MoT-Mod pre-alpha crashtest release

[BureauBert]

As I am stuck with this Mod for quite a while because I am unable to get it running without crashes with the Apolyton Edition, I have now decided to go one step forward : I provide the current state of the Modern Times Mod for download.

Be warned: It still reliably crashes with the Apolyton Edition. This version is not meant as a playable version for gamers, but as a means to facilitate debugging either the source code or the Mod by examining the nature of the crashes (by running crashtests with a debug version, by watching what happens in the game when the crashes occur ... or just by seeing what I have done wrong). I think this is my last chance of getting any further after having posted loads of crash.txt-reports and still being clueless as before .

Otherwise the download may provide some ideas and material for other modders -- please feel free to steal whatever you like

[EPW]

i get this error when loading the scenario:

scen_str.txt line 2588 :
Could not find text for id TILEIMP_CITY_RUINS

And it doesn't want to continue after I tell it to. Do I have to play it in German?

[EPW]

Nevermind, there is a typo in the file: "TILEIMP_CITY_RUINS´" instead of "TILEIMP_CITY_RUINS".

[EPW]

Diplomod is definitely a problem. I tried disabling it and it reeked even more havoc.

[BureauBert]

Thank you EPW -- for your interest and feedback.

Strange that it did never complain about the typo on my pc -- I corrected it (you don't need to play the german version btw: in this preliminary version I still have mixed German/English textfiles in both the "german" and "english" language folders -- which will give you "Babylonian" strings and messages no matter which version you play ).

In order to disable Diplomod it is not only necessary to outcomment the include in "scenario.slc", but also to outcomment the line "SetupDiplomod()" in "setup.slc". Most of the scripts included in "scenario.slc" are accompanied by a call to a setup-function this way (just in case you wish to disable other components as well -- but be warned: there are some complex interdependencies like components using global variables of other components ).

I'd be interested to learn a bit more about why Diplomod definitely is a problem . Anyway, I trust in your expertise and disabled it in the version I provide for download in the hope of making further testing a bit easier.

My first impression is that disabling Diplomod probably speeds up the game at the beginning, but doesn't solve what I will now call the "certain crash on ultra-gigantic map" issue. In the meantime I also did some automated testing on a "large" map, where the game did not crash to desktop but became awfully slow after about 200 turns (to the point of "kind-of-freezing" -- even hard to terminate via task-manager). Probably "cutting" the game into portions of about 100 turns (saving, quitting, restarting) could help in this regard -- at least it did help with my (yet to release) "Cradle+"-version I have been testing recently (Cradle as a scenario, + bigger maps, + "Better Settling" code).

[EPW]

I'd be interested to learn a bit more about why Diplomod definitely is a problem

Oh, I don't know, how about the dozens and dozens of slic errors it causes every turn? The Apolyton Edition causes this with every mod that uses diplomod - I always assumed because the AE incorporate diplomod into the source code.

I'll try it again at some point with SetupDiplomod() disabled.

[Protra3211]

Thank you for the new mod BureauBert!Have only played a 100 turns so far but can see that many changes have been made as well as added touches to graphics.
Some parts of the game are still in german like the the library.But can still pickup what the new additions mean.
I know its a early version so will expect some problems after a while of playing.Will see how it goes. Are you still updating this mod?

[BureauBert]

Well, this is not quite the update I hoped for but still it contains a bunch of improvements and additions that justify a new "minor release" for download.

It's still "pre-everything" because it still crashes after about 200 turns (at least on my pc, with a gigantic map, 18 players, and in automated "AI only" mode).

And, which also qualifies it as "pre everything", the strings are still a mixture of German and English in both language folders. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I am sure I will be able to provide the correct strings for both languages with a crash-free beta-version .

As I have no idea at all what causes the crashes, it might be something in my modifications as well as in the source code (or, even more likely: something in the source code that doesn't like my modifications ).

Therefore I am also putting some of my hopes regarding the crashes on a new playtest release (? ).

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who still works on the source code, especially Martin Gühmann, for not abandoning this great game and for keeping this playground an interesting place!

[Martin Gühmann]

Therefore I am also putting some of my hopes regarding the crashes on a new playtest release (? ).

Maybe I find something that is related to the source code. Well, so far I found that your TILEIMP_PASTURE has no sound.

-Martin

[BureauBert]

TILEIMP_PASTURE has no sound

Fixed, thank you!

Did you get a "regular" error message regarding this one or did you find out by using an extended debugging feature of the "developer"-version you are using? I am asking because I didn't get any warning and I already wondered how EPW could discover a typo in tileimp.txt before I could . I have SLIC debugging on and SLIC events debugging off. Maybe something is wrong with my setup or I should do a fresh install?

[Martin Gühmann]

Did you get a "regular" error message regarding this one or did you find out by using an extended debugging feature of the "developer"-version you are using?

Even the non developer version is a little slow on a gigantic map with 24 players. So running the debug version, which is already slow, on the debugger what makes it even slower, is beyond my patience.

Well I ran it on the final version, it crashed after 50 or 60 turns with an empty crash.txt. So it is up to the debugger, but unfortunately continuing from the autosave produced no crash on the non debug version.

I am asking because I didn't get any warning and I already wondered how EPW could discover a typo in tileimp.txt before I could .

I guess you never had tested the English version before, so the typo never showed up on your screen.

-Martin