198 replies to this topic

[av8r]

Update:

I am able to open saved skirmishes and WoTR games. However I played both for only a few minutes each due to time constraints. Here is what I did:

Uninstalled BFMEII and SEE, cleared the drive all any remains of them.

Reinstalled BFMEII and patched to 1.06

Installed SEE

I put the SEE folder in "E:\Games\SEE"
and the game in "E:\Games\The Battle for Middle-earth ™ II"
(My E drive is a separate drive, not a partition on same drive as the OS)

I started SEE and played skirmish for a few minutes, saved and exited the skirmish (but not BFMEII) to main screen. Restarted game with no problems. Saved over existing file and this time closed out of bfme2 to desktop.
Restarted SEE and was able to restart saved skirmish, no problems.

Closed bfme2 to desktop. Restarted SEE and started wotr one to rule all, all. Played a few minutes, saved and exited out to main screen. Restarted WoTR saved game with no problems. Saved over existing game and closed BFMEII. Restarted SEE and played the wotr saved game again with no problems.

So it works right now. the only thing(s) different I see between now and previous:

1. I relocated the SEE directory
2. I havent played any intense battles for any period of time, in case there was thought that an increase in graphic data was the trouble. I dont know, just making mention...
3. Previously when we had the problem we accidentally saved a SEE game over an existing BFMEII game which of course would not open, so we deleted that saved file. However that was an oops we made and dont know if it affected the bfem2 install
4. havent tried any cah's and last time we used some made in bfme2. dont know if that affects it, am just trying to think whats different

sorry for the hasty report and tyos, am running late to doctors!!

will be back later

Edit:

Just to note I havent made any CaH's and have not played BFME2 yet on this new installation. I'll play some more of SEE and keep track of changes during the game and note any crashes or inability to play saved games. If it goes well for a bit, then I will open and try to play BFME2.
Also in the previous install, I used CAH's made in BFME2 for use in SEE. Dont know if that matters, just making a note..

Edited by av8r, 15 November 2007 - 08:03 PM.

[Sûlherokhh]

Sounds good!

[av8r]

Well crud.

I created a hero. Started a new game in the Shire, played for about 1/2 hour, saved it and exited to main see screen.

tried restarting the game and got the error it couldnt load saved game in the user/application data.... file.

Rats!

is there any other info anyone wants on this I can add more details, but I am done experimenting!

[av8r]

Another update:

Created two skirmish games, identical places. Only difference was game one used default CaH, game two used custom CaH.

Played 1st game for a few minutes enough to build several farms. Saved, exited, restarted game with no problem.

Decided to jump to 2nd game and played long enough to buy/build custom hero. Game saved/restarted after that with no problem. Then it broke; about the only thing really different was buying flaming arrows at fortress, along with Moria attacking. Thats when I was unable to restart the game after saving it.

Someone mentioned earlier about possibly flaming arrows being a problem (?) so we were trying to take it one upgrade, or one step at a time.

Right now my son is seeing if we can restart the saved skirmish that has the default cah which last time we tried, started with no problem. If we can, we will only build flaming arrows at some building (shooting towers or fortress) and see what that does.

Is any of this helping here or is it a waste of time?

Thanks

[Sûlherokhh]

Anything that might give us a hint or help us narrow down the source of this error is welcome and definitely NOT a waste of time. You should just know that a solution to a modding challenge usually follows a rough path of failures accompanied by 'and i thought this was it' events before finally arriving at the goal. That's why i am always fighting at several fronts at the same time, so that a success in one area helps me keep up the strength to continue a long stretch on something not as easy.

Gamedata.ini-crashes are a modder's nightmare. We already have a list of those undefined crash-sources on the main page under resources. None of those are tailored to our problem though. If we can find out what is causing this, it would not only be a big help for us but for others as well.

Don't despair.

Edited by Sûlherokhh, 15 November 2007 - 10:43 PM.

[av8r]

Okay well if it helps....

My son just tried a new skirmish again using Berethor.

Started the game, built farms, and a couple statues. Saved and restarted game with no problem.

Then he recruited Berethor. And saved game, exited and was unable to restart; got the same error message:

Error

Error loading game 'C:\Documents and Settings\av8r\Application Data\My Battle for middle-earth[tm]II files\Save\Saved Game 1.BfME2Skirmish

There were no saved wotr games although we played one earlier.

We are going to try again this time with no cah made and using flaming arrows from fortress.

Just a note; there were times when it errored like this in my previous bfme2/See install where when it crashed you could see the palantir even after clicking OK on the error window; and you would see the icon on the palantir map that looked the same as it would if you were in the shire using the camera angle for commander or units. Just thought I would mention that. And that was at Anfalas.

Edit to add:

Started new skirmish, only built farms and bought flaming arrows at fortress. Game is able to be saved and re-opened.

Then purchased Berethor. Saved game during his build and exited out to Main Screen. Restarted with no problems.



Berethor arrived; as soon as his icon appeared, saved game and exited to main screen. Then tried restarting and got the Error listed above in my post!

So at least if it is not the problem it is one thing to help narrow it down, I hope.

Edited by av8r, 15 November 2007 - 11:30 PM.

[Sûlherokhh]

Could be the CaH. I virtually NEVER play with CaH because it has no AI for it's abilities yet. That could be the reason why i don't get the crash on loading a save game.

This goes out to everyone: If you get a crash when reloading a game, try to remember if you used the CaH or not and say so.

It may be useful to check your situation entirely without using a CaH, meaning switch off the option, so that the AI also doesn't build one. Thank you.

[av8r]

Thanks we are now testing it out, going to start another skirmish and it ought to workl it worked in the past to save/reload a game where the create a hero had not arrived yet.

I didnt know there was no AI for them. They have powers and there are new ones like Bilbo and Brand so I figured they were okay to build and use. Are create a heros still in development.

[Sûlherokhh]

They are okay to use, but if the AI builds them they don't use their powers. There is some technical problem involved with the rated power levels. Basically the CaH doesn't increase the strength of one power (like fireball) but instead just gets a new one while the old one gets hidden. Using the usual AI modules might mean that the wizard level 10 fires 4 fireballs in a row. So i left this for later to figure out.

So, it actually makes no sense for the AI to build the CaH. Maybe i just remove it from the AI buildable hero list for now, even though players will be able to build them for the AI it's just a waste of time and resources.

[av8r]

And this goes for ALL create a heroes or just the customs? I take it "all" since my game wouldnt restart after Berethor arrived.
I am green in all this, thanks for not flaming me into ashes. It's probably been repeated several times on here already.

Like I mentioned in PM to you, I couldnt tell whats usable and whats not or I would have left them out to begin with. But fortresses we can build, yes, with no problem?

Lastly, should I go ahead and delete the gamedata.ini file and if so would that allow me to use CaH's successfully?

And off topic, that Camera Angle in the Shire is the BOMB. Unreal.

HALF a SEE mod is 10x better than an entire BFME2 ! Ya'll are doing great.

[av8r]

Okay played another skirmish, turned off CaH option, but used ring heroes. Didnt get to the point of building a ring hero but so far it is saving and restarting.

tomorrow I will see if I can play same game, create the RH and save it, see if that causes the error.

Have a further question:

...(I am new to the SEE mod; my first exposure to it was downloading v4.5 shortly after it came out)....

If this "unable to play saved games" was not an issue in v4.0 or whatever version was before 4.5, then I am curious as to what changes were made regarding CaH's in the latest version. Or, was the CaH not available in previous versions?

Edited by av8r, 16 November 2007 - 01:50 AM.

[Sûlherokhh]

Hehe, nothing has been changed with the CaH from 4.0 to 4.5. But just about everything else has been overhauled and lots of new goodies added. I can't begin to tell you what coding changes that involved. But you can take a look at the changelog in the newssection or development section to see what's new on 4.5 compared to 4.0.

Oh and we don't bite. Just don't piss in the living room. My dog knows that since her early months.

Edited by Sûlherokhh, 16 November 2007 - 03:22 AM.

[Nazgûl]

*reading up on posts after a LOT of administrative things tonight* ^

av8r: I just want to let you know that I REALLY appreciate the effort you put into finding the cause of this crash! Awesome work bro - I won't forget this!

[av8r]

You're welcome and glad to be of help but only following the bouncing ball these other guys laid out, and had the time to put into it for you. I hope in helping that I didnt only repeat what someone already mentioned; about Cah not being supported and such. We'll keep trying different things and see what else happens, even if we choose to use CaH's and then can't replay games at this time, this mod is WAY too much fun!
Am reading back over the SEE threads as far back as I can to catch up.
Glad to help, thanks for allowing me to be here! You have a super group of people on this.

hey and I have to add: it wasnt just me; my 12 yr old son LOVES LoTR and this game and this new mod he really really likes - he was pretty distraught last night when I suggested we might have to uninstall the mod; he was the one who was hot on the trail of anything we have done for you guys. I'm pretty proud of him. All I did was help guide or steer him and he thought it out good kid! He's read ALL Tolkeins books, and others like The Door Within trilogy and Dragons In Our Midst, etc. and he remembers it all to. Kind of scary.

Edited by av8r, 16 November 2007 - 03:43 AM.

[sniggles]

Yes - well done av8r,

Any testing you do on this bug is much appreciated.

Even if unsucessful - you are eliminating things so we can narrow down the problem.

I like the idea about turning off ring heroes completely etc and i too will test this out tomorrow.

By the way - this little bug has been around in earlier versions of SEE (with my system anyway) and Naz and the team might have missed it since they hate the poor old CAH etc.

I love CAH and always have the save / load bug so worth chacking out.

I will post back after some sleep.

Keep up the good work av8r (and your son)

[Nazgûl]

I tried last night with 5 saved games... No CaH... no crash!

[Wundai]

It...It got stickied I'm famous

[Nazgûl]

lol, well at least the Bug is

[Hobbit Hunter]

Ok i did some testing of my own 10 games and 1 which i used as a control. (no ring CAH upgrades etc)
What happens on my end backs up exactly what av8r said all CAH result in a game crash im currently checking out wether its the same with ring heros and/or specific maps.

<edit>
Ring hero = no crash

Human using CAH= crash

AI using CAH= no crash (that I have found anyway)

Maps seem to have no affect.

One exception to above fortress maps seem to have a 50% chance of loading on my comp if they have a CAH in them

Edited by Hobbit Hunter, 16 November 2007 - 07:42 PM.

[Nazgûl]

Very good report!!! Thanks!