SPWAW quits to desktop

Tex Zero · Post by **Tex Zero** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 7:02 am

I was having the "waiting to sync" error running SPWAW under XP Pro and have applied the 7.1 beta patch. Now while play solitare games after a number of turns the screen goes black and then SPWAW quits to the desktop.

This doesn't seem to reoccur at the same point of gameplay. ie, loading a saved game doesn't drop out at the same number of turns, etc. It does seem to occur during the AI's turn.

Anyone else experiencing this? Is there a fix?

TIA

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 7:31 am

Check you preference screen and make sure Command and Control is off, this is incompatible with XP, this should stop the crashing to the desktop. The 7.1 beta corrects the waiting for all players to sync issue.

Tex Zero · Post by **Tex Zero** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 9:38 am

Originally posted by gmenfan:
Check you preference screen and make sure Command and Control is off, this is incompatible with XP, this should stop the crashing to the desktop. The 7.1 beta corrects the waiting for all players to sync issue.

I have been playing with C&C off. It doesn't make a difference - Probably should have mentioned that in the first post.

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 9:46 am

Delete the steel.prf file in the MatrixGames\SPWAW\SAVE directory and restart the game. The game will automatically recreate it when you change anything in the preference screen. Just to be sure when your game start its says ver 7.1 correct? Also try starting the game directly from the mech.exe file, this bypasses the autorun menu. Is this a saved game that was continued after updating to ver 7.1? Is it happening in a particular scenario, Mega, normal campaign or all of the above?

Tex Zero · Post by **Tex Zero** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 10:11 am

Originally posted by gmenfan:
Check you preference screen and make sure Command and Control is off, this is incompatible with XP, this should stop the crashing to the desktop. The 7.1 beta corrects the waiting for all players to sync issue.

I have been playing with C&C off. It doesn't make a difference - Probably should have mentioned that in the first post.

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 6:01 pm

Tex did you double post with same reply or is the server playing tricks again. Please answer newest set of questions.

Tex Zero · Post by **Tex Zero** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 6:59 am

Originally posted by gmenfan:
Tex did you double post with same reply or is the server playing tricks again. Please answer newest set of questions.

I don't think I double posted.

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 7:07 am

The server has been palying tricks on us during the upgrades, try my latest suggestions and let us know how it goes.

Tex Zero · Post by **Tex Zero** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 7:15 am

Originally posted by gmenfan:
Delete the steel.prf file in the MatrixGames\SPWAW\SAVE directory and restart the game. The game will automatically recreate it when you change anything in the preference screen. Just to be sure when your game start its says ver 7.1 correct? Also try starting the game directly from the mech.exe file, this bypasses the autorun menu. Is this a saved game that was continued after updating to ver 7.1? Is it happening in a particular scenario, Mega, normal campaign or all of the above?

Yes, 7.1 displayed. I am playing a generated campaign. Deleted steel.pif and started from mech.exe as sugested. Then loaded a saved game.

I played for about three hours, the saved mission played fine without experiencing the problem - normally I would have dropped out a couple of times during that long a period. I completed the saved mission and started the next one. After turn five the game dropped back to the desktop. This occurred when I confirmed return fire during the AI's turn.

I will play tonight and document the number of times I drop out of the game, at what turn, the estimated length of play time and what command was issued. This may help isolate the problem

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 7:35 am

Does it seem to happen with the same country in battle, this could be an OOB issue, that should be fixed in the final release of 7.1 I debugged a couple of PBEM games for some gamers experiencing the same problem in a generated battle. You wouldn't by chance be playing as Greece, thats what country was giving them problems.

Tex Zero · Post by **Tex Zero** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 7:43 am

No Greece. I'm playing as Germany opposing Free French, British and Canadians. Game drops out with all AI opponents.

Do you want me to delete the steel.pif again and start a fresh campaign?

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 8:05 am

No need to delete the steel.prf file again, you can try a new campaign under a different name and slot to rule out a corrupted save file.

Tex Zero · Post by **Tex Zero** » Tue Mar 12, 2002 10:13 am

OK. I deleted all my saved games and played 5 generated battles without a problem. I then started a new ww2 campaign. The game played find for 10 missions. During the 11th mission (Human Germany vs. Computer British, Nth Africa), my old friend Mr. Quit to Desktop reappeared. The event seems random, however it did occur more than once during arty fire (offboard 150mm and onboard rockets) at the end of a turn.

Do you think the save games are corrupting?

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Wed Mar 13, 2002 3:15 am

Is it always happening with the same 2 opponenets in the WW2 campaigns, if so it might be an OOB issue which should be resolved with the upcoming patch. I don't think the save game is an issue unless it something within the WW2 campaign code.

Tex Zero · Post by **Tex Zero** » Wed Mar 13, 2002 8:21 am

As best as I can tell its with Germany vs. British. It might be an issue with the German Flame Rocket OOB. I have been playing as Germany in each game and use them a lot against infantry. They fire at the end of a turn and thats when the game quits. It hasn't quit mid way through a sides turn.

RedMike · Post by **RedMike** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 1:20 am

I have been having the same problem with Watchtower. I noticed an error message saying could not read oob file xxx's. What is going on? Very annoying to say the least. Happens randomly.

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 1:27 am

Tex, how did you arrive to version 7.1? Meaning what was the first full version you installed before upgrading to 7.1. Was it an earlier ver like 5.0 or something newer. The reason I ask is some programmers think it might be sound related, in which begining with full version of 5.3 the sounds were all converted to a standard 16bit stereo version, previous to that there were alot of unusual unstandardized formats that posed problems with some sound cards. These files would still be present unless you applied the 200mb stereo sound upgrade patch. Here is what a programmer wants you to check please.

Have him try turning the sounds off and seeing if it still happens. Or Fast arty on or off. Or upgrade to the high quality sounds, or drop back to the low quality sounds. COUld be a sound card problem. Don't know of any reason off the top of my head other than those.

Trust me I want to make this work for you.

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 1:31 am

Redmike you can try reinstalling WT, or wait for the 7.1 final patch release here soon it will have all updated OOB's contained within it. Send me info on your system and SPWAW version etc. This has happened very randomly to gamers making it very difficult to debug.

Tex Zero · Post by **Tex Zero** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 4:39 am

Originally posted by gmenfan
Tex, how did you arrive to version 7.1? Meaning what was the first full version you installed before upgrading to 7.1. Was it an earlier ver like 5.0 or something newer. The reason I ask is some programmers think it might be sound related, in which begining with full version of 5.3 the sounds were all converted to a standard 16bit stereo version, previous to that there were alot of unusual unstandardized formats that posed problems with some sound cards. These files would still be present unless you applied the 200mb stereo sound upgrade patch. Here is what a programmer wants you to check please. Trust me I want to make this work for you.

Downloaded and installed v5.01 complete game. Restarted and applied v5.01 to v5.2 patch. Applied update v5.2+ to v6.1 patch. Applied update v6.1 to v7.0 patch. Played game, experienced "waiting to sync" problem. Applied 7.1 beta. Started to experience "quit to desktop".

Should I download and apply the Stereo Sounds for 5.0+ patch?

BTW. Thanks for all your help. I am amazed with the level of support you provide for a game that is available free. Other software companies would have given up by now and told me it was a hardware problem. They could learn from your example.

Supervisor · Post by **Supervisor** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 5:07 am

Definately, click here to get it from a very fast reliable site, just in case the Matrix one is down.Stereo Sound update Remember that all sounds will get extracted into the MatrixGames\SPWAW\snd directory double check this to insure your older ones get overwritten. It's 192mb in size so good luck. Helping fellow gamers to enjoy this game is what has earned me my forum title.

SPWAW quits to desktop

SPWAW quits to desktop

Quit to desktop!!!