I made the first two games of a platformer series called Crystal Quest in 2021 (on a different account) and I recently decided to revisit them. However, game 2 suffers from multiple bizarre glitches that I haven't seen in any other project.

Project link: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1131402729/

Glitch #1: certain sprites are being replaced by gray boxes with a black question mark.

• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/4aScreenshot2025020914.png - ? error in-game
  
• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/Screenshot2025020914.png - ? error in editor
  

(sorry for links, I can't upload images as a new scratcher)
The weird thing is that it's not a corruption of a specific sprite. Upon reloading the page, different sprites are ?-ed than the previous time. Sometimes only one or two sprites have been replaced, other times nearly all of them. Also, for animated sprites, the ? sometimes replaces all of the frames and sometimes only some of them. After duplicating a ?-ed sprite, saving, and then reloading the page, the new sprite may be un-?-ed even though it was created ?-ed. It is also possible for the new sprite to be ?-ed while the original is not, or vice versa.

• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/Screenshot2025020921.png - a very extreme instance
  

Glitch #2: the game abruptly crashes after playing for some time.
The crash seems to be associated with Level 3 for some reason. Completing level 3 tends to cause the crash shortly thereafter, while avoiding level 3 sometimes allows all 6 other levels to be cleared without crashing. However, the crash doesn't happen at any particular time; it can happen when clicking a level button, when playing a level, when completing a level, or when on the level select. It does not appear to happen any specific number of seconds after the game started, either.

• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/91Screenshot2025020914.png - crashed on project page
  
• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/499Screenshot2025020914.png - crashed in fullscreen
  
• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/bbScreenshot2025020914.png - crashed in editor
  

After the crash, the sound continues playing, the code continues running, and the sprite icons in the editor continue updating. Only the game window stops working. The crash is sometimes preceded by a freeze, but not always. When the crash happens, it uses up tons of memory (~2GB) and also stops any ongoing screen recording with the error “failed to capture screen.”

I am completely certain that neither of these glitches occurred in 2021 when I made this project. However, weirdly enough, the crash does occur in an html version (from a third party packager) that I packaged in 2021, even though I'm sure it didn't happen when I played using that version in 2021. The ? glitch does not occur in the html version, however.

Glitch #3: When the crash above happens outside of full screen, some other weird stuff happens.
When reloading after a crash on the project page, the project window is shifted up and cut off while loading (except the loading text, which stays where it is normally), then it stops and displays the “Oops. Something went wrong” error. Reloading again does not fix this, nor does closing and reopening or going to “My stuff” and reopening.

• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/25dScreenshot2025020924.png - cut off window
  
• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/Screenshot2025020924.png - something went wrong error
  

After a crash, opening a different project also results in it failing, though differently than the original did. The new project loads fine, but the project window is empty like the original project was after the crash. This happens regardless of whether the new project was opened in a new tab or the same tab.

• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/448Screenshot2025020924.png - blank project window on another project
  

Attempting to open the editor of that project, or reloading the original page after a crash in the editor, results first in an error that my browser does not support WebGL, then, a few seconds later, the “Oops. Something went wrong” page.

• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/31bScreenshot2025020932.png - WebGL error
  
• https://u.cubeupload.com/wh_images/Screenshot2025020932.png - editor version of oops page
  

All of the problems mentioned under this glitch persist after reloading, closing and reopening, and opening a new tab. The only two ways I have found to undo these two problems are 1) restarting my computer, or 2) opening a different project in a new tab, then closing all scratch projects that I have open, then reopening in a new tab. The new project has to be opened in a new tab; I have tested opening it in the same tab and it stays glitched. Also, the problems mentioned under this glitch do not always happen if the crash happens while in full screen. (They always happen if it crashes on the project page or in the editor.)

Also, I am aware that the project has a cloud variable even though I am a New Scratcher. That is not the cause of the problem; all of these glitches also happen on the original project from my other account that does have Scratcher status.

Any help would be great, really feeling like my computer is just haunted rn

My browser / operating system: ChromeOS 14541.0.0, Chrome 131.0.0.0, No Flash version detected

please put these glitches into separate topics so conversation stays on-topic more easily

Issue #1 is actually even more common than you think.
It's even listed on the Scratch Wiki. They can be fixed by changing from bitmap to vector (or vice versa). You can also try to upload an image with somewhat low RES.

Issue #2 might be caused by a lot of different things. To test it, try downloading the project and tell me how much the size is. Also, it should be caused by your device (there is only a small chance that this is true, though).

Issue #3 is the only one that I have absolutely no clue. I know 5 different coding tools inside and out (Python, Scratch, Unreal Engine, Unity and even .net) and out of them all, Scratch has the most quirks. Playing abnormally long sounds that go beyond the size checks and putting lots of blocks in one script both crash Scratch. That with the level 3 crash might be a lot for the servers to take in, so did you do either of those for these glitches to happen?

However, the OpenGL error might be a hint for the incompatible device thesis to actually be true. Try switching browsers/updating your device.
I hope this long text helps.

sh4dow_05 wrote:

Issue #1 is actually even more common than you think.
It's even listed on the Scratch Wiki. They can be fixed by changing from bitmap to vector (or vice versa). You can also try to upload an image with somewhat low RES.

Unfortunately, this solution doesn't seem to work. I made a copy of the project (no costumes were corrupted immediately after copying) and converted each of the player sprite's costumes to vector, then saved. After reloading, some of the player sprite's costumes were still question marks.

Issue #2 might be caused by a lot of different things. To test it, try downloading the project and tell me how much the size is. Also, it should be caused by your device (there is only a small chance that this is true, though).

The file size is 24.9 MiB.

Issue #3 is the only one that I have absolutely no clue. I know 5 different coding tools inside and out (Python, Scratch, Unreal Engine, Unity and even .net) and out of them all, Scratch has the most quirks. Playing abnormally long sounds that go beyond the size checks and putting lots of blocks in one script both crash Scratch. That with the level 3 crash might be a lot for the servers to take in, so did you do either of those for these glitches to happen?

However, the OpenGL error might be a hint for the incompatible device thesis to actually be true. Try switching browsers/updating your device.
I hope this long text helps.

My longest sound file is about 3 minutes, and none of my scripts are longer than about 150 blocks; I don't think either of those are long enough to cause problems. It would be odd for it to be a problem with my device, since all other projects work fine normally, but it's possible. I can't switch browsers, since this is a managed Chromebook and only Chrome is allowed. My device is nearly up to date, I'll finish updating and then edit this post if it changes anything.

Edit: updating the device did not solve any of the problems.

I think (not sure) that 3 minutes is long enough to crash the project. How many bytes does it have?

Also, are 150 blocks in one script? If so, separate them using broadcasted messages.

Closing this topic since I have separated it into two topics:
1. https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/805718/ - Glitch #1
2. https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/805723/ - Glitches #2 and #3