this might be a case of wraparound syndrome where I got such a horrible rating it went all the way to positive.

 

anyway, here's this situation,

 

playing a game of ufo on the second difficulty(one higher than beginner), just got through march 1999, I didn't do horrible, lost several soldiers, but didn't let any terror site go undone, I know a base was built in south america, cause I shot down and/or assaulted a supply ship and a large scout which were landed right next to each other

 

anyway, end of the month comes along, monthly rating of 268,436,537 and them stating that they're very happy with my progress

 

but my funding dropped 736,000 dollars and 17 countrys say they're unhappy with my progress...

 

 

anyone ever see this before?

 

my biggest question is how did I do so badly?

 

I've had worse months without this kind of effect before unless something happened which I didn't see on my radar, but on experienced?

You did good, but the game did not. I have seen people complain about this before and common thought is that the saved game was corrupted somehow. Something is suspicious because of the monthly rating: 268,436,537. 2^28 = 268,435,456. That's a difference of 1081. I'm willing to bet your score during that month was +1081, and the game just tacked on the extra 2^28. It's probably corruption - plain and simple.

 

- Zombie

You did good, but the game did not. I have seen people complain about this before and common thought is that the saved game was corrupted somehow. Something is suspicious because of the monthly rating: 268,436,537. 2^28 = 268,435,456. That's a difference of 1081. I'm willing to bet your score during that month was +1081, and the game just tacked on the extra 2^28. It's probably corruption - plain and simple.

 

- Zombie

 

 

Thanks for the explanation but I'm still wondering why my funding dropped in all of the countries?

just more save game corruption?

That number is so big that it probably causes all sorts of problems when the game tries to compare your score to the aliens score. Most likely, the score field cannot handle numbers this large and ends up overflowing the variable thus switching it to a negative number. And as we know, a negative score = unhappy countries. This is just a guess though.

 

- Zombie

ah, thanks, that makes sense

Much as Zombie says, usually if a number gets to big for a computer to store, it loops back down to the lowest possible value and counts up from there.

 

Microsoft products are noted for simply dumping the extra information in places it shouldn't go. This has allowed many crackers over the years to place executable code in places of memory that they really shouldn't have access too. Usually referred to as the "buffer overflow bug".

 

As another example, in the game Transport Tycoon, there was a glitch. You could build a tunnel across the entire map. The cost for doing this was so large it caused an overflow, and so the computer decided it cost a negative amount of cash - giving you plenty as a result.

Microsoft products are noted for simply dumping the extra information in places it shouldn't go.

 

 

You mean Microprose?

Microprose published Transport Tycoon, which was my second example.

 

Microsoft's glitches paved the way for many viruses to be made for Windows, Internet Explorer, and Outlook Express.

this might be a case of wraparound syndrome where I got such a horrible rating it went all the way to positive.

 

anyway, here's this situation,

 

playing a game of ufo on the second difficulty(one higher than beginner), just got through march 1999, I didn't do horrible, lost several soldiers, but didn't let any terror site go undone, I know a base was built in south america, cause I shot down and/or assaulted a supply ship and a large scout which were landed right next to each other

 

anyway, end of the month comes along, monthly rating of 268,436,537 and them stating that they're very happy with my progress

 

but my funding dropped 736,000 dollars and 17 countrys say they're unhappy with my progress...

anyone ever see this before?

 

my biggest question is how did I do so badly?

 

I've had worse months without this kind of effect before unless something happened which I didn't see on my radar, but on experienced?

 

I just had the exact opposite occur in January, 1999. Actually it was a pretty solid month, check my post: https://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/index...?showtopic=6564 . So, my score was NEGATIVE 268 million and change, but all nations were happy and my funding went up 700k or so. I'm worried that if the glitch happens again next month, I'm fired!

I just had the exact opposite occur in January, 1999. Actually it was a pretty solid month, check my post: https://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/index...?showtopic=6564 . So, my score was NEGATIVE 268 million and change, but all nations were happy and my funding went up 700k or so. I'm worried that if the glitch happens again next month, I'm fired!

What happened to you was just the opposite of what happened to sluissi. Your score was probably in the negatives and the game added an extra -2^28 points to that. That number is too low for the country funding and flips to the positive side.

 

Ususally what happens with a glitch is that it is a one month thing. The next month your score will probably be ok and everything will be back to normal.

 

- Zombie

What happened to you was just the opposite of what happened to sluissi. Your score was probably in the negatives and the game added an extra -2^28 points to that. That number is too low for the country funding and flips to the positive side.

 

Ususally what happens with a glitch is that it is a one month thing. The next month your score will probably be ok and everything will be back to normal.

 

- Zombie

 

Well, actually, wouldn't it make more sense that my score was positive and flipped around to an extreme negative? I mean, if I had a negative month, I don't think every nation would have increased funding.

 

Anyway, February was good, score of +2400 or so, so looks like I'm back on track.

Well, actually, wouldn't it make more sense that my score was positive and flipped around to an extreme negative? I mean, if I had a negative month, I don't think every nation would have increased funding.

True, but an extreme negative number for monthly score probably doesn't convert well into the score for each funding country. That's what flips it to the positive side and makes the countries happy which then increase funding.

 

- Zombie