Need help analyze an odd saved game

[BasilY]

This is a very odd situation. I am using GWX3.0 100%. It's 1941, I have a convoy in front of me, I am on the surface just before visual contact. The sea is rough. Once I sneak into the convoy, I can see at lease three whale factory ships, at lease three ships are on fire for no apparent reason. I have three torpedoes. Sink 1 ship and try to sneak out.

Then it crash.

I reload again I discover the game will crash rather I attack or not. I just can't seem get out of this situation. I have the saved game, Can some one diagnose the situation?

[Jaman]

Something like that happened to me yesterday. After sinking a ship i went surface and saved, the ship was still on surface burning heavly. Everytime i loaded that game i had a CTD after a few seconds no matter what.

I had to reload a previous saved game.

It seems with GWX corrupted savegames comes more often, what i do now is save more often and never overwrite an old saved game.

[Jimbuna]

It seems with GWX corrupted savegames comes more often, what i do now is save more often and never overwrite an old saved game.

That's news to me and a great many others I suspect :hmmm:

Game save corruptions have plagued SH3 since it's release, the vast majority of which are down to user error such as saving whilst submerged or in close proximity of rendered vessels etc. etc. etc.

[Jaman]

That's news to me and a great many others I suspect :hmmm:

Game save corruptions have plagued SH3 since it's release, the vast majority of which are down to user error such as saving whilst submerged or in close proximity of rendered vessels etc. etc. etc.
Well, i had 2 corrupted savegames before GWX. And then since i had 7. Not that i care, stock SH3 pales facing GWX and corrupted savegames are a small price to pay. And with so many savegames i hardly lose too much if one or two becomes corrupted.

EDIT - BTW, could you (or anyone) give me a list of potential corrupting situations (besides tampering with mods while at sea)?.

[Jimbuna]

Well, i had 2 corrupted savegames before GWX. And then since i had 7. Not that i care, stock SH3 pales facing GWX and corrupted savegames are a small price to pay. And with so many savegames i hardly lose too much if one or two becomes corrupted.

EDIT - BTW, could you (or anyone) give me a list of potential corrupting situations (besides tampering with mods while at sea)?.

As already mentioned above plus the 'biggie' you've just made reference to (covers at least another dozen within it).

Have you ever come across the phenomena of saves that disappear?

[Jaman]

As already mentioned above plus the 'biggie' you've just made reference to (covers at least another dozen within it).

Have you ever come across the phenomena of saves that disappear?
Well, not that i have noticed, but since at the end of any patrol i find myself with around 20-25 savegames it would be hard to notice.

[BulSoldier]

I actually overrite constantly one savegame.I follow few simple rules for saving.

1.Dont save if there is a convoy nearby (less than 50km)(the same applies to anykind of ship being sunk ok still floating)

2.Dont save submerged

3.Dont apply or remove any mods while on patrol

Thats it pretty much and i have never experienced (as far as i recall) save game corruption.

[Jimbuna]

Well, not that i have noticed, but since at the end of any patrol i find myself with around 20-25 savegames it would be hard to notice.

There is no harm as far as I'm aware by overwriting the same save repeatedly in the same patrol.

Two tips:

1) NEVER delete the 'Player' save that comes as a default with the install....there are many suspicions that add weight to the theory that doing so can invite save problems.

2) If you ever find that upon loading the game a save appears to be missing....go to C/MyDocs/SH3. You will see the name of the 'invisible' save. Add an 'x' at the end of the save name and upon reloading the game your save will reappear....you can delete the 'x' after recovering the save.

[BasilY]

Something like that happened to me yesterday. After sinking a ship i went surface and saved, the ship was still on surface burning heavly. Everytime i loaded that game i had a CTD after a few seconds no matter what.

I had to reload a previous saved game.

It seems with GWX corrupted savegames comes more often, what i do now is save more often and never overwrite an old saved game.

Actually, GWX3.0 has been good so far. I had three careers without a bad save. (although it's now my practice to try to finish entire patrols without saving/loading) This is the first saved game I had a problem in GWX3.0.

With respect, The situation I am describing is NOT the same situation you have. The game I had did NOT crash WHILE loading (I had that happened in GWX2.1). It crashed after loading successfully and playing for a few minutes. I actually finally AVOID THE CRASH, by running on the surface at flank AWAY from the convoy (over-cast sky, visibility is low). I was able to play on. So I believe this saved game is a great opportunity to finally find out what's causing the crashes. Loading this game and trying to approach the convoy will guarantee a crash.

I am always curious about what exactly cause the crashes. So this saved seem Ideal. I hope someone can finally get to the root of it.

To Jimbuna, The myth that saving while submerged and/or near vessels are not correct. I had perfectly good saved games where I am at p-depth around DDs. But I had bad saves where I am on the surface and with nothing around. Being submerged and/or near other vessel doesn't seem to increase the chances of corrupt saved games.

[BasilY]

I actually overrite constantly one savegame.I follow few simple rules for saving.

1.Dont save if there is a convoy nearby (less than 50km)(the same applies to anykind of ship being sunk ok still floating)

2.Dont save submerged

What you just quoted is a myth. I had perfectly good saved games where I am at p-depth around multiple DDs. But I had bad saves where I am on the surface and with nothing (not even seagulls) around. Being submerged and/or near other vessel doesn't increase the chances of corrupt saved games.

And I am not talking about a corrupt saved game here. The game load successfully. (And a crash can be avoided). It only crashes will I try to approach the convoy heading right at me (10k away).

[Jaman]

1) NEVER delete the 'Player' save that comes as a default with the install....there are many suspicions that add weight to the theory that doing so can invite save problems.
I did delete that profile. Would it help if i just create another Player profile?.

BasilY, my game didnt crashed on loading, it loaded the game fully and after a few seconds (20 to a full minute in which i could play normaly) it crashed no matter what.

[Jail]

Actually, GWX3.0 has been good so far. I had three careers without a bad save. (although it's now my practice to try to finish entire patrols without saving/loading) This is the first saved game I had a problem in GWX3.0.

With respect, The situation I am describing is NOT the same situation you have. The game I had did NOT crash WHILE loading (I had that happened in GWX2.1). It crashed after loading successfully and playing for a few minutes. I actually finally AVOID THE CRASH, by running on the surface at flank AWAY from the convoy (over-cast sky, visibility is low). I was able to play on. So I believe this saved game is a great opportunity to finally find out what's causing the crashes. Loading this game and trying to approach the convoy will guarantee a crash.

I am always curious about what exactly cause the crashes. So this saved seem Ideal. I hope someone can finally get to the root of it.

To Jimbuna, The myth that saving while submerged and/or near vessels are not correct. I had perfectly good saved games where I am at p-depth around DDs. But I had bad saves where I am on the surface and with nothing around. Being submerged and/or near other vessel doesn't seem to increase the chances of corrupt saved games.

Could it be that the computer gets too much to render/keeping track of in that convoy that makes it crash ?

[Jimbuna]

I did delete that profile. Would it help if i just create another Player profile?.

BasilY, my game didnt crashed on loading, it loaded the game fully and after a few seconds (20 to a full minute in which i could play normaly) it crashed no matter what.

Best practice would be to create another 'Player' profile. http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

[Jimbuna]

Could it be that the computer gets too much to render/keeping track of in that convoy that makes it crash ?

That is a high probability http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

[Jimbuna]

To Jimbuna, The myth that saving while submerged and/or near vessels are not correct. I had perfectly good saved games where I am at p-depth around DDs. But I had bad saves where I am on the surface and with nothing around. Being submerged and/or near other vessel doesn't seem to increase the chances of corrupt saved games.

I've no doubt what you have personally experienced is accurate and correct but I wouldn't dismiss other peoples theories as a 'myth'.

Search the forums for the multitude of posts regarding problems with saves.....in particular look for 'the dive of death'.

[Pisces]

Actually, GWX3.0 has been good so far. I had three careers without a bad save. (although it's now my practice to try to finish entire patrols without saving/loading) This is the first saved game I had a problem in GWX3.0.

With respect, The situation I am describing is NOT the same situation you have. The game I had did NOT crash WHILE loading (I had that happened in GWX2.1). It crashed after loading successfully and playing for a few minutes. I actually finally AVOID THE CRASH, by running on the surface at flank AWAY from the convoy (over-cast sky, visibility is low). I was able to play on. So I believe this saved game is a great opportunity to finally find out what's causing the crashes. Loading this game and trying to approach the convoy will guarantee a crash.

I am always curious about what exactly cause the crashes. So this saved seem Ideal. I hope someone can finally get to the root of it.

To Jimbuna, The myth that saving while submerged and/or near vessels are not correct. I had perfectly good saved games where I am at p-depth around DDs. But I had bad saves where I am on the surface and with nothing around. Being submerged and/or near other vessel doesn't seem to increase the chances of corrupt saved games.

Could it be that the computer gets too much to render/keeping track of in that convoy that makes it crash ?Yes, just to make sure, clean out the pc case from dust and make sure enough cool air can enter it (and warm air leave). Also clean the fans of your CPU and graphic card. I had it crash on me several times when the game had to show more particle effect like torpedo explosion or bowspray. Mind you, for me that was on hot days, with 2 harddrive connected back to back pretty hot to the touch. Cleaning out the dust and keeping the side lid open I have never had such crashes again. The harddrives appearantly were not the direect cause because I left them back-to-back at the time. However those harddrives started to act up because of the heat they generated a year later. Seperating them and blowing an auxiliary fan at them made the pc alot more stable and able to keep a 'cool head'. Or lower the particle intensity in the options page of the main menu.

[BasilY]

I've no doubt what you have personally experienced is accurate and correct but I wouldn't dismiss other peoples theories as a 'myth'.

Search the forums for the multitude of posts regarding problems with saves.....in particular look for 'the dive of death'.

I stand corrected. My apologies, Admiral JB.:salute:

[Jimbuna]

I stand corrected. My apologies, Admiral JB.:salute:

SINK EM ALL!! http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[Doolar]

When I save , I :

make sure I'm at least 50km from home port
make sure I'm at least 35km from another ship . Floating or sunk .
gramophone off
not in TC for at least 5 minutes
on the surface
in Control Room View
I really don't know if all this is necessary , but ... 0 CTD's , with GWX , any and all versions :cool:

[Paul Riley]

Just thought I would include my latest save problem here.

I experienced the missing save curse yesterday,adding the 'x' sorted that out (thanks to the documentation and jimbuna)

I havent had any corrupt save games (yet),and I always keep the player profile,and just one save,overwriting each time.

I now keep a backup on memory card of my current save point.

[fingers crossed]

[Leandros]

Could it be that the computer gets too much to render/keeping track of in that convoy that makes it crash ?
I have often experienced CTD's after a prolonged game (GWX 2.1), possibly in the vicinity of convoys (much information to handle...?) when going from one crew mode to another - usually from torpedo to "neutral". After I began starting from Commander this has not happened. Also, I now always go out of the game after a finished patrol, to start a new one with Commander.

I also suspect it is "safer" to make eventual changes in realism or crew composition before saving and going out of the game - than after start-up from Commander. Not counting changes done in Commander itself.