Bug Reporting - Guidelines on how to write a Bug Report.

[MrNibbles]

In order to help us in QA, and the Dev Team when writing a bug report, I'm providing you all with guidelines on how to write a "proper" bug report (might be useful to both veterans & newcomers on the forums).
This is to make a bug report more structured, and easy to read which in the end will help us to quicker reproduce the bug, and therefore hand in the correct information faster to the
Dev Team so that they can fix it. I'll start with writing what a bug report should contain, and follow it up with an example to make things more clear.

What a bug report should contain:

1. Thread Title: Should always include the [version number] & [checksum] of the game and contain a brief description of the issue. If not, see this http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...r-version-number-in-the-topic-will-be-deleted!
2. Description: Describe the bug/issue in more detail - What occured and what you did in order to make the issue appear. //If you are using an old save after a new patch is released, please do let us know.
3. DLC Information: If you have any dlc's, unit packs etc, please state them here.
4. Mods: If you are using any mods, please state them here.
5. Reproduction Steps: If you are able to reproduce the bug, please write down steps needed to be done in order to achieve the desired result.
6. Attach if possible any screenshot of the issue, and/or a save of said game. //If you are having issues concerning Successions or CTD's try to always provide a save game

Local save games can be found at:
Windows: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Paradox Interactive\Crusader Kings II\save games

If the save is located on the cloud, the file should be at the following location (where you are Steam installed):
.\Steam\userdata\##<your steam id>##\203770\remote\save games\

####Example Bug Report - Do not take the example as serious for obvious reasons####

[2.2.1] [DPOO] Mouse not responding when diconnecting the USB cable

Description: Whenever I disconnect my mouse from the USB port, I can't seem to move it anymore. The"workaround" to fix this issue is to reconnect the mouse to the USB port.
DLC's: I own all the major DLC's except the Sunset Invasion.
Mods: I do not currently use any mods.

Reproduction Steps:
1. Start the game
2. Load the game with any character & bookmark
3. Unplug the mouse cord from the computers USB port.

Observe: The mouse is now un-responsive and can't be used.

Note that it is understandable that not all the bug reports are able to look like this, as there can arise occasions where it's hard to say what happened in order for the bug to occur. If that is the case simply try to provide with as much information as possible. I hope this will help you out as much as it will help us here in the office if used.

Best Regards,
Mr. Nibbles
Your QA Overlord & Drinker of Tears

 

[Dracko81]

I approve. I have a few ideas that could be added, but for now it that should work fine. Just one suggestion, review this every month or so to ensure you are getting the information you want.

 

[donnyb83]

You might want to include a function that checks what DLC owned by the player each time the game loads up. Then saves this information to a log file, there is a ton of DLC for this game and typing it out by hand in a bug report can result in errors/annoyance.

 

[lesslucid]

How do I find the checksum?

 

[Dracko81]

How do I find the checksum?

When you load the game on the menu screen bottom left it shows the version number and checksum.

 

[richvh]

Note that save games are too large to be uploaded as attachments to the forum, you must upload them to a file sharing site like Dropbox or Mediafire, and link them in your bug report.

 

[Dracko81]

Since it is a commonly asked question this needs to added to this thread.

If you are looking for cloud save games, you can find them with the following:

Savegame should be in ./Steam/userdata/##<your steam id>##/203770/remote/save games/

Throw it in a *.7z or *.rar and you should be able to upload directly to the forum.

 

[ChaoticSequence]

I always play ironman could save games. They do not appear to be in the location described. Where can I find them?

 

[MrNibbles]

I always play ironman could save games. They do not appear to be in the location described. Where can I find them?

Hey,

You should be able to find your cloud saves when looking in your Steam folder. Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata
One of the following folders will contain the cloud save that you might be looking for.

 

[Timjames]

I made a report three days ago and recieved no response. The bug I reported was ruining the game for me, and yet it feels as though you are ignoring me. I want an answer ...

 

[Timjames]

Hey,

You should be able to find your cloud saves when looking in your Steam folder. Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata
One of the following folders will contain the cloud save that you might be looking for.

Is anybody ever going to respond to my inquiry?

 

[MrNibbles]

I made a report three days ago and recieved no response. The bug I reported was ruining the game for me, and yet it feels as though you are ignoring me. I want an answer ...

Hey there,

Sorry, but it's the weekend and we are not at the office at the moment. Not sure I can help you but I'll try to direct your post to QA on monday when I get back to the office. Also, since I haven't read your issue, QA might have already taken a look at it, but simply not replied, as it's hard to reply to every single thread in the bug forums (even if they are being read) =)

 

[Timjames]

Hey there,

Sorry, but it's the weekend and we are not at the office at the moment. Not sure I can help you but I'll try to direct your post to QA on monday when I get back to the office. Also, since I haven't read your issue, QA might have already taken a look at it, but simply not replied, as it's hard to reply to every single thread in the bug forums (even if they are being read) =)

That's understandable. I was just afraid that you decided to ignore my inquiries.

 

[AndrewT]

I always play ironman could save games. They do not appear to be in the location described. Where can I find them?

Ironman or non-Ironman games save in the same places; the location depends on whether you are saving them to cloud or local, not IM/non-IM.

There's a sticky thread in the Tech Support forum with the words "file locations" in the title, that gives you the exact location of the files in your file system.

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

What a bug report should contain:

1. Thread Title: Should always include the [version number] & [checksum] of the game

1) Is this still true or not now that we got the new form to fill ?

2) Are we supposed to add the checksum to the Game Version line of the form instead ?
If so, then that maybe should be mentioned in the form.

 

[TurtleShroom]

If no man replies to a bug report, am I allowed to make a Forum Post Bump to draw it to the developers' attention?

 

[AndrewT]

If no man replies to a bug report, am I allowed to make a Forum Post Bump to draw it to the developers' attention?

What if a woman replies?

Only 'bump' if you have something new to add please.

 

[TurtleShroom]

What if a woman replies?

If I rolled my eyes every time someone made that dang joke, my eye muscles would have detached.

It's called the "UNIVERSAL HE", where "man/men" means "person/people/humans". "All men are created equal" meant "all humans are created equal", and it still does.

Only 'bump' if you have something new to add please.

This is something new. I was asking a question on a Stuck thread! Threads with the Sticky flag are immortal. Right?

 

[AndrewT]

This is something new. I was asking a question on a Stuck thread! Threads with the Sticky flag are immortal. Right?

Okay, so I wouldn't call that a thread bump then. Adding new content is fine.

 

[Quendorsof]

If the exact same bug reported for a previous version still exists in the current version. Should I
Make a new thread about it?
Bump the original report with a mention that the bug still exists?
or do neither, you're aware of it and just haven't gotten around yet to fixing it?