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Author Topic: Insight on the non-returning Squads  (Read 1953 times)

Durmatagno

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Insight on the non-returning Squads
« on: October 25, 2021, 08:53:20 pm »

I think I have some insight on at least one reason military squads may never return from a mission, just permanently stuck "travelling". I'm still testing it to be sure (Going to do multiple worlds with different forts to be sure), but I had no troubles with missions until one of my dwarves had a baby. Now I'm fairly certain that if I send the squad that has that dwarf, she'll bring the baby with her, which glitches out the mission. I wanted to offer my insight and see if anyone else can confirm or disprove this little theory, as I know it's a uncommon bug.
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delphonso

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2021, 09:00:20 pm »

Well, babies have been known to be carried off for missions and return (gaining experience and potentially missing birthdays). What exactly do you suspect is happening with the baby and the bugged missions?

A more patient person than I could make several squads of all ladies and a squad of all men and see which ones end up bugged out more often. Though, almost certainly the mission bugs are each related to several different issues, rather than one root cause.

Durmatagno

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2021, 09:06:01 pm »

Well, babies have been known to be carried off for missions and return (gaining experience and potentially missing birthdays). What exactly do you suspect is happening with the baby and the bugged missions?

A more patient person than I could make several squads of all ladies and a squad of all men and see which ones end up bugged out more often. Though, almost certainly the mission bugs are each related to several different issues, rather than one root cause.

All I know is that for this particular fort, I have only had it fail when that specific dwarf with the baby leaves the confines of the map for a mission. Maybe it's not specifically the baby but something with a non-squad entity in general, but it's only when I have a squad with her that it glitches. Secondarily, before she had the baby she was on several successful raids. Since then she's also obtained a pet war dog I don't send with her, so it's also possible that the war dog being a work animal 'assigned' to her but also pastured did it, but I can't say for sure. I'm going to see if I can recreate it, or if I just stumbled across a rare trigger for the bug, and I can't even figure out what the trigger is.
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delphonso

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2021, 09:11:46 pm »

Hmm. I presume you've saved just before the failed mission, right?

Try sending the dog and see if it works. I suspect the dog is included in the roster of soldiers, and since it's pastured, the mission never totally "leaves", so can't return either.

Durmatagno

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2021, 09:14:49 pm »

I have indeed, I make a backup save before every raid just so I don't waste a month waiting to see if something happens. I know I can fix it with the squad reassign and disband trick, but I like having backups anyway. I'll give it a shot.
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Staalo

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2021, 01:29:24 am »

Assigned war animals are considered as a part of the squad so the mission is stuck until all the assigned animals have left the map.

As far as I know, babies don't (usually) cause any problems; I have some babies in my fort who are veterans of several missions.
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delphonso

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2021, 02:37:06 am »

I have some babies in my fort who are veterans of several missions.

A completely normal dwarven child.

Mugh

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2021, 04:54:26 am »

Assigned war animals are considered as a part of the squad so the mission is stuck until all the assigned animals have left the map.

As far as I know, babies don't (usually) cause any problems; I have some babies in my fort who are veterans of several missions.
Can confirm the animal thing, had a squad in my last fort with a war elephant assigned + pastured that did not return from a mission. Upon removing the elephant from the pasture it slowly made it's way off-map, and a few days later my squad returned successfully!
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Durmatagno

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2021, 08:13:17 am »

It still got funky with the baby, but allowing the animals out of the pasture did indeed make things much more likely to succeed (7/10 times on the same mission).

Don't know why, maybe it's not related to the baby, but that squad with it was the only that maintained the issue. Don't know why, but it might be unrelated and some rarer cause.
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delphonso

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2021, 08:15:25 am »

Could be. Are you sure they're not just...getting murdered 3/10 times?

I know there are potential corruptions with equipment, but as I understand it, those lead to crashes. But certainly the military has a few bugs.

Durmatagno

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2021, 12:00:10 pm »

It just shows them stuck travelling, so I can't say for sure. It's possible they died and it glitched out trying to process it and they get stuck "travelling".
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Splint

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #11 on: October 26, 2021, 06:05:10 pm »

I'm pretty sure if they die they'll simply be removed from the squad roster (and if captured, you'll find them listed as prisoners at the location you deployed them to.) If it's a general recovery, they'll probably end up roaming around for months or years before coming back (if they do at all.)

Still, it'd be interesting to find a possible cause, so do keep us posted.

delphonso

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2021, 10:28:13 pm »

If it's a general recovery, they'll probably end up roaming around for months or years before coming back (if they do at all.)

I sent one dwarf out to look for an artifact. 12 years later, he returned. It was a pocket world. I don't even know what happened. He must have personally checked every tile in the world.

Splint

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Re: Insight on the non-returning Squads
« Reply #13 on: October 26, 2021, 11:38:38 pm »

If it's a general recovery, they'll probably end up roaming around for months or years before coming back (if they do at all.)

I sent one dwarf out to look for an artifact. 12 years later, he returned. It was a pocket world. I don't even know what happened. He must have personally checked every tile in the world.
They basically do what all those deadbeat "Adventurers" are doing hunting for artifacts.

It's why I never send anyone on those kinds of missions, I just send them to collect stuff from abandoned places.