CC3+ stops fractalizing while drawing terrain

James B

I'm running CC3+ version 3.92 on a Windows 7 machine.

The problem I'm having is when I draw fractalized terrain features onto a landmass. The first few clicks fractalize just fine and I'm able to use the space bar as I go to tweak them. Then the screen automatically refreshes and suddenly all the remaining lines are straight (without fractalization). Pressing space bar does nothing at that point and I haven't figured out a way to re-enable fractalization. I've worked around this by roughing out the outline I want and then using the fractalize tool afterward to fix up the straight polygon lines, but that's obviously not ideal.

Is there something I can do to correct/avoid this behavior?

JimP

I've never used the space bar for fractilization, so I'm a bit confused.

I select fractilization, then click on the line, polygon, etc. I want to fractalize.

Due to Windows limitations, I don't click more than 3 times, maybe 4.

Loopysue

Its when you draw with the fractal shape tool, Jim. Space is used to re-randomise the suspended line if you don't like what you get the first time.

James - I haven't been able to replicate this issue at all. Maybe contact Tech Support about it?

Shessar

Like Sue, I haven't been able to replicate it either. I'd start with the basics of restarting your system. This has been know to clear up the odd glitch pretty often. If a system restart doesn't fix it then definitely contact support.

James B

Thanks for the feedback. It seems to be related to the automatic refresh that sometimes happens when I'm in the middle of drawing terrain. I'll try to come up with a simple and specific sequence of events that causes it to happen reliably to see if anyone else can duplicate the problem. I'd do that before contacting support anyway.

Loopysue

I'm a bit confused about this automatic refresh that you speak about. CC3 is different to other apps in that you have to manually make it refresh - by panning, zooming or hitting the refresh button. So... is this something that happens when you pan or zoom? (I still can't make mine go wrong)

Or do you mean when it autosaves?

JimP

I think he means autosave. I have it turned off and save to a series of filenames with a number at the end. Save as filename01_001, do some work, save as to filename01_0002, etc.

Loopysue

I have autosave turned on right now, but its set to 30 minutes instead of 15 and may not have occurred while I was trying the fractalize tool.

James B

I'm not sure if it's actually an automatic refresh. Every 60 seconds or so (I've timed it and it's almost exactly one minute), the window flashes. By "flash" I mean everything on the map "blinks" (disappears for a fraction of a second and then reappears). It doesn't matter if I'm currently drawing something or just sitting there idle. In fact, I make an effort to complete my drawing activities between flashes so the problem described previously doesn't occur.

I've tried to come up with a way to reliably duplicate the fractalization problem, but the only consistent thing about it is that it seems to only happen after I've had the program open for a while. If I close CC3+ and reopen it, everything is fine again for awhile and the 60-second screen flashes doesn't cause a problem. It behaves like a memory leak, although that could have nothing to do with it.

I'm sure that the screen flash is not autosave. I have that set to the five minute default. Also, the autosave displays a prompt when it activates. I've also noticed that using the keyboard shortcuts for save and refresh do not initiate a flash like the one that happens every 60 seconds.

Loopysue

No. That's not autosave. Autosave happens in the background and doesn't cause any flashing. It can freeze everything for a second but it normally isn't a problem. Plus, you would know if you had switched it on.

I'm not saying this is the cause, but out of curiosity (because I still can't replicate the problem) is this a very large and rather slow file? Does it take a couple of seconds or more to zoom and pan around?

Monsen

I've tried to replicate your problem, using a map I've had open and worked on for a couple of hours now, but I am unable to do so. I don't have any idea what might be causing your problem, as mentioned above, you should probably contact support. As far as I know, nobody else have reported something like this, so there isn't a known solution as far as I know at least.

James B

The .FCW map file is 47KB, so pretty small.

I should also probably mention that I've experienced this issue since I first started using CC3+, which has been pretty much since it was released. The fractalization issue has persisted through multiple updates of CC3+, and of course, many computer reboots/restarts.

James B

Does anyone else experience the 60-second flash? For me, it starts as soon as I open the program and recurs for as long as it's open.

Loopysue

I would do as Remy suggests contact support straight away now that those of us with a will to try and replicate it have failed to do so.

No point in waiting around to see if anyone else can make it happen if we can't.

Tech Support here is really great - friendly and helpful. Don't worry about all the crap that can happen if you try to contact support for other non-PF apps. PF really isn't like that at all. They're human, and if its possible they usually fix things really fast.

James B

I'll give it a shot. First, I was hoping to find out if anyone else gets the 60-second map window blink like I do.

I won't have my hopes up. Thirty years of programming experience has taught me that finding a bug (and later verifying that you fixed it) is nearly impossible without a way to reliably duplicate the problem.

Loopysue

It *could* be something as simple as running a repair install of the most recent update (23), but don't take my advice because I'm no tech at all - ask Tech Support. (He's really good at this stuff)

James B

Support request submitted. I'll report back after I get a response.

JimP

I haven't had the program flash on me.

Do you have effects turned on ?