I read about this days ago after first installing one of the latest updates and tried Googling for the answer, but didn't quite understand what I found and couldn't find any answers related to this game.
General / Off-Topic What is SOFTLOCKING?
- Thread starter Commander Mick
- Start date
At a guess I'd think it's a type of software deadlock. This is a guess mind you. I don't actually know.
In a multitasking/multiprocessor/multithreaded environment there are all sorts of ways in which several processes or tasks or threads or whatever are all waiting around for the other to go first with the result that none of them move.
Practical upshot. It's a bug in which the program appears to hang.
They can be brutes to track down, but they need to be squelched and trampled on and killed with fire.
In a multitasking/multiprocessor/multithreaded environment there are all sorts of ways in which several processes or tasks or threads or whatever are all waiting around for the other to go first with the result that none of them move.
Practical upshot. It's a bug in which the program appears to hang.
They can be brutes to track down, but they need to be squelched and trampled on and killed with fire.
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I assumed a softlock was when a particular application stopped working, but you could still access the task manager to end the unresponsive task.
A hardlock is when your entire PC hangs - forcing a restart.
May be wrong though
A hardlock is when your entire PC hangs - forcing a restart.
May be wrong though
Others have answered your question regarding softlocking general definition. Now, for an example in Elite: for instance, when you come in/out of supercruise or hyperjump and your ship seems to be stuck in an in-between state where you wait for it to give you back control, and nothing happens, you got "soft-locked". Most of the time, waiting a bit will solve the problem. It's not a complete freeze.
Basically the game is still working, nothing has "crashed" per se, but it's waiting endlessly for a condition to be fulfilled. In multithreading we're usually using the terms deadlock and starvation to describe such situations. So basically the threads for rendering, input handling etc. are running fine, but the game might be (for example) waiting endlessly for session negotiation to finish.
If the screen is actually stuck if it will never un-stick. If it's bouncing around, waiting is sufficient, and you aren't actually soft-locked.
I think it's some kind of logic issue in the game programming. It could be getting an event out of order and the game not being able to progress normally.
Like finding a way to get to a station and assassinate a target before getting the order to do so. Now when you actually go to the person that is supposed to give you the order you won't be able to progress since the character you are supposed to take out is already red mist....
Like finding a way to get to a station and assassinate a target before getting the order to do so. Now when you actually go to the person that is supposed to give you the order you won't be able to progress since the character you are supposed to take out is already red mist....
What? No.
So wait, you're telling me you put someone in a headlock using your face? This I have to see.
A hard lock is like two cars at opposite sides of a crossroad junction that both want to turn right, but can't because they would have to cross one another's path. Each car is waiting for the other to move first, so both are stuck not moving forever.
A soft lock is more like two people walking toward one another in a corridor. One person moves to his/her right to get out of the way of the other. The other person has the same idea, but moves to his/her left. They are still in each other's way. There's a chance that they can avoid each other, but it just happens that they don't for a while.
A soft lock is more like two people walking toward one another in a corridor. One person moves to his/her right to get out of the way of the other. The other person has the same idea, but moves to his/her left. They are still in each other's way. There's a chance that they can avoid each other, but it just happens that they don't for a while.
For me a Softlock is a lockup/crash that doesnt crash your system and require a reboot. you can close the program, alt-tab out of it, etc.
A hard lock is one where you gotta hold the power button for 5 seconds, because even ctrl-alt-del doesn't work.
So one is a Soft[ware] Lock up
The other is a Hard[ware] Lock up
A hard lock is one where you gotta hold the power button for 5 seconds, because even ctrl-alt-del doesn't work.
So one is a Soft[ware] Lock up
The other is a Hard[ware] Lock up
A user space lock up, or dead lock.
