batman.
(if he robbed houses and murdered families.) - Dalleck

dalleck

Member

Registered: 2013-04-13

Posts: 250

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Things happen. Glad there is a backup.

We'll just all rob your house when it's working again.

Which one is Jasons? MWAHAHAHAHAHA

Last edited by dalleck (2013-06-22 12:10:35)

---

The rich aren't safe. Nobody is safe. -jere                   ...but the smell wafts out from the pit, obviously. - Jason Rohrer

And the more dickish they are, the more I feel like beating a house to destruction after finally figuring it out. -bey bey

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2013-04-01

Posts: 1,235

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Okay, this is fixed now, and the server is back online.  More details in another thread.

Please keep an eye out for other weird behavior.

bey bey

Member

Registered: 2013-04-20

Posts: 386

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Wow, that was a wayyyyy back up. I see my black and white collection is back before the evil Dalleck ransacked my poor house.

---

In fact you can be batman.
(if he robbed houses and murdered families.) - Dalleck

dalleck

Member

Registered: 2013-04-13

Posts: 250

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Wow, that was a wayyyyy back up. I see my black and white collection is back before the evil Dalleck ransacked my poor house.

Yes, and for me it was straight after my house was totally destroyed the first time...

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The rich aren't safe. Nobody is safe. -jere                   ...but the smell wafts out from the pit, obviously. - Jason Rohrer

And the more dickish they are, the more I feel like beating a house to destruction after finally figuring it out. -bey bey

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2013-04-01

Posts: 1,235

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Yeah, I've learned some lessons from this.

Last time, the lesson was:  always test on a clone of the database before taking changes live.

I did that this time, and it seemed to be working fine.  So, then I took the changes live.  Of course, I missed one test case.

New lesson:  make a backup of the main database before taking changes live, after testing on a clone of the database, so if I do need to restore from a backup, it won't be such a huge leap back in time (I had to rely on the nightly backups this time).

Sorry for everyone that was affected negatively by this!

dalleck

Member

Registered: 2013-04-13

Posts: 250

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Yeah, I've learned some lessons from this.

Last time, the lesson was:  always test on a clone of the database before taking changes live.

I did that this time, and it seemed to be working fine.  So, then I took the changes live.  Of course, I missed one test case.

New lesson:  make a backup of the main database before taking changes live, after testing on a clone of the database, so if I do need to restore from a backup, it won't be such a huge leap back in time (I had to rely on the nightly backups this time).

Sorry for everyone that was affected negatively by this!

So basically you fried yourself testing your/our house.

---

The rich aren't safe. Nobody is safe. -jere                   ...but the smell wafts out from the pit, obviously. - Jason Rohrer

And the more dickish they are, the more I feel like beating a house to destruction after finally figuring it out. -bey bey

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2013-04-01

Posts: 1,235

Re: Keep an eye out for strange server behavior

Yeah, it actually had exactly that same dynamic.  I thought I tested it enough before pulling out the back doors, but nope!