Server Crashing Fix

It seems some people have been experiencing difficulties hosting Skull Tag servers using the private betas released (or possibly any of the other publicly released betas) because they crash as soon as a client shoots. I believe I have found a fix for this problem.

The crash occurs on line 51 of r_things.h. That only really means something to Carnevil right now. Apparently, it has something to do with the particle generation code. Specifically, the expression InactiveParticles = result->next; could not be evaluated.

To solve this problem, once you have started the server, enter the commands "cl_pufftype 0" and "cl_bloodtype 0". This will disable the usage of particles for the blood and bullet puff effects, which therefore prevents the crashing.

Originally, this was supposedly an OS specific problem, with the problems seemingly occurring only on Windows XP or 2000. I doubt it is OS specific, but I could be wrong. JJ's server runs on 2000, but it never crashed; this is obviously because he has never used particle settings for bullet puffs and blood splats.

Oddly enough, with the fix above not applied, firing rockets with rocket trails enabled (which use particles) does not crash the server, and neither does firing the railgun (which uses particles exclusively). Consequently, the only weapons that could cause it are the chainsaw, pistol, chaingun, shotgun, and super shotgun. The fist does not cause it because it always spawns bullet puff sprites instead of particles, no matter the value of cl_pufftype. The plasma rifle and BFG do not cause it either, because they do not use any particle effects at all.

Edited for clarity:

HELLO PEOPLE THIS IS CARNEVIL THIS PROBLEM HAS SINCE BEEN FIXED!

Well, it disables the usage of particles for the blood and bullet puff effects.

So it's that specific application of the particle code that crashes Skull Tag.

Great work Bloodshedder. This was an issue that was hurting us for some time.


For those that aren't sure what the "private betas" are all about, join us in #skulltag on irc.freenode.net and ask someone. We're always looking for people who can test out a variety of server types in various network conditions.


Oh yeah, as always check out the website for various updates.

http://www.doomworld.com/skulltag/


Hoorj.

This problem has been fixed. Excellent work Bloodshedder for discovering this! Thanks a lot! :)