I've been playing the custom mansions... sort of checking them. I started out just playing but kept finding problems, so went with scrubbing through them fast to look for trouble spots.

This involved using the cheat codes.

The prefs screen doesn't freeze unless I invoke the map or the secrets (no problem with extra lives, keys or money), and then it locks up for anywhere between 30 seconds and 5 minutes. I've learned to wait it out, but it's a PITA.

Also: I notice there's no longer a message about "Used Cheats" when the game is completed.  This is only with the Custom Mansions; I haven't done a cheat on the included mansions to see if they come up "clean" too.

Almost forgot....

This is a sample of the  console message that appears when MM HD freezes in the Prefs screen.

11-11-07 4:00:44.094 AM com.apple.spindump: Midnight Mansion HD [10062] didn't gather any samples

mick, by "prefs screen" do you mean the Paused screen -- the one that is visible when you type in cheat codes?

And, are you saying that it freezes after you type in cheat codes "reveal map" or "show secrets"? If so, it's not actually frozen -- it's just going very slow for some reason (there is a lot of processing done behind-the-scenes to reveal the map and show secrets).

What type of computer are you running on, and what OS? Does it have the same issue with really small mansions? What about the built-in ones? (I would imagine that the bigger the mansion, the longer the delay. For instance, Freddy's mansion would likely take longer, since it's HUGE!)

I put in code to optimize this, but it sounds like it's not working on your system for some reason.

Is anyone else experiencing a long pause when entering the "reveal map" or "show secrets" cheat codes? For me it's very fast.

2.5 GHz Intel Core i5   8 GB ram

OS 10.7.2

It DOES seem to be mostly the larger mansions, but not exclusively.... and frozen is frozen (IMO) when it takes 20 minutes for the Paused (yes, the right word!) screen.

The Ginormous mansions do slow to a molasses crawl in Map view, that's for sure.

My computer shouldn't be bogging down from something like this.  :(

It's annoying enough that I've pretty much stopped testing Custom Mansions out.

mick, are you playing the mansions as zip files or opening them up?

Rob, I'm "playing them as they lay".  Some of the CM's want to be unzipped, some don't. (That must be confusing to new players.)

I went through each CM and tried to open it zipped (with the exception of Brell's The Pirate Invasion, which he flagged as having the ReadMe inside). If a CM wouldn't open zipped, I unzipped it and play from the its data folder.

My CM folder is a mix of zipped files and unzipped folders.

OK, I'm a little confused. I do know that they have been uploaded two different ways. Essentially, the entire zip is the mansion, or the zipped mansion is one level down, alongside a README file.

However, regardless of the layout, whether the mansion is just uploaded like this:

   Mansion Name.zip   [#1]

Or zipped like this:

   Mansion Name
   + -- Mansion Name.zip [#2]
   + -- README.txt

In both cases the actual mansion archive, whether it's #1 or #2 can be played as a zip file, or unzipped as a directory. Vern's established that there is a bit of lag when playing the mansion as a zip file. I've only really seen this lag when playing the larger mansions, and wasn't specifically looking for it when I used the map screen. I was just trying to understand your specific cases so I could try and repeat what you're seeing. So far, no luck, but I've only just started.

Yes, you've laid it out clearly how the CM's are zipped.

They're all zipped on download.
Some Unzip (initially) to the data files.
Some Unzip to another zip file and a read me.

If the secondary zip file is playable, I haven't unzipped them more.

Naturally a large mansion/map is more processor intensive.

I feel brave for admitting that I'm cheating, even if it's in the spirit of testing.

:)  Maybe if you cheated more.....   

Does it only freeze when you use the cheat codes, then?

Does it matter if you unzip the actually mansion zip file (whether it's case #1 or # 2) and play the unzipped archive?

Incidentally, in the case of where there is a zip in a zip file, it was never intended that you move the top-level directory into the custom mansion directory - just the mansion file, which can then be unzipped as well. Vern has noted that on his machine he sees a distinct difference when playing the game directly from the mansion zip file vs unzipping it, and playing from the expanded directory (this is how all the game mansions mansions are played).

Personally, I've only ever seen a big difference when the mansions are very large. I was just curious if this could be part of the issue you're seeing.

Also, does it seem to matter which cheat code is used?

Those are good questions Rob just posted. I'll wait for the answers before I look into this more.

mick -- what type of Mac do you have? What is the processor speed and graphics card?

Vern:

Chipset Model:      AMD Radeon HD 6750M
2.5 GHz Intel Core i5   8 GB ram
OS 10.7.2

Yes, Rob, it only freezes when I employ the cheat codes, and it's only when I'm after the map or the secrets. There is no freeze when I scoop up some extra lives or a key or some money (I hadn't tried the money cheat... no need for it, but I just did and it works fine).

It makes no difference (in the freeze problem) if the CM is zipped or not.  The freezeup DOES last longer, the larger the CM is (makes sense).

I'd say the lesson is: don't cheat.  :D

I'll also restate that in normal game play, once I'm well into a huge mansion (no cheating), the map is  incredibly sluggish.

In the spirit of further investigation, I opened Activity Monitor.

On open, MM HD uses 3-4% of my CPU allocation.

Opening a large CM (in this case Jack's Revenge 1), usage upped to 7%.


SInce MM goes into pause when the application focus is changed, I selected MM HD in Act. Mon., typed the cheat code for the map in (MM immediately froze) and hit "Sample Process" in A. M.

Notable is that action bumped MM HD CPU allocation up to 100.3%

:D  Isn't that special?

I waited almost 10 minutes before Force Quitting MM HD. That was as far as my patience extended.

hehe

I've attached the text of results from the Sample Process.

---

I was able to see a similar, lengthy delay tonight while messing the The Dragon's Trap. There is more to it than simply typing in the cheat code, though. Because when I restarted and typed the cheat code for revealing the map at the beginning of the mansion, it was very fast. I'll play with it some more until I can reproduce it consistently.

I'll just go back to looking for trouble, then, and let you experts sort this out if it needs doing.

My conscience does keep whispering to me... "See? See what cheating causes?"


/grin

Hey mick,

I've solved the issue. It turns out two things weren't working right when a mansion is played from within a .zip:

1) The "reveal map" cheat takes a very long time to complete.

2) Custom graphics for that mansion aren't loaded.

You can currently avoid both of these issues by playing the mansion as an expanded (non-zipped) folder. But in the upcoming 1.0.2 release, this will be fixed for zips as well. (Note however that scrolling around the in-game map screen will be slower/choppier when running from within a zip. And this is one thing I can't do anything about.)

You mention that it makes no difference if the CM is zipped or not. Are you sure? This was most certainly a bug with zipped mansions, but it shouldn't be an issue with normal ones.

Are your custom mansions directly in the Midnight Mansion HD Custom Mansions folder, or are you using aliases?