#973 Dungeon reset soon after player left prevents removing loot in multiple trips
In Server (v1.75.0-1463-gfaf42f5d5) and GTK2 client (Crossfire v1.75.0-1316-ge19bd3e61) built from top of the Master branch in April 2025, after a long dungeon slog, I was unable to finish looting the dungeon because the dungeon reset before I could get back for a second load.
I was doing the first royalty quest where you need to get the Goblin King's head, so the map was:
(null) (/random/goblin_chief0008) in The Kingdom of Scorn
xsize -1
ysize -1
wallstyle dungeon2
floorstyle stones2
monsterstyle humanoid
layoutstyle maze
decorstyle goblinjunk
exitstyle sstair
final_map /quests/peterm/quests/goblin_chief
difficulty_increase 0.000000
dungeon_level 1
dungeon_depth 5
orientation 1
origin_x 33
origin_y 15
random_seed 1745519003
1) I did this as a Level 7 ranger with Longbow +2 and Crossbow +3. My goal was to snipe my way down to raise my missile weapon skill level. I carried with me somewhere around 250 arrows and 250 bolts.
2) I cleared levels top-down, but left all the loot laying where it dropped. I.e. While there was "danger" in the dungeon, I didn't try looting. (Doesn't happen in this game, but if the baddies came up from the lower levels, I wouldn't want to get shot in the back while dragging out loot since the noise would attract attention while dragging so much stuff around). I was role playing.
3) I did NOT take loot back to town each time I cleared a level. I waited until I had reached my objective, as I hoped I'd brought enough resource (food, ammo, etc.) with me for the run.
4) I reached the bottom, cleared it as the levels above.
5) Then I proceeded with the mop up operation. I gathered all the loot I wanted, and carried it to the level exit.
6) When all the loot I wanted was at the level exit, I took a load up. and to the next level exit.
7) I either returned to the lower level directly for another load, or picked up loot on the way. Regardless, I gathered another load, took it up a level.
8) Rinse and repeat until all the loot is just inside the door of the dungeon entrance. For all I know, this may have taken a very long time relatively speaking.
9) I run a load into Scorn's General Store. My process there is to basically, detect magic, detect curse, drop off cursed in a save pile in my apartment, put things like gems, books, and whatnot in sort piles. Then, I drop off uninteresting stuff in the General Store. I actually sort drop (I know, kind of retarded, but I enjoy doing it) so there's a pile for daggers, phosphorus, booze, etc., ad nauseum, so its definitely not a 'dropall' scenario. Then I identify magical stuff that I haven't sold as uninteresting. I sell that, or store in my apartment (across the street).
10) I run back to the dungeon. It is reset. All my remaining loot is gone.
I have been on a Crossfire playing hiatus since about 2010. I had come back briefly in 2022, but not so much for playing. I do not recall ever having had this happen before... where a dungeon reset in the middle of the looting process. I think this is a regression.
To be fair, I CANNOT say that, 1) I ever took so long to clear a dungeon, 2) I looted in the same way. I tended to be playing with someone else, so probably it would not have taken as long as solo. Also, I wasn't role-playing in my head as much as I am this time. It was more hack-n-slash-n-stash back then. Additionally, I am not sure if I looted levels as I cleared them or not and returned them to town immediately, or waited until I got to the bottom. I think I probably collected loot until I filled up, left, returned, filled up again, etc. I do doubt that I typically dragged all the loot from all levels up to the top before I left the map at all. Additionally, its quite possible that another player was on the map at least part of the time I was gone while they were doing the same thing.
Discussion on Discord #irc-libera was started to see if there was agreement as to whether my expectation of being able to loot the dungeon was reasonable. It seems at least some agree, I should have been able to loot the dungeon.
It has been suggested that 'maps' command output be collected upon initial entry, just before leaving, and immediately after leaving.
Someone said they have seen this before. I mentioned I have seen it in the General Store. It was indicated that this is to be expected behavior in the Stores.
I believe there should be a cool-down time when the last player leaves a dungeon. By "leaves the dungeon", I mean either by walking out the door, or using word-of-recall, etc. The cool-down would prevent a reset for a reasonable period of time. By reasonable, I mean likely well under an hour... but enough time to allow for travel back and forth to one's apartment by not-near-instantaneous means (word of recall, town portal, or whatever). Considering the size of the world, presumably one would not expect to cross the entire world and back without magical travel, but, at least to a dragon transport.
It happened today. I didn't think to get maps output before going in. I spent over two hours in the dungeon. Unsure how long. I took a snapshot of the maps output right before exiting the cave.
[6:40 PM]
Path Reset In (HH:MM)
s/peterm/quests/ogre_chief 1:30
/random/ogre_chief0009 2:05 (in use)
You search the area.
I exit to the world:
Path Reset In (HH:MM)
/world/world_105_115 2:08
/world/world_106_115 2:05 (in use)
s/peterm/quests/ogre_chief 1:30
/random/ogre_chief0009 2:07
NEW
[6:40 PM]
I left for a few seconds max, went back in and it was reset.
I pop back in:
Path Reset In (HH:MM)
/random/ogre_chief0010 2:05 (in use)
/world/world_104_115 1:59
/world/world_105_115 1:59
/world/world_106_115 1:59
s/peterm/quests/ogre_chief 1:59
/random/ogre_chief0009 1:58
NEW
[6:42 PM]
i am going to guess that if you go over the 2-ish hours, you are hosed if you leave.
I went a bit over 2hr in Scorn undead church random levels and its not reset. So the time in the dungeon may be longer than the 2hr timer for the reset to occur on exit. I feel I probably spent much more time in the two previous. The levels I was on still haven't reset.
Path Reset In (HH:MM)
/scorn/shops/magicshop 2:06
/scorn/shops/weaponshop 1:56
/scorn/shops/armourshop 1:55
/scorn/misc/castle 1:56
corn/misc/castle_gatehouse 1:56
/world/world_106_116 1:55
/world/world_105_117 1:47
/scorn/misc/cityhall 1:48
/scorn/shops/scorn.sale1 1:54
/random/undead_quest0016 1:14
/random/undead_quest0015 1:15
/scorn/peterm/undead_quest 1:46
/random/undead_quest0014 1:46
/random/undead_quest0013 1:46
/random/undead_quest0012 1:47
/random/undead_quest0011 1:47
/scorn/misc/church 1:47
/world/world_106_115 1:58
/world/world_105_116 2:06
/world/world_104_116 2:06
/world/world_104_115 2:05 (in use)
/world/world_105_115 2:08
Instead of doing the whole dungeon at once, I cleared each level and exit the dungeon each time. The map reset upon each entry just fine. The bug appears to be that if you spend more than two hours (or reset time), then leave, it resets immediately. In a random dungeon, the different levels appear to all be on the same timer, so entering the top level from below doesn't reset the timer.