Mystery Crash Investigation Needed!

[curtsibling]

I have a problem -

And one with CIV2 as well!

While playtesting my Kingdoms of Steel scenario, which is turning out to be quite a fun empire builder;

I notice that the game always crashes on the discovery of Invention...Although I cannot see why...

Mine eyes are reeling with staring at the rules file too much.

Perhaps a text-hero with a fresh outlook can uncover something I am missing here?

Any help would be hugely appreciated!

The person who helps me sovle this riddle will be given the island of Malta as a reward.

Just go there and claim your prize!

@CIVILIZE
Advanced Wizardry, 5,-1, Rad, ToG, 0, 4 ; AFl 0
Alphabet, 5, 1, nil, nil, 0, 3 ; Alp
Munition Armour, 3,-2, Stl, Rob, 3, 0 ; Amp
Astronomy, 4, 1, Mys, Mat, 1, 3 ; Ast
Theory of Magicka, 4,-1, ToG, Phy, 2, 3 ; Ato
Municipality, 6,-1, Cor, Stl, 3, 1 ; Aut 5
Banking, 4, 1, Tra, Cmp, 1, 1 ; Ban
Bridge Building, 4, 0, Mas, Cst, 1, 4 ; Bri
Chain Armour, 6,-1, CA, nil, 1, 0 ; Bro
Ceremonial Burial, 5, 0, X2, nil, 1, 2 ; Cer
Chemistry, 5,-1, Med, Pla, 2, 3 ; Che 10
Chivalry, 4,-2, Feu, Hor, 1, 0 ; Chi
King's Laws, 4, 1, Cmp, Mon, 1, 3 ; CoL
Armour Crafting, 5,-1, War, nil, 2, 0 ; CA
Paddle Steamers, 5,-1, SE, Met, 3, 3 ; Cmb
Agrarianism, 5, 0, Ind, Phi, 2, 2 ; Cmn 15
Law and Customs, 4, 1, Wri, nil, 1, 2 ; Cmp
Advanced Gunpower, 7,-1, Met, MP, 3, 0 ; Csc
Large Buildings, 4, 0, Mas, Cur, 1, 4 ; Cst
Trading Companies, 4, 0, Ind, Eco, 3, 1 ; Cor
Currency, 4, 1, Bro, nil, 1, 1 ; Cur 20
Democracy, 5, 1, Ind, Rep, 3, 2 ; Dem
Economics, 4, 1, Uni, Ban, 2, 1 ; Eco
Lightning Control, 4, 0, Rad, Mag, 0, 4 ; E1
Civic Bureacracy, 4, 1, Aut, Uni, 3, 1 ; E2
Engineering, 4, 0, Whe, Cst, 2, 4 ; Eng 25
Alchemy, 3, 1, Che, Uni, 2, 3 ; Env
Espionage, 2,-1, Eco, Ldr, 3, 2 ; Esp
Land Engineering, 5, 0, Eco, Eng, 2, 4 ; Exp
Feudalism, 4,-1, Mon, Tra, 1, 4 ; Feu
Battle Wizardry, 4,-1, Rad, Chi, 0, 4 ; Fli 30
Theocracy, 3,-2, The, Feu, 1, 2 ; Fun
Aetherius Fusion, 6,-1, NP, nil, 0, 4 ; FP
Armoured Horsemen, 5,-1, Stl, Hor, 1, 0 ; Gen
Peasant Militia, 4, 1, Feu, War, 1, 0 ; Gue
Gunpowder, 8,-2, Inv, Mag, 3, 0 ; Gun 35
Horseback Riding, 4,-1, X6, nil, 0, 0 ; Hor
Industry, 6, 0, Min, Ban, 3, 3 ; Ind
Invention, 6, 0, Uni, Rob, 3, 4 ; Inv
Lamellar Armour, 5,-1, Bro, War, 2, 0 ; Iro
High Chivalry, 6,-1, Tac, The, 1, 0 ; Lab 40
Asari Horse Riding, 0, 0, no, no, 0, 0 ; Las
Knightly Orders, 4,-1, Chi, CoL, 1, 0 ; Ldr
Literacy, 5, 2, Wri, CoL, 1, 3 ; Lit
Machine Tools, 5, 1, Rob, Inv, 2, 4 ; Too
Heavy Frigates, 4,-1, Nav, Gun, 1, 3 ; Mag 45
Map Making, 6,-1, Alp, nil, 0, 3 ; Map
Brick Construction, 4, 1, Pot, nil, 1, 4 ; Mas
Replaceable Parts, 5, 1, Too, Stl, 3, 3 ; MP
Mathematics, 4,-1, Alp, Mas, 1, 3 ; Mat
Medicine, 4, 0, Phy, Tra, 2, 3 ; Med 50
Metallurgy, 6,-2, Gun, Uni, 2, 3 ; Met
Magick Engine, 4, 1, Too, E1, 3, 3 ; Min
Pistoliers, 7,-1, Gun, Gen, 3, 0 ; Mob
Monarchy, 5, 1, Cmp, PT, 1, 2 ; Mon
Monotheism, 5, 1, Phi, PT, 1, 2 ; MT 55
Mysticism, 4, 0, Cer, nil, 0, 2 ; Mys
Navigation, 6,-1, Sea, Ast, 1, 1 ; Nav
Otherworldly Power, 6,-1, Sth, Min, 0, 4 ; NF
Magicka Maelstrom, 6,-1, NF, nil, 0, 4 ; NP
Philosophy, 6, 1, Mys, Lit, 1, 2 ; Phi 60
Physics, 4,-1, Nav, Lit, 1, 3 ; Phy
Scholastic Study, 4, 1, Lit, Mys, 1, 3 ; Pla
Imperial Legions, 0, 0, no, no, 1, 0 ; Plu
Ritualism, 4, 0, Cer, Hor, 0, 2 ; PT
Pottery, 4, 1, nil, nil, 0, 1 ; Pot 65
Wizardry, 5,-1, U2, Cmp, 0, 4 ; Rad
Iron Roads, 6, 0, Ind, Bri, 3, 4 ; RR
Doomsday Weapon, 8,-1, FP, NP, 0, 4 ; Rec
Magick Potions, 4, 0, Env, Uni, 0, 4 ; Ref
Improved Farming, 3, 1, Feu, San, 1, 4 ; Rfg 70
The Republic, 5, 1, Ldr, Eco, 3, 2 ; Rep
Mechanics, 5, 1, Eng, Mat, 2, 4 ; Rob
Advanced Siegecraft,6,-2, Met, Tac, 3, 0 ; Roc
Sanitation, 4, 2, Med, Eng, 2, 4 ; San
Seafaring, 4, 1, Map, Pot, 1, 4 ; Sea 75
Weapon Enchantment, 4,-1, Fli, CA, 0, 4 ; SFl
Etymologicalism, 4, 1, Sup, AFl, 0, 4 ; Sth
Steam Frigates, 4,-1, Inv, X7, 3, 3 ; SE
Steel Plate Armour, 4,-1, Iro, Eng, 1, 0 ; Stl
Temporal Phylogeny, 4, 1, Uni, Rad, 0, 4 ; Sup 80
Knightly Tactics, 5,-1, Ldr, Stl, 1, 0 ; Tac
Theology, 3, 2, MT, Feu, 1, 2 ; The
Arcanum Theory, 4, 0, Ast, Uni, 2, 3 ; ToG
Trade, 4, 2, Cur, CoL, 0, 1 ; Tra
University, 5, 1, Pla, Phi, 1, 3 ; Uni 85
Warrior Code, 4,-1, nil, nil, 0, 0 ; War
Wheeled Carts, 4,-1, X6, nil, 1, 4 ; Whe
Writing, 4, 2, Alp, nil, 0, 3 ; Wri
Magicka Research, 1, 0, Rad, nil, 0, 4 ; ...
Study of Magick, 3, 0, X4, Lit, 0, 4 ; U1 90
Magick Colleges, 3, 0, U1, Tra, 0, 4 ; U2 91
Warrior Cults, 0, 0, no, no, 0, 0 ; U3 92
Advanced Archery, 4,-1, Mat, War, 0, 0 ; X1 93
Paganism, 3, 0, nil, nil, 0, 2 ; X2 94
Shamanism, 3, 0, X2, nil, 0, 2 ; X3 95
Primitive Magick, 3, 0, X3, Wri, 0, 4 ; X4 96
Animal Speech, 3, 0, Rad, X6, 0, 4 ; X5 97
Domestication, 3, 0, nil, nil, 1, 4 ; X6 98
Large Ship Hulls, 4,-1, Mag, Met, 1, 3 ; X7 99


And the file in text format:

[Boco]

Hmmm...

If I'm reading this correctly, Gunpowder (Gun) and Heavy Frigates (Mag) each require the other as a Preq. Gun also requires Inv. So maybe when Inv is discovered, Civ2.exe reads the illegal loop and crashes.

So if that's right, drop Mag from the Gun line or Gun from the Mag line and you should be okay.

[Mercator]

That's interesting. I thought Civ2 would crash on start-up when it encountered a loop (I guess not).

But that's an interesting way of finding out how Civ2 reads the tech tree.

[Boco]

I'm sure it was just a planned test that Curt forgot about. I do those at work all the time.

[Exile]

Yes Merc, sometimes the game will load up and run . . . until it must encounter the loop head on.

I've loaded up several times and hit the cheat button, started looking at the techs, and realized a loop had been created. But its usually caught in time.

Curt, did that solve the problem?

[curtsibling]

Thanks guys!

Gonna test it now,

I substituted Alchemy for Magnetism for the Gunpowder preqs - (makes more sense anyway)

The problem must have formed when I was meddling with techs to create a naval research path.

I let youse know if it works!

[curtsibling]

Seems to work now!

PS
Do many of you use the tech tree display feature in the CIVpedia?

It's bladdy useful!
I am going to make screenies of each major tech in the scen and keep em' for reference!