CTD Everytime in AN54

[TiberiusoftheSea]

Greetings SUBSIM community!



Long time lurker here finally surfacing his boat to seek some much needed advice from his fellow kaleuns. I'm running a legit copy of SH3 (non-steam) with GWX 3.0 and SH3 Commander on Windows 7. I have a handful of mods installed and seem to have a solid setup going.

Although I've been playing (and modding) SH3 for many, many years, I've never played it "long term" however. I have some time on my hands at the moment and finally have a decent PC so decided to do it right.

I set myself up in the 7th/13th and ended my first patrol after a few minutes. I managed to jump ahead to August 31st (using SH3 Commander's days in base option and purchasing the hydrophone upgrade) and set myself grid location AN54 to pre-empt September 3rd with the idea of attacking Hartlepool.

When all things were said and done, I'd sunk eight ships for a total of 20,000 c. tons (with random tonnage enabled.) As I set a course out of the harbor, I made a save. As I headed ENE towards Blyth, I experienced a CTD. Looking at the crash report, the application to blame is 'Sound.act'.

I've tried to research what may cause this, however there doesn't appear to be any direct info. I'm assuming it's a sound file causing the crash, though which and why is a mystery. I tried disabling my mods (mid-patrol... I know) but the game would CTD when loading my saved career. I tried leaving Hartlepool in other directions, however the game would CTD every time.

Now, I noted that when I wasn't running TC I would get the Radio Message bug where I was being told that my home base had changed - this is, I'm assuming, due to the fact I ignored all the instructions when starting with the 7th flotilla. Unable to fix the bug nor leave Hartlepool, I uninstalled everything, cleaned up my PC, re-installed to my SSD and proceeded to start afresh.

This time, I started with the 2nd flotilla and conducted an eight day patrol before returning to base. Everything was going really well so I decided to set myself grid square AN54 again to carry on where I left off last time. I saved just as I entered the grid and set a small search course around the square. The date was September 2nd so I knew by the time my course had finished, I was free to move on Hartlepool

Or so I thought...

As I proceeded ENE I got another CTD! Again in roughly the same place! I tried loading my game several times and each time the game CTD in the same place. I took a screenshot but haven't figured the best way of attaching to this post just yet. It's roughly over a dark (so I'm assuming deep) spot on the map this time and was random on my previous career.

Has anyone ever come across anything like this before? I'd really like to be able to play this awesome game however at the moment it's impossible. Any thoughts, tips or advice are welcome.

Things I've tried:
- Running with no extra TC,
- Running with sounds off in the menu,
- Running on the surface/underwater,
- Trying to move in different directions at different speeds,
Etc , etc.

If push comes to shove, I'll reload my game before I set out on this patrol and opt for a different grid square however I'm very keen to know what may be causing my CTD. I managed to get into Hartlepool on my first career but couldn't get out. This time around I can barely move into the grid square!

Thanks for reading,

~ TiberiusoftheSea ~

PS: Is there a way of changing our usernames? I setup this account years ago when mods were "free to download" after getting locked out of my previous account. I'm interested in becoming a donor and would rather do it under my gaming ID - not this - but also realize multiple accounts are against the rules.

[Aktungbby]

TiberiusoftheSea!

[THEBERBSTER]

A Warm Welcome To The Subsim Community > TiberiusoftheSea
Subsim <> Make A Donation <> See The Benefits <> Support The Community
SH3-4-5 Tutorials And Other Information Links In My Signature Below

What is your game installation path?
You do not want to install your game in the Program files x86 directory as it has restrictions which can cause problems.
Run all you applications as administrators as well.
Please post your mod list.
Post #9 JSGME How To Export Your Mod List To A Subsim Post

[David I]

Well I don't know if this helps, but one of the basics of saving the game is not to do that within 50km of land. If you saved as you left the harbor and you were within 50km your inviting a crash.

The other basics are not saving while in sight of an enemy or while submerged.

Hope that helps.

David I

[CaptBones]

Well, I'm no expert and not an authority of any sort on the mysteries of SHIII...but...what THEBERBSTER pointed to should help you out.

Before I increased my machine's RAM and upgraded SH3.exe with the 4gb patch (or LAA), I had experienced saved games crashing when I was within 50km of anything when I saved and exited the game. Saving within 50km of land, ships, planes...anything including ships that I'd just recently sunk...seemed to be "poison".

Since you pointed out that the sound.act file seems to be the culprit, I'm wondering of you were inside that 50km zone from a ship, or ships, that you had recently sunk, but were still in existence below the "sea surface" slowly sinking and generating the sinking noises (even if you aren't within "hearing" range) that continue until the wreck gets to the bottom and "dissolves". Or, perhaps you were within 50km of another noise generating ship, including those in harbor.

Those problems that I experienced almost all seemed to go away when I applied the 4gb patch, but I still pay heed to that 50km "rule".

Good luck...good hunting...sink 'em all!

[schlechter pfennig]

Would you, please, post the list of mods you are running?

[TiberiusoftheSea]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

TiberiusoftheSea!

Thanks for the welcome.

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

A Warm Welcome To The Subsim Community > TiberiusoftheSea
Subsim <> Make A Donation <> See The Benefits <> Support The Community
SH3-4-5 Tutorials And Other Information Links In My Signature Below

You need to install the Large Address Aware (LAA) application to increase the games memory.
Large Address Aware (LAA) > Download Link < Essential Application for SH4
Further information can be found in my SH4 tutorials.

What is your game installation path?
You do not want to install your game in the Program files x86 directory as it has restrictions which can cause problems.
Run all you applications as administrators as well.
Please post your mod list.
Post #9 JSGME How To Export Your Mod List To A Subsim Post

Thanks for the welcome. I've already got HsieOptionsSelector installed using the V16B1-Patch-Kit which includes the 4GB patch - I assume LAA would be pointless on top of it? Also, you've stated it's for SH4?

Game installation was initially on a 1tb HDD used for only games - my C drive is on an SSD. When I re-installed SH3 this time around, I installed it directly on my SSD but in its own folder; I stayed away from the Program Files folders.

Regarding my mod list... In my infinite wisdom four years ago, I copied across my mods, images etc to an external drive for backup. Along the way I've somehow managed to rename them... Yeah... I know what they are, but not what they were originally called

Originally Posted by David I

Well I don't know if this helps, but one of the basics of saving the game is not to do that within 50km of land. If you saved as you left the harbor and you were within 50km your inviting a crash.

The other basics are not saving while in sight of an enemy or while submerged.

Hope that helps.

David I

Hi David. I had read somewhere once that there was a suggested "safe zone" for saving the game though I thought it was 30km. Not sure why I thought that but thanks for telling me it is actually 50km. With my original install, of course I was in the actual harbor and the game would have crashed around the 50km mark so you may be on to something there. However... with my latest install and fresh start, I saved many miles (200km+) out to sea and still CTD in AN54.

I've never saved while submerged - again I read it somewhere once. In fact, I always save on the surface with no ships around and after pressing F2. Probably doesn't affect anything, but always did it that way. The only exception is immediately after starting a patrol. My initial save is while at the dock/port and that save always loads 100% fine.

Originally Posted by CaptBones

Well, I'm no expert and not an authority of any sort on the mysteries of SHIII...but...what THEBERBSTER pointed to should help you out.

Before I increased my machine's RAM and upgraded SH3.exe with the 4gb patch (or LAA), I had experienced saved games crashing when I was within 50km of anything when I saved and exited the game. Saving within 50km of land, ships, planes...anything including ships that I'd just recently sunk...seemed to be "poison".

Since you pointed out that the sound.act file seems to be the culprit, I'm wondering of you were inside that 50km zone from a ship, or ships, that you had recently sunk, but were still in existence below the "sea surface" slowly sinking and generating the sinking noises (even if you aren't within "hearing" range) that continue until the wreck gets to the bottom and "dissolves". Or, perhaps you were within 50km of another noise generating ship, including those in harbor.

Those problems that I experienced almost all seemed to go away when I applied the 4gb patch, but I still pay heed to that 50km "rule".

Good luck...good hunting...sink 'em all!

Thanks for the detailed reply. As mentioned above in this reply thread, I have the 4GB patch already installed. It does make a huge difference. Shame I can't utilize the full 16GB I have available though (SH3 remake anyone?)

With the CTD I had the first time round, I'd sunk eight ships so could well believe those were the "poison" that caused it, however with my new install, I hadn't fired a single shot. I have noticed that some of the harbor ships in Wilhelmshaven and Kiel tend to beach themselves and burn but always assumed this was a bug in GWX? Aside from them, I simply went on patrol. No damage dealt.

Regarding the sound.act bug... does anyone know why it causes a crash? I have modified many of the stock sounds in the game sampling from various mods as well as my own material however the bug occurs with or without those sound mods installed.

As above, I was aware there was a "safe zone" for saving and am confident I was well outside of any danger when I saved. I have a screen shot taken just before the CTD and we're looking at 200km + easily.

Originally Posted by schlechter pfennig

Would you, please, post the list of mods you are running?

Regarding my mod list... In my infinite wisdom four years ago, I copied across my mods, images etc to an external drive for backup. Along the way I've somehow managed to rename them... Yeah... I know what they are, but not what they were originally called


Thanks all for your replies. Although I still have this issue, its been a pleasure