HELP! SH3-GWX3 Saves CTD.

[BigWalleye]

I am playing SH3 with GWX v3.0, and using SH3 Commander. Recently, I have begun experiencing an intermittent problem: after a certain point in a career patrol, any time I try to save the game, reloading results in a CTD. I have tried to isolate the conditions under which this will occur. The only consistent factor is that it usually happens after I have had an encounter with the enemy. It doesn’t have to be warships, it doesn’t have to involve combat – I can run away. But, from some point on in a career patrol, I can not save the game and successfully reload the save.

I am running the following mod load:

GWX 3 Wilhemshafen,St Naz,Schluese and xtra ships V7
GWX - 20km Atmosphere (Unofficial Mod)
GWX - Alternative Flotillas
GWX - Enhanced Damage Effects
GWX - No Medals on Crew
GWX Turm Lights fix
TMTv2+ThomsensShips v4.4 for GWX3+Xtra ships
LifeBoats&Debris_v4
OLC's Modified Searchlight Beams for GWX3
Pascal_Port_People
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi V2.3 for GWX3
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi - Single Exhaust for TypeII
Sober's Darker Smoke
Torpedo damage Final ver2.0
Scirè-Tikigod- repeated order
TorpedoTubesFfireFinal vGW
Spirit of machines - BW
EAX_Sound_Sim_SH3
Supplement to V16B1 - GWX
Stiebler4B_Addon_for_V16B1 - GWX
O2-Gauges v2
Capt. Teach's SH3 Color Icons for GWX 3.0 (Standard)
NeuUZO&PeriV.2
SRM01 - Seabed Repair Mod
SRM02 - Option for GWX Enhanced Damage Effects
Urfischs_ModStrike_Beta1 - BW
Carotio_SH3_ClothesHatsFacesSkilledCrew
FM_NewInterior v2.1D
BritishAsdicMkIFinal
SHIII Internal Life Mod v1.2
SH-5 Water for SH-3 20 Km V84
sobers waves mod V12 27032013
Realistic contacts with Sub icons
1.4b Assisted Plotting Mod
No continuous 'Ship spotted' V1.2 for GWX3
widescreen_GWX3.0 BW Mod 1.1

I have all h.sie’s and Stiebler’s patches active except Wolfpack Less Contact Reports. I have tried saving more than 50km from land and more than 50km from any contact. Still get CTDs when reloading saves (NOT all the time!).

My machine is an AlienWare M11X, i7@1.70GHz, 8GB, Win7 Home Premium 64bit, nVidia GeForce 540M. I run SH5 on this rig with reduced graphics fidelity. For SH3, I presently have all GPU settings strapped down to app-controlled.

I have just completed a complete, ground-up re-install, in which I restored everything from the original downloaded files. (Stock SH3 is DVD with v1.4.) Anticipated that would fix the problem. Just got a CTD after sinking a small freighter with the deck gun in the Thames estuary on September 3, 1939 and fleeing a patrol craft. I submerged, let the PC go by, then resurfaced and ran out into the North Sea. Saved - reload was a CTD.

Has anybody had this problem? I’ve Googled everything I could think of and not seen a similar problem reported. At this point, I am at a loss. I would hate to have to play every patrol through without stopping!

I would sure appreciate any help!

[brett25]

try taking this out:

LifeBoats&Debris_v4

and retest (go back to previous good save, resink a ship and then see if it works)

also make sure you have the 4GB patch applied.

[BigWalleye]

Thank you, brett25! I'll give it a try without Lifeboats&Debris-v4!

I am using the 4GB patch through h.sie's patcher. Is that equivalent to the external 4gbpatch.exe? Or should I use the separate mod? I am concerned about applying the .exe fix over the top of h.sie's patch.

UPDATE: First, external 4gb fix is not compatible with h.sie's patcher. Wach makes sh3.exe incompatible with the other.

Second, took out Lifeboats&Debris_v4. No joy. Still gives CTDs after saves.

[Myxale]

A bit curious that CTD's-

I mean your Load-order is not that big nor complex so it should be something obvious.

You said it started recently? What was the last change you did before things became prone to CTD? And what are your SH3 Commander settings?

My suggestion is, disable this mod and try again.

TMTv2+ThomsensShips v4.4 for GWX3+Xtra ships

Report back.:salute:

[BigWalleye]

Thanks, Myxale. Last additions were GWX 20Km Atmosphere and sh5 Water for SH3 29Km. But I have removed both with no apparent success. :/\\!! I'm thinking of stripping her down to bare metal and putting in one mod at a time. That will take some time, tho....

[irish1958]

Almost every time I have had CTD it has been traced to extra ships in some mod. I suggest you deactivate all mods which add extra ships and see what happens
If this doesn't help I suspect you will have to hunt mod by mod until you had isolated the problem or problems.

[Myxale]

Irish is right.
One of the biggest culprits of CTD are extra ships.
One of the reasons i could never enjoy BBW work properly. :yep:

[fitzcarraldo]

I have many problems with the Wilhelmshaven v7, and now I have v6 installed, without CTD issues. v7 add ships not working in museum (and presumibly not in game). With v7, I had many CTDs with saved games; I resolved that changing to v6.

Try changing to Wilhelmanshaven v6 mod.

Regards.

Fitzcarraldo :salute:

[BigWalleye]

Thank you gentlemen for your help and advise. Going after the extra ships, which in my case is Wlihelmshafen.... Checking out changes is slow because moving/removing a mod sometimes makes a save unusable. Then it's back to the harbor and wait till I catch a fish before I can evaluate the change. But I'm plodding ahead.

Thanks again for all the help! And if anyone else has an insight, I haven't verified a solution yet.

UPDATE: Fitzcarraldo, it appears you nailed it. I started a patrol September 1, 1939. Found a ship in the Thames estuary and sank it. Saved. Reload CTDed. Replaced Wlihelmshafen...V7 with ...V6. Restarted patrol. Found another ship in the same area, sank, saved. Reloaded save with no problems. Got chased by a cubic ton of RN. Saved with enemy warships in sight, maybe 20Km from land. Reloaded OK. Went to PD and slipped away. Picked up a sound contact of a merchant headed my way. Saved while submerged! Reloaded OK.

FITZCARRALDO, YOU DA MAN!:yeah:

And again: THANKS TO EVERYONE who offered the benefit of their experience. Helpful and much appreciated!:salute:

BTW: Seabed Repair Mod and Urfisch's Modstrike Beta interact. You must install SRM after Urfisch's mod or your sub will lose depth control.

[brett25]

Glad you found the issue and great advice Fitzcaraldo....Alot of us have gone through this nightmare so there is alot of collective wisdom with reagrd to this issue:yeah:


more and more it seems these CTD on save issues are mod related or RAM related, I think the whole business about not saving near land or near enemy ships etc can be disregarded. In my case a CTD on save that had been plaguing me for a long time was finally tracked 100% to a MOD conflict, and not in any way to do with where I was in relation to oher game elements when the save ocurred.....:salute:

[Myxale]

Ok, now that we have figured out what caused your head-ache, now would be a good time to ask how?

How does Wlihelmshafen...V7 cause CTD'S while hunting ships somewhere in the atlantic?:doh:

[BigWalleye]

I believe the problem is with the added ships. Full title of the mod: GWX 3 Wilhemshafen,St Naz,Schluese and xtra ships V7. It seems some of those extra ships cause the game engine to get indigestion. My problem with corrupted saves always occurred on a patrol after I had sunk at least one ship. Prior to sinking a ship, I could zip all over the freakin' ocean and save, then reload successfully. Once I sank a ship, the probability was high that any save, at any point, would CTD on reload. It didn't seem to matter how far away from land or enemy ships I got, or how long (game or R/T) I waited before saving. And it didn't seem to matter whether the ship I sank was from the stock GWX-modded game or an added one. (Sometimes it was a tramp steamer with the vanilla SH3 skin.)

I know that the guys who did the GWX 3 Wilhemshafen,St Naz,Schluese and xtra ships mod are experienced modders who do good work and test their work before releasing it. (I think Wreford-Brown and BigBoyWooly both had a hand in V7. Hope I didn't overlook anyone.) And I also recognize that V7 has been out for over a year, and I am sure there are others who are using the mod without problems. I don't mean to cast aspersions on anybody's work. Modding takes lots of hard work, creativity, and patience, and it's all made available gratis. I have nothing but respect for anyone who gives a mod to the community.

What I know is that my configuration had a problem with this particular mod, specifically with V7. I don't know whether it is because of a hardware limitation on my rig, or an interaction with another mod, or whatever. I still have no absolute proof that the change has solved my problem. (That involves the old "trying to prove a negative" conundrum.) At the moment, I am grateful to Fitzcarraldo, who at the very least saved me a lot of time by focusing me on a particular issue that he had experienced. I am relieved to be able to get back to playing the game, rather than spending all my gaming time troubleshooting. And, since V6 of the mod appears to work fine for me, I have no motivation to find and fix the issue I have with V7. Maybe I will tackle that chore at some future time.

Perhaps we should bring this to the attention of the mod developers. I am reluctant to call out: "Yer mod's busted!" especially when the problem may be with my configuration. So I prefer to leave it with the statement that I seem to have had a problem with V7 on my rig, and that someone else who is having a similar problem might benefit from my experience (and that of others.)

[fitzcarraldo]

I believe the problem is with the added ships. Full title of the mod: GWX 3 Wilhemshafen,St Naz,Schluese and xtra ships V7. It seems some of those extra ships cause the game engine to get indigestion. My problem with corrupted saves always occurred on a patrol after I had sunk at least one ship. Prior to sinking a ship, I could zip all over the freakin' ocean and save, then reload successfully. Once I sank a ship, the probability was high that any save, at any point, would CTD on reload. It didn't seem to matter how far away from land or enemy ships I got, or how long (game or R/T) I waited before saving. And it didn't seem to matter whether the ship I sank was from the stock GWX-modded game or an added one. (Sometimes it was a tramp steamer with the vanilla SH3 skin.)

I know that the guys who did the GWX 3 Wilhemshafen,St Naz,Schluese and xtra ships mod are experienced modders who do good work and test their work before releasing it. (I think Wreford-Brown and BigBoyWooly both had a hand in V7. Hope I didn't overlook anyone.) And I also recognize that V7 has been out for over a year, and I am sure there are others who are using the mod without problems. I don't mean to cast aspersions on anybody's work. Modding takes lots of hard work, creativity, and patience, and it's all made available gratis. I have nothing but respect for anyone who gives a mod to the community.

What I know is that my configuration had a problem with this particular mod, specifically with V7. I don't know whether it is because of a hardware limitation on my rig, or an interaction with another mod, or whatever. I still have no absolute proof that the change has solved my problem. (That involves the old "trying to prove a negative" conundrum.) At the moment, I am grateful to Fitzcarraldo, who at the very least saved me a lot of time by focusing me on a particular issue that he had experienced. I am relieved to be able to get back to playing the game, rather than spending all my gaming time troubleshooting. And, since V6 of the mod appears to work fine for me, I have no motivation to find and fix the issue I have with V7. Maybe I will tackle that chore at some future time.

Perhaps we should bring this to the attention of the mod developers. I am reluctant to call out: "Yer mod's busted!" especially when the problem may be with my configuration. So I prefer to leave it with the statement that I seem to have had a problem with V7 on my rig, and that someone else who is having a similar problem might benefit from my experience (and that of others.)

If you see the museum (with v7 enabled), in the Greek roster (for example), you will have a violent CTD with a greek warship (I don´t remember the ship)). With v6 you have all the ships in Museum working. I have all the WB´A/C and scripted ships, without problems, and the TMT mod. No problems with v6.

Best regards.

Fitzcarraldo :salute:

[Kpt. Lehmann]

If you see the museum (with v7 enabled), in the Greek roster (for example), you will have a violent CTD with a greek warship (I don´t remember the ship)). With v6 you have all the ships in Museum working. I have all the WB´A/C and scripted ships, without problems, and the TMT mod. No problems with v6.

Best regards.

Fitzcarraldo :salute:

Hi Fitzcarraldo.
Where can I find a DL link for v6?

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Nevermind. Found it. Thanks anyway.:cool:

[Depaor1970]

My PC Spec:HP Intel Core i5 3350P
Ram 8GB
Win 8 64 bit OS

Installed SH3 fresh
Installed SH3 Commander
Installed GWX 3.0
Intstalled GWX resolution fix 1920 x 1020 res chosen

Followed all the instructions carefully.

game works fine loading and setting up SH 3 commander

Commence career no problem

However once I try to reload a saved career every time CTD. I have no additional mods running just sh3 and gwx3.0

Any suggestions what is wrong or what I am doing wrong.

Many thanks in advance for suggestions

[Myxale]

Another Candidate, yay ;)

Did you take into account not to save during engagements, while submerged, near land or convoys?

[Depaor1970]

Only saved in open sea while surfaced with no contacts around

[irish1958]

Try different resolutions. I have a problem with windows8 and some resolutions; and have had CTD with the resolution fix.

[BigWalleye]

Two suggestions:

First, install the 4GB Patch. http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=2888. You are running Win8 and have 8 GB, but stock sh3.exe only knows about 2GB RAM. Installing the 4 GB patch will let SH3 use more RAM, which GWX seems to really need. I suggest you try this first.

If that doesn't resolve your problem, try removing the hi-res fix. There might be an incompatibility with your hardware, or with Win8. The high res fix I am aware of was originally developed for Win XP/SP2, so may not work with your edition of Win8.

Please post your results.

[Depaor1970]

Ok at moment I reinstall everything fresh and will apply 4 gb patch and not apply res fix. Will try this and see how it works.

Will let you know results.

[Depaor1970]

Installed all again. Applied 4gb patch before sh3.

Ran stock sh3 all is fine with saves.

Ran Stock sh3 with sh 3 commander all works fine.

Installed gwx 3.0

Ran gwx 3.0 with sh3 commander and CTD every time I load a game or begin new career.

Ran normal game resolution CTD

Ran 1920x1080 resolution CTD.

Seems Gwx 3.0 may be causing the ctd.

Thanks for suggestions

[irish1958]

Did you install in the program files?

[Depaor1970]

Insatlled in ProgramFilesX86

[Depaor1970]

Downloaded GWX 3.0 again from subsim link. Save worked so now I try some resolution chamges.

CTD again when I load career or start new career. I surrender. It worked on new resolution and old and then stops working. I am frustrated.

Does changing realism settings cause CTD with GWX 3.0 (clutching at straws here I think)

[BigWalleye]

Reports of my problem being solved were way premature! Same old. After the submerged save mentioned above, found a large freighter and put it down. Ran away, then saved. Reloaded and - yep - CTDed. I'm going to try the following mod load:

GWX - 16km Atmosphere
GWX - Alternative Flotillas
GWX - Enhanced Damage Effects
GWX - No Medals on Crew
GWX Turm Lights fix
TMT v2
OLC's Modified Searchlight Beams for GWX3
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi V2.3 for GWX3
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi - Single Exhaust for TypeII
SH-5 Water for SH-3 16 Km V84
sobers waves mod V12 27032013
Sober's Darker Smoke
Torpedo damage Final ver2.0
TorpedoTubesFfireFinal vGW
Scirè-Tikigod- repeated order
Spirit of machines - BW
Capt. Teach's SH3 Color Icons for GWX 3.0 (Standard)
NeuUZO&PeriV.2
Carotio_SH3_ClothesHatsFacesSkilledCrew
FM_NewInterior v2.1D
BritishAsdicMkIFinal
SHIII Internal Life Mod v1.2
1.4b Assisted Plotting Mod
No continuous 'Ship spotted' V1.2 for GWX3
Supplement to V16B1 - GWX
Stiebler4B_Addon_for_V16B1 - GWX
O2-Gauges v2
widescreen_GWX3.0 BW Mod 1.1

I'm trying to limit mods to 1) GWX addon mods, 2) mods that don't alter any previously loaded mods, and 3) mods that make mostly cosmetic changes. Got a few that violate these rules, but we'll see.... May go with straight GWX just to reassure myself that it is OK.

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT THRILLING EP....:/\\!!

[irish1958]

Downloaded GWX 3.0 again from subsim link. Save worked so now I try some resolution chamges.

CTD again when I load career or start new career. I surrender. It worked on new resolution and old and then stops working. I am frustrated.

Does changing realism settings cause CTD with GWX 3.0 (clutching at straws here I think)
Yes, it has for me.
Do not install SHIII/GWX or SH3CMDR in the program files as it will lead to all sorts of trouble, including CTD.
Make a new folder on your hard drive and install the games (including SH4) in this folder.
In windows vista, and I think, in windows 7 there is a problem as the operating system also install the game in a virtual drive and sometimes restores it into the program files. Jaeson Jones discussed this problem in using JSGME and SH3CMDR with those operating systems. I don't off-hand recall the details but they are real and cause big problems in the game.
There is also a problem in removing and re-installing SH3. You have to use the disc to uninstall the game and you have to clean the registry with a good cleaner to get the game removed so you can re-install it properly.

[irish1958]

Reports of my problem being solved were way premature! Same old. After the submerged save mentioned above, found a large freighter and put it down. Ran away, then saved. Reloaded and - yep - CTDed. I'm going to try the following mod load:

GWX - 16km Atmosphere
GWX - Alternative Flotillas
GWX - Enhanced Damage Effects
GWX - No Medals on Crew
GWX Turm Lights fix
TMT v2
OLC's Modified Searchlight Beams for GWX3
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi V2.3 for GWX3
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi - Single Exhaust for TypeII
SH-5 Water for SH-3 16 Km V84
sobers waves mod V12 27032013
Sober's Darker Smoke
Torpedo damage Final ver2.0
TorpedoTubesFfireFinal vGW
Scirè-Tikigod- repeated order
Spirit of machines - BW
Capt. Teach's SH3 Color Icons for GWX 3.0 (Standard)
NeuUZO&PeriV.2
Carotio_SH3_ClothesHatsFacesSkilledCrew
FM_NewInterior v2.1D
BritishAsdicMkIFinal
SHIII Internal Life Mod v1.2
1.4b Assisted Plotting Mod
No continuous 'Ship spotted' V1.2 for GWX3
Supplement to V16B1 - GWX
Stiebler4B_Addon_for_V16B1 - GWX
O2-Gauges v2
widescreen_GWX3.0 BW Mod 1.1

I'm trying to limit mods to 1) GWX addon mods, 2) mods that don't alter any previously loaded mods, and 3) mods that make mostly cosmetic changes. Got a few that violate these rules, but we'll see.... May go with straight GWX just to reassure myself that it is OK.

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT THRILLING EP....:/\\!!

Look for mods that mess with the menu_1024 file.
I would also deactivate the widescreen mod.

[BigWalleye]

irish1958, I've swapped out the widescreen without success.

There is also a problem in removing and re-installing SH3. You have to use the disc to uninstall the game and you have to clean the registry with a good cleaner to get the game removed so you can re-install it properly.

This causes me concern, because I just did a "clean" re-install. But I used the Windows uninstaller. Had to clean up a lot manually afterward. I think I may have to go through the re-install again. What do you recommend for registry cleanup?

[Myxale]

Downloaded GWX 3.0 again from subsim link. Save worked so now I try some resolution chamges.

CTD again when I load career or start new career. I surrender. It worked on new resolution and old and then stops working. I am frustrated.

Does changing realism settings cause CTD with GWX 3.0 (clutching at straws here I think)

Did you also download the GWX files needed for SH3 Commander?

[Fubar2Niner]

Evening shipmates.

I have two thoughts on this.

1) I use wilhelms etc v7 no problems
2) I can save and reload without problems anywhere ie. 100 meters from land, submerged, underneath an enemy vessel.

I had the save submerged bug and dreaded CTD, this is what cured it for me.

Change the folder attributes for (assuming you are using the default dir) Ubisoft/SH3/xxx

Right click the Ubi dir ( If you have more than one game in your ubi dir, just check SH3 props) and remove the check from the read only box apply and agree to allow changes to all folders within SH3. Now ok. Try a reload from a previous save, before the problem save. When the game loads make another save and try load that. If your properties change hasn't taken, look here;

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549

Hope this helps shipmates.

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

[BigWalleye]

Fubar2Niner, I had tried that previously, with my (badly corrupted, I think) old installation. I didn't remember to set the new install for read-write access. I'm trying that now. Thanks for the helpful suggestion.

-BW

[irish1958]

irish1958, I've swapped out the widescreen without success.



This causes me concern, because I just did a "clean" re-install. But I used the Windows uninstaller. Had to clean up a lot manually afterward. I think I may have to go through the re-install again. What do you recommend for registry cleanup?
I used argente registry cleaner. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/download/Argente-Registry-Cleaner,0301-22434.html
But I think Jimbuna uses something else, and he has far more experience than I. I suggest you ask him. I have also wondered if the Revo uninstaller would work better as it does scour the registry and allows you to completely remove all traces of a program.
As to your original problem, I suspect you are going to have yo take apart your mod mix and try adding back mods to ID the problem.

[Jimbuna]

I used argente registry cleaner. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/download/Argente-Registry-Cleaner,0301-22434.html
But I think Jimbuna uses something else, and he has far more experience than I. I suggest you ask him. I have also wondered if the Revo uninstaller would work better as it does scour the registry and allows you to completely remove all traces of a program.
As to your original problem, I suspect you are going to have yo take apart your mod mix and try adding back mods to ID the problem.

Cheers C....I have responded to a PM from him http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

[BigWalleye]

Thanks for the advice, Jimbuna!:up:

[Jimbuna]

Your welcome Kaleun http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

[Fubar2Niner]

Thanks for the advice, Jimbuna!:up:

If you don't mind sharing Jims advice BW, please enlighten us. Or was it something specific to your mod soup? Glad you got it sorted either way :up:

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

[Jimbuna]

If you don't mind sharing Jims advice BW, please enlighten us. Or was it something specific to your mod soup? Glad you got it sorted either way :up:

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

I pointed him to the two registry cleaners I use. RegVac which isn't free but has a two week free trial period:

http://regvac.com/fregvac.htm

CrapCleaner which is freeware:

http://download.cnet.com/Crap-Cleaner/3000-2144_4-75031047.html

[Fubar2Niner]

@Jim

Thanks for the heads up mate, I usually use ccleaners regclean utility. Never heard of the other two 'till this thread. I will surely give them both a look :salute:

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

[BigWalleye]

HELP!

Thought I had made progress. Found several errors I had made in installing mods, some incompatibilities, and a big mistake in my Commander setup. Did a complete uninstall, reg clean-up, and re-install. tried two patrols. Both times, after a ship sinking and save, the game would reload and start and then immediately (~5 sec.) CTD. AND when I tried to go back and restart a previous save, the whole career was gone! All of the files are still present in my user/documents file, but the game does not recognize that they exist. It offers the option of loading a saved career, but there are no saves listed on the selection screen. I have even done a disk check to see if I had failing hardware - indicates OK. Has ANYBODY seen anything like this?

[irish1958]

If you play the game without CMDR do you have the same problem?

[BigWalleye]

I've only gotten to the point where it bombs an entire career twice today :/\\!! , so I haven't been able to try with and without Commander. But the CTDs on reload occur whether I am using Commander either before the save or when I try to reload.

[desertstriker]

there is something mentioned in the GWX manual that sounds like your issue. i don't have it in front of me ATM though

[Jimbuna]

I've only gotten to the point where it bombs an entire career twice today :/\\!! , so I haven't been able to try with and without Commander. But the CTDs on reload occur whether I am using Commander either before the save or when I try to reload.

You do have the GWX Commander cfg file installed yes?

[BigWalleye]

Jimbuna, one - of my many - problems was with the Commander .cfg files. There are two versions of the GWX Commander .cfg file installer and they are almost identical. One, GWX3_SH3Commander_CFGFiles.exe, can be downloaded at the GWX website. The other, GWX3.0 Config files for SH3CMDR3.2.7z, is available from the SubSim downloads section. The SubSim version contains a .pdf and the file GWX3_SH3Cdr3.2Files_v1.2.exe. The two .exe files both install identical versions of 5 files into the SH3_Commander/Cfg folder. The SubSim installer adds a file called GWX3_files_readme.txt, which is superfluous. But the GWX installer also replaces the stock SH3 Commander file ship_names.cfg, date-stamped 1/22/2009, with an earlier and larger version date-stamped 12/28/2008. The contents of the two ship_names.cfg files are very different. I was using the GWX installer, with the older ship_names.cfg file. I don't know whether that contributed to my problem (although I know it was not the ONLY cause), but I am now using the SubSIm installer. At the moment, my "problem" seems to have been a whole series of problems, and I am slowly putting it to rights. I had planned to post about the Commander .cfg file discrepancy once I actually get my game working again. At the moment, we are busy trying to plug the leaks and pump out the water!

[Jimbuna]

Rgr that and good luck....I would have suggested using the original and without any additional ship additions:

http://www.mediafire.com/?c4oakjnc3tynwk5

[BigWalleye]

Jimbuna, the downloadable install .exe at Mediafire is the one linked to by the GWX website. It over-writes the stock SH3_Commander ship_names.cfg file with an older version of the file. The installer file from SubSim is date-stamped 11/11/09, while the Mediafire file was uploaded 6/9/09. (I can't recover a creation date.) I assumed that the most recent files (in both cases) would be safer to use, so I switched back from the Mediafire installer to the SubSim package. Is this a mistake? Is the Mediafire version the correct one to use? The two versions of the ship_names.cfg are quite different. There are lots of ships in the older version which aren't present in the more recent file and the organization is changed. I can imagine that using the wrong version could cause problems. (Maybe even CTDs.:hmmm:) What do you recommend?

And, hey, thanks for all the help with this. I'm gonna get this thing working someday!

[irish1958]

Again, I suggest you play without CMDR to see if this is the problem. Almost all of my CTD have been ship, menu and/or config problems. Since CMDR alters all these files, I would look there first.
If it makes no difference, then you are going to have to go through your mods one by one to find the problem or problems.

[Jimbuna]

Jimbuna, the downloadable install .exe at Mediafire is the one linked to by the GWX website. It over-writes the stock SH3_Commander ship_names.cfg file with an older version of the file. The installer file from SubSim is date-stamped 11/11/09, while the Mediafire file was uploaded 6/9/09. (I can't recover a creation date.) I assumed that the most recent files (in both cases) would be safer to use, so I switched back from the Mediafire installer to the SubSim package. Is this a mistake? Is the Mediafire version the correct one to use? The two versions of the ship_names.cfg are quite different. There are lots of ships in the older version which aren't present in the more recent file and the organization is changed. I can imagine that using the wrong version could cause problems. (Maybe even CTDs.:hmmm:) What do you recommend?

And, hey, thanks for all the help with this. I'm gonna get this thing working someday!

Again, I suggest you play without CMDR to see if this is the problem. Almost all of my CTD have been ship, menu and/or config problems. Since CMDR alters all these files, I would look there first.
If it makes no difference, then you are going to have to go through your mods one by one to find the problem or problems.


As stated above...install withot using CMDR or the cfg file....ensure everything is working fine.

Should that be the case, install the newest version of CMDR plus the original cfg file....any problems try the newer file.

[BigWalleye]

Tried running without using Commander. Yup, seemed to work just fine. Sank a couple, saved, reloaded. OK each time. Then tried Commander with no frills - no Commander mods, no random files. Used the SubSim .cfg installer. Reloaded a save, then saved it and reloaded. Deleted the save and exited. Got a message: "invalid date encode". When I restarted SH3, without Commander, career was gone. So Commander seems to be causing the problem. I will start another career and try to use Commander with the Mediafire installer.

[Jimbuna]

Hopefully you are getting there....try this Cmdr and cfg file:


GWX3_SH3Commandercfg http://www.mediafire.com/?c4oakjnc3tynwk5
SH3Commander 3.2 exe http://www.mediafire.com/?v8hgs2wkr53psmq

[BigWalleye]

Jimbuna, I reinstalled Commander (from my saved download, not from your recommended Mediafire link) and used the Mediafire GWX .cfg file installer. Started a new career, sank a ship, saved twice. Tried to reload the second (later) save - CTD. BUT, reloaded the first save OK, saved again, and could reload that one too. Then reinstalled Commander again, used the SubSim installer, and started a new career. Again sank a ship, double saved - both saves were OK. So it appears things are working now, and that both .cfg installers are OK.

I had been trying to use the Commander Random/ folder to load some sound files and had also installed three mods in Commander, using JSGME. These were:

WB's Warning Orders (SH3 Cmdr) v1.3
WB's Mid-Patrol Radio Orders GWX (SH3 Cmdr) v1.0 (and the Atlantic submod)
TDW's DC Water Disturbance v4.0 (SH3 Cmdr date)

Do any of these have known problems? It seems that eliminating them has relieved my problem - although I found a least three other possible issues that may have been tripping me up too. Seems my installation was pretty polluted.

Right now, I feel like the guy who fell off a ten-story building, and, as he fell past his friends on the fifth floor, called out: "OK SO FAR!"

Thanks to everyone for all the help and advice. I hope I don't need any more. Watch this space.

NOW I'm gonna go play the game for a while. I hope.

[desertstriker]

TDW's DC Water Disturbance v4.0 (SH3 Cmdr date)
this one IIRC needs to go in the Date folder but i will double check
WB's Mid-Patrol Radio Orders GWX (SH3 Cmdr) v1.0 (and the Atlantic submod)
you need to add this or just replace completely the Randomized events CFG
WB's Warning Orders (SH3 Cmdr) v1.3
needs to replace \Cfg\Menu variable_en.txt. i recommend using JSGME on your SH3 commander yes it works and saves much hassle and the worry of completely replacing the files.

[desertstriker]

sorry double post can you point me to the mod DC watter desturbance mod i cant seem to locate it
edit: never mind i 5think i found it and my suspitions are correct that specific mod would need to be merged with the Date file if you wanted the random one you would have to get that one from here
http://www.mediafire.com/download/wwvsl7mm2euz2wv

[Jimbuna]

Jimbuna, I reinstalled Commander (from my saved download, not from your recommended Mediafire link) and used the Mediafire GWX .cfg file installer. Started a new career, sank a ship, saved twice. Tried to reload the second (later) save - CTD. BUT, reloaded the first save OK, saved again, and could reload that one too. Then reinstalled Commander again, used the SubSim installer, and started a new career. Again sank a ship, double saved - both saves were OK. So it appears things are working now, and that both .cfg installers are OK.

I had been trying to use the Commander Random/ folder to load some sound files and had also installed three mods in Commander, using JSGME. These were:

WB's Warning Orders (SH3 Cmdr) v1.3
WB's Mid-Patrol Radio Orders GWX (SH3 Cmdr) v1.0 (and the Atlantic submod)
TDW's DC Water Disturbance v4.0 (SH3 Cmdr date)

Do any of these have known problems? It seems that eliminating them has relieved my problem - although I found a least three other possible issues that may have been tripping me up too. Seems my installation was pretty polluted.

Right now, I feel like the guy who fell off a ten-story building, and, as he fell past his friends on the fifth floor, called out: "OK SO FAR!"

Thanks to everyone for all the help and advice. I hope I don't need any more. Watch this space.

NOW I'm gonna go play the game for a while. I hope.

Have you tried putting one in at a time then running the game?

That way you may be able to find out just which one it is that is causing the problem.

[BigWalleye]

Yes, Jimbuna, you are absolutely correct. What you suggest is the proper approach. I appreciate all your help, and your advice, which amounts to "Slow down, and start taking a logical approach."

The problem was that there wasn't just ONE problem. I had - and found - multiple problems, and putting in one piece at a time was slow work because, once I found one problem, there were still others to be found. But what got me in the end was the assumption that there couldn't be anything wrong with Commander - everyone uses it and no one has problems.:) Then I finally tried Commander alone with rockstock GWX3.0, and lo! CTD! I will continue to test the Commander mods, but I'm willing to play without them right now.

I confess that a big part of my struggle was due to assuming a single problem. I tried to be too quick and did not perform a disciplined fault tree evaluation. And the result was frustration and more corner-cutting. I should have known better. Actually, I do know better, I just didn't want to do the long, dull work. I wanted to get back to playing the game! An amateurish mistake by a long-time professional.

I am rattling on like this because there is a valuable lesson here. Hope someone picks up on it and saves themselves a lot of wasted effort.

[Jimbuna]

Never forget....None of us is as clever as all of us.

I'm pleased your making progress :sunny:

[BigWalleye]

So I believe (and hope!) that I have tracked down and eliminated all my problems. It seems I can once again save a game in mid-patrol and reload the save without a CTD. (I say “seem” because there is that old conundrum about trying to prove a negative. I can’t be 100% certain.)

I would like to thank - in addition to St Isidore of Sevilla - brett25, Desertstriker, Fitzcarraldo, irish1958, Jimbuna, Myxale, and everyone else who offered assistance and encouragement. I really apprecaite the great support.:salute:

Now for some lessons learned: First, there was not one problem, but many. I never pinned down a specific source for my CTDs, but by eliminating a lot of problems, due mostly to operator error, the CTDs appear to be gone. The first and most egregious problem was a corrupt installation, due to some very sloppy practices in the use of JSGME and Commander. I sometimes neglected to roll back Commander, I removed mods out of sequence, and I changed mods in mid-patrol. I had to completely uninstall everything and clean the registry, then carefully reinstall. (Twice, actually....:))

I found an interaction between Seabed Repair Mod and Urfisch’s Modstrike that is a subkiller. Must install Urfisch’s mod first if you use both. And SRM seems to be built into GWX3, so the mod is superfluous.

I made a “tiny” error in using h.sie’s and Stiebler’s patchers. After patching with h.sie’s .bat file, I was implementing the patches with the selector, then using Stiebler’s patcher. Must put in all patches before activating any. (It’s in the documantation – I just missed it.)

It appears that trying to activate “TDW's DC Water Disturbance v4.0 (SH3 Cmdr date)” in Commander using JSGME causes me problems (CTDs). Currently, I am living without any mods in Commander. BTW, I never ironed out the issue of the two versions of Commander .cfg files for GWX. I am currently using the 7Zipped package (more recent) and all seems to be working. But I don't know that there is any problem with the earlier version, or any reason not to use it. They are different though.

Finally, I have removed all application-specific settings from my nVidia control panel. I am running only the default settings. Apparently, my puny GeForce 540M is happier that way. And I can see no discernible change in my display quality. This may say more about my eyes than the graphics, but I’m OK with it.

My current mod list (in install order):

GWX 3 Wilhemshafen,St Naz,Schluese and xtra ships V7
GWX - 20km Atmosphere (Unofficial Mod)
GWX - Enhanced Damage Effects
GWX - No Medals on Crew
GWX Turm Lights fix
TMTv2+ThomsensShips v4.4 for GWX3+Xtra ships
OLC's Modified Searchlight Beams for GWX3
Pascal_Port_People
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi V2.3 for GWX3
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi - Single Exhaust for TypeII
Sober's Darker Smoke
Torpedo damage Final ver2.0
Scirè-Tikigod- repeated order
TorpedoTubesFfireFinal vGW
Capt. Teach's SH3 Color Icons for GWX 3.0 (Standard)
NeuUZO&PeriV.2
Carotio_SH3_ClothesHatsFacesSkilledCrew
FM_NewInterior v2.1D
BritishAsdicMkIFinal
SHIII Internal Life Mod v1.2
SH-5 Water for SH-3 20 Km V84
sobers waves mod V12 27032013
Realistic contacts with Sub icons
1.4b Assisted Plotting Mod
No continuous 'Ship spotted' V1.2 for GWX3
Spirit of machines - BW
Supplement to V16B1 - GWX
Stiebler4B_Addon_for_V16B1 - GWX
O2-Gauges v2
widescreen_GWX3.0 BW Mod 1.1

And I’m back to playing the game!:yeah:

Good hunting, all!

[Fubar2Niner]

Excellent news BW!Really pleased you have it sorted at last, welcome back to the wolfpack Kaleun. Now go get soe tonnage :arrgh!:

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

[brett25]

good job on figuring that out an thanks for the report and info
Every little bit helps in expanding our knowledge of this dreaded CTD on save issue:salute:

[Jimbuna]

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

[BigWalleye]

Just a final update, now that I have been playing for a while and gained some confidence that my problems have abated. (I don't want to say "fixed" and jinx it!)

My last CTDs occurred just prior to removing TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0. I had been using TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0 (SH3 Cmdr date), installed with JSGME, all the time I had the CTD problem. I removed it from Commander and installed the basic mod TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0 in SH3-GWX, again using JSGME. Once I removed that, the CTDs seemed to cease. BTW, I have not had any CTD problems in my NYGM install, where I use TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0 (SH3 Cmdr date).

I know that TDW has gone on to modding for SH5, where he has done some landmark mods. I don't know whether there is a problem with the mod, or just with some interaction with my mods or with my environment. I doubt that TDW would be interested in coming back to SH3 just to investigate what may be, for his mod, a non-problem. I suspect that there are lots of gamers out there who are using one or the other version of TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0 successfully, or the forum would be full of posts about it. So I think the problem may be peculiar to unique conditions. BUT, if you are having a problem similar to mine, AND you are using TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0, then removing it might be a good place to start.

(Truth in troubleshooting: I had so many other things messed up with my installation that I needed to do a lot more than just remove one mod. All of the fixes I discussed above needed to be done.)

Thanks again, everybody, for your help. Gotta go now and play SH3!

[fitzcarraldo]

Just a final update, now that I have been playing for a while and gained some confidence that my problems have abated. (I don't want to say "fixed" and jinx it!)

My last CTDs occurred just prior to removing TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0. I had been using TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0 (SH3 Cmdr date), installed with JSGME, all the time I had the CTD problem. I removed it from Commander and installed the basic mod TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0 in SH3-GWX, again using JSGME. Once I removed that, the CTDs seemed to cease. BTW, I have not had any CTD problems in my NYGM install, where I use TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0 (SH3 Cmdr date).

I know that TDW has gone on to modding for SH5, where he has done some landmark mods. I don't know whether there is a problem with the mod, or just with some interaction with my mods or with my environment. I doubt that TDW would be interested in coming back to SH3 just to investigate what may be, for his mod, a non-problem. I suspect that there are lots of gamers out there who are using one or the other version of TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0 successfully, or the forum would be full of posts about it. So I think the problem may be peculiar to unique conditions. BUT, if you are having a problem similar to mine, AND you are using TDWs DC Water Disturbance v4.0, then removing it might be a good place to start.

(Truth in troubleshooting: I had so many other things messed up with my installation that I needed to do a lot more than just remove one mod. All of the fixes I discussed above needed to be done.)

Thanks again, everybody, for your help. Gotta go now and play SH3!

TDW Water Disturbance mod cause CTDs in SH4 and in SH3, also. I only use TDW Fires mods, it works fine in my GWX installation.

A request: I see you use the Wilhelmshaven v7. Please, can you try in the Museum if you have a CTD with the greek Giorgio Averoff warship?

Many thanks and regards.

Fitzcarraldo :salute:

[BigWalleye]

Fitzcarraldo, I'm afraid I can't comply with your request. I tried to load the Museum for the first time ever today. I got as far as the selection screen. The first few nations on the list worked OK. Then I tried to select "Greek" from the nation list. Moved the highlight as far as "German" - OK, When I tried to go past "German" I got a CTD. I suppose Greek was next, but it didn't get that far, so I can't say for sure. Never got to see a list of Greek ships. Is this helpful to you?

[fitzcarraldo]

Fitzcarraldo, I'm afraid I can't comply with your request. I tried to load the Museum for the first time ever today. I got as far as the selection screen. The first few nations on the list worked OK. Then I tried to select "Greek" from the nation list. Moved the highlight as far as "German" - OK, When I tried to go past "German" I got a CTD. I suppose Greek was next, but it didn't get that far, so I can't say for sure. Never got to see a list of Greek ships. Is this helpful to you?

The same with my installation. But, with the Wilhelmshaven v6, there aren´t problems with the Museum.

There is in v7 some problem with some ships. I have CTDs with v7 in Mediterranean patrols: It seems the game try to load the Greek ships and crash.

But the greek ships in v6 work fine.

Please, try with Wilhelmshaven v6 and tell us the results.

Many thanks!

Fitzcarraldo :salute:

[BigWalleye]

Sorry, Fitzcarraldo, can't do it at the moment. I'm in the middle of a patrol, and Wilhelmshaven v7 is at the bottom of the stack. From SH4 experience, I never change the mod load except in port, even if I am going to exactly replace it. I will perform the test for you as soon as I get back to port, and PM you the result. Might be a day or so.

[Madox58]

Remove from roster or replace the SMS Schleswig-Holstein files and version 7 runs fine.

[fitzcarraldo]

Remove from roster or replace the SMS Schleswig-Holstein files and version 7 runs fine.

I have problems with the Averoff warship in the Greek roster using v7. Removing the Holstein is the definitive answer for the CTDs?

Best regards.

Fitzcarraldo

[Madox58]

There is no change to the Greek ships in version 7!
I changed the German ship I stated above and all is fine for me.

[fitzcarraldo]

There is no change to the Greek ships in version 7!
I changed the German ship I stated above and all is fine for me.

With v7 I have a CTD in the museum when arrived to Greek roster. With v6 all works fine in the Greek roster...

Many thanks!

Fitzcarraldo

[Madox58]

You get the CTD because of the German ship.
Try it. You'll see.
I traced this down due to your postings so I'm not pulling your leg Mate.
:salute:

[fitzcarraldo]

You get the CTD because of the German ship.
Try it. You'll see.
I traced this down due to your postings so I'm not pulling your leg Mate.
:salute:

OK Many thanks!

Can I delete the Holstein or could I replace it with another ship? What is your solution?

Regards.

Fitzcarraldo

[Madox58]

I did 2 tests.
1. Remove from German Roster before loading the Mod.
2. Replace with files from original ship release.

1. removed the ship but not tested enuff to know if it effects campaign.
2. Unit shows fine in museum so I suspect campaign files are ok also.


I only tracked this down to see if I could answer your question about version 7.

Look at the SMS Schleswig-Holstein in the Museum. If it looks wrong?
Replace or remove it.