New Lich Site?

[100% Wool]

Does anyone have the address to the new Lich site?

[Meges]

* NOTICE * The server's IP address will be changing within the next few days. When things finally switch over, you'll need to download the latest copy of Lich or updated copies of the "LichNet.lic" and "Repository.lic" scripts to continue connecting to Lich's servers. The new homepage address is http://lich.sudolife.com (make a note of it, the old one will be unreachable soon!)

Not having this address makes entering the game a pain. The game won't accept or can't see any user commands until Lich figures out that the URL it's trying to connect to doesn't exist or work.


Meges

[Meges]

Okay, I take it back. Even with the new URL, the program is still taking around 5-10 seconds to realize there's something wrong before it'll allow commands to go through. I guess I need to uninstall first... Maybe it's PsiNet? I'm no longer getting echoed errors from Lich at least.


Meges

[Meges]

It's PsiNet that's causing me problems. I uninstalled it then had no issues logging into the game like normal. With PsiNet installed, I have a period of around 10 seconds before I can do anything in the game. At any rate, I guess I'm not using PsiNet anymore.


Meges

[Shaelun]

The issue is only happening with PsiNet...?

What a damn pain. And after all the trouble I went through to make sure the two work together... Well, I'll see if I can get around it somehow.

[Shaelun]

Download the latest copy of lichnet.lic from the repository, and after re-linking with that new copy of the script once, the problem should never happen again.

To be clear, it may (or may not) happen one last time when first using the updated script.

[100% Wool]

I can't get into the repository for some reason, it lags out on me and I can't chat either =(

[Shaelun]

If you aren't using this version, d/l and install it. http://lich.sudolife.com/Lich-v3.47-Install.exe

[Meges]

Sorry for the late reply and the previous indecisiveness. The problem was indeed the lichnet file. I completely removed the file from the directory and the hang time/logon attempt went away. I can't use version 3.47, because the scripts I have don't work right with that version. They just echo commands to the game window without actually executing them. So, I've stuck with the older version. I'll extract the lichnet file from that version though and see if that fixes the problem while letting me access the chat features.


Meges

[Shaelun]

Apparently this isn't anywhere near as clear as I thought it was; people have been asking me puzzled questions all over the place.

Lich is a framework for scripts, and does practically nothing by itself except run scripts and keep information about your character's current state so scripts can have access to that.

The LichNet script is what implements connecting to the chat server (that script is the only piece that connects to LNet, and it's exactly like any other script -- you can kill it or choose not to run it as you please). The IP address is a hardcoded part of the script, and it's been changed (hardcoded meaning it's written in permanent-like, the script doesn't adjust itself or anything mysteriously magical like that).

The woman who owns the machine the servers ran on (Vizy IG) got rid of the computer they were running on, and told me to change to her other server. Long story short, moving and changing things to a different computer didn't go as smoothly as I'd wanted. If you aren't using the latest copy, your script is trying to connect to a black hole in the internet and spends awhile sitting there waiting for the abyss that used to be its server machine to respond to it.

If it's causing problems, install v3.47. If you don't want it to run, take it off your favorites list (type ;help -- the command is on the list). Deleting the script(s) isn't necessary, but it's your computer: you can do whatever you please with it and the files you put on it.

LichNet and Infomonitor are added to your favorites list the first time you run the program. The program couldn't care less if they start when you login or not -- it'll otherwise work exactly the same.

Hopefully that'll help explain what's going on and why people may need to download the latest development release to fix some problems. If you choose to fix it at all; frankly it makes no difference to me if people use v1.0 or the latest one -- so long as they don't ask me for help before trying the latest version, anyway.

By the by: I have no clue what you mean by the "echoing to the game window without executing the commands," thing. That's supposed to be impossible. Send me a log sometime (or the scripts or something) so I have some clue what you mean: I may have broken something w/o knowing it.

Have fun.

[Meges]

I'll get a log for you, but this is not recent. It happend the first time I used one of the newer versions before you changed servers. The server thing is recent and regardless if I'm using your newer version or not, the game will not accept commands until Lich decides it cannot connect for whatever reason. That's using the latest version on your website. The commands are either buffered or disregarded due to type ahead.

I understand how Lich works and the purpose for it or I would not be using it.


Meges

[Vizy]

Sorry for the upheaval with the servers, folks. There will be only ONE more move, before we settle into the final home for Lich - barring any problems, of course. I'm hoping to schedule that for sometime early next week.

I'm working with Shaelun to get everything settled in properly, we tend to run the new vs old side-by-side to make sure all the kinks are out.

[mgoddess]

Thanks for the update Vizy. I've been wondering how things were coming along, since Lichnet & the Repository have been down for the last many days.

[Vizy]

Well, that's not good at all. I haven't been in the game lately, so I wasn't aware of this fact.

In any case, I kicked the scripts and the server, they appear to be working now. It's still on the old server, in the meantime.

[StrayRogue]

I've been having a problem with the lich recently: every time I log on with it, it literally takes 30 seconds before it activates. That wouldn't bother me but it stops EVERYTHING for 30 seconds. It's basically giving me 30 seconds of latency and it's really fucking up my slamming :(

[Vizy]

Then perhaps you shouldn't slam ;)

Aside from that, what all are you running? PsiNet, GSE? etc. What scripts are you auto-starting?

Have you tried the wonderful process of elimination? (be sure to make a backup first!)

[StrayRogue]

Psinet and GSE. No scripts running at startup.

[Meges]

Psinet and GSE. No scripts running at startup.

Stray, I was having that same issue as I mentioned previously. I removed the Lich.Net file from its directory and no longer have that issue. Granted, I can't chat on Lich, but I never did to begin with. From what I can tell, it seems that the Lich.Net file buffers everything until it figures out that it cannot or could not connect to the Lich server, which is obviously very annoying. Especially if you're on a wireless router that likes to punt you every now and then. Meaning, when I log back in, I hang for quite awhile before I can react to see that my character just got totally destroyed by the buffed up "slam" critters.


Meges

[StrayRogue]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a whirl.

[Vizy]

Technically, Meges, if the cause of the problem was that the lichnet server was unavailable, the fact that it's back up now should eliminate that issue. Believe me, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that it is no longer occurring for folks, as I believe Shaelun is back in classes.

Stay, update?

[StrayRogue]

Not had chance to remove the file yet. But I know the game is still laggy upon entry, thanks to Lich.

[Meges]

Technically, Meges, if the cause of the problem was that the lichnet server was unavailable, the fact that it's back up now should eliminate that issue. Believe me, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that it is no longer occurring for folks, as I believe Shaelun is back in classes.

Stay, update?

I'm not arguing whether it was a server issue or not. Actually, I'm not trying to argue anything. I was attempting to fix the problem. Lich.Net is the file that contains code that attempts to access the server and hangs the game until it figures out that something's wrong. Removing the file rectified the problem. That's all I'm saying. Nothing more.


Meges

[Vizy]

@Meges: Nope, not trying to argue, trying to eliminate the issue as well. :) I'm stumped on the lich.net file - I'm using 3.47 (bleeding edge and all that), but can't find it in my main lich directory, nor the scripts. However, I do have a lichnet.lic file, but that's a script that you need to add to your "favorites" to require having it start up when you log in.

@Stay: My suggestions are these, in order. 1) Back up your GS4 directories. 2) Post where exactly you are experiencing the lag. Yes, it's when you log in, but does it hesitate at a particular line? This will help Shaelun or others troubleshoot the problem. 3) Make sure that all favorites are cleared from lich, including infomonitor and any others, and log in again. Does it occur? If not, check the scripts that are auto-starting. If so, go to: 4) Remove lich entirely from your computer. Log in again. Does it still occur? If so, it's not a Lich issue.

I probably won't be able to assist with large coding problems, as I just provide the server space and basic support, but I have to tell you, a comment of "it's laggy and it's your fault" seemingly without any basic troubleshooting isn't going to garner much of a positive response. Especially if we can't replicate the problem ourselves, or get enough information to find the bug to squish it. It's just the way things go.

[Shaelun]

Download the latest copy of "lichnet.lic" from the script repository, and it'll be fixed.

The problem was related to DNS queries: the script had to go fetch the dotted-quad IP address from your network name server, and Lich's multithreading support in Windows doesn't include non-blocking socket reads. I updated it to store the static IP address after it gets it once.

No, you don't have to have any clue what I just said. Just download the new script I put up weeks ago and deal with it one last time, and it'll be fixed.

[Sean of the Thread]

Download the latest copy of hax your box from the script repository.

[Shaelun]

You should read the source code. Though I suppose you can't understand it, can you.

Oh well.

[Vizy]

The Lich server has reached its final resting spot. DNS should be propagating as we speak to show the new home. I believe that Shaelun coded it so that we were using the subdomain now, so I do not foresee any problems.

The servers are running parallel right now, so you may find that you are on one instance of lichnet, and others are on another (this will affect your using lichnet, update, and repository - anything that speaks to lich.sudolife.com). This is a reflection of the name servers that you use, and how often they update their information. You can check to see if your name servers are using the OLD (.36) or NEW (.37) address by typing at a command prompt:

nslookup lich.sudolife.com

We (Shaelun and myself) cannot make your name servers get their information any faster than they already do, so please do not request assistance in that area. If you note any problems with the NEW lichnet home, please PM me, and I will respond as quickly as possible.

Ta now.

[Shaelun]

It's also worth noting that you have to either download the v3.49 installer, or download the latest copy of all 3 scripts (lichnet.lic, repository.lic, and updatecheck.lic) to continue connecting once the old server goes down (regardless of DNS propagation and all of that).

If you have not updated your scripts or your copy of Lich, you're still connecting to the old server. And they will continue to try to connect to the old server. And yes, you will likely get a pause everytime you try to login unless you take the scripts off of your fav list (or update).

The explanation is a long story... don't ask.

[mgoddess]

The explanation is a long story... don't ask.

So, what's the story?

(j/k)

[Shaelun]

Well, you asked, so...

Since in Windows the entire Lich process blocks (i.e. is put "on-hold" by the operating system) anytime one of its threads (i.e. one of the simultaneously-executing "activities" that the program is performing) makes a system call (i.e. asks the operating system to do something for it), the user experiences a noticable "hang" whenever this happens. Fortunately nearly all system calls are virtually instantaneous.

Fetching the numeric/dotted-quad/"computer-understood" internet address of a remote server, however, requires a system call to translate the Human-readable (i.e. "lich.sudolife.com") address into the one a computer can use to actually reach the server. When a program asks the operating system for this information, the OS "blocks" the process (again, puts it "on-hold") until it has the requested information. To get this specific information the operating system has to in turn request the information from your network's DNS (domain name server), which is often a bogged-down server that's translating thousands of requests for a very large network. So it isn't always an immediate response.

While all of this is going on, Lich is frozen in place. This makes for a bad user experience, and despite the entire point of Lich being my own personal "play-toy," I derive pleasure from people enjoying it. Therefore it's self-serving for me to make it pleasent to use the program.

Hence I originally hard-coded the static (i.e. unchanging) dotted-quad IP address into the LichNet client script. All was well with the world. Then the server had to be changed.

A natural consequence of this is the dotted-quad IP address changing. Enter Human miscommunication: I thought Vizy had already shutdown the old server and that "lich.sudolife.com" was pointing to the new server already. This was incorrect. It was pointing to the old server and old address. So when I updated the script to fetch the dotted-quad address and store it for subsequent use (thereby avoiding the system call and initial "pause"), the script fetched the same old address and stored it for future use.

Obviously the old address won't do anyone any good once there's no computer there anymore. So I again updated the script to do the same thing, but to erase an address if it ever can't connect to the server and to then re-fetch it and re-store whatever the answer is (thereby making sure if this ever happens again, the script will just fix itself).

There, now everybody knows the whole story. We're all one big happy family. Isn't debugging fun? Pardon me while I go change my field of study to something less frustrating.

Now a serious question, if I may: why the fuck would anyone go through all of this garbage just to "hax0r ur boxes" ? I mean seriously, wtf is up with you people who think I'm trying to steal accounts or something, LOL?