This is a quick note on how to best report bugs in the game. You don't have to follow it, and sometimes it's not possible, but bugs filed in this format are going to be easiest for me to squash.
First off, where to report them: email me, use these forums, or use the in-game feedback system.
OK, so a good bug report contains three sections: "Reproduction", "Expected" and "Observed".
Reproduction is the set of steps to take to make the bug manifest itself. This may also include information about the operating system you are using. It's a complete list of all the things some random person would have to do in sequence to experience the same problem.
The Expected section describes what you would have expected to happen. This is important because sometimes, a program behaves in a way that is stupid and wrong to everyone except the developer. Without a basis in what is meant to happen, it can be hard to figure out what about what actually happened is bad.
Finally, the Observed section describes what actually happens to you.
An example:
Reproduce: Launch the game. Start a new game. Go into the list of teddy bears, select a bear, and press backspace.
Expected: The selected bear should be deleted.
Observed: Nothing happens.
Of course, it's not always possible to write up a report like that. Bugs or crashes are not always reproducible, after all. But whenever possible, if you follow this format, it makes my job easier and gives me more time to work on features, which is entirely more fun.
Since Airships is still in Early Access, and because computers are complicated beasts, the game may not work correctly on your computer. This guide contains things to try to fix it on your own and known incompatibilities.
If you can't get the game to work, please do get in touch with me via email or Steam chat. If your computer meets the specs, I want the game to be able to run on it. Whether the problem is ultimately with your machine or with a bug in the game, I want to get to the bottom of things in all cases.
Troubleshooting if the game is crashing or failing to launch
Try reinstalling the game.
Make sure your graphics card drivers are up to date.
Plays.tv and Raptr are known to cause the game to crash. If your computer is running either of them, turn them off or uninstall them. Note that some computers come bundled with this software, so it may be active on your machine even if you did not install it yourself.
Try running the game with high quality graphics turned off.
Try running the game using System Java.
Try running the game by opening the install folder, right-clicking on "game.jar" and choosing "Run with Java Runtime" or similar. To open the install folder, right-click on the game in your Steam library, choose "Properties", to to the "Local Files" tab, click "Browse Local Files...". Note that you have to install Java on your computer for this step to be available.
Getting Help
If you are unable to get the game to work properly, please contact me. Please include the following information if possible, as it will make diagnosis a lot easier.
Windows
Your operating system version and graphics card type.
The log file from %APPDATA%\AirshipsGame\log.txt. To open APPDATA, open the start menu, type "%APPDATA%", and hit enter.
Any files starting with hs_err from the install folder.
Immediately after the game has crashed or failed to launch, go into the Event Viewer, and copy any errors logged in the "Application" category. To open Event Viewer, open the start menu, type "Event Viewer", and hit enter.
Mac
Your operating system version and graphics card type.
The log file from ~/Documents/AirshipsGame/log.txt. To find it, go to your home folder, open Documents, then open AirshipsGame.
Any files starting with hs_err from the install folder.
Immediately after the game has crashed or failed to launch, go into the Console, and copy the last ten log lines or so. To open the Console, hit command-space, type "Console" and press enter.
Linux
Your operating system version and graphics card type.
The log file from ~/.airshipsgame/log.txt.
Any files starting with hs_err from the install folder.
Try launching the game directly from the command line. Include any messages printed out.
Known Issues
(as of the time of this writing, July 10, 2016)
About 3 players have reported a problem where the game crashes after about 10-30 minutes of play on Mac OS. If you are affected by this problem, please get in touch, as investigation is ongoing.
One player reported they were unable to launch the game through Airships.exe or AirshipsSystemJava.exe on Windows 10. Installing Java and launching the game directly from game.jar resolved the problem in this case.
Aerial Emperor
This is a quick note on how to best report bugs in the game. You don't have to follow it, and sometimes it's not possible, but bugs filed in this format are going to be easiest for me to squash.
First off, where to report them: email me, use these forums, or use the in-game feedback system.
OK, so a good bug report contains three sections: "Reproduction", "Expected" and "Observed".
Reproduction is the set of steps to take to make the bug manifest itself. This may also include information about the operating system you are using. It's a complete list of all the things some random person would have to do in sequence to experience the same problem.
The Expected section describes what you would have expected to happen. This is important because sometimes, a program behaves in a way that is stupid and wrong to everyone except the developer. Without a basis in what is meant to happen, it can be hard to figure out what about what actually happened is bad.
Finally, the Observed section describes what actually happens to you.
An example:
Of course, it's not always possible to write up a report like that. Bugs or crashes are not always reproducible, after all. But whenever possible, if you follow this format, it makes my job easier and gives me more time to work on features, which is entirely more fun.
Aerial Emperor
Since Airships is still in Early Access, and because computers are complicated beasts, the game may not work correctly on your computer. This guide contains things to try to fix it on your own and known incompatibilities.
If you can't get the game to work, please do get in touch with me via email or Steam chat. If your computer meets the specs, I want the game to be able to run on it. Whether the problem is ultimately with your machine or with a bug in the game, I want to get to the bottom of things in all cases.
Troubleshooting if the game is crashing or failing to launch
Getting Help
If you are unable to get the game to work properly, please contact me. Please include the following information if possible, as it will make diagnosis a lot easier.
Windows
Mac
Linux
Known Issues
(as of the time of this writing, July 10, 2016)