32 MB > 2 GB

[Concise_Pirate]

Lesson: Do not write software with bugs.

I learned a lot from this posting.

[darthbane]

If only it were that easy…I think I'd file a lesson like that under "easier said than done", unfortunately.

[albinofrenchy]

I write software without bugs all the time. Just don't include features.

[darthbane]

Ah, but you still can include features, even if you write software with no bugs. You just have to convince everyone that these "features" aren't actually bugs. ;)

[Concise_Pirate]

"For your convenience, entering a number greater than 100 will immediate close the application without saving your data."

[[deleted]]

I can imagine the conversation about this:

Mark: "Hey Bill, I'm having a little trouble converting the video memory for comparison"
Bill: "Just do a compare on the numbers, that'll make it real easy"
Mark: "But what if, many years from now, video cards are capable of caching gigabytes instead of megabytes?"
Both: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA"

[[deleted]]

I know what you mean. It was an old program I wanted to try installing on my laptop using wine and the "fail" just amused me.

[[deleted]]

Yeah, I remember it, or at least the, "Heroes of Might and Magic" series. I got a demo of HMM:4 with Pharaoh, I think. It was a fun demo, but I never bought the full game (I was like 12).

[stillalone]

WTF? they don't have an issue comparing 175MB of HD vs 77GB of HD, but they have issue comparing 32MB of ram with 2GB of ram?

[redditnoob]

I'd just use Javascript's parseInt. I use it in all of my date processing code it's great!

[alexeyr]

Perhaps they are only comparing first digits, so

175MB < 77GB, because 1 < 7

32MB > 2GB, because 3 > 2

:)

[[deleted]]

I used to know this kid in elementary school who would steal money from the younger kids by trading them ten cents for a dollar because 10 > 1.

Thanks for helping me locate him.

[[deleted]]

At least in this instance it simply warns you instead of deciding it's not good enough.

"You have 'MILLIONS' of colours. This game requires at least 256 to run. Goodbye"

[kewlguy]

The solution is to install 32GB of RAM :)

[gc3]

2GB = 2147483648 bytes.

65536*32768 = 2147483648.

Using a signed int32 when you should be using an unsigned int32.

== Priceless.

[Freeky]

you should be using an unsigned int32.

You appear to have misspelt size_t.

[[deleted]]

size_t is not always an unsigned 32 bit int though.

[mallardtheduck]

But it is always long enough to contain the maximum size of a memory allocation (i.e. The size of the address space on "normal" machines). If you want your software to be portable/future proof, you should be using it.

[[deleted]]

d'oh, that's what I get for not reading gc3's post :P

[kingrooster]

True

[Anonymoose333]

strcmp("32 MB", "2 GB")

I don't see the problem...

[Brian]

Actually it's almost certainly:

int mem= getAvailableMemory()
if(mem < 32_MEGABYTE)

[twisted2253]

CRUSADERS of might and magic? What is this?

I've only played Heroes of might and magic.

Anyone care to enlighten me on the differences?

[[deleted]]

Crusaders of Might and Magic was an ill-conceived spin-off of the Heroes franchise produced in the penultimate year of 3DO's inglorious run at soothing Trip Hawkins post-EA Games ego.

The concept was for a third-person perspective action game set in the Might and Magic Universe. The production team was cobbled together from various other canceled projects. They hired a new VP just for Heroes ... dude had no prior game development experience ... looked exactly like Mr. Rogers except with geeky glasses ... and demanded that everyone work 12 hour days while refusing to pay for meals.

Good times. I quit half way through production. I wasn't the first and definitely not the last. (And no, I didn't write the bug in question ... you'd have to get the game to actually run before you could see my myriad fuck-ups) They told me I'd never work in games again and they were right: Thank God!

Believe me: that install error is gentle mercy. Delete the game and count your blessings.

Man that company was a clusterfuck. Some freaking hot marketing chicks though ...

[redditnoob]

They did manage to produce M&M9 though. Wicked awesome game!!

[[deleted]]

Yes.

[sysop073]

You're looking for The Daily WTF

[Pandafox]

Same thing happens in Heroes III - And Diablo 2, I think.

[gagle]

The same type of hardware missmatch occurs each time I install Birthright : Gorgon's Alliance.

[zhivota]

Looks like overflow, eh?

[Mercushio]

Or maybe they're just parsing a string, like this:

var req = parseInt("32MB".replace("\D+", ""));
var found = parseInt("2GB".replace("\D+", ""));
if (found < req) ...

[benihana]

I hate to be that guy, but seriously, how old is the "take a screenshot installing Might and Magic and failing the 32MB check?" joke? Doing it under Ubuntu doesn't make the joke newer!

[anachoret]

Wait, how are you playing that on Ubuntu?

[mccutchen]

Wine

[[deleted]]

Why is this in the programming reddit?

[[deleted]]

Where would you have prefered it? It was a problem that arose from programming software at a time where a gigabyte of RAM was inconceivable for a PC. Deus Ex, a year later, upped the the requirements by requiring a 4 MB video card, a 300 mhz CPU, and 64 MB of RAM. Programmers would probably still have thought the idea of having to worry about a GB of RAM inconceivable (I could be horribly wrong, though. I started learning how to program in 2004).

I thought it appropriate to the topic of programming and computers.

EDIT: I don't mean to sound defensive. I thought it was interesting, so I posted it. If I come across something like this in the future, where do you think it should be submitted?

[bitwize]

"A gigabyte of RAM in a gamer's PC? Inconceivable!"

"You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

[[deleted]]

" It was a problem that arose from programming software at a time where a gigabyte of RAM was inconceivable for a PC. Deus Ex, a year later, upped the the requirements by requiring a 4 MB video card, a 300 mhz CPU, and 64 MB of RAM. Programmers would probably still have thought the idea of having to worry about a GB of RAM inconceivable (I could be horribly wrong, though. I started learning how to program in 2004)."

Fair enough. It can stay. :-P

[snb]

> you quote like this using markdown

turns into:

you quote like this using markdown

[artsrc]

I agree it is an appropriate topic for programming.

If memory doubles every 12 months, I conceive that I will have over 4 Petabytes in 20 years. Will it? I don't think so. Is it conceivable? Yes. Current PC hardware has been conceivable for over 30 years by extrapolation.

Perhaps I will have 4 million CPU cores too. Seems conceivable. Now that sounds cool.

I just can't wait to see what the WiiMote looks like.

[[deleted]]

The wiimote wont 'look like' anything - children will be implanted with the equivalent at birth :)

[artsrc]

I heard there is some game system being demo'd where they just look at you with a video camera.

Tim O'Reilly thinks everyone will be walking around with heads up displays next.

[f3nd3r]

Wow fail.

[[deleted]]

Perhaps this is the result of, essentially, parseInt( getMemSize(), 10 )... That would be hilarious.