Zugg Software :: View topic

Beginner Joined: 14 Aug 2003 Posts: 10 Location: USA

6.62 sucks.

I've tried for a week to get it working, and done everything possible. From a complete system wipe up.

What does zugg tell me the problem is?
a corrupt database.... well gee ya think? Well howabout sending me one that isn't corrupted, or have you fixed the download sence yesterday?

the Irony in all this.... I paid for zmud cause I loved 6.16. It was as close to perfect a client as I'd seen. 6.62 however doesn't work on a superior computer with exactly the same programs as my last one with 6.16. and that was the only program I didn't have backed up.

For 6.63 you might want to cut out the converter, and take a few steps backwards..... Over complicting your programs to the point that you don't even know how to fix a problem with it is a Very bad thing.
sign of Overly Hasty Programming and poor testng.

Novice Joined: 17 May 2003 Posts: 30 Location: USA

Personally i've heard 6.40 is the most stable... its a shame they dont offer download links to older versions... only thing i can suggest is try to find an older version on some mirror site.

That is a good idea though... next version or whatever make a converter that can convert BACKWARDS so people who find 6.62 too buggy but have made alot of maps and such in it can go back to an earlier version if they need.

As far as corrupt databases go try doing a clean install of zMUD then see if that will work then slowly intigrate your characters back one at a time by using the primary/inhereted files (i know its a pain in the butt... i've done it myself for 10 or so characters!). It might be a little time consuming but your at least figure out which of your chars is causing problems... or it could just be zmud.ini or somthing which was the problem for me when i first upgraded... caused tons of headaches and i'm not totally sure why. Once i re-did all my character files though from a fresh install (non-upgrade) zmud works like a charm now with the occational bug here and there (which amounts to more of an annoyance than a real problem.. i think it has somthing to do with the configuration i've been using to map Materia Magica.. *shrug*) :)

Any way, hope this helps ya get 6.62 working :)

Wizard Joined: 14 Oct 2000 Posts: 1368

quote:
Originally posted by Veldrane

6.62 sucks.

Why? You haven't explained what is wrong with zMUD in this thread, how can you then expect to get any help in solving it?

quote:

I've tried for a week to get it working, and done everything possible. From a complete system wipe up.

What does zugg tell me the problem is?
a corrupt database.... well gee ya think? Well howabout sending me one that isn't corrupted, or have you fixed the download sence yesterday?

Database corruptions can happen when the application crashes and didn't get to save everything properly. I think it was more common in versions <=6.16 however.

quote:

the Irony in all this.... I paid for zmud cause I loved 6.16. It was as close to perfect a client as I'd seen. 6.62 however doesn't work on a superior computer with exactly the same programs as my last one with 6.16. and that was the only program I didn't have backed up.

A large difference with 6.16 and 6.62 is that in 6.62 zMUD uses database support. It doesn't necessarily mean that something will run faster or grant the ability to store larger maps - but it should simplify coding some.

Did the conversation process fail? If so it is more likely to be an issue with the old 6.16 than with 6.62 in my opinion.

quote:

For 6.63 you might want to cut out the converter, and take a few steps backwards..... Over complicting your programs to the point that you don't even know how to fix a problem with it is a Very bad thing.
sign of Overly Hasty Programming and poor testng.

The interesting thing is that zMUD only has one developer and that is Zugg. The code is as I heard some time ago huge. This means that there is no way for him to know what it all does or how it'll work with a change. With so many users it is also difficult to satisfy everyone and some changes will be disliked by some users.

I think Zugg does an amazingly good job Smile

. Did you know he works on 3 projects by the way? zMUD, zExplorer, and zMap. I hope he doesn't get overworked [:0].

MASTER Joined: 28 Nov 2000 Posts: 4817 Location: USA

I looked at your profile. It was interesting
Total Posts: 8
[8 posts per day]

That tells me you became a forum member and made your first post within the last 24 hours. In that time, I've seen several flames from you but no real attempt to find any help. I can only conclude that you are more interested in badmouthing zMUD than in solving your problem.

There are many thousands of zMUD users (over 60K downloads of 6.62). A relative handful have reported severe problems which prevented them from making any use of the program. It's unfortunate that you are one of them, but your attitude isn't likely to bring you much sympathy. It may well anger people enough to withhold help, if only because they won't bother to read anything you post.

If you're actually interested in fixing your problem, you'd probably benefit from reading How to report bugs effectively.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2003 11:43 pm

Valdar, the main difference between 6.40 and 6.62 is the Pueblo and Simutronics support. Also, 6.62 is pickier about older MUDs that don't conform to the Telnet protocol spec. So, in that sense, if you are on one of these MUDs, then 6.40 might work better.

But in terms of the database issues that Veldrane is having, both 6.40 and 6.62 use the MDAC database drivers from Microsoft, so that's not going to have any difference. And judging from the email flow (which is over a hundred a day), people in general are having fewer problems with 6.62 compared to any other past public version.

The reason I only offer a single download is that I can only support a single version. There's just one of me here. The others you see answering questions in the forums are volunteers. I only have a single version of the source code, so it is impossible for me to go back and change anything in previous versions. All I can do is update the current version. That's exactly why upgrades are free. If I had to support past versions of zMUD, then I'd have to charge a lot more.

Specific issues in the latest version are added to a bug list and fixed. So, if you have a specific problem that can be reproduced in 6.62, it can get fixed. Unfortunately, Veldrane is dealing with a more computer-specific database problem rather than a reproduceable problem in zMUD itself. I've never run into a case where zMUD just flat didn't work at all on Win98. Certainly works fine on my Win98 laptop here, and there are thousands of Win98 users working with 6.62 just fine.

As far as learning more about how to report bugs and how software is debugged, I suggest this link: How to report bugs effectively

(edited: heh...can't believe Lightbulb and I just posted the same bug reporting link at the same time!)