Notable Bugs

This page lists some notable bugs or glitches which either still exist in the game, or have since been patched but remain in our collective memory.

=Extant Bugs=

Bouncing Forever
Bouncing forever or "Rubberbanding" is when your character goes to pick up an item, but, due to a lag spike or for other reasons, gets stuck in a loop of moving forward and back so appears to "rubberband" or "dance". "Dancing to death" is a risk if your food meter runs out in the mean time. One source of this phenomenon occurring in busy towns was due to a bug in message frame processing.

Still Tripping
Dying while still under the effects of a Psilocybe Mushroom causes the player to continue "tripping" in following lives. The effect does not wear off until the game program is quit.

Adult nursing
If you do not drop a child once they reach toddler age (after which they cannot be picked up), It is possible to sustain another character until they reach adulthood by breastfeeding. So long as the breastfeeder remains fed, and they never drop the held player, this can last until the feeder's infertility, after which the held player starts losing food bars. The held player can still give birth.

=Historical Bugs=

Fruit Boot
The origin of the Fruit Boot is in a bug which allowed players to wear cactus fruit as shoes. If a player's hunger bar was full, 'eating' the fruit would apply the fruit as a shoe. The fruit could later be removed in order to eat. The Fruit Boot is a reference to this glitch.

Teleporter
A teleporter allowed a player to fling objects far away by: standing in the center of a diamond shaped structure made with impassable objects, and dropping the item on one of the corners of the diamond. It was used to speed carrot farming.

A teleporter was the consequence of a feature which allowed a player to drop an item if surrounded on all sides so that they might open a door. The code used directional instructions from early game development, when the game only allowed vertical and horizontal (and not diagonal) movement. This meant that a player was counted as "surrounded" in the teleporter, but could still exit diagonally.

This form of Teleporter was patched in version 152, although it is still possible to construct basic teleporters, by placing an object on a Marked Grave and removing the Flat Rock, or by attempting to stack filled baskets.

Dropping Wounds
Another use of a teleporter was to drop bloody knives, freeing the murderer from the speed penalty. It was also possible to drop wounds. A player used the teleporter and, as if they were "holding" the wound, would fling it off their body. It was possible to treat a dropped wound. Although the dropped wound was still fatal regardless.

Butter Knife
With the Bison and Butter update, a glitch appeared which counted Butter Knife as a weapon, but did not incur the speed penalty. Allowing users to go on murder sprees.

Arrow Note
With the written word update, a glitch caused Arrow with Note, under certain circumstances, to be deadly without a speed penalty. Getting stabbed by an arrow note would cause a player to see the red dying interface, with no wound visible, then the death message "Killed by: Unknown Weapon".

Curse Note
Also in the written word update, it was possible to make a "curse note". A curse note would force anyone who read it to use their curse token.

Nameable Items
Also in the written word update, it became possible to "name" objects that had transitional states, such as Bowl of Gooseberries and various tools. This was done by using the object like a Blank Paper with Charcoal. The result, when picked up, would read the usually accidental message. Resulting in confusion and hilarity.

Dogocalypse
When dogs were first added to the game in update 139, they were impossible to kill (except for pit bulls), and did not grow old and die. Additionally, puppies did not require feeding to grow up, so it was possible to obtain three dogs for the price of one raw mutton. Towns were rapidly overrun by a "Dog Apocalypse". As animals block ground space the same way as items, many deaths were caused by players not being able to put down held items and starving as a consequence.

Trash Pit Pens
Not really a bug, pit pens were widespread in game until update 146. Before then, Small Trash Pit did not decay, and since an open pit is impassible, it made them a low cost option for building sheep pens. This resulted in constant confusion for new players, since dead lambs can be thrown in trash pits but filling a trash pit resulted in escaped sheep. Following v.146, oven base and Stone Block pens became more popular. Pens made of fences were uncommon since it was easy to take the Long Straight Shaft from east-west fence posts. As of v.152, Fence Gate was added, and the ability to simply take the long straight shaft was removed.

Stealing From Old People
It was possible to swap clothes with players in the final life stages and in doing so, steal any items contained in their backpack or apron. As players gradually became aware of this feature, it was recommended to pass on any treasured items before this stage. Although originally an intended feature, it was removed due to negative response. It is still possible to swap clothing with babies and children, so gearing babies is not recommended.

Moving Ice Holes
This bug involved Ice Holes moving as if they were penguins. It also showed up as an abundance of ice holes which multiplied, obstructing roads and generally being a nuisance. It was triggered when a penguin tried to cross a biome boundary to get to an ice hole. It was patched in v.162.

Desert Eden
Until the Temperature Overhaul update, the boundaries between biomes were a midpoint between each biome's temperature. In v.71, after desert was added, players realized that there were ideal temperature tiles at the edges of deserts which were perfect for raising babies. With their near perfect temperature, desert camps emerged as the optimal strategy, and the demand for clothes virtually disappeared. Additionally, after the jungle biome was added in v.170, the death sentence which was getting Yellow Fever while fully clothed, actively discouraged the use of clothes.

Great and wondrous towns were born on these "Desert Eden"s. But players grew complacent, and the big towns stagnated. Civilizations developed higher technology, such as radios and airplanes. Yet, men, women and children alike ran around stark naked.

Some players complained to the developer about their "nakedness". And in v.200, Jason sent players forth out into the cold; The new rework of the temperature system made the desert and jungle much hotter, and a Temperature Shock component was added. This meant that settling in hot biomes was no longer a viable option, and clothes were now useful and necessary. Some praised Jason, while others cursed him, as they had grown used to their easy lives. But players adapted soon after, and new towns emerged featuring clothes and buildings. Rabbit hunting regained popularity. And various minor tweaks to the new temperature system were discussed and implemented. Thus is the tale of the "Desert Eden".

Ghost Players
"If you've ever seen a "ghost" player standing there, aging, who no one else can see, the source of that problem has finally been found and fixed (it was caused by someone passing through your area, going at least 64 tiles in one go without ever stopping their walk). — Jason Rohrer, OHOL Developer"

(Fixed in v.240.)

=References= 