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LittleLuckyLink
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.Fla Corruption!

Posted by LittleLuckyLink - July 1st, 2020


Screenshot before the wall of text:


iu_138214_1933442.jpg

(the intestines are animated frame-by-frame!)


Well, can't say I didn't see this one coming. My .fla for DotM: Overtime has reached an almost unworkable level of corruption. I had plans to finish the rest of the animation in a new .fla and merely combine each scene together into a video file anyway, but I was hoping to be done with the current scene I'm working on. Oh well! The corruption started out as an error box that would pop up each time I attempted to save my progress. The error box suggested I try saving as a different file name and/or to a different location, and that it was otherwise unable to save. Despite this, it would save every single time and be completely workable with no issues for the past few scenes I've worked on.

The newer issue that popped up a week ago is that Flash CS6 will crash if I attempt to cut/copy something from the stage. The item will still be copied to my clipboard, but I'll have to go through the hell of reopening that big ass 300+ mb file which can take several minutes sometimes constantly.


Earlier today, when attempting to test a scene, it seems like everything hit the fan all at once, as the .swf could not be published due to low memory (or so it says) and now the entire .fla is a fragile mine at edge of exploding and crashing any second. Thankfully, I've been backing the file up to all hell. My next solution is to isolate this specific scene into a new .fla, and then create ANOTHER new .fla to finish Overtime once and for all. I haven't landed on any solid conclusions, but my assumption is that I have some corrupt library items, probably jpgs/pngs since those are usually the culprit.


Anyway, this pretty much confirms that OT will be released in video format. This is a bridge I'm going to have to cross later on, and I'll likely be reaching out to a few friends to help out with the final export since my computer probably won't be able to handle that much epic all at once.


INFO!

The .fla was originally created in Flash 8 on a Toshiba laptop running on Windows Vista. The .fla was then transferred to my MacBook Pro, running on High Sierra. I opened the .fla in CS6 and have been working on it in CS6 for over a year now. I figured that moving the .fla not only between completely different operating systems, but also different versions of flash, may have fed into this corruption. I've got a decent network of troubleshooting methods to save this current scene that I'm working on, so I'm not trying to stress myself out about it.


(also my sleep cycle is all over the place so I've gotten bad at posting these at a consistent time in the day lololol)


13

Comments

Did you know it's possible to copy and paste objects between different versions of Flash?

I knew that with the newer versions, but wasn't sure if that applied to pre-Adobe versions. A lot of people online are suggesting that the copy+paste issues are pretty common with Mac OS, so I've kinda chalked it up to that. Sucks.

flas are zip archives. If it gets corrupted, it doesn't hurt to try "repair archive" in 7z, although I wouldn't count on it.

Also, you can merge two SWFs together with a little bit of Actionscript glue, if you ever want to release it as a SWF.

I did read a bit about that, unfortunately I didn't seem to have much luck, but again, Mac weird stuff too. I originally wanted to release this as a .swf for the sake of having interactive menus and concept art galleries, but with flash becoming obsolete, meh. Maybe in the future..

What is this "sleep cycle" you speak of :P? On a more serious note, that corruption sounds like a massive pain to deal with, and I expected this to be in MP4 format regardless of whether you have to split .fla files given their increasing prominence over the past decade and I was probably one of the last people I know of on this site to start using them. I might be old-fashioned for liking .swf files but feel they have advantages like being able to click buttons that you don't get with video format.

I've been on that vampire cycle, going to sleep in the morning, waking up in the evening. I've always been a weird night owl, and as much as I enjoy daylight and stuff, there's something about the quiet of night that I thrive in.
Programming the menu and setting up the scene selection/F.A.Q./concept art galleries was actually the first thing I did for Overtime. Interactive menus and bonus features were 100% a thing. Perhaps a .swf release will be possible in the future, as I still really like .swf movies as well.
One other benefit, in this case, of going with MP4 is that those graphic-intense scenes with bunches of those laggy zombies will be universally viewable without having to tweak the quality.

I've had corrupted fla's before, and havent had much luck at recovering them, aside from skipping to earlier versions of that .fla

Goodluck though

Thankfully I can still open this file, but functionality is severely decreased. I lost a good minute or so of an animation many years back due to a power outage as I was saving. Ever since then, multiple frequent backups created and stored not only on digital drives, but physical ones as well.

PHEW... good thing you got back ups man! jeeze heh, it's like my main media teacher said once "Save Early N ' Often" Lol, but that's great to hear! that's also great that you're still using those badass zombie sounds for overtime aswell, Will you actually maybe release any of those zombie sounds or voices when you get the chance too? i'd love to use em for projects too!

Sometimes, I just can't seem to make enough backups! I wish I had backed up the file before putting in several hours of work. In all fairness, it could be worse.
I may definitely consider it, I'm pretty satisfied with my zombie sounds :D
My larynx was crushed in a mosh pit several months back, and it's allowed me to make some gnarly dual-voice growls and screams a lot easier, so the newer zombie sounds I've recorded should be absolutely wicked and chilling..

It hurts to read " .fla CORRUPTION "

fuckin' right?

It´s always something isn´t it.You´d think somebody would have released some programs or maybe tweaks that prevent shit like this but flash work is still a niche it looks like.

I would have expected Adobe to guarantee the simple function of the program before they started adding in all these nifty extra features.
I’m several years late to these complaints as all of this software is nearly obsolete anyway, but still.
I never cared for how Adobe handled Flash, and I’d my computer could run it, I would 100% still be using Flash 8.

(also my sleep cycle is all over the place so I've gotten bad at posting these at a consistent time in the day lololol)

Dude, believe me when I say this, take a nap. Even if it is for just two hours. Take a nap.

Haha yeah, it mostly loses consistency when I have work my day job. I cut down my hours significantly to three days a week, though, so it’s been more merciful.

Working with multiple fla files isn't a bad idea
It's how I always do my projects (unless it's for a collab)
It reduces the chance of corruption errors and makes files less laggy to work with overall

From now on, I’ll be doing that for these bigger projects. I kinda wish I had started working in separate .fla files a few months back before my main .fla got so damaged and almost inoperable. Also yeah, lol, I started getting sick of it taking 3-5 minutes to save every time. This will be a good change.

Do we have a release date?, I waited over 5 years of this movie not even kidding.

Madness Day 2020. Also I believe you, some people have been waiting for up to ten years. I announced it about nine years ago.

@The-Great-One @LittleLuckyLink Day job is hell. I'm on my tenth day in a row. Got four days off and a vacation coming up.

Big OOF. Good that you have some time off coming up. Seems pretty common, unfortunately. "Oh, you want some time off? Work all of that in a row before/after you get back and you got a deal."

can't believe you've done this.

inorite
I may be contacting you soon for assistance with the final export and making sure I have the best settings and stuff if that's cool :D

@Gimmick @LittleLuckyLink It wouldn't be too difficult for what it's worth. A few lines of code would be enough to join two SWFs together. And given that flash is becoming obsolete, putting it off to the future is the exact opposite of what you should be doing lol

If it's not too taxing, sure, but I'm not gonna take away time from production to get it all wrangled together.

@Seancglover @LittleLuckyLink its ok I have some cool news to share you may find enjoyable ;))

@LittlealexplayZ @LittleLuckyLink Thanks man I've been waiting for this lol.

@LittlealexplayZ @LittleLuckyLink I am one of those people!
I've been following you since Dawn of The Madness, back in 2008 and I am always excited to check your page for new updates. The hype is real my dude, and I have nothing but faith in you and your plans for this story.