Working on my game project last Tuesday night, coding hero ability triggers when things suddenly froze. Player controls stopped responding completely. Checked debug logs – nothing crashing, just total unresponsiveness. Felt like the game swallowed its own tail.
My First Clue That Something Was Wrong
Started adding extra log lines everywhere. Tracked down two hero objects: Fire Mage trying to grab animation_resource while Ice Warrior held sound_resource hostage. Meanwhile Ice Warrior was begging for the animation_resource Fire Mage had! Like two kids yelling “Gimme your toy first!” while both refusing to share theirs.
Fire Mage: Locked animation_resource → Demanding sound_resource
Tore apart the resource allocation system. Found this nasty pattern everywhere:
function activateAbility(hero) {
lock(*_A); // Grab resource A
if(needsResourceB()) {
lock(*_B); // Now demand resource B
// Do stuff
// Forgot to release anything here... oops
Classic rookie mistake – locks piling up like dirty laundry with no cleanup routine. Any interruption before finishing would leave resources permanently locked.
Why This Deadlock Happened?
Heroes grabbing resources in random orders
Timeout checks? What timeout checks? They’d wait forever
Zero cleanup when operations crashed halfway
It was digital hoarding – resources kept accumulating until nothing could move.
How I Fixed It Without Losing My Mind
First made a strict rule: always lock resources in alphabetical order. Sounds dumb but forces consistent grabbing sequence. Then added this everywhere:
function useResources() {
try {
lock(resource_alpha);
lock(resource_beta);
// Do critical work
} finally { // New cleanup crew
unlock(resource_beta);
unlock(resource_alpha);
Also gave every lock a 500ms timeout – no more infinite waiting. If resource busy, heroes just complain “Can’t do that now!” instead of freezing everything.
Lessons Learned: Avoiding Deadlocks Easily
Now my checklist before adding any new hero abilities:
🔒 Lock in fixed order always
⏱️ Set timeouts for every lock attempt
🧹 FINALLY blocks cleaning up like clockwork
🚫 One resource per hero unless absolutely necessary
Been bug-free for 3 weeks now. Not rocket science – just stop pretending memory management is optional!
