"Saved Game Failed to Load"

James P · Post by **James P** » Sun May 13, 2001 11:10 pm

I'm playing a couple of 1941 league games via PBEM and have hit a problem a couple of turns in, with two games.

When you click on the saved slot it comes up with the error "saved game failed to load". I've noticed in the e-mail directory that the Rec file does not seem to have the same date / time stamp as the .dat and .aux files.

Can the Matrix guys tell me the cause of this error, as I thought PBEM was now much more forgiving, so I'm assuming this is a terminal problem

James P · Post by **James P** » Tue May 15, 2001 11:37 am

Quick update.
I went back to the last "good turn" and unzipped back into my PBEM directory. The turn opened and played with out problems.

When I went back into the PBEM directory to zip up and send, the .rec file has again failed to update, but the .dat and .aux have updated ok.

I think this is terminal. Has anyone else seen this, or does Matrix know why the .rec file hasn't been updated?

Thanks in advance

Resisti · Post by **Resisti** » Tue May 15, 2001 12:44 pm

James,
It could be that you exited spwaw too quickly.
SECURED pbem games take a while to save.

James P · Post by **James P** » Wed May 16, 2001 12:09 am

Originally posted by Resisti:
James,
It could be that you exited spwaw too quickly.
SECURED pbem games take a while to save.

Thanks for the tip. I can't remember if this happens when I jump straight out, or not. I'll keep in running for a while before I exit. Any ideas how long I should leave it for?

Warhorse · Post by **Warhorse** » Wed May 16, 2001 2:48 am

I usually listen to the hard drive, and/or watch the "working" light, not very long, couple seconds, max ten if you're nervous!;-)

Resisti · Post by **Resisti** » Wed May 16, 2001 8:04 pm

Originally posted by Warhorse:
I usually listen to the hard drive, and/or watch the "working" light, not very long, couple seconds, max ten if you're nervous!;-)

Yes,look at the HD working light:when stops "blinking",it's done !

James P · Post by **James P** » Thu May 17, 2001 1:45 pm

Originally posted by Resisti:
Yes,look at the HD working light:when stops "blinking",it's done !

So the message that SPWAW shows "PBEM files saved", followed by the list of files, is misleading then

James P · Post by **James P** » Sat May 19, 2001 12:35 am

Arrghh this is effecting three PBEM league games now!!!

I know this is not due to exiting the game too quickly before the hard disk has finished writing because I went on to play another PBEM game versus another player, so I was in the game for at least another 5 minutes.

Can anyone in Matrix give an explination of the "saved game filed to load" message and it's causes, Please......?

Resisti · Post by **Resisti** » Mon May 21, 2001 11:20 am

Ehm, I've to admit it's NOT a problem of exiting too quickly....i've been involved with this problem,too,exactly the same problem as JamesP mentioned,and i know I've waited enough before leaving spwaw.
Matrix,any clue ?

Paul Vebber · Post by **Paul Vebber** » Mon May 21, 2001 9:55 pm

The problem of "not waitnig long enough was fixed. Unfortunately playing PBEM games takes so long that ists hard to get to the botom of problems.

The typical problem is withthe file not being encryted. If you opne a supposedly encrypted file and can read "SPWAW" in the first few characters then that is the problem.

The file appears properly encrypted, I have not had it happen to me, so don't know.

The fix in either case is to replay the last turn.

[ May 21, 2001: Message edited by: Paul Vebber ]

James P · Post by **James P** » Mon May 21, 2001 10:33 pm

Originally posted by Paul Vebber:

The file appears properly encrypted, I have not had it happen to me, so don't know.

The fix in either case is to replay the last turn.

[ May 21, 2001: Message edited by: Paul Vebber ]

Paul,

Thanks for the reply. I could understand an encryption problem if we were getting a security related message. This problem seems to be with the .rec file not correctly updating....does the VCR file also use encryption?

Thanks,

Paul Vebber · Post by **Paul Vebber** » Tue May 22, 2001 1:29 am

No - But thanks that makes sense...A new angle to check out.

James P · Post by **James P** » Wed May 23, 2001 6:07 pm

Originally posted by Paul Vebber:
No - But thanks that makes sense...A new angle to check out.

Another update to keep the tread fresh:

I installed version 5.1 on a laptop running Windows 2000. This was a virgin install as I have never played any version of SPWAW on the machine before. I followed the following method:

Installed version 4.0, rebooted
Installed version 4.2, rebooted
Installed version 4.5, rebooted
Installed version 5.0, rebooted
Installed version 5.1, rebooted

The same problem of the .rec files not updating has occurred straight away. I think this confirms that there is a problem somewhere as it's happened on two completely differently configured machines, one running Windows 98, the other Windows 2000 Pro.

I know that there are no conflicts with previously lurking installs of SPWAW, as this is the first time I’ve installed SPWAW on the Windows 2000 machine.

This means PBEM is totally out for me until this is fixed – arrghhh, or reverting back to version 4.5 which ran ok. I’ll check if running at version 5.0 causes the same problems. I can’t stand playing the UI, please help!!!!

Resisti · Post by **Resisti** » Wed May 23, 2001 6:37 pm

Originally posted by James P:

This means PBEM is totally out for me until this is fixed – arrghhh, or reverting back to version 4.5 which ran ok. I’ll check if running at version 5.0 causes the same problems. I can’t stand playing the UI, please help!!!!

Try to run a couple of UNSECURE pbems,as i'm doing right now;it seems they are exempt from this kind of bug;it would be helpful to have confirmations abt this...

Paul Vebber · Post by **Paul Vebber** » Wed May 23, 2001 7:24 pm

What exactly seems to be happening whe the .rec file "doesn't update" the file time stamp not changing, or the file just not loading? DOes this happen with battle generator games or scenarios?

Resisti · Post by **Resisti** » Wed May 23, 2001 8:35 pm

Originally posted by Paul Vebber:
What exactly seems to be happening whe the .rec file "doesn't update" the file time stamp not changing, or the file just not loading? DOes this happen with battle generator games or scenarios?

My experience:
I got the zip file from yr opponent
you extract it and opne in the email folder
you go in spwaw try to open then game and you got a message "save game failed to load"
you are therefore unable to open it
you come back to the zip file you got to see what the hell it's going on and you find that the .rec file (and only that) is showing an old date,that is it has not been updated,apparently is the same file you sent to your opponent..

As for the type of game,i've only played generated battles up to now.

James P · Post by **James P** » Wed May 23, 2001 11:28 pm

Originally posted by Resisti:

My experience:
I got the zip file from yr opponent
you extract it and opne in the email folder
you go in spwaw try to open then game and you got a message "save game failed to load"
you are therefore unable to open it
you come back to the zip file you got to see what the hell it's going on and you find that the .rec file (and only that) is showing an old date,that is it has not been updated,apparently is the same file you sent to your opponent..

As for the type of game,i've only played generated battles up to now.

Exactly. You unzip the turn and all files are sync’d . The turn loads & plays OK, including the VCR. You end the turn as normal, even allowing for extra time before, quitting. I go into windows explorer to zip up the turn and send back, but the .rec file hasn't been updated by the game i.e. it still shows the same time/date from your opponents turn. The .dat and .aux files are fine, with a time stamp of a few minutes ago.

James

Resisti · Post by **Resisti** » Thu May 24, 2001 1:06 am

Anybody who remembers which type of game were you playing when the problem occurred ?
meeting enagement, advance/delay, assault/defense ?

I for one was playing an assault/defend..

James P · Post by **James P** » Thu May 24, 2001 11:44 pm

Originally posted by Resisti:
Anybody who remembers which type of game were you playing when the problem occurred ?
meeting enagement, advance/delay, assault/defense ?

I for one was playing an assault/defend..

All of my games with the error have been computer generated battles, meeting engagements, both human players, all secure PBEM. I don't get the error in games vs the PC.

Paul Vebber · Post by **Paul Vebber** » Fri May 25, 2001 12:35 am

Has it occured in scenarios - or just battle generator games?