Cargo and ship protections against 30k

[Thalstan]

An interesting development by CIG here

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/3/thread/alpha-3-15-patch-watch-personal-inventory-amp-i


Server Crash Recovery
(We heard you liked trading fixes)

Having lost a hull full of cargo ourselves due to a pesky error 30k, we know all too well how frustrating encountering a server crash can be. For that reason, we're very happy to announce the addition of Server Crash Recovery!

So, how does it work? We're adding functionality that creates a "heartbeat" (regular logging with persistence) for you and your ship. So, in the case of a server crash, the backend will recognize that an unexpected timeout has happened, allowing you to visit any ASOP terminal and spawn your ship, intact and exactly as it was pre-crash. This means your cargo, ship status (health/fuel), and any items you had lying around your ship will return in the exact state that it was.

Now, it's important to note this is merely a simple interim fix. Long term, this will all be handled by the entity graph and server meshing work, where we'll track shard history which will allow us to properly retain information and restore you directly to the moment you left off (mid-quantum flight, etc.). Nonetheless, while this is a temporary solution, it should be effective and reliable.

It's also important to note that this new addition is specifically for server crashes. Client crashes would still be handled in the same way they are now, with current crash recovery functionality.

This is currently in review and will hit the PTU very soon!

 

[Talonsbane]

This is most welcome news indeed. With CIG finally getting this situated & opening up the trade tap a bit, we just need a fix for the Client crashes to finish safeguarding the cargo trade from this particular needless risk. Eventually, them opening up the trade valve & allowing captains to insure their cargo will finish securing the trade game play as then we'll be better able to afford hiring escorts & still make some profit.

 

[Deroth]

Hopefully they'll tell us the criteria for the 'heartbeats' so we can plan around them to minimize the risk of losses.

 

[Jolly_Green_Giant]

This is huge and most welcome indeed. (insert joke)

I'd be much happier if they also saved the state of any vehicles you have in your ship. If I have a tonk in a herc, id like for it to stay there until it blows up or I take it out of the ship.

 

[Bambooza]

Hopefully they'll tell us the criteria for the 'heartbeats' so we can plan around them to minimize the risk of losses.

heartbeats are typically an every few seconds/minutes thing, and in this case, would be most likely a copy of the player status data sent from the server to the backend for recording purposes. So no criteria needed it's like an automatic quick save.

 

[Deroth]

heartbeats are typically an every few seconds/minutes thing, and in this case, would be most likely a copy of the player status data sent from the server to the backend for recording purposes. So no criteria needed it's like an automatic quick save.

That would be nice, but I could see that leading to overflow issues with the current state of their network, so it wouldn't surprise me if they try to find a way to stagger it more with triggers instead.

 

[Bambooza]

That would be nice, but I could see that leading to overflow issues with the current state of their network, so it wouldn't surprise me if they try to find a way to stagger it more with triggers instead.

Not aware of any issues with the network given these servers are inside AWS.

 

[Deroth]

Not aware of any issues with the network given these servers are inside AWS.

AWS isn't magical, it still requires time and capacity to transfer the data, otherwise everything would've already been getting updated in realtime without the need for this workaround.

 

[Grimbli]

This is huge and most welcome indeed. (insert joke)

I'd be much happier if they also saved the state of any vehicles you have in your ship. If I have a tonk in a herc, id like for it to stay there until it blows up or I take it out of the ship.

Vehicles and other ships may fall under the "items" saved in the ship. Like how logging out or storing the ship keeps them inside. Would be nice for some clarification though.

 

[Bambooza]

AWS isn't magical, it still requires time and capacity to transfer the data, otherwise everything would've already been getting updated in realtime without the need for this workaround.

No AWS isn't magical but they do have a solid network that has by far some of the lowest latency achievable to a data center as well as redundancies that keep the network from having any sort of downtime.

This fix has nothing to do with network connection loss and everything to do with servers being overloaded with the game world and unstable game engines and crashing. A lot of the 30k messages have nothing to do with network disconnection but with the host server, you were connected to resetting or simply not able to process incoming packets fast enough and thus forcing a timeout like an experience from the client point of view. In fact, both manifest themselves as a connection loss but in most cases, it's not a network-related issue.

 

[Vavrik]

Heartbeat is typically set to execute automatically anywhere between 1 and 5 minutes, there is almost never a reason to run it faster, but you could. You can also set it to execute on a timeout expiry or on an event execution, but it sounds like CIG is only going part way down the rabbit hole. It sounds like they could do a detection of a 30K and use that as a trigger, but I'm not sur they're going to right now. We use heartbeat all the time in real time systems. The design for this is older than the hills too, first time I saw it was in 1992, and it was already mature. It's server software dependent, not platform or OS dependent so it runs in AWS, Google, Azure or whatever else you throw at it including running software on a Raspberry PI in your closet.

The server (program, not the hardware) just says "I haven't heard from that client session past the last heartbeat so reset them to a safe condition". Hopefully it's not the 4th time in the last 30 minutes.

 

[FZD]

This is great, improvements to trading affect basically everyone, because
you're not a trader because there are pirates, there are pirates because you're a trader
you're not a pirate because there are bounty hunters or escort fighters, there are bounty hunters and escort fighters because you're a pirate

Ultimately, so many of the gameplay loops are there because there because traders exist, so if the various errors or even just poor profit margins made player traders go extinct, a lot of the gameplay would suffer. Sure, there are NPCs, but it's a multiplayer game so you'd want to have players interacting with players. Otherwise that's just a single player game with extra steps.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Finally we find out what the Omega13 device is for:

I'm pleased to hear about this but couldn't resist making the above witty comment.

 

[Gory]

So I tried mining for the first time, took a ROC and Connie out to a moon, half filled ROC, and 30k. *Poof* Everything gone. Wife wants to know why I'm so bleak. FML

:P

 

[Vavrik]

So I tried mining for the first time, took a ROC and Connie out to a moon, half filled ROC, and 30k. *Poof* Everything gone. Wife wants to know why I'm so bleak. FML

:P

It's kind of better in 3.15, but we'll have to wait for that. And it's only kind of better.
By the way, Welcome to TEST.

 

[Deroth]

So I tried mining for the first time, took a ROC and Connie out to a moon, half filled ROC, and 30k. *Poof* Everything gone. Wife wants to know why I'm so bleak. FML

:P

It is now on PTU (as of today):

[PTU Feedback] Server Crash Ship Recovery - Star Citizen Spectrum

Hello folks! We have added a crash recovery system so ships that are lost to space after a 30k server crash can be recovered, with cargo and/or inventory, fuel, and ammo intact. This system works...

robertsspaceindustries.com

 

[Gory]

It's kind of better in 3.15, but we'll have to wait for that. And it's only kind of better.
By the way, Welcome to TEST.

Thank You, and cant wait for 3.15 release :)

 

[Thalstan]

30k protections are now enabled for 3.15 patch. Early indications are that it is working fairly well.