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Military Screen Inaccessible After Save!

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May 2, 2001
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As a very satisfied EU/EU2 player, I finally got around
to buyng HOI, UK edition, version 1.03 off the CD-ROM.
I played for an hour or so as France in the long (1936-48)
scenario, saved in 1938, and today tried to resume the
game. The game seems to load the save file just fine,
and my research program is clearly as it was when I
saved the game. But I can no longer see *any*
military units on the Military screen. Indeed, there
is no visible difference between the Military screen
and the Diplomatic screen with my home country
selected. That sort-of makes the game unplayable.

I went back to earlier saved games. The first several
are reloadable, up until October 1937. But the saves
from April and August 1938 both remove the Military
screen.

I am running Win2K Professional. I have *not*
installed any patches, as the CD install seems to
be the same version as the current patch level.
Do I need to install the 1.03b patch anyway?

Could this be related to whether or not I have
the game CD-ROM in the drive? It is possible that
the first few saves were done after the install, with
the CD still in the machine. Certainly, the last save
was done without the CD present - I had fired up the
game, expecting it to ask for the CD, and when it let
me play without complaining, well, I went ahead and
played.

I did a quick search on this forum, but saw no
reference to this problem. I assume that my
last year of play is lost forever, but what do I
need to do to keep this from happening in
future games???
 
If you are playing 1.03 you are not on the latest version. As you mentioned 1.03B is the latest.

I suggest the following:
1) Upgrade to 1.03B
2) Make sure your Audio & Video drivers are the latest available.
3) Rename your AVI folder to AVI-back.
 
I applied the 1.03b (UK) patch and renamed the AVI
directory as per instructions. My video (Matrox) and
sound (SB PCI) drivers were updated only a few weeks
ago. I tried starting up the problematic saved game.
The results were different. Instead of finding myself
in a game with no Militiary screen, the game hung in
the "Loading Scenario" phase for over an hour (I
wandered off for a while to see if it would ever come
out of it - it didn't). I applied Ctl-Alt-Del to get to the
Task Manager, and discovered a previously hidden
dialogue box:

Critical error!

--- ERROR : (Date : unexpected field) 'movement = {' Line 21194 file = scenarios\save games\France_1938_August_15.eng. ---

Do you still want to continue?

[Abort] [Retry] [Ignore]

I could not activate the dialogue box with my mouse,
but was able to get to it using the keyboard, selected
"Abort", and that shut down the game and restored
my previous screen settings.

So there would seem to be a save-game corruption problem
in the UK 1.0.3 release. Is this known? Is this fixed in 1.0.3b?
Is there someone I should send the saved game to?

Please acknowledge.
 
One last detail on the hang with 1.0.3b that I just
described - it's not as if the machine was idle. During
the whole hour of the hang, it was accessing the hard
drive heavily and the CDROM occasionally. There was no
obvious "rhythm" to the hard drive accesses, or I would
have suspected an infinite loop much earlier.
 
The saves are not compatible between versions.
Sorry but you will have to start a new game.
I would also suggest renaming the AVI folder as this has been known to cause problems with some systems.
 
Originally posted by Castellon
The saves are not compatible between versions.
Sorry but you will have to start a new game.
Click to expand...
Basic rule of tech support: You're supposed to tell me that
BEFORE you tell me to apply the upgrade. ;o)

Basic rule of software engineering: You don't give two
incompatible versions of the same program the same
release numnber, i.e. 1.03 and 1.03b.

I understand that this is a complex piece of software,
but I must say that, after playing EU and EU2, I'm surprised
and disappointed by all this.
I would also suggest renaming the AVI folder as this has been known to cause problems with some systems.
Click to expand...
I had already done so, as I stated in message #3 in this thread.
 
Originally posted by Lord Balzingo
Basic rule of tech support: You're supposed to tell me that
BEFORE you tell me to apply the upgrade. ;o)
Click to expand...

First rules for software users, READ the sticky threads, READ the readme file. :p


Basic rule of software engineering: You don't give two
incompatible versions of the same program the same
release numnber, i.e. 1.03 and 1.03b.
Click to expand...

In the software gaming industry, Version numbering has nothing to do with compatiblity! ;)


I understand that this is a complex piece of software,
but I must say that, after playing EU and EU2, I'm surprised
and disappointed by all this.
Click to expand...

Sorry you are disapointed. :(


I had already done so, as I stated in message #3 in this thread.
Click to expand...

Just wanted to make sure during your install or uninstall that it did not get overwritten. :)
 
Originally posted by Castellon
First rules for software users, READ the sticky threads, READ the readme file. :p
Click to expand...

Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you READ the sticky thread
entitled "Latest Patch for HOI is Version 1.03b", YOU personally
stated, regarding Version 1.03b, that "All patches should be
backward compatible (you don't need to start a fresh game)"
though you of course encourage people to finish their current
games before upgrading. In my case, in response to my reporting
my inability to finish my current game, you suggested that
I upgrade with the 1.03b patch. I see messages on this forum
which suggest that games are not, in fact, compatible between
1.02 and 1.03b. If there are any which state that 1.03 and 1.03b
are incompatible, I missed them.

No big deal. I'll start the game over the next time I find some
time to game. Just please don't add insult to injury by telling
me to RTFM, when in fact all I did was do what you told me.

And do try to remember that being sarcastic with your customers
isn't necessarily appropriate. You are being paid to do this
(at least, I certainly hope so!). We paid for the privilege. ;o)
 
Originally posted by Lord Balzingo
And do try to remember that being sarcastic with your customers isn't necessarily appropriate. You are being paid to do this (at least, I certainly hope so!). We paid for the privilege. ;o)
Click to expand...
Nope. None of the support staff are paid. We are gaming enthusiasts, too, who have volunteered our time and energy to help other players. We do the best that we can but Paradox has neither the staff nor funds to have a battery of Microsoft-type tech support people in place to help the customers.

Just thought you'd like to know. :)
 
Originally posted by Lord Balzingo

And do try to remember that being sarcastic with your customers
isn't necessarily appropriate. You are being paid to do this
(at least, I certainly hope so!). We paid for the privilege. ;o)
Click to expand...

Nope, I do not get paid, which is why it is hard to take sarcasm from the people I am volunteering to help on my own time.
If you read the readme file it states that this version will not be compatible.

As for the sticky thread, your emphasis is an incorrect characterization. Often the versions are compatible but there is no guarantee. I think it is a clear warning.

If you find my technical advice bad, feel free to ingnore it in the future. :)
 
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