Fix Float Parse Bug


For months now, I've known there was a rare bug affecting some users that froze the game and prevented any progress, but wasn't able to track it down. I couldn't replicate it, even when using the same platform and browser, I had no idea why it was freezing for some people!

A huge thank you to everyone who saw the bug and leaned in to help me, especially CarolComas. Without seeing those screen-recordings, I never would've been able to figure out what was going on! 

The game uses "float.parse" to set the character placements and control the speed of the text. Since I'm in the United States, I used values like "0.5". What I didn't realize is that float.parse is a culture dependent function,  and when the game was being played in other countries or a browser with other languages, sometimes it expected a value like "0,5" instead, and threw an "invalid input" error. When enough of those errors built up, the game crashed and froze, preventing user progress. 

As frustrating as this bug has been, I'm absolutely delighted that it's a problem that's showed up because this game made it to other cultures and countries, how exciting is that?? And it's a fantastic reminder of why diversity makes teams stronger, if I had playtesters in multiple countries, I may have caught the issue sooner!

Thank you all for your patience and support. 

Big Love, 

Reagan (IfThenCreate)


P.S. I think I also figured out the problem people were having in the native itch app! I've disabled compression for now, hopefully that fixes it. Fingers crossed. 

Files

loveinthevalleyv2.2.zip Play in browser
Apr 17, 2023

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