Hello

I'm playing currently on the cave shelter mode and after the boss showed up after 100 waves I trapped it in between some indistruttibile buildings (from another mod).
Fast forward 5 minutes the boss wasn't killed but it despawned and now my game stage is stuck at "Unknown" and not going anywhere

Screenshot:
https://imgur.com/a/FClgbNh

The box says:
Shelter Wave Defense — Boss Wave 100

Boss Wave Timer: Classified
Est. Largest Directional Group: 34 | Player Scaling: Off | Attack Fronts: 6
Next Wave Estimate: 200 Normal Elites | 140 Biters | 60 Spitters
Active on Map: 0/210 | 0 Biters | 0 Spitters
Waiting to Spawn: 0 | 0 Biters | 0 Spitters
Enemy Tunnels: None
Boss Status: Unknown

I still have an auto save from when the boss was alive so it's not a big deal but still if I didn't notice I could have stuck my game to that stage forever.

let me check

Hello, and thank you for reporting this issue and providing the screenshot.

Could you please send me the save file in which the game is currently stuck on Boss Wave 100? If you still have an autosave from when the boss was alive—preferably shortly before it disappeared—please send that as well.

Having both saves will help me reproduce the exact situation and determine why the boss disappeared without completing the wave. You can upload the save file(s) to Google Drive, Dropbox, or another file-hosting service and post the link here.

Please also avoid overwriting that autosave if possible. Thank you!

Here is a google drive folder:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vMPlT9ZJCwkaMj972bIByC6B8iISQWWP

File #1:
60_CaveFactory-bug-boss-alive.zip
(Boss still alive & stuck / captured)
File #2:
60_CaveFactory-bug.zip
(After boss despawned)

let me check

Thank you for sending your save file. It helped me identify exactly what happened.

Your save uses the IndestructibleWall-2 mod. The walls created by that mod have 100,000 health, while the normal concrete walls in your screenshot have only 500 health. The Wave Boss previously had a direct order to reach the Main Locomotive or Shelter, but it was not explicitly programmed to attack structures blocking its route. Because of this, the Boss could become permanently trapped inside a player-built enclosure.

If the Boss was then removed without a normal death being registered, the Wave system could remain stuck at Boss Status: Unknown.

I have now prepared the following fix in test version The Cave 3.1.29:

• Every Boss attack now deals 200 physical damage per hit. Its attack speed, movement speed, health scaling and resistances remain unchanged.
• The Boss now detects and attacks player-owned structures that physically block its current route.
• It will not randomly attack unrelated buildings, belts, rails, nearby structures or natural Cave rocks. It targets only an actual collision obstacle in its path.
• When the Boss first encounters a continuous barrier, a two-minute obstruction timer begins.
• Destroying one wall and reaching another wall does not restart this timer. Multiple wall layers are treated as one continuous barrier.
• The timer is cleared only after the Boss has passed the complete barrier and moved at least eight tiles beyond the last detected obstacle.
• If the Boss is still unable to escape after two minutes, it is removed without being counted as killed. This produces no Boss death, corpse, loot, coins or kill credit.
• The same logical Boss is then immediately queued through a different directional tunnel. It will emerge when that tunnel is ready.
• The replacement keeps the Boss’s remaining health, level, Wave number and Boss sequence. It is not treated as a new or additional Boss.
• After appearing again, it receives a fresh two-minute obstruction timer. Therefore, if someone repeatedly traps it, it will continue relocating through different tunnels every time it remains trapped for two minutes.
• If another mod unexpectedly deletes the Boss without generating a proper death event, the Wave system will also recreate it instead of becoming permanently stuck at “Unknown.”
• The established 15-minute break begins only after the Boss is genuinely killed. There is no overall deadline that automatically completes the Boss encounter.

The same protection has been implemented for both Train Interiors Wave Defense and Shelter Defense.

Please test version 3.1.29 with the same save if possible. If the Boss still becomes permanently stuck, please send me the updated save and I will investigate it further.

I did test 3 save files:

1)Save file with boss already gone:
The game stage tooltip / message is gone and waiting 5+ minutes for anything to happen(any new wave),but nothing.

2)Save file when boss was still alive:
Boss disappeared,game stage tooltip / message gone as well,same as above,nothing happens.

3)Save file after killing the boss normally:
Same as above,game stage progression disappeared,no new waves spawn.
This one I left running for 20+ minutes,no changes,game stage not progressing anymore.

Basically same stuff in all save files.

I tested the exact save file you provided using The Cave version 3.1.29. In my test, when the boss became stuck, the system waited approximately two minutes, removed it, and then resumed the attack from another tunnel correctly.

Could you please open the Mods menu in Factorio and confirm that the active version of The Cave is definitely 3.1.29? You may have an older version selected or installed.

After confirming the version, please restart Factorio completely and test the save again. If the problem still occurs, please send me a screenshot showing The Cave version 3.1.29 in your Mods menu.

I recorded a short video with OBS and put it in the same drive folder as before:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vMPlT9ZJCwkaMj972bIByC6B8iISQWWP

You can see at the start I open the mod menu and the mod version is 3.1.29

I open all 3 save files, even the one with the boss still alive and appearing in the thumbnail has the boss gone, and in all 3 files the game stage tooltip (the one about enemy waves at the top) has disappeared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kft0_YpherA

Well that's weird, oh well I have no idea why but doesn't really matter, if it works on a new game file I guess it's fine

Just to clarify, I did not test this on a new game. I used the exact save file you sent me and left the Boss trapped inside the same Indestructible Walls.
After two minutes, the trapped Boss was removed without being counted as killed and then correctly reappeared through a different tunnel, exactly as intended.
The YouTube video shows the complete test using your own save file. Thank you again for reporting the original problem.