Bug - Not A Bug Mafia threw me under the bus... er... I mean into the lava!

[DaveK]

This is the session log from mafia's most recent attempt to autosolve the lava maze for me:

[1231] The Nemesis' Lair

equip off-hand Half a Purse

equip back Cloak of Dire Shadows

equip weapon Squeezebox of the Ages

volcanoisland.php?pwd&action=tniat

Visiting the lava maze
Hopping from 6,12 to 6,11
Hopping from 6,11 to 5,11
Hopping from 5,11 to 4,11
Hopping from 4,11 to 3,12

At this point there was a message in the graphical CLI window that I didn't capture, but I guess from reading the code must have been "You can't get there from here. Swim to shore and try again.", and a 'click here to continue in the relay browser' link. (There may have been more, I can't remember.)

I did try manually going further, but after four (completely forced) moves, I was stuck and did indeed have to swim back:

Visiting the lava maze

Visiting the lava maze
Hopping from 3,12 to 2,11
Hopping from 2,11 to 1,12
Hopping from 1,12 to 1,12
Swimming back to shore
You lose 237 hit points

After healing I went back, and got maze #3 (from the list at http://ben.bloomroad.com/kol/nemesis/volcano/index.html); I followed the route listed for that map manually and it worked:

Visiting Relaxing Hot Tub in clan VIP lounge
You gain 237 hit points
Hopping from 6,12 to 7,12
Hopping from 7,12 to 8,11
Hopping from 8,11 to 9,11
Hopping from 9,11 to 10,11
Hopping from 10,11 to 9,10
Hopping from 9,10 to 9,9
Hopping from 9,9 to 8,10
Hopping from 8,10 to 7,9
Hopping from 7,9 to 6,10
Hopping from 6,10 to 5,10
Hopping from 5,10 to 4,10
Hopping from 4,10 to 3,11
Hopping from 3,11 to 2,10
Hopping from 2,10 to 1,11
Hopping from 1,11 to 1,11
Hopping from 1,11 to 0,10
Hopping from 0,10 to 1,9
Hopping from 1,9 to 2,9
Hopping from 2,9 to 1,8
Hopping from 1,8 to 0,7
Hopping from 0,7 to 0,6
Hopping from 0,6 to 1,5
Hopping from 1,5 to 0,4
Hopping from 0,4 to 0,3
Hopping from 0,3 to 1,2
Hopping from 1,2 to 2,1
Hopping from 2,1 to 3,0
Hopping from 3,0 to 4,0
Hopping from 4,0 to 5,1
Hopping from 5,1 to 6,0
Hopping from 6,0 to 7,0
Hopping from 7,0 to 8,1
Hopping from 8,1 to 9,1
Hopping from 9,1 to 10,2
Hopping from 10,2 to 10,2
Hopping from 10,2 to 11,3
Hopping from 11,3 to 10,4
Hopping from 10,4 to 9,5
Hopping from 9,5 to 8,6
Hopping from 8,6 to 8,7
Hopping from 8,7 to 7,7
Hopping from 7,7 to 6,6

[1231] The Nemesis' Lair
Encounter: Somerset Lopez, Dread Mariachi

Is this a known problem? I don't even see how it could happen unless the maps got corrupted in the prefs, perhaps?

 

[lostcalpolydude]

Mafia does not have the known maps saved. Instead, it solves the map when you get there each time. This will often result in failing the first try while it gathers enough data to put together the map to solve. If you had tried automating it a second time it would have worked fine.

Mafia's approach to this puzzle is the reason there aren't more versions of it, by the way.

 

[Bale]

Mafia's approach to this puzzle is the reason there aren't more versions of it, by the way.

I remember when the quest was new, TPTB stated their intention to create more lava maps so a solver was created for KoLmafia that would work for any future variation. Later on it was stated on a show that they decided not to do so because of mafia making it pointless. That makes me a little sad.

 

[zarqon]

I'm rather surprised actually that they didn't make the puzzle procedurally generated.

 

[DaveK]

Thanks for the explanation, that all makes sense to me now. So that's why the maps are stored in the prefs. I thought the pref might have been default initialised with the known maps on first run. My prefs don't contain many maps because I've previously done the maze manually, and I've only let mafia do it for me a couple of times so far.

Given that there aren't gonna be any new maps, would you accept a patch to default the prefs with the known maps? And if so, where can I find your guidelines for contributions?

 

[heeheehee]

For what it's worth, volcanoMaze1-5 are actually the five configurations that define a single map.

I don't necessarily see any issue with adding the hardcoded paths, although any patch you submit would have to wait for an actual Mafia dev to review it and commit it.

If you use Eclipse, then there's a handy util/format.xml in the repository. Otherwise, whenever I attempt to make patches, I just try to keep them as self-contained (and self-descriptive) as possible and mimic existing formatting.