Autosaves can interrupt some targeting operations

[duskwuff]

If an autosave occurs while the user is in the middle of using a tool that involves selecting or targeting a location, that tool can behave in unexpected ways.

Specific examples I'm aware of include:

• If an autosave occurs while the user is dragging a tool which selects an area (like creating a blueprint or using an upgrade/deconstruction planner), the tool forgets the area that was being selected and selects a tiny area under the mouse. For most such tools, especially in in the base game, this will have no effect.
• If an autosave occurs very shortly after the user has clicked a location with an artillery targeting remote, and the user moves their mouse while the save is in progress, the artillery will target the location of the mouse after the autosave finishes, rather than the location that was actually clicked.
• If an autosave occurs while the user is selecting a location for a map tag, the map tag will be placed immediately at the current mouse location, without the user having clicked to confirm the location.

[Rseding91]

Do you have some steps to reproduce #1? Because when I test it, it works perfectly: the area selected before auto-save runs is still selected after auto-save runs.

[duskwuff]

Interesting -- now that you mention it, I can't seem to reproduce that in a test map. I've definitely had something weird happen to click-and-drag operations during autosaves, though, and I'll try to get more details the next time it happens.

The other two should be reproducible, though.

UPDATE: I just got the weird drag-select behavior when I started dragging at almost the same time that the save started. It feels kind of similar to the artillery behavior.

[JasonC]

I can actually confirm this is an issue although I do not have any specific steps off the top of my head. It bugs me all the time, though.

I will work on trying to find some steps. Disruptions only seem to happen if you're unlucky. When I run into them, I will definitely post them here.

It affects any tool that involves a drag or that otherwise starts on mouse down and ends on mouse up.

All of the issues seem to be rooted in the game thinking a mouse button was unexpectedly released / pressed when the auto save notification pops up, or something along those lines. IIRC they're most likely to manifest if you press / release a mouse button during the progress dialog (which happens both if 1. you're unlucky and autosave gets you right when you're starting / finishing an action or 2. the auto saves take a while and you let go of the mouse intentionally).

The chances of running into it go up, of course, the longer auto save takes. So it might be easier to repro on large maps.

[DefectiveNu]

Came across this while looking if a bug was already posted for a different issue, but I can speak to #1. Unlike the report here, selection box tools seem to work fine if you keep holding the mouse button until the autosave finishes, but if you release while its saving, the tool behaves as if you cancelled its use