[v19 SC save game] CTD bug

[gshuford]

Seems that in the non-experimental game, the game froze after killing the last alien. In the experimental, I could always load back in, kill the last alien, and move on. This time, attempting to load the previous game caused it to CTD. This is also the game where I stuffed an alien into a backpack.

[Chris]

Are you trying to use the same save game for both versions of the game? V18 saves are not compatible with Experimental game saves, so you'll need to start over if so.

[gshuford]

Are you trying to use the same save game for both versions of the game? V18 saves are not compatible with Experimental game saves, so you'll need to start over if so.

No. I have two v19 saves - one for the non-experimental and one for the experimental. They are at different stages of "success" so I know very well they are respectively v19 experimental and non. No v18 saves remain.

When I get back to the game, I will remove saves in both versions and start again with new saves. A few questions, though:

I purchased through steam, so it will probably be helpful to identify the save game locations. I can't seem to find them, but I do have ironman enabled, so not sure if that will affect how it stores the directory.

Is there a gamelog directory where I can find crash records? I've noticed that, in other game forums, having access to the game log helps identify causes of crashes.

EDIT: Found the save location.

EDIT 2: Duplicated CTD. Went to game folder and deleted saves. Started game in experimental. Veteran Ironman. Exited game from ground combat. Went to steam library and set game to opt out of beta. Started game non-beta. Exited game from ground combat. Went back to library and set game to experimental. Loaded save. CTD within first combat round.

Going to isolate some possible variables.

A) I have run multiple missions in non-beta as well as experimental with no problem. This CTD seems to have come from nowhere.

B) Only entered the "check code password" on the first experimental trial (somehow, I highly doubt that should need to be entered every time I load into experimental).

C) I weakly suspect it may have to do with sticking bodies in your backpack.

EDIT: Deleted all saved data, started game in experimental. Set to normal and disabled iron man. Played several rounds and created a save separate from autosave. No issues. Left game and loaded save. No issues. Left game and loaded autosave. No issues. Left game, loaded save, stuck dead alien in backpack. Saved game. Left game. Loaded autosave. No issues. Loaded saved game with dead alien in backpack. CTD. It may be that last time I loaded the save game directly in game as opposed to the main menu, but since I had always been playing iron man before (ie: no loading games from in game), I would rule that out.

It does seem to be that the workaround is simple: don't stick dead bodies in the backpack.

I will avoid carrying dead bodies around to see if the game will still CTD. For now, I'm inclined to believe it may have something to do with the dead body thing (maybe the weight limit causes an internal error?)

Edited August 24, 2013 by gshuford

[gshuford]

Okay, so I'm having a freeze issue when I play in experimental and so I deleted all saves, switched back to opting out of beta through steam properties. Started a new game in veteran iron man. Shot down one ufo over the ocean and another over land. Went into the personnel equipment screen to outfit my guys and set the default loadouts to my preferences before going on the mission. CtD.

Right now, the game seems unplayable for me. I posted the freeze bug in the experimental beta thread and out-of-beta seems more prone to CtD.

I'll comb through the work-around thread, but I think I may just be waiting for the next update before I can really experience the game.

[gshuford]

I found workarounds for the CtDs, but the game freezing at the end of a mission is unrelenting. 100% of the time when I take out the last alien. I've watched for up to about 5 minutes and no changes. I have to ctrl-alt-del to sign out of windows and sign back in. Reloading autosave (I always play in iron man mode) will bring me back to the last turn and I can finish the mission. This is hard to deal with.

[PRiME]

There are allot of ctd situations, I guess the most common for me would be the double grenade/smoke in same area which often does it, other times I find the UFO crash site remains on screen after completing, and at times if I click on it or soldier loadout screen I get CTD. Goes away once I load the save up again.

[gshuford]

There are allot of ctd situations, I guess the most common for me would be the double grenade/smoke in same area which often does it, other times I find the UFO crash site remains on screen after completing, and at times if I click on it or soldier loadout screen I get CTD. Goes away once I load the save up again.

I ran soemwhere between 10 and 20 missions all in the same campaign last night. I had to sign out of windows after every combat and reload the save to get it to unfreeze.

[Aaron]

I am having trouble following what exactly it is your are doing - but it sounds like you are trying to use saved games from the standard branch in the experimental branch and vice versa? This will always be massively unstable, you just can't mix and match them - if I'm wrong could you please explain a bit more clearly what you are doing?

[gshuford]

I am having trouble following what exactly it is your are doing - but it sounds like you are trying to use saved games from the standard branch in the experimental branch and vice versa? This will always be massively unstable, you just can't mix and match them - if I'm wrong could you please explain a bit more clearly what you are doing?

Well, I was trying various things. No, I was not mixing saves. Sometimes I would run the game in experimental and sometimes in stable. In either case, the game would freeze when I killed the last alien on a combat map. The only way to close the game afterwards is to sign out of windows.

However, I figured out that turning of stat tracking fixes this. I've been able to play to my hearts content (with rare exceptions) since I disabled that.

[eradicus]

Well, I was trying various things. No, I was not mixing saves. Sometimes I would run the game in experimental and sometimes in stable. In either case, the game would freeze when I killed the last alien on a combat map. The only way to close the game afterwards is to sign out of windows.

However, I figured out that turning of stat tracking fixes this. I've been able to play to my hearts content (with rare exceptions) since I disabled that.

for that to work you would have to uninstall and reinstall the game...just because you opt out, the experimental load is already loaded on your pc...in effect you did nothing but start the same game engine over and over

[gshuford]

for that to work you would have to uninstall and reinstall the game...just because you opt out, the experimental load is already loaded on your pc...in effect you did nothing but start the same game engine over and over

Well, the UI changed depending on which one I played as well as it would load the corresponding save file. Other game mechanics also changed. Regardless, I wiped everything and started in experimental just to be sure nothing would be mixed up.