I have used both VASL and VASSAL, and have a problem with both.
Routinely, probably every 10 minutes (really less, but it differs timewise) the game hangs. I will just suddenly stop seeing everyone’s chat, moves, etc., and can not change rooms.
Occassionally, if I type something into chat myself, in about 30 seconds I will suddenly see the last 10 moves (or whatever) I missed while I am gone, but that does not always work.
Often, I simply have to restart the entire thing and resynch.
Not sure what JVM is (I am not the most computer literate).
If it is Java, my control panel suggests I am using Java Platform, Standard Edition 6 (update 5), version 1.06-05b-13.
Also, I should have thought to mention the computer info, so people do not think I’m running this on a 1995 machine or something. It’s a Core 2 Duo, 8800GT 512MB video card, 4 GB RAM. So I do not think it is on the hardware front (well, it might be a hardware configuration issue, I’ll never rule that out, but I do not think it is a “not enough to run it” issue).
Not sure, I have never played offline. You mean by email or some such, when logging turns? Not that I have seen, in the limited number of times I’ve set up a game just to push some pieces around.
I’ve seen behavior like this when doing PBEM logs; It’s very infrequent for me, and when it happens I just wait 10-15 seconds for it to unfreeze. I’ve also found that swapping to another window, then back to Vassal can help. It may be a tricky problem to re-produce, and possibly Windows specific.
Yes, I get exactly this problem in Windows when working on a large module. Swapping to another application and then back gets it going again. Perhaps waiting would work too, but I get impatient. I’ve always assumed it is the Garbage Collector kicking in after the initial map loads. I’ve not noticed it on 3.1, but have not been pushing it hard.
If it really is garbage collection which is causing this, by what
mechanism does changing window focus speed up garbage collection?
It might be, but I don’t have an idea of how that would work.
There should be less major garbage collection in 3.1, since it will
almost always be possible to recover enough memory by clearing some
of the SoftReferences in the image cache, and the GC tries to clear
SoftReferences before doing anything else. If the problem is with
garbage collection, then it might not happen in 3.1.
It could just be that SlyFrog has his heap settings too low, and so
is only using a very small part of his 4GB of RAM. If your max heap
was just barely adequate for running a module, you would see frequent
major garbage collection.
SlyFrog, have you ever changed your heap settings for VASSAL?
Well, it may also be that switching windows doesn’t have any real
effect on the issue. It just makes it seem better by giving the user
something to do while waiting. And that can make it appear
subjectively as if it were going faster. Plus it is more satisfying
to feel that you are able to do something to improve matters rather
than just sitting around twiddling your thumbs.
If the entire program is unresponsive, that’s one thing, but this sounds like the network is simply clogging up. For example, you’d see symptoms just like this if you were downloading large files while playing on the server.
Sorry, did not mean to get lost there for a few days.
No, I can exit the application normally, for example, and can examine stacks, etc. I usually can not switch out to the main room (I can right click on it and click join room, but nothing actually happens, or at least not that I can see - it could be that I am already disconnected but just can not see it).
Errr, I have no idea what a heap size is, sorry. Clearly, I have therefore never voluntarily adjusted it from its default.
Yes, though seemingly not as commonly as I do. I have asked, and others have said it occurs more on an “every few hours” basis at most, rather than every 10 minutes or so as it seems to for me. They were definitely aware of what I was describing, as one of them gave me the advice to enter a few lines in chat, as that sometimes helped him resolve it.
I never play live though Rodney, and I’ve seen this happen a number of times. It never really bothers me, I assumed it could just have likely been Windows weirdness or a Java bug.
It always happens to me when I drag a counter from the GamePiece palette. The drag starts normally, but gets ‘stuck’ on the way to it’s destination. The Drag ghost is visible, stuck a short distance before the place I released the button. The entire Vassal session is hung in that state. It just happened a moment ago and I waited for 30 seconds with no change.
Swapping to any other window of any other application and back frees it up for me. This includes the debugger and Task Manager, so I have never been able to track it down.
I have not used 3.1 to the same extent so can’t comment if it still happens with it.
Clearly, I have therefore never voluntarily adjusted it from its default.