Replay saved a game I had 49 years ago

Actually I use 32 bit on my windows.

Edit: It is 32 my bad

Who knows then, maybe it’s similar to a “null =/= zero” error. Tom Scott (again):

So if the game tried to get the date from your computer and got a response of null mistook that answer as “zero”.

Interesting bit of information, thank you for that.

I understand how the programming works, but for this to be an overflow it would require that the value is for some reason already high. Unix time with a 32-bit value isn’t even close to rolling over today (max value is the year 2106), so I don’t know what value they’d be adding to this to make it roll over (let alone why they’d even be adding a number to it)

It seems far more likely that an error condition simply returned the value 0 as opposed to some weird calculation reuslting in an overflow on a number that’s not even close to it’s max.

Also happened to me on steam it said o acquired a DLC in 1969 lol

We usually store time as a timestamp, (seconds going from 0(1/1/1970) and, also absence of value is 0). So, something failed while recording gameplay, code couldn’t retrieve proper time, they calculated a date from 0 and it’s obviously 1/1/1970. That’s why when we retrieve timestamps like this, we check if it’s empty and not calculate it but replace it with “unknown” or something, or not display it at all… Small oversight, nothing huge …

Are you forgetting 2s complement? 32-bit expires in 2038…

But aside from that, your assessment seems fair, i was too hasty because ive personally seen it happen before from overflow

And its still not impossible that thats what it was. Just as you said, not as likely

A 32-bit unsigned value (0xFFFFFFFF) would roll over on February 2106. I also don’t believe signed vs unsigned representation with two’s compliment would change the actual arithmetic being performed. The addition of two signed values and two unsigned values using the same underlying bit pattern would result in the same bit pattern for the result.

Year 2038 problem - Wikipedia
en wikipedia org/wiki/Year_2038_problem

The difference is, 2s complement removes a magnitude digit to allow for negative digits by replacing a magnitude bit with a sign bit

So… thats just incorrect :confused:

I did not realize 32-bit unix timestamps were treated as signed values. So yes under that condition if you treat the value as signed, then you of course get a negative number upon overflow. However the bit representation of that rollover from 0x7FFFFFFF to 0x80000000 is still numerically sequential from the perspective of an unsigned value. So this would depend on how the system interprets the timestamp (signed vs unsigned). As an unsigned number, this works correctly.

Thats why i was originally saying it could have been stuck in an inc loop and traversed all the way from -MAX to -1 to 0 by overflow

And its also why the problem is in 2038 not 2106

Not impossible, but a loop containing over 2 billion iterations in order to rollover is still pretty slow and may even take long enough to appear as a softlock of the app.

We’re getting a bit theoretical and off topic at this point though, so I think we can leave it at me not realizing unix timestamps were signed :slight_smile:

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Sure, sounds good to me.

Thanks for posting this lol. Good wholesome quality thread. :smile:

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I remember playing Overwatch on my Sega Genesis.

I used to main Mondatta until he got shot by Widowmaker…He was removed from the game entirely because he was so broken.

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The 70’s! Tracer used to be so good back then, She had such a strong ability called Stealth! Where she was able to zip through the map like a Ninja!

tbf the Afro he wore was a clear giveaway, making him an easy target :smile:

I miss 70’s Overwatch…Setting it up on the TV, using the TV remote…Of course, this was before the internet. Oh how the game has evolved!!!
I remember how there was only one character and it was either play with your untalented family that made you look better than you really were or play against the impossible-to-beat AI that made you question your life choices…

I remember playing Overwatch
during comunism,those were the times.Kids these days don’t know what REAL games are,and what REAL fun is.

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The days when Tipping Hats was a gesture of respect rather than memery. I still wear hats but it’s a dying etiquette which might cease to exist by the end of this “pre-young-punk yolo” generation.

Tips his hat knowing he’s one of the last few Cowboys of his era. :cowboy_hat_face:

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