Matrix Games Forums

I am currently in a PBEM game as the allies. We are just entering April and are having some game issues.

1. Sync bug. Usually caused by one player using a diffrent version of the game then the other. Usually disappears after a few turns once you are back using the same version. Has been in effect since the first turn.

2. What makes it hard to deal with is that my opponent is not able to generate a combat report. He gets a sig int report but thats it.

3. Several TF's are not moving, not unloading. Something like 8 or 9 are now stuck. Either south of Australia but I do have one near Alaska as well. All others seem fine.

Any inital help / suggestions would be appreciated.

ORIGINAL: darken92

I am currently in a PBEM game as the allies. We are just entering April and are having some game issues.

1. Sync bug. Usually caused by one player using a diffrent version of the game then the other. Usually disappears after a few turns once you are back using the same version. Has been in effect since the first turn.

2. What makes it hard to deal with is that my opponent is not able to generate a combat report. He gets a sig int report but thats it.

3. Several TF's are not moving, not unloading. Something like 8 or 9 are now stuck. Either south of Australia but I do have one near Alaska as well. All others seem fine.

Any inital help / suggestions would be appreciated.

Check the last post in the sticky "Problems? Read Me First" sticky above - but i'll save you the trouble and quote it here (replay bug = sync bug):



"The replay bug is when the replay file from the Japanese does not match the replay file that the Allies seen. Since the Japanese player generates the game file from his replay, by definition the Japanese replay is always “correct”.

EDIT: However, if the Japanese player did not reboot before running the turn, or exited from the animations during the turn (i.e. - hit "ESC" key) - this can cause problems. It is highly recommended that the Japanese player reboot and let the animations run normally.

One thing that can at least reduce the frequency of the problem is to make absolutely sure you both are using the same EXE file ... you can compare byte count ... date time stamp (which will usually be adjusted by time zone) or even use a CRC utility, there are a number of easy downloadable ones.

Ditto on the pwhex.dat files - they should be exactly the same, or sync problems can result. These are the map data files...

As Allies (or Axis) - there are a couple of things you can do to try and prevent sync bug... it is related to the amount of memory you have.

SO - run the replay file from a (preferably cold) boot, ie - don't load anything else before you finish running the turn. Make sure you have any memory hogs in the background turned off (i had some problems with things like screensavers, esp things like SETI@HOME).

Set your virtual memory settings up to maximum.

This can SOMETIMES get rid of problems.

You can also ask your IJ opponent to not use the ESC key during replays - some people insist that this can cause (or intensify) the bug.

Actions with PT boats seem to also cause problems, esp. strafing PTs. One game i had would invariably start a replay problem when this happened.

Otherwise use the Pompack Patented Procedure to restore sync:


1. Japanese player, receives Allied turn.

2. Japanese player turns off COMBAT REPORTS

3. Japanese player watches combat, enters orders and sends to Allied Player. (Japanese player does without combat reports and SIGINT for one turn; take good notes during combat)

4 . Allied player watches replay with COMBAT REPORTS ON (AFAIK)

5. Allied player enters orders and sends to Japanese Player

6. Japanese Player receives allied turn, turns ON COMBAT REPORTS

7. Japanese player watches combat, enters orders and sends to Allied Player. "

The stuck TFs sounds like one of you has a different pwhex file than the other. Might want the Japanese player email the one he is using to the allied player.

ORIGINAL: Nomad

The stuck TFs sounds like one of you has a different pwhex file than the other. Might want the Japanese player email the one he is using to the allied player.

Could be, especially if you are having problems from the start... however, i've found that under certain circumstances you can reliably get the sync bug by neglecting to reboot... easy to do if you are running WiTP with multiple games, or entering turns and leaving the machine on until you get the turn back, etc.

EDIT: i should add that if the PWHEX files are different, it is rare to get into sync at all - virtually every turn will have some differences in the combat report... this makes me suspect that the problem might be a lack of rebooting... however, it should be easy (and prudent) to make sure the PWHEX files are the same.