X3AP Billion Barracuda Bug (& other ships) - UPDATE: Solution in 2.5.3.

[X2-Illuminatus]

When the problem was reported first in the German forum, I wrote a script that destroys the offending ships, as the user who was reporting the problem, played a modified game.

The script a.destroy.ships will destroy all ships, which:

• are not player owned
• Job id is 0 (so they are not spawned by the Jobs-Engine)
• have a pilot (so they are not ownerless)
• that can be destroyed (so they are no important plot ships, those are normally invincible)
• run the two scripts !ship.cmd.killenemiesrange.std and !fight.attack.enenemiesrange.land.

Installation and usage:
1. Download the script-archive a.destroy.ships.xml.zip here (x1tp.com).
2. Extract it to your X3AP-"scripts"-folder (default location is C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\X3 Terran Conflict\addon\scripts)
3. Start the game, load your save, activate and open the Script Editor.
4. In the list of scripts highlight the script a.destroy.ships, press 'r' and two times 'Enter'.

The script will then destroy all the ships, which meet the criteria listed above. It will restart itself every three hours.

Uninstallation:
1. Open the Global script task window within the Script Editor
2. Highlight the Script a.destroy.ships, press 'Del' and confirm with 'Yes'.
3. Delete the file a.destroy.ships.xml from your X3AP-"scripts"-folder.

Please note that this is neither an official fix nor do I suggest that you have to use it. But for those who play a *modified* game anyway or plan on doing so, it provides a possible temporary solution that is a bit more comfortable than looking for and destroying the offending ships manually. In any way, it is a good idea to backup your saves before using this script.

[Grammarye]

I have also been using extended SETA from time to time (if nothing else, to get about, I was busily exploring the universe getting sectors scanned out when this started, and even an M5 takes a while to cross some sectors).

A new twist I've observed. I now have a long stream of Argon ships (Nova, Eclipse, maybe 1000 total) from... somewhere, passing up through Hila's Joy, Ocean of Fantasy etc. to congregate in Getsu Fune. Possibly there's a Xenon somewhere that they really took exception to. Quite impressive to watch pass by, if equally nuking my game's performance once again.

Edit: I tried the script mentioned above, and it did not delete this long stream of Argon ships (or I completely screwed up running it). I also noticed a few Argon Rapid Response ships in Getsu Fune that weren't there earlier.

Saved games here, same method as described in prior posts in this thread.

[X2-Illuminatus]

The problem is currently investigated. Once an official fix is available and has been tested, it will be made public. As with all official updates and hotfixes, it won't mark your game as *modified*.

[bfifteenv]

I don't know if this is related...

On the r/x3tc Reddit, there was a discussion going on about jump beacons. Specifically them not working properly in regards to Hephaisto and building in the Terran sectors in V2.5.

Seems like they aren't placing the jump beacons required for them to get their freighters into the Terran sectors, and they get caught in an endless loop trying to get to the gateless sector to build.

I have not witnessed this in MY game, but I haven't tried to build in Terran sectors and now for some reason Hephaistos won't take any build orders from me. They think I'm broke but I have nearly $2billion (but not MORE than $2B in my account)...

So I can't, in my game, check to see if I have the same Hephaisto problem...

BUT. All of the jumpbeacons I have encountered in the wild DO NOT WORK! (I haven't gotten an beacons myself, so I can't test that either).

Some NPC jump beacons are red. I'd understand if those didn't work. But some are blue, and they don't work either...

I have no idea how the RRFs work, but seems to me like a broken Jump Beacon could be related... maybe these fighters spawn in these sectors and are supposed to be jumping with an RRF, but the beacon they are trying to use is broken...

Just more observations from my game that I though might be some use...

Thanks as always!

[Alan Phipps]

I have been reliably informed by the X3AP bug-tracker that it is likely that the devs and script authors will be taking a concerted look at this fighter swarms issue over the next week in the hope of developing a vanilla hotfix to be released quickly. Whether that will both stop it arising again and clean up existing ships in the same initial hotfix remains unclear and we must wait until after the initial investigation is completed for further information.

[X2-Illuminatus]

On the r/x3tc Reddit, there was a discussion going on about jump beacons. Specifically them not working properly in regards to Hephaisto and building in the Terran sectors in V2.5.

Check the Hephaistos Corp. Bonus package topic, the bugs you mentioned are known and listed in the first post together with workarounds. They have nothing to do with this problem here.

[Alan Phipps]

As at today, the Devs are still working on this bug. It is proving more complex than at first thought so please be patient for a remedy or further information.

[StarSword]

Who came up with the name? 'Cause s/he's got a good mind for alliteration.

[NinjaDriver]

An update please. Still waiting to make my game playable.

[Alan Phipps]

As soon as I know something, I promise you all will. The devs are aware of the gravity of the problem.

UPDATE 13 Sep: The cause of the issue is known and a prevention is being worked on. They are aware of problems in clearing the existing numbers of ships already in vanilla saves as the ships are not shown as improperly spawned nor have distinctive attributes to identify them easily from other intended ships.

[weewillyweiner]

Add me to the list of afflicted, oceans of fantasy and all the rest.

[corndozer]

I have just started seeing the same symptoms (SETA starts to chug at 4x now). And made my way to Oceans of Fantasy and found the flooding river of Barracuda. Thought it may have been the cpu until I tried it on my very beefy work PC it did the same thing with my save (works fine with a new game).

[cakes]

Mods....

Are there any further status updates on the progress of any fix? Or is Alan's update from the 13th still current?

Ta, Andy

[Alan Phipps]

No further news other than that one of the devs is still on the case.

[cakes]

Ta Alan.

[bobt]

Yes 2732 hours of playing time most seta.

[bobt]

The following link is a screenshot of this issue in my Universe. Alan I guess I found out where BLACK HOLE SUN Full of Argon Eclipses

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/109659698/x3screen00001.bmp

As you sugessted I ran from a saved game that would work and found it starting here and before I could get through the sector all slowed down, no keyboard slow mouse, slow joystick. When first entering the gate there were about 30 or 40 and the number grew.

Another Time I tried it I made it to oceans of Fantasy like someone else reports. So I guess it could pop up anywhere.

<Merged into correct thread and embedded screenshot made a link. Alan Phipps>

[weewillyweiner]

Two months on ...

[cakes]

Two months on ...

Frustrating I know, but I'd rather they got the fix right, than introduce other issues.

I think I'm correct in saying that a major problem with issuing any fix, is how to identify and correct the ingame objects causing the issue, compared with other objects. I don't think there is anything unique about the trouble causers.

[Alan Phipps]

Yes how to prevent it happening in future is understood but developing a safe method to identify and remove the extra fighters already spawned in gamesaves is the major problem. I don't know about this next bit, but there may also be a need to consider the effect of any 'fix' on any other updates for X3AP in the pipeline.

One thing to be aware of is that RRF (the most likely source) was not originally in-house Egosoft code.

I can only repeat that at least one dev is on the case and is still trying to find a way to recover the stalled gamesaves. I will let everyone know as soon as there are any developments (unless a patch/hotfix comes first).