I'm having withdrawals, recommend me a mod

[maillemaker]

Once I started playing my purchased copy I began experiencing a bug where my saves would crash the game.

This is a common issue. I personally suspect it is a problem with loading too much information on load - the software is running out of memory or something.

The rule of thumb for SH3 saving is this:
Don't save while submerged.
Don't save within render range of other ships.

Steve