US Civil War 2012 - Scenario Idea/Discussion

[curtsibling]

Have you tried Merc's tech tree diagnostic program?



Post up your rules and I will run a test!

[McMonkey]

Could you post a link to where I can download this utility. I cannot find it on Mercator's site and its not in my Utilities folder. I remember testing it once and being impressed but I cannot remember where I have put it now I need it!

[Jerec]

http://apolyton.net/upload/view.php?file=94070_859_civ2tech.zip

Instructions-

Just drag the rules.txt onto the unzipped program. It'll show one error at a time. After the first error is found, correct the error, re-drag the rules.txt, correct the next error, and repeat until no more errors are found.

[McMonkey]

Thanks Jerec. What a handy utility. Thankfully everything was OK. I hope it helps you out Ghost!

[curtsibling]

Indeed, it is a good little program.

A clever guy is that Mercator fellow!

[GhostOfDisco]

Well, according to civ2tech, the rules files is OK...

So what's causing the crash, I don't know... Could it be some of the other files?

[GhostOfDisco]

So ... nobody is able and/or willing to find out why the scenario crashes?

Also, should I change some of the candidates? The Union side seems OK, but since either Hillary or Obama is going to be the front-runner ... I'd prefer this scenario not become obsolete/anachronistic by November...

[EZRhino]

You know that you truly have the gift of the silver tongue if you're able to get people to bug hunt for you

If its crashing right away its in the rules somewhere. My technique for locating this type of problem is to take a vanilla MGE rules.txt and copy and paste one section at a time (form the scenario rules), booting up the scenario after each edit; stopping the first time it crashes. This should quickly help you narrow it down to the buggy section

I wouldn't bother /w changing the candidates names.

[GhostOfDisco]

I might do that, though Mercator's utility found nothing wrong...

Also, the scenario usually doesn't crash until sometime in the game. It starts up fine, and, at least for the first few turns, works like a charm...

[GhostOfDisco]

Well, I can tell you that while right now I'm focusing on my Sobieski scenario, this scenario has not been forgotten! (In fact, my paper's discussion of the election season made me think of it...)

I'm wondering just what could be causing the game to crash. If the rules.txt is fine, and the events file doesn't cause it, what does? Could it be the modifications I made to the in-game text (Game, Labels etc.?) I've never heard of those causing the game to crash, and I'd like to know why it does so so I can fix it polish the game, and release at least a public beta or something.

Of course, with the way the Democratic primary seems to be going, I might have to make Obama the CNA President instead of the runner-up...

[GhostOfDisco]

Yes, I'm still working (sorta) on this scenario!

Did a "playtest" as the Neutrals, using the USA events file. (Playtested some as the Union last night, and the critics are right about "too many units!") Well, even though I'm not the Union, the game crashed in July/August, and I got this message:

AppName: civ2.exe AppVer: 0.0.0.0 ModName: civ2.exe
ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 00028b40

And I've got no idea why! If the rules file is fine (at least according to Mercator's utility), and the events file doesn't make it crash ... what does?

[Jerec]

Originally posted by GhostOfDisco
...
And I've got no idea why! If the rules file is fine (at least according to Mercator's utility ), and the events file doesn't make it crash ... what does?

Merc's utility, Civ2Tech, only checks the technologies, so there still might be a bug in the rules.

Try using EZRhino's method of bug-finding.

Although, this method only works if you can check the scen quickly after each rules change, and from what you say, the crash happens a few turns into the game. Or longer?

[Boco]

Originally posted by GhostOfDisco
I'm wondering just what could be causing the game to crash. If the rules.txt is fine, and the events file doesn't cause it, what does? Could it be the modifications I made to the in-game text (Game, Labels etc.?)

Is the crash sequence reproducible from a sav file? If so, can you describe what occurs immediately before the crash?

[GhostOfDisco]

Originally posted by Boco

Is the crash sequence reproducible from a sav file? If so, can you describe what occurs immediately before the crash?

I'll have to look. Attached below, however, is the game at the scenario's beginning, before any player makes a move. Maybe it will help.

[GhostOfDisco]

Found a save game about June/July 2013 recently, played it and saved it at September 2013. I later got that game back up, and managed to play it until November of that year. Then the game crashed and I got this message:

AppName: civ2.exe AppVer: 0.0.0.0 ModName: civ2.exe
ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 00028b40

I then played it with the US event file. It turned to April, and crashed with this message:

AppName: civ2.exe AppVer: 0.0.0.0 ModName: civ2.exe
ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 00028b40

However, when playing with the CNA events files, it seemed to go off without a hitch. Same thing with the normal events file, and (accidentally) with no events file at all. I saved all three games after the two-year mark so that I had time to do other things.

These playtest lead me to conclude that the problem lies in the USA events file. But what?

In the zip file below are the five games I mentioned here, plus the current rules file and the current US events file. I'm wondering how to correct events files that run but are still wonky - I've got @DEBUG but can't seem to get a report.txt.

On a completely different subject, I've finally managed to take Moscow after encircling said capital and liberating Eastern Europe in First Strike. The city, like New York, Chicago and LA in my scenario is a tough nut to crack!