Curse

bouvrie · Nov 01, 2011, 05:34 PM // 17:34

here's what happened to me this Halloween... :

Should be a bug report, but the movie demonstrates it nicer than plaintext.

To clarify: This movie has not been artificially constructed beyond the point of mixing 'the way it should look' with 'the way it looks on my character'. No game modding nor (3D) editing took place.

This account's character is somehow still in the Canthan New Year 'server' even though that event has long since ended. Come Halloween, the props changed to the Halloween ones (including The Mad King, with all its scripting), while leaving the decorations in place.

I don't really play with this char much, which is why it's still in this state. And yes, I exited Guild Wars numerous times since then, it's not like I'm running an ancient build of the game, nor did I leave my PC on for lengths at a time.

Mireles · Nov 01, 2011, 06:47 PM // 18:47

TexMod FTW?...

bouvrie · Nov 01, 2011, 07:03 PM // 19:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mireles

TexMod FTW?...

Nope, all real. If it were TexMod, I guess the objects (oriental masks, lanterns) themselves wouldn't actually be there, just the world would have a different texture.

Sagittario · Nov 01, 2011, 07:05 PM // 19:05

1) Nice demonstration of Dragon Festival in LA mod. But how did you make it working with Halloween decoration?
2) What the hell district are you in? Only 3 ppl there. And they seemed to me to be your alts/friends.
3) Very nice vid. GJ

I'm looking forward your next vid with Winterdsday in Cantha mod.

Edit:

Quote:

Originally Posted by bouvrie

Nope, all real. If it were TexMod, I guess the objects (oriental masks, lanterns) themselves wouldn't actually be there, just the world would have a different texture.

They should never be there. Only Cantha is decorated during Canthan events.

Mireles · Nov 01, 2011, 07:27 PM // 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by bouvrie

Nope, all real. If it were TexMod, I guess the objects (oriental masks, lanterns) themselves wouldn't actually be there, just the world would have a different texture.

I might be more inclined to believe you if more ppl were there.... there are mods that let you decorate the environment based off other textures and objects in the .dat....i remember someone made a pre-searing mod and applied it to post Ascalon... so yes it is possible... or you just have a corrupt install. and i think those are dragon festival decorations not new years... so the mod only effects the environment and does not remove or re-skin NPCs that are not normally there.

bouvrie · Nov 01, 2011, 07:27 PM // 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagittario

1) Nice demonstation of Dragon Festival in LA mod. But how did you make it working with Halloween decoration?

I didn't. This is a bug, read the description in my post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagittario

2) What the hell district are you in? Only 3 ppl there. And they seemed to me to be your alts/friends.

I don't recall exactly which dis I was in at the time, but I can still reproduce the environment. I just logged in again and it occurs at America English Dis 1. Although I can only see 1 American district at all, so I'm thinking this server may be secluded from others, as there are 82 American English LA districts at this time in the 'normal' game (I verified this with my 2nd account, which I'm not running from the same installation folder as the 'affected' one).

As for the alts/friends, I wouldn't know what gave you that idea: they were just standing around doing nothing and I didn't know them. Although they make quite good background actors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagittario

3) Very nice vid. GJ

Thanks! It was freaky, so I decided to document it. Threw in a different soundtrack and cropped some bits to make the difference stand out more (i.e. the ship 'sinking' at 00:58 and 02:09). But that's all I did.

bouvrie · Nov 01, 2011, 07:33 PM // 19:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagittario

Edit:
They should never be there. Only Cantha is decorated during Canthan events.

Wiki begs the differ: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/File:...Lions_Arch.jpg . Either way, I'm not playing Guild Wars too much and it could be any other event that had Lion's Arch look the way it does. I thought it would be Canthan New Year upon Wiki inspection. :P
*edit* : the account in question only has the Prophecies campaign loaded. Perhaps that also might restrict some festival access?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mireles

I might be more inclined to believe you if other ppl were there.... there are mods that let you decorate the environment based off other textures and objects in the .dat.... and i think those are dragon festival decorations.

Interesting thing is though that while I moved about the district, up to 4 other people were there too (you can see some of them die in the movie, as they just stood around and did nothing). To top it off, I saw one person walking about and asking when the Mad King would come, so it would appear that I'm not the only one who's had this happening.

If it were a client-side mod, I wouldn't be surprised if there were many other people anyway, given a locally applied TexMod has no effect on other players. Plus, if there were more people in the district, wouldn't they all have gone about, posting about this weird occurrence?

Anyway, as this character has been able to log into this environment for a while now, I could even take requests to help debug/test this situation further. But this is not me trying to 'sell' a mod, it's a real bug report. Check the thread at http://www.presearing.com/forum/index.php?topic=45454.0 for instance, it dates back a while. Halloween just made it a bit weirder.

Mireles · Nov 01, 2011, 07:42 PM // 19:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by bouvrie

If it were a client-side mod, I wouldn't be surprised if there were many other people anyway, given a locally applied TexMod has no effect on other players. Plus, if there were more people in the district, wouldn't they all have gone about, posting about this weird occurrence?

That precisely my point... only you seem to have saw it... as a result of a corrupt install or TexMod. Yeah its neat... but its not something that needs to be debugged.

bouvrie · Nov 01, 2011, 07:44 PM // 19:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagittario

I did, but I doubt that's true. Can you show me some screens/vid with uncut borders?

I have some, but I can do you one better: PM 'Hunter Of Insanity' when you get online, and I'll make a vid while you're whisping me. That'll show it's occuring in real time alongside the 'normal' playing environments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mireles

That precisely my point... only you seem to have saw it... as a result of a corrupt install or TexMod. Yeah its neat... but its not something that needs to be debugged.

Yeah, it's probably a corrupt install as I don't know how I would willingly go about making these New Year decorations visible. However, the fact that this corrupt install only shows 1 district has me believe that the other people in the same district must've had a corrupt install too (because no matter how I try, I can't get into this same 'district 1' with my other accounts).

I've come to know graphical glitches in the game, but they never really affected the number of active districts...

Perhaps this poses some kind of security/exploit risk for Anet, but for me it's just a bit of fun.

Mireles · Nov 01, 2011, 07:55 PM // 19:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by bouvrie

I have some, but I can do you one better: PM 'Hunter Of Insanity' when you get online, and I'll make a vid while you're whisping me. That'll show it's occuring in real time alongside the 'normal' playing environments.

Yeah, it's probably a corrupt install as I don't know how I would willingly go about making these New Year decorations visible. However, the fact that this corrupt install only shows 1 district has me believe that the other people in the same district must've had a corrupt install too (because no matter how I try, I can't get into this same 'district 1' with my other accounts).

You can be in the same district as other people but be seeing another environment... IE the other 3 ppl could had the normal Halloween decorations while you were seeing the dragon fest.... changing the environment does not require you another district... your in the same place its just painted different on your screen... thats how and why TexMod is client side only does not effect what other people see... a corrupt install does the same thing... just because your seeing any kind of corrupt/changed texture/models doesn't mean others see it.

and why have me whisper to your friend... why not just tell me where to show up and witness this bug? :P

Sagittario · Nov 01, 2011, 07:58 PM // 19:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mireles

and why have me whisper to your friend... why not just tell me where to show up and witness this bug? :P

Any interaction would cause the bug to fix itself. He can't show us.

Star_Jewel · Nov 01, 2011, 08:12 PM // 20:12

I'm inclined to believe this is real, as a friend experienced a portion of this sort of thing after one of the festivals this year (might have actually been the Dragon Festival).

If I recall correctly, it occurs when you log out in a decorated outpost before they take down the decorations. In order for the "non-decorated" state to take effect in your client, you have to physically move zones. My friend was able to go to guild hall and come back to LA, but the decorations didn't go away; however, when he walked out into North Kryta Province and back in to LA, things were "fixed" to the way they should be.

I also recall him saying that very few people were visible in the district with him.

I wish I could remember the details better, but we didn't think it was a big deal. "Huh, that's funny. Oh well, moving right along..."

Sagittario · Nov 01, 2011, 08:17 PM // 20:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Star_Jewel

"Huh, that's funny. Oh well, moving right along..."

Yep, That's what it is. Somehow I managed to miss all Dragon Festivals and Canthan New Years except the rabbit one, somehow I thought LA and Kamadan aren't decorated during those fests.

Lithril Ashwalker · Nov 01, 2011, 08:19 PM // 20:19

wouldnt the mad king have slanted eyes if he was in cantha?

no racism meant im asian myself xD

Star_Jewel · Nov 01, 2011, 08:29 PM // 20:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lithril Ashwalker

wouldnt the mad king have slanted eyes if he was in cantha?

no racism meant im asian myself xD

Doesn't he?

bouvrie · Nov 01, 2011, 08:31 PM // 20:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by bouvrie

I have some, but I can do you one better: PM 'Hunter Of Insanity' when you get online, and I'll make a vid while you're whisping me. That'll show it's occuring in real time alongside the 'normal' playing environments.

Here's the screenshots, if anyone still needs more 'proof', I FRAPS'ed the damn movie along with the conversation log. Kinda reluctant to share it though as the screenshot bit has some private info in it user (profile location). :P

And Yes, Mireles, it could be that Sagittario Mell is an alternate version of me, or a friend of mine. So it wouldn't constitute as proof to any skeptical person except for Sagittario Mell. Provided he is not me, nor a friend of mine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mireles

just because your seeing any kind of corrupt/changed texture/models doesn't mean others see it.

Yes, although just because I was on a server with only 1 US dis1, and there were others in the same district as me, would that imply those others were also affected by the 'same' bug, i.e. visually different?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Star_Jewel

I'm inclined to believe this is real, as a friend experienced a portion of this sort of thing after one of the festivals this year (might have actually been the Dragon Festival).

If I recall correctly, it occurs when you log out in a decorated outpost before they take down the decorations. In order for the "non-decorated" state to take effect in your client, you have to physically move zones. My friend was able to go to guild hall and come back to LA, but the decorations didn't go away; however, when he walked out into North Kryta Province and back in to LA, things were "fixed" to the way they should be.

Dragon Festival would sound accurate, I'm not really that much into all these events.

As for the 'physically move zones' part, if that theory holds, what would I be able to do and still retain this state? Can I:
-Map travel to any other outpost & come back to the festive LA?
-Travel to my Guild Hall & come back to the festive LA?
-Participate in the Sorceress of Kessex' Scarred Psyche outpost, enter the battle & come back to the festive LA?

I probably wouldn't be able to 'ferry' anyone into this festive LA, would I?

RedDog91 · Nov 01, 2011, 08:46 PM // 20:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by bouvrie

Yes, although just because I was on a server with only 1 US dis1, and there were others in the same district as me, would that imply those others were also affected by the 'same' bug, i.e. visually different?

Either you have no idea what "client side" means, or you are very dedicated to this troll thread.

bouvrie · Nov 01, 2011, 08:50 PM // 20:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedDog91

Either you have no idea what "client side" means, or you are very dedicated to this troll thread.

Neither, unless you scratch the 'troll' part: then it's the latter.

As for client-side, I know what that means. However, I do also notice that my 'client' somehow gets fed a different district/server-list than the normal ones. So I'm guessing I'm on a different server, unless it's my client itself that's keeping me from seeing other people in my LA.

Star_Jewel · Nov 01, 2011, 10:14 PM // 22:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by bouvrie

As for the 'physically move zones' part, if that theory holds, what would I be able to do and still retain this state? Can I:
-Map travel to any other outpost & come back to the festive LA?

Not sure about this one. It's probably 50/50 that it might fix it if you do this.

Quote:

-Travel to my Guild Hall & come back to the festive LA?

I'm pretty sure you can do this. I'm just going on memory of something that, like I said, my friend and I just kind of blew off several months ago. But I believe what makes this so weird is that you can travel between GH and the funky outpost.

Quote:

-Participate in the Sorceress of Kessex' Scarred Psyche outpost, enter the battle & come back to the festive LA?

No clue about this one. Taking the quest moves you to an outpost in (according to the map) The Battle Isles. Guild Halls are on TBI, soooo....maybe?

Quote:

I probably wouldn't be able to 'ferry' anyone into this festive LA, would I?

That you would not be able to do.

I'm really not sure why everyone is jumping on your thread with such negativity. Current outpost decorations don't work the way they always did. They used to release a patch to add or remove decorations. Now they do it somewhat on the fly. But due to the way the game mechanics work, I'd imagine there has to be some sort of internal hook to trigger the "on the fly" change. Zoning seems like a logical choice.