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How to Report Bugs

CerevantCerevant Member Posts: 2,314
edited September 2017 in Troubleshooting
An important update (August, 05, , 2017):

Planning has started on the next round of patches for the Enhanced Edition games on all platforms. We're currently going through all the reports on Redmine and evaluating each bug and feature.

For a better end result, our developers comment on Redmine if they need more information from bug reporters. In cases where we have had no reply to requests for follow up, the appropriate reports may be closed.

Players still encountering the issue are recommended to file a new bug, following the steps located below.

Step 1: Check for Mods

Make sure that you have no mods installed, and that you have not edited your save game. If you do, try to reproduce the issue with a new game on a clean installation. We can’t fix issues with mods, and it’s often hard to tell where a bug came from if it’s only being reported on a modified game. If you can reproduce the issue with no mods installed, move to Step 2.

(If it turns out the issue was caused by one or more of your mods, check out the Modding forum and see if the mod's author can help you identify the cause of the problem. Your issue may help a mod designer/maintainer make their mod better!)

Step 2: Reproduce the issue.

If it’s a gameplay issue, try to go through the same steps you took to make it happen. The simpler the steps are the better, but it’s important to be precise so that we can isolate the cause and fix the problem. Be sure to create a saved game just prior to the steps you took, so that we can retrace those steps exactly.

If the issue is related to graphics or text, take a screenshot. On Windows and Mac, pressing PrntScrn during play will generate a screenshot in your Documents\Baldur’s Gate – Enhanced Edition\ScrnShots folder; you don’t need any external programs to make it work.

Step 3: Report the issue

Bug reporting will be handled using Redmine. If you do not yet have an account, register there first! For those who tested with us before, we're using a drastically simplified approach - so no worries!

There are separate projects in Redmine for each game. You can find the project for the game you are testing by selecting it from the "Jump to a project..." drop down in the upper right corner of the page.

From there, you want to click on the "Issues" tab and look through or search to see if the issue has already been reported.

For each new issue, click on the "New Issue" tab, and fill in the following details:

In the Tracker: box, Select whether you think the issue is a Bug or a new Feature

In the Subject: box, A title that clearly states what is wrong.
Try to formulate the subject as a "should" or "should not" statement.

Example: There should be no audio distortions while the movies play.

The following three items go in the Description Box:

A numbered list of exact steps that will reproduce the problem.
Anyone reading the list should be able to follow it without detailed knowledge of the quest or situation. There are two ways to do this:
1. Begin with starting a new game from the main menu.

2. Attach a zipped save and begin with "1. Load the attached save."
In either case, it is okay to include console commands to shorten the steps (see the example below).

A one-sentence statement (each) of the observed and expected behaviors.
As with the subject, try to use "should" or "should not" statements. If you don't know what the expected behavior is, write down the negation of the observed behavior.

Your hardware and any notes or additional media needed to understand or reproduce the issue.
  • Under Notes, include your hardware and anything else you want to add.
  • If you are reporting a visual problem, include a screenshot using jpg or png file format only.
  • You may also attach a video using mp4 file format only
  • If your game crashed, find the crash dump in Documents\Infinity Engine - Enhanced Edition\crash and attach it to your report as a .zip. Also include the savegame that generated the crash dump.
  • The zip file format is the only permitted file compression format for bug ticket attachments. Please do not use RAR, 7z, bz2 or any other compression format.
If the problem is a typo, edit baldur.lua to include SetPrivateProfileString('Program Options','Strref On','1'). This puts a number before each string in the game. Report the string reference number in your bug report.

Finally, in the Found In Version box, select the specific version you were testing.

Example report

image

Thanks!
Post edited by JuliusBorisov on
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Comments

  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    Nothing against the organization of Beamdog, but this will make much less ppl report bugs, it's a complication of the report system.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    kamuizin said:

    Nothing against the organization of Beamdog, but this will make much less ppl report bugs, it's a complication of the report system.

    Quality above quantity! If it's a good bug report, i.e. it shows how to reproduce it, dealing with the bug will take less time and thus the work will advance faster.

    The archive forums have probably 50/50 bugs and "not an issue".

    Moreover, there's still this forum, and if someone writes about a problem on it, such kind people like @typo_tilly or other beta-testers will report it in the right way.

    And, BTW, using the Readmine system is not so much difficult.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • resoundresound Member Posts: 2
    I totally agree. Your bug reporting system seems designed to discourage bug reporting. It's probably not a coincidence that the game I purchased yesterday is unplayable due to bugginess today. #feelingrippedoff
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    @resound Which game is that? What exact problems with it are you experiencing?
  • CerevantCerevant Member Posts: 2,314
    edited April 2016
    @kamulzin @resound What would make it easier?

    Our goal was twofold:
    * Make it easier to ensure bugs are being followed up on
    * To improve visibility on what is being fixed and when

    The "rules" for bug reports haven't changed from using the bug forums, and they are being handled in the same way - if you don't strictly follow the rules, we'll take care of cleaning them up. The emphasis is that the closer the ticket is to what is described, the faster it will get into our development system, and the faster it will get fixed.
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    edited May 2016
    Cerevant said:

    @kamulzin @resound What would make it easier?

    Our goal was twofold:
    * Make it easier to ensure bugs are being followed up on
    * To improve visibility on what is being fixed and when

    The "rules" for bug reports haven't changed from using the bug forums, and they are being handled in the same way - if you don't strictly follow the rules, we'll take care of cleaning them up. The emphasis is that the closer the ticket is to what is described, the faster it will get into our development system, and the faster it will get fixed.

    Not against the system, but my point is: Internet works based on two principles mostly, that are confort and accessibility that works for most of the web.

    I'm certainly not invoking here a right of be lazy, it's not that, but from a big picture, to make ppl need to make another account in another site and demand strictly descriptions of a bug will certainly reduce the amount of know issues reported.

    To easly TEAM BG work on filter bug reports among the threads you're transfering the trouble to the customers.

    Don't take me bad on this, i'm not a payrage. I don't mean "i pay i want", hell, no!!

    What i mean is:

    There are other ways to work this report system without discouraging ppl to report. I would suggest 2 bug report directories, one free to create posts and another close to the devs. Let ppl post whatever they want in the free one, if the report rings true and has the minimal details needed, transfer it to the restricted directory.

    On the restricted directory a list system as we have for mods and new items could be made to keep schedule of each bug know (and to inform their solution or give them), as the search engine of the forum... well, sorry for say this, but it sucks!

    I have a Nvidia serious issue atm making a lot of fatal error on SoD by the way. Next time it happens i will take a print.
  • CerevantCerevant Member Posts: 2,314
    kamuizin said:

    There are other ways to work this report system without discouraging ppl to report. I would suggest 2 bug report directories, one free to create posts and another close to the devs. Let ppl post whatever they want in the free one, if the report rings true and has the minimal details needed, transfer it to the restricted directory.

    This is exactly what we are doing with the public and internal projects.

    Again, the rules haven't changed, we are just using a tool. You will also notice that we are still supporting folks who report issues in the Troubleshooting forum. The only difference between the different ways of reporting is the order in which they'll likely go to development for fixing:
    1. Properly formatted Redmine reports
    2. Improperly formatted Redmine reports
    3. Properly formatted forum reports
    4. Improperly formatted forum reports
  • Weasel05Weasel05 Member Posts: 1
    This is my first forum post so bear with me. I finished the Cult of the Eyeless quest and defeated all the disciples. As I was going to return the rift device I noticed it was gone. I am currently unable to return it and free the Diseased Ones. Is this a bug or was I supposed to kill Eyeless and immediately return to the Avatar?
  • mf2112mf2112 Member, Moderator Posts: 1,919
    edited May 2016
    Weasel05 said:

    This is my first forum post so bear with me. I finished the Cult of the Eyeless quest and defeated all the disciples. As I was going to return the rift device I noticed it was gone. I am currently unable to return it and free the Diseased Ones. Is this a bug or was I supposed to kill Eyeless and immediately return to the Avatar?

    Hmm, I can't say that I have ever tried going back to the disciple area before without taking care of the diseased ones since I hate to backtrack, but I believe it is possible for Gaal to steal the rift device if you bring it back and he gets too close. He normally would be stealing it for the Eye if you hadn't killed it first, but maybe he would steal it anyways if you were there.

    Welcome to the forums by the way.
  • Gate70Gate70 Member, Developer Posts: 3,883
    When you use the device it is moved from a quickslot to inventory. If your inventory is already full it may end up on the ground. Have you tried returning to the area and using the Quickloot toolbar to check for it.
  • Mr2150Mr2150 Member Posts: 1,170
    Just found a curious thing, and am checking to see if anyone else has encountered it before I report it.

    In Windows 10, if I set up my task bar with a toolbar linking to the Beamdog Games folder and Steam Common folder like this:





    I cannot run the games without the game crashing. Running directly from the exe is fine for all games however. For both Steam and Beamdog versions I get a crash when I select the exe from the toolbar only. That's for modded and unmodded versions of the game.
  • mf2112mf2112 Member, Moderator Posts: 1,919
    @Mr2150 I am able to replicate your problem on Win7 with a toolbar.
  • Mr2150Mr2150 Member Posts: 1,170
    OK - I will report it... Thanks for verifying @mf2112
  • numenoriangrnumenoriangr Member Posts: 1
    Sorry to post this here but i can't find anything else related to my problem in the forum.
    I have a boxed version of BG2EE and i face some bugs. I currently have v.1.3.2064 and i can't update to the latest patch. Doesn't do it automatically and i also don't have a bgee.exe file anywhere (just bgee.bif and bgeeui.bif). I faced some bugs regarding Viconia stopping due to some issues with Rasaad quest, fixed with nearinfinity but i would like to update to latest patch in case more such issues arise.
    Any help would be much appreciated.
  • BewildermentBewilderment Member Posts: 26
    Hello, I'm new to BG1EE - I downloaded the game via Steam in June this year and I use a PC laptop with Windows 10. Not sure what version of BG1EE I have. I've come across something which might be a bug and I read thru the list of known bugs and couldn't find it listed there. I accepted the quest to look for Brun's son in the area North of the Friendly Arm, then went to the ankheg nest, recovered the body of Brun's son and then returned to Brun's farm to give him the body of his son but Brun was no longer there. I looked everywhere around that section and can't find him anywhere but just keep getting attacked repeatedly by ankhegs. Is this a bug or am I missing something? If it's a bug, any help on how to repair it would he much appreciated. But if it's not a bug and Brun is actually to be found elsewhere, then please just tell me it's not a bug but not how to complete the quest because I'd like to figure that out myself! Any spoiler-free assistance on this problem would be really helpful - thank you!
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    @numenoriangr Currently there's no way to update a boxed version of BG2EE. As for particular quest fixes, we need more description and details in order to be able to help with variables.

    @Bewilderment It looks like a bug, or maybe ankhegs somehow killed Brun. You should activate the console and enter the following code: C:CreateCreature("Brun")
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,317
    @Bewilderment Attach a save file here (throw it in a zip file) here before you use the console. I'd like to have a look at it.

    The save file can be found in My Documents/Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition/Save
  • BewildermentBewilderment Member Posts: 26
    Hey JuliusBorisov & elminster - thanks for your replies. I'm attaching 2 saves - the 1st one (called Ankheg nest cleared) is after we cleared out the nest and got back to Brun's house but couldn't find Brun and the 2nd save is after we'd gone away for a few days and did some other bits and pieces elsewhere and then came back but still no Brun. That save is called Looking for Brun. Thanks again for helping out!
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,317
    @Bewilderment sorry for not getting back to you. I've looked over your save. I'm not 100% sure why Brun disappeared. It worked fine for me in multiplayer just now. The best guess I could give is that somehow he got a "shout(99)" action that made him leave the area. This could have been from a bandit that was in too close a proximity, or from someone else you were attacking.
  • top_blocktop_block Member Posts: 10
    Hey, I've made a post about this in the BG2 forum but thought I might try here too. I'm playing the latest build of BG2EE and none of the journal entries are updating. That is, the 'journal' section where you can enter you're own text. The quest tab seems to be working just fine. Is this a problem you are aware of? No one else seems to be reporting this problem, so it might be on my end. I have completely reinstalled the game a number of times.
  • hook71hook71 Member, Developer Posts: 582
  • top_blocktop_block Member Posts: 10
    Thanks so much for the link mate, I hadn't seen that. Glad to see they are working on it.
  • vanatosvanatos Member Posts: 876
    Apologies if this is not the correct place to ask.

    Is this bug http://support.baldursgate.com/issues/24865, being worked on?
  • DoubledimasDoubledimas Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,286
    vanatos said:

    Apologies if this is not the correct place to ask.

    Is this bug http://support.baldursgate.com/issues/24865, being worked on?

    Could be, but until we get an idea of what will be fixed in the 2.4 update we have no idea what is being worked on.
  • CelticdenefewCelticdenefew Member Posts: 1
    edited May 2017
    I bought Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition from GOG several months ago but have been unable to play it. It consistently crashes when I try to load. I've tried uninstalling and installing, running as administrator, installing DirectX10, running compatible with Windows XP SP3, and installing OpenAL 3.0. I have Windows 7 installed, there are no mods, and have used other games (inlcuding Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age Origins) that have worked fine or in the case of Witcher only needs be run in Administrator mode. Each time it crashes it creates a dump file and told me to email support with the file. This is very frustrating. The dump file I sent with the email is uploaded to this address: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4GCEQJGIPBucU9wRXZTZ29xdnc/view
    If you could please help me I would greatly appreciate it.I live and work in remote places with limited access to the internet so these old games are great to load onto my older laptop. Thank you for your help with this. ​

  • Gate70Gate70 Member, Developer Posts: 3,883
    @Celticdenefew try directx 9.0c instead. If you could attach a directx diagnostic summary we may be able to help more
    (Windows/R, type dxdiag and click ok, wait for green progress bar to finish, save all information and attach the file here)
    Thanks
  • JevanJevan Member Posts: 15
    resound said:

    I totally agree. Your bug reporting system seems designed to discourage bug reporting. It's probably not a coincidence that the game I purchased yesterday is unplayable due to bugginess today. #feelingrippedoff

    I can't register at Redmond. The sites not secure either. Captcha not working.

    Ice wind Dale won't load, Galaxy Tab s2. Fully updated.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    @Jevan The errors with the captcha and insecure site are fixed now.

    As for IWD:EE not working on Galaxy Tab s2, I've passed this information to the QA team.
  • JevanJevan Member Posts: 15
    Thanks
This discussion has been closed.