Problem with prototypes in extension

Greetings, I’m not sure if this is the correct category, but I’m having a problem with an extension for a module I was creating. I honestly don’t know how or why it’s happening.

I was creating a module for the Disney Villainous game to play with my friends. The main module is working fine, and I included all the existing characters up to the latest expansion available. At the time of publishing, it would be Sugar and Spite because Treacherous Tides isn’t out yet.

Knowing the game’s community, I saw that they also had custom villains, and some of them were interesting to me. So, I decided to add them as well, but in an extension so as not to add them to the main module. This way, I could also learn how to create an extension and how an extension works.

I wanted to add exactly 9 custom characters to the extension. Each character manages 2 to 3 decks. And as I did in the main module, for each deck, I created a prototype that shows its properties, functions, and the image on the back of the card.

Everything was going well until I started creating the ninth character’s second deck. When I assigned the corresponding prototype, the interface marked the name with a red X. I didn’t know why, since the only difference with the other prototypes was the name and the image. When I tried to test with another of the prototypes I had created, all the prototypes that were in the extension now appear marked with the same red X and none of them work. It’s as if they had been turned off or damaged, because the prototypes of the main module do appear to me as functional.

I thought it was an extension size issue, because up to that point the extension size was about 40 MB, so I deleted it and started over, thinking of adding fewer characters and making more extensions, something like “custom set1” or “custom set2”.

I added the first character and the prototypes indicated that they were fine, but when I tested them, they still didn’t work as before, even though I created them from scratch. I don’t know what the problem could be, I also deleted the tile cache just in case, but the problem still persists.

The only way you could have a problem with an extension that’s too large is if you were running out of memory, and you’d probably see an error message. 40MB is tiny. There is no way you’re running out of memory with an extension that size.

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Good to know, I wasn’t sure how big or small an extension could be, I don’t remember seeing anything related to it in the manual.

But I still can’t find the problem. As I mentioned, I tried creating another extension from scratch and the problem persisted. I deleted the tile cache, the same thing. I even uninstalled and reinstalled Vassal, but the problem still persists.

That will virtually never solve any problem you’re having so long as Vassal runs at all.

The tile cache stores map tiles only, so clearing the tile cache will do nothing unless the problem you’re having is with display of map tiles.

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Well, that being the case, I’m stuck. Since I didn’t know what was causing the problem, I tried all of that just in case, but it keeps failing, and I still don’t know why.

The only workaround I found was to put all the prototypes in the extension into the main module, and so far everything seems to be working, so I guess this will have to do for now.

Sorry, I don’t have any suggestions about extensions specifically—I’m only trying to eliminate possible causes for you.

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I know, the help is appreciated. :grin:

Let’s hope someone has better luck than us and figures it out.

I think the only way the rest of us could help would be to look at the module and extension in question directly. Can you post them somewhere (such as Google Drive) so we can download them?

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Yeah, sure, here’s the 3.0 module and the extension. I recreated the extension from scratch again to see if the problem persists, and it does.

Just play the module, select any player and then any player zone. You can choose observer and leave it blank (the problem still appears). Click the Villains button and then the Custom tab.

If the extension prototypes are working, the decks in the Custom tab should look like the decks in the Disney tabs.

I hope there aren’t any copyright issues, since technically it’s a Disney game. :grin:

Not sure what to tell you, as it works just fine on my (Linux) system:

Ah, wait, the “Custom” decks are showing the face of a card, instead of the back. Is that the issue?

Edit: OK, I think I’m seeing the same problem you mentioned; while you can select (for example) the “SpinelDeck” prototype as part of the “Amnesia” piece, it shows a red “x” as if it is an invalid prototype, and doesn’t appear to actually apply properly.

I really don’t know what is causing this, but I am wondering if perhaps Folders may not work properly in Extensions; they may not have been tested thoroughly. I suggest you try removing your nested Folders and see if that makes any difference. Otherwise, I don’t know what the problem could be.

Just for the fun of it, I decided to download your stuff to see what’s what. Sure enough, I see what you see, and I saw that red X in the editor. I don’t know what it is supposed to actually mean, but hey, whatever. It’s probably not good.

I can tell you two things. (1) I fixed it. Maybe. I got the red x to disappear, and it understood your prototype. (2) I was just dicking around when something happened. To quote Winston Churchill: “It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

So just for laughs, I edited your ext and added a prototype right inside your prototype element. No folders. I called it Hotdog and put in it clone and delete. I then edited SpinalTap or whatever it’s called and added a ref to Hotdog. Green check, and clone and del were there when I right-clicked the image. And hold onto your hat, your crap was there too! And it had a green check! So then I opened the other SpinalTap guy, and holycow, that one was okay too! And I hadn’t changed anything there. It’s as if Hotdog said “follow me, men!” and led your prototypes through the breech.

I suppose you want an answer? See Chuechill above. It’s Disney, and after the Snow White debacle, expect anything.