Saving the game...

[bojan811]

When is the best time to save the game?

In several occasions i attacked a convoy and when the escort spotted me i had to go deep and silent...which is fine by me...for me the "chase is better then the hunt"...

...But the trouble is because am playing in 1xTC when hunted and if the attack occurred late in the war and there are 2 or more DD-s the hunt it self can last for 1-2h maybe more.Few times i saved the game because it was too late (3-4 AM) for me and i had to go to bed (work and stuff in the morning) and when i come back the next day and try to reload my save the game crashes.And i can only in best case reload some early file before I even encountered convoy.

So this i a bit frustrating for me , i have to watch out not to encounter a convoy in 1 am because maybe it can prolong my playing for hours and i can save when ever i wont and go to sleep with out a fear of corrupted save games and entire patrol effort lost.

So what is your best advice for such problem?
Or better what do you do in situations like this?

[postalbyke]

I just pause (backspace) and either hit the "windows" button or alt-tab to the desktop and leave my computer running, i've never had problems getting it back the next day... i only save and exit if i'm completely in the clear and on the surface or if i'm in port (no ctd, no death-dive, no zombie ships)

[frau kaleun]

The 'save game bug' is a known issue with the game from stock on up. Sometimes corrupted saves just happen for who knows what reason, but the general consensus seems to be that it is safest to make saves only when you are

1) on the surface, and
2) cannot see or hear any contacts (i.e. no other units within range), and
3) are beyond visual range of any land.

The reason being, I suppose, that any stuff other than you and the empty sea/sky that's around when you save and exit has to be recreated by the game when you reload from that save point. Or at least the game will try to recreate it, in the same location and condition as when you left, and the more stuff there is for it to save and recreate, the higher the likelihood that something will go wrong in the process.

It's also advisable to hit ESC and make saves periodically when nothing is going on... just make the save and then continue playing if you're not ready to end the session. That way if the last one you made won't load, you can work backwards through a series of saves until you find one that's good. At least that way you don't lose an entire patrol.

[bojan811]

Thanks for the rep FK.

I wonder would it be possible to hibernate PC with the game still on?
And that way when i start the comp I simply enter the game like i just turn of the monitor and not the whole PC?

Edit:

Bit of topic but no less of importance.

Am running a Sh3 +1.4b patch + gwx gold on a win 7 64b.
And i have a problem to load a Single missions.
The bar comes to 90-95 % and just stand there and eventually the game crashes any idea regarding this?
Anybody?

[bojan811]

Originally Posted by postalbyke

I just pause (backspace) and either hit the "windows" button or alt-tab to the desktop and leave my computer running, i've never had problems getting it back the next day... i only save and exit if i'm completely in the clear and on the surface or if i'm in port (no ctd, no death-dive, no zombie ships)

Nice one.

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by bojan811

Thanks for the rep FK.

I wonder would it be possible to hibernate PC with the game still on?
And that way when i start the comp I simply enter the game like i just turn of the monitor and not the whole PC?

Edit:

Bit of topic but no less of importance.

Am running a Sh3 +1.4b patch + gwx gold on a win 7 64b.
And i have a problem to load a Single missions.
The bar comes to 90-95 % and just stand there and eventually the game crashes any idea regarding this?
Anybody?

Hibernating is actually a likely cause of making it crash. Game developers (and probably graphics driver developers probably too) do not expect this functionality of a game, or just don't care what happens during a game session. Since the usual intent is to play it, and not keep it dormant. Do not expect this to be supported. If it works fine, but I doubt it.

[sublynx]

Originally Posted by bojan811

Thanks for the rep FK.

I wonder would it be possible to hibernate PC with the game still on?
And that way when i start the comp I simply enter the game like i just turn of the monitor and not the whole PC?

Hibernating works mostly fine with me (Windows 7 32-bit, SH3 + GWX, laptop). Sometimes problems with background sounds and the system might crash if I try to do something other than continue playing. But it definetely is something worth trying.

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by bojan811

Am running a Sh3 +1.4b patch + gwx gold on a win 7 64b.
And i have a problem to load a Single missions.
The bar comes to 90-95 % and just stand there and eventually the game crashes any idea regarding this?
Anybody?

This usually indicates a memory issue, such as too many mods and not enough RAM. If you're running 2GB or less on your system it doesn't take long to overload the memory capacity.

Then again, even if you have 4GB (or more) the game will only access the first 2 until you apply the 4GB patch.

[bojan811]

I have 4 GB of RAM but for the past few days my system gone wild.
I got the blue screen of death yesterday while in SH3 and today while installing update for adobe flesh player.

And 3 days ago i applied that patch you referring to.
Could this be related to one another or just coincidence?


Anybody had same issues?

EDIT:
Ok enabled 4 gb patch run just 3 mods CLAssamblage graphic pack , thompsens sound pack v3, das boot main movie, no medals on crew...and no successes.
But my academy and career thank god work flawlessly.

I remember first time i installed this mods and start to play sh3 with it i had same issues with gwx missions i think, but now the vanilla sh3 missions are problem too.

[bojan811]

Originally Posted by sublynx

Hibernating works mostly fine with me (Windows 7 32-bit, SH3 + GWX, laptop). Sometimes problems with background sounds and the system might crash if I try to do something other than continue playing. But it definetely is something worth trying.

I make it work with Medieval 2 total war.So if i need to i will try with sh3 also.

Originally Posted by Pisces

Hibernating is actually a likely cause of making it crash. Game developers (and probably graphics driver developers probably too) do not expect this functionality of a game, or just don't care what happens during a game session. Since the usual intent is to play it, and not keep it dormant. Do not expect this to be supported. If it works fine, but I doubt it.

Like i sad it worked for me in medieval 2 total war.
So well see if it work here.

[bojan811]

error problem log:

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: sh3.exe
Application Version: 1.4.0.1
Application Timestamp: 00000000
Fault Module Name: StackHash_cda8
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00000000
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 9242
Additional Information 1: cda8
Additional Information 2: cda8483c32154a9f3a892cb29fc2293d
Additional Information 3: 7e37
Additional Information 4: 7e37e074d90e8533915c18ce725512e6

[Daniel Prates]

Originally Posted by postalbyke

I just pause (backspace) and either hit the "windows" button or alt-tab to the desktop and leave my computer running, i've never had problems getting it back the next day... i only save and exit if i'm completely in the clear and on the surface or if i'm in port (no ctd, no death-dive, no zombie ships)

I don't know for sure about SH3, but in SH4 alt-tabbing is the leading cause for errors and such.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

The 'save game bug' is a known issue with the game from stock on up. Sometimes corrupted saves just happen for who knows what reason, but the general consensus seems to be that it is safest to make saves only when you are

1) on the surface, and
2) cannot see or hear any contacts (i.e. no other units within range), and
3) are beyond visual range of any land.

The reason being, I suppose, that any stuff other than you and the empty sea/sky that's around when you save and exit has to be recreated by the game when you reload from that save point. Or at least the game will try to recreate it, in the same location and condition as when you left, and the more stuff there is for it to save and recreate, the higher the likelihood that something will go wrong in the process.

It's also advisable to hit ESC and make saves periodically when nothing is going on... just make the save and then continue playing if you're not ready to end the session. That way if the last one you made won't load, you can work backwards through a series of saves until you find one that's good. At least that way you don't lose an entire patrol.

The first thing that happens during the rendering process is that the scripted and random models lose they're waypoints, the equilibrium/everything running as intended is lost by the game engine which attempts to rectify matters but in so doing forces the two aforementioned campaign layers to act out of sync....the CPU is unable to cope with the tens of thousands of SH3 world events (remember, the whole SH3 is scripted upon loading) going on at the same time, thus the resultant CTD.

[Kapt Z]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

It's also advisable to hit ESC and make saves periodically when nothing is going on... just make the save and then continue playing if you're not ready to end the session. That way if the last one you made won't load, you can work backwards through a series of saves until you find one that's good. At least that way you don't lose an entire patrol.

That's what I do.

I have walked away from a juicy convoy more than once just because I stumbled upon it too late at night in RL and didn't want to risk a corrupted save or an early death because I was rushing.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Kapt Z

That's what I do.

I have walked away from a juicy convoy more than once just because I stumbled upon it too late at night in RL and didn't want to risk a corrupted save or an early death because I was rushing.

Oh man I hate when that happens. To the point where I hardly ever play on a "school night" any more unless I'm just starting a new patrol and leaving port or very close to getting home and ending one. In both situations it's usually easy to get some time in without running into a situation where it's a choice between giving up a juicy target or being up another 2-3 hours attacking and/or dodging enemy ASW.

If I'm out where it's more likely that I'll run into something serious and/or very tempting, I try to wrap it up well before bedtime so I'm not tempted to stay up and attack that next target that comes along 15 minutes before I'm supposed to be all tucked in for the night.