Dune 2 Problem/Bug

[Cubic00]

Hi,

I was playing the 7th mission of the harkonnen campaign when suddenly a bug occurred that is currently starting to drive me crazy. My units decide to move or attack by themselves! As always, I positioned some tanks in front of my base to destroy any approaching enemy, but from time to time (absolutely randomly, but at least every 30 seconds) one or two units decide to attack and head for the enemy base. If I select them and move them back to their former position they do it but I can be sure that within the next couple of seconds they will try it again. If I decide to move them or attack the enemy by myself and send some tanks to do so they spontaneously change their destination or target and do basically what they want. At least they eventually attack an enemy unit or structure bit it is impossible to win a mission with this lack of coordination.

I was able to recognize that this problem mostly occurs with devastators, but if there are no left because they all ran into the enemy defense line siege tanks and rocket tanks act like this as well. There were absolutely no problems in the missions before.

Software:

Dune 2 EU Version 1.07 with unofficial fix

DosBox 0.73

Windows 7 64bit

Has anybody else encountered similar problems and knows how to solve this?

Thanks!

[MrFlibble]

Very weird. Can you post a savegame? (Remember to ZIP it or you won't be able to attach it to your post)

[Cubic00]

Of course! I attached it.

A few seconds after loading the game the two devastators standing next to the heavy factory are always attacking by themselves.

_SAVE006.zip

[MrFlibble]

Okay, I've observed this weirdness, but I have not the slightest idea what could cause it. I suggest you do the following things:

1. Restart the mission and see if this happens again.

2. If yes, you might want to play a different version of this mission (lose the current mission by destroying all your buildings, then select a different region). See if this bug happens again.

3. Try reinstalling the game without the unofficial fix (I suppose you're using mine, right?), to check if the bug is caused by he changes in the fix.

4. Try getting a different version of Dune II (there are different variants of v1.07 out there, more info here) and check if the bug can be replicated using a different version.

Then we'll see what might be the possible cause for this issue.

[MrFlibble]

Alright, I did a little testing and so far I've been unable to replicate the bug (I've tested it on exactly the same mission). Therefore I must ask you to provide more information on the version you're using (there are at least two different version of Dune II titled "The Battle for Arrakis", plus there is a possibility of mixed up files when it's actually the US "The Building of A Dynasty" with the wrong title due to a replaced ENGLISH.PAK file).

The best thing is to provide a list of files in your Dune II directory. To do so, start DOSBox, go to the directory where Dune II is located, and type

[pre]dir >dune2.txt[/pre]That way, the directory contents will be listed in a file called "dune2.txt". Post this file here.

Could you also please tell what version of the unofficial fix you're using?

[Cubic00]

I downloaded both the game and the fix from abandonia.

I will reinstall the game with the game files and the fix from this forum. This should sort things out, right?

You can find the dir file of the currently installed game attached.

DUNE2.TXT

[MrFlibble]

I will reinstall the game with the game files and the fix from this forum. This should sort things out, right?

I have no idea. The fix versions downloadable form here and from abandonia are identical. I've tested the mission using exactly the same version and did not get the bug. Before you reinstall, you should try to restart the mission and also try playing a different choice for that level, to see if the bug persists with your current setup - that should make it more clear where to look for the cause.

[Cubic00]

I did what you said and at first only restarted the same mission and the bug occured again. Only after completing the 6th mission again (I had a savegame that was close to victory) and choosing another area of the map I was able to play the 7th mission normally.

I have absolutely no clue what could have triggered this bug. It works for me now, though. So thanks so far.

[Cubic00]

I'm in the last mission right now and my units are fine. But now, I just was about to complete my base, it tells me I can't build any more structures. Is there a limitation of structures that I can build or is this another bug? I have exactly 20 structures right now.

/E: Oh and by the way I'm from europe, just in case you wonder about the times that I used to reply here.

/E2: Ok, I read that there is a global limitation.

[MrFlibble]

I did what you said and at first only restarted the same mission and the bug occured again. Only after completing the 6th mission again (I had a savegame that was close to victory) and choosing another area of the map I was able to play the 7th mission normally.

I have absolutely no clue what could have triggered this bug. It works for me now, though. So thanks so far.

Hm, I'll look more closely into this particular mission file (in SCENARIO.PAK), but so far I have still been unable to determine the source of the bug. Another thing is that, according to my observations, the version of Dune II you're using is a bit more unstable than the others (although it has some nice improvements over the earlier versions, all of which are also tagged v1.07), so it might have been a rare bug caused by something in the EXE. I will still try to trace that when I got time :)