355 réponses à ce sujet

[AnneM]

Aside from the problems mentioned above I have another one. In the mission on the collector vessel you get the chance to choose between different new weapons or the best of one catagory (when soldier)... I started a new carrier after the patch and I don't get any of that anymore...BUGGER!!!

The funny part is that I meet the one saved in Genesis on horizon but in all disscussions afterwards Ashley AND Kaiden survived...

I hope there's a fix soon

Modifié par AnneM, 12 avril 2011 - 07:22 .

[AnneM]

Aside from the problems mentioned above I have another one. In the mission on the collector vessel you get the chance to choose between different new weapeon or the best of that catagory (when soldier)... I stanted a new carrier after the patch and I don't get any of that anymore...BUGGER!!!

The funny part is that I meet the one saved on horizon but in all Disscussions Ashley AND Kaiden survived...

I hope there's a fix soon

Modifié par AnneM, 12 avril 2011 - 07:20 .

[TheSadMafioso91]

AnneM wrote...

Aside from the problems mentioned above I have another one. In the mission on the collector vessel you get the chance to choose between different new weapons or the best of one catagory (when soldier)... I started a new carrier after the patch and I don't get any of that anymore...BUGGER!!!

The funny part is that I meet the one saved in Genesis on horizon but in all disscussions afterwards Ashley AND Kaiden survived...

I hope there's a fix soon

As far as I know, you only get to take the advanced weapons training once per character, so if you've started a playthrough with a character that you've already completed the game with then you shouldn't be able to make the choice a second time. However, if you mean that you are unable make the choice with a brand new character, then that is a glitch. That being said, I've personally had no problems making that choice since the latest patch with new characters.

[kyles3]

Jesse Houston wrote...

Hey Folks,

We've found the issue, it affects only the Ash/Kaiden choice and the Council choice. The resolution we're currently testing fixes your save retroactively and new games. Were going to send the fix to Sony as soon as we've validated the fix and make sure that it doesn't have a knock on effect on anything else.

Yay. Been holding off on Arrival 'til all this patch stuff gets sorted out, can't wait to finally play it. Thanks for keeping us updated.

[M.T.Headed]

Jesse Houston wrote...

Hey Folks,

We've found the issue, it affects only the Ash/Kaiden choice and the Council choice. The resolution we're currently testing fixes your save retroactively and new games. Were going to send the fix to Sony as soon as we've validated the fix and make sure that it doesn't have a knock on effect on anything else.

I had trouble with the Council decision playing with the patch and without it, so thank you BioWare for looking into this, I was so disappointed that I couldn't start a new game without having any say over the Council's fate.

[HBC Dresden]

Jesse Houston wrote...

Hey Folks,

We've found the issue, it affects only the Ash/Kaiden choice and the Council choice. The resolution we're currently testing fixes your save retroactively and new games. Were going to send the fix to Sony as soon as we've validated the fix and make sure that it doesn't have a knock on effect on anything else.

I have a question for the awesome devs, especially the tech ones, that scans these troubleshooting forums:

What actually entails in the patch confirmation process? In some cases, patches break things that need fixing with new patches. So these problems slip past Sony and Microsoft. Only the actually gamers find these issues first. Why even have the process that just delays patches for weeks? I know BioWare doesn't have a say, I was wondering the (fake) justification behind this that Sony/Microsoft give.

For example, I just got New Vegas (since the Collector's Edition was $30 at GameStop) and I see that the devs submitted a new patch for confirmation and they say it will come out soon in the next couple weeks. Weeks?! I wish I could get it now since it focuses on performance and stability issues, much like DAII's patch.

Modifié par HBC Dresden, 13 avril 2011 - 02:43 .

[PMoore93]

Jesse Houston wrote...

Hey Folks,

We've found the issue, it affects only the Ash/Kaiden choice and the Council choice. The resolution we're currently testing fixes your save retroactively and new games. Were going to send the fix to Sony as soon as we've validated the fix and make sure that it doesn't have a knock on effect on anything else.

First thing, I just wanted to thank you for keeping us updated and fixing these bugs as soon as possible. I've watched documentaries on video games getting developed and I've seen how the process of debugging games can get quite tedious. Also, I was wondering if you had an ETA on when the patch will be available? I'm not trying to be impatient, I'm just really looking forward to playing it but I want to make sure all my Mass Effect Genesis decisions go through. Once again thank you for your efforts in fixing these problems. It is very appreciated.

[Jamie9]

Thank you, thank you BioWare. I am very thankful for such a quick response to this bug, I don't mind how long it takes, just as long as you're working on it, I know it will be done sometime. My faith in you never wavered

[Robbbster]

If you don´t want to wait to play just delete all game data and dlc and only download the cerberus pack with the comic, enter the game and play the intro and comic and make your decisions then save and quit. download rest of dlc if you bought it and then install all patches. All choices remain correct. boring to go through but atleast you can play.

[Jamie9]

Robbbster wrote...

If you don´t want to wait to play just delete all game data and dlc and only download the cerberus pack with the comic, enter the game and play the intro and comic and make your decisions then save and quit. download rest of dlc if you bought it and then install all patches. All choices remain correct. boring to go through but atleast you can play.

I'm worried it will still conflict with ME3 however, so I'd rather wait for a patch.

[sam726]

any idea how long it will take for this patch to be released? Last one took ages =[

[Robbbster]

Jamie9 wrote...

Robbbster wrote...

If you don´t want to wait to play just delete all game data and dlc and only download the cerberus pack with the comic, enter the game and play the intro and comic and make your decisions then save and quit. download rest of dlc if you bought it and then install all patches. All choices remain correct. boring to go through but atleast you can play.

I'm worried it will still conflict with ME3 however, so I'd rather wait for a patch.

The decisions are set in stone and cant be changed cause the patch isnt interfering when its not installed. I have progressed to Horizon and there was Kaiden, after I installed all the patches so its fine.

[Jesse Houston]

The patch we are working on will retroactively fix the bug. So feel free to play with the Early April patch.

[Jesse Houston]

HBC Dresden wrote...


I have a question for the awesome devs, especially the tech ones, that scans these troubleshooting forums:


What actually entails in the patch confirmation process? </snip>

A Caveat before I dive in - I am talking about this fairly openly in the hopes that people will have a better appreciation for what we do when fixing issues.  I'm also expecting that you do a little reading about software defects on your own before forming a solid opinion.  


So that all depends on the patch and how much we change.  I'll give you a theoretically easy patch like the one we're working on now...


If it's post launch with no active content development - we need to first find the issue - We have a number of methods of finding issues after ship, but the best one is talking to the fans and customer service.  Once an issue is identified, we need to track it down to a state where we can really go deep into the engine and look at whats happening.  In this case there was a little bit of miss information on the forums and it took our QA team over a day to solidly lock down exactly what was the issue. This is no one persons fault, we just didn't want to miss anything so when we would hit a dead end we would look around there and make sure there wasn't any bugs in the shadows.  Also we have a really long game AND we know what each choice effects so it can take upwards of 10-30+ hours to look for and reproduce a single bug. 


Now onto fixing the issue...  As we use UnReal as our engine this could be a code change, or a script change or a content change.  Content (ex specific collisions or a box floating in the air) is notoriously difficult to patch but has very little chance of Knock On issues ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock-on_effect ). Script issues, are a still rather difficult to fix, and have a very high chance of knock on as they often effect gameplay systems.  Finally code fixes are the easiest but also have a very high chance of causing issues throughout the game.  Reason being that when you make a code chance you're changing a system and systems are not used in the same way for every instance.  As an example, Lets say you change the way that we check to see if a gun hits something.  Some other system may be built on that, and may create a new bug when we fix the old one.   Then there are some compounding issues, like on Xbox there is a size limit on patches, PS3 has it's own set of issues, and some of our content is built in such a way that it's not easy to patch.


Sooooo All Said And Done - lets talk about the Genesis issue and the Council decision not sticking.  This was a logic issue that would manifest in certain places but not in others based on the way we are bringing over Mass Effect Data into Mass Effect 2 and beyond.  So when we checked the various logic gates we didn't realize we needed to check it in multiple places based on the way the logic gates were set up.  We then needed to figure out how to fix it.  The content fix would be the safest way but would potentially allow broken content for Mass Effect 3, the best way we decided would be to put some logic in to the system that handles decisions to ensure that we have a valid state.   That way we catch issues that users who may not have realized that there was a bug and fix it for them.   This involved some code and script.   So that logic design process took a couple of days to dig into with Alex, Dusty (two of our awesome designers) and Zousar (one of our awesome programmers).  Once it was designed it had to be coded and the QA team needs to start hammering it. This can take a few days depending on the fix.  Any time it's a logic issue we also need to poke around at other stuff to make sure it doesn't break.  This is where we're at right now.  Once that's all done, and no issues have caused us to go back to the drawing board, we need to have our compliance team go through and make sure the patch installs correctly, follows all of the Sony rules for content release and such.  During this period, myself and the operations team is filling out a ton of documentation and coordinating the other external groups and Sony for the patch's release. Finally I need to sign off on the resolution myself (as I'm the project lead on PS3).   Once we've done our internal checks we do a second pass and send it over to a second set of eyes at another studio to have them ensure it made the fixes as intended and didn't break anything else or Sony's rules.  At this point it's out of our hands. From there we have Sony slot it in to their release schedule and they then go ahead and test it for a third time.  If they approve it we then work out an appropriate time for release,  usually this is ASAP or at the next content push depending the severity of the fixes.   


Timeline wise, I've seen patches sit at Sony for several weeks but I've also seen them turned around in 2 days.  It really all depends on the game, the bugs and the volume of work that Sony is under as they have limited testing capacity too.


Hope that helps shed some light on your question-  And now time for me to get to work!


-Jess


PS (and totally OT) Dresden - did you ever play Tribes in a clan called [S=A]?

Modifié par Jesse Houston, 13 avril 2011 - 02:10 .

[XavierL]

I bow to you, Master Houston.

[Darkstarr11]

Nice...I was staying away from ME2 until it went through...guess that's not necessary. Awesome. You guys rule. That's a whole lotta stuff to go through. Props to y'all. ありがたいよう！！！

[Scorpgul]

Just got my copy hmm should I just play through it or is it safer to wait? I have already installed the game data, patch and cerberus pack DLC

[Jesse Houston]

Scorpgul wrote...

Just got my copy hmm should I just play through it or is it safer to wait? I have already installed the game data, patch and cerberus pack DLC

Play through

[Commander_010]

Awsome...i (like most here) can't get enough of ME...evry time i play i find something new, something i didnt' notice before.

i'll dive in right away, thanks jesse...and keep up the execellent work

[drinkurmilk]

I tip my hat to you, Jesse. I appreciate producers commenting openly, or as openly as permitted, to us. Thank you for leaving us informed - each of you have my support.

[HBC Dresden]

Jesse, I’d first like to thank you for putting a lot of time and effort into your post (not saying other devs don’t, they definitely do as well), so I will do the same.

Yes, your answer shed a lot of light into the issue. And I apologize for any irreverence I may have displayed in my question; it was due to the intricacies of the patch process that I was not earlier aware of (and did not know where to find out), mixed with vague feelings (not solid opinions) on the matter.

I love this give-and-take of the forums, between fans and devs, like this instant of you helping answer this question that has been bugging me for a while. This is why I am willing to wade through the sea of conflicting opinions that are the BioWare forums

In the end, knowing information like the patch certification process make the game more real for me (it’s like free DVD commentary explaining things that are usually not explained). Instead of only being entertainment, games like ME2 then become a product of a lot of labor and love from regular people. Marx explained it better, about things we buy becoming commodities, estranging it from the process, labor, and producers that were needed to make that object. Communication between producers and consumers, like through forums, conventions, etc. reestablish this relationship otherwise (and somewhat contradictorily) blocked by the commodity itself. So thanks!

Anyway, hope I didn’t take too much of your free time and work time

PS: can’t say that I was in a Tribes clan, or one by that name. Sorry, you must be thinking of someone else.

Modifié par HBC Dresden, 13 avril 2011 - 11:25 .

[Scorpgul]

Ok I have been playing since I last posted. Issues I am facing at the moment is serious out of sync audio which is happening often and I just had my first freeze 10 mins ago had to restart my PS3.

[Battlepope190]

Scorpgul wrote...

Ok I have been playing since I last posted. Issues I am facing at the moment is serious out of sync audio which is happening often and I just had my first freeze 10 mins ago had to restart my PS3.

On my last Shepard, where I experienced all the Genesis bugs, I noticed that almost every single scene for me was out of sync. I'm gonna fire up another Shepard tonight and check again, since at least the Genesis bug patch will be retroactive.

I'd really love to see this audio sync issue get fixed some day...it's such a downer.

Modifié par Battlepope190, 14 avril 2011 - 01:28 .

[Moiboi99]

Thanks for the info, hope the genesis fix comes out soon. i just recommended me2 to a friend and would like him to get the best experience possible.

[SirBrass]

Jesse, thanks for the explanation. Actually that sounds fairly speedy to me. Then again, Sony ISN'T the FAA . And your debug work sounds alot like what I did in my field sometimes. So, yeah, sometimes its an easy catch, other times some "simple" errors are major head-scratchers.

The audio sync issue is odd because it majorly cropped up post ship. From just my experience, the limited desyncing in the shipped product could just be the effect of sound being handled on a different SP than video and the asynchronous operation showing that it really is A-synchronous when the processors really got loaded down. But how this got exacerbated with the patches, I can't speculate on as a user only. It's not a total game-breaker, however. But the performance degradation from shipped to patches is actually noticeable, and that itself is very surprising.

Here's to hoping the Sony will expedite this patch's testing due to the problem's severity.