Topic

Endless loop of connection resets, lag and errors

I apologize for the not using the normal guidelines, but I have no idea how to reproduce this reliably.

When entering Groddle Forest or Shimla Mirch streets with other people on them, during high-traffic hours, I will often wind up trapped in an endless loop of lag, errors, and connection resets.  It seems fairly random, but I have noticed that it's most common on streets that see a lot of traffic.

The first symptom is the loud SFX of people zoning in and out while I'm loading in.  I will get bombarded with 8-10 "<playername> has entered" "<playername> has left" messages once loading completes.  Then a massive lagspike hits as the game tries to play catch-up.  Then I get a connection reset, an error dialogue box, and the game automatically reloads the zone.  This causes another lagspike, which eventually leads to another connection reset and reload.

This repeats ad nauseum until I either wind up disconnected completely or my browser itself crashes.  Strangely, it only seems to happen in Groddle Forest, Shimla Mirch, and the busiest sections of Groddle Heights (such as Alpine Heights and Bishop's Arch).  Groddle Meadow and most of Groddle Heights is fine, and Ix is suprisingly lag-free and silky-smooth compared to most zones.

I have tried reloading - my browser and computer are simply so overloaded that Opera simply won't respond to the reload page command.  Clearing the cache doesn't seem to help either.  I suspect server load or recent changes has something to do with it.  I wasn't experiencing this problem last night, but there were much, much fewer people on then.

Posted 21 months ago by Doc Oblongata Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Hi Doc Oblongata- actually, we introduced a lot of performance improvements to the game last week, that we are noticing (from communicating in the help channel) that many lag issues reported are alleviated with a full browser restart to get the game going again. Recognizing you have mentioned doing that, there are sometimes network issues that can hamper game play, between client and server.

    We notice the Flash version number looks to be: 10.3.180. Are you using a developer/beta release? 
    Posted 21 months ago by kevbob Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, I'm using the 10.3 beta.  I switched to it because I found it on the Home page, on one of the blog entries, with a remark along the lines that "Glitch leverages the functions of this beta release and may run slowly without it".  It worked excellently last night and for most of the beginning of this testing period until now.  Should I uninstall and switch back to the 10.2 debugger version?
    Posted 21 months ago by Doc Oblongata Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I guess we might have linked to a generic beta page at one point, well before 10.3, but we never meant to suggest 10.3 beta be used. It is a dog. Please let us know how 10.2 works for you!
    Posted 21 months ago by eric Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, switched back to the 10.2 debugger version, and attempted to move from Likomarka to Soggy Bottoms, to help out with the street project there.

    Didn't even get to fully load into the zone this time.  The loading screen's progress bar stopped at the end of the "readying" phase and then spat out an error dialogue box.  Problem is, I couldn't actually send the error report in because my whole browser froze.

    GOD just left a message saying the server will close down in an hour.  I'm going to try and get back in and reproduce the problem at least once before it goes down.

    *sigh*  Wish me luck.
    Posted 21 months ago by Doc Oblongata Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Doc-

    This may or not be helpful for your experience, but we have a basic test page that checks for loading of some assets:
    alpha.glitch.com/help/test/
    Posted 21 months ago by kevbob Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well that sucks Doc, but thanks a lot for trying. The errors I see in our logs from your client are def. very odd (script execution timeouts, for things that should not take anywhere near 15 seconds).

    I would love to know how the game works for you in a non-Opera browser.
    Posted 21 months ago by eric Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, I'd use Firefox 4, but unfortunately, the game is unplayably slow and crashes even more often than on Opera.  I also have Internet Explorer, but I haven't used it in ages.  I don't even know if it's up to date.  I guess I could give it a shot next test, after checking it and installing the debugger flash plugin for it.

    Strangely, in Firefox, all tests read green.  Running those tests in Opera, however, I got the following error messages:
    CDN 1 Direct: Failed (img.OnError)
    CDN 2 Direct: Failed (img.OnError).

    In slightly better news.  I did manage to get back in the game before it was shutdown, and also managed to get all the way back to Groddle Meadow (sweet Groddle meadow with its easily-manageable lag.)  Had some trouble with momentary disconnects along the way, and the lag in Bishop's Arch got so bad that I almost couldn't make that last jump to the uppermost road to the signpost, but after that it was smooth sailing.  Even managed to get to the Bureaucratic Hall before the game was shut down.  Provided the 10.2 debugger flash plugin stays that stable, I'm going to stick with it.

    If you need more info, let me know.  I'll do everything I can to help out.
    Posted 21 months ago by Doc Oblongata Subscriber! | Permalink