Bad .rec file

[tracer]

I was zipping up a PBEM turn and noticed that the .rec file didn't have the correct date/time. When I tried to open the turn I got a 'saved game failed to load' error. I thought I saw a fix for this...anybody know of one?

[rbrunsman]

I always thought that was a fatal error.

[Supervisor]

Just delete it, it's the VCR replay file. It will recreate itself during the next trun.

[rbrunsman]

Live and learn! I hope it wasn't just the .rec file that got corrupted those dozen times I had to restart MCLV scenarios because of the "Saved game failed to load" reports.

[tracer]

This was the .rec file of a turn I had just finished and was sending out. My opponent asked me to just replay the turn...as it turned out the results were almost identical.

For the record (no pun intended!), if I had sent the other 3 files minus .rec, and my opponent unzipped them, would the turn load (I understand he wouldn't have a replay of my turn)?

[Supervisor]

Yes, it should work fine you would only be missing the VCR replay from the previous turn, during a long large battle the *.rec keeps accumulating to the size of several MB's, I have instructed several gamers to remove this file as a way to reduced the email size footprint and they have reported back that it works fine without it. Just food for thought.

[tracer]

I get the feeling VikingNo2 would rather see my turn than have me give a play-by-play. Still, to avoid losing an entire battle its good to know deleting the .rec file will allow it to load. Thanks

[ruxius]

OH !
That's a surprise to me too !!

Always thought there was no way to get back again a game which failed to know...

I only knew that sometimes happens when you exit the program but spwaw was not able to end cryptoghraphy of a secure PBEM...

only solution was to wait some minutes after pressing the enod of turn button...

[tracer]

I noticed in the past that these bad 'saves' often happen when you end your turn (or manually save in a vs AI battle) after a long period of inactivity...like when you leave the game running for a long time. The bad save I originally posted about happened when I stopped to eat lunch, then came back and hit 'end turn'. My theory is that these errors occur when your hard drive spins down, so when the game attempts to 'write' the save its unable to.

Have you ever noticed during a battle, a several second delay when you perform something like zooming out or accessing the indirect fire menu? If you listen you'll hear your hard drive spinning up to get some data thats not currently in RAM (probably in the swap file). One solution might be to check your settings under 'Power Management' in the Control Panel, and increase the 'Turn Off Hard Disks' value.

Like I said, its just a theory. But if you've ever lost a saved game that you've invested a lot of time into, you may want to keep this in mind.

[Irinami]

I got this problem playing VikingNo2 and another person as well. My solution was to never ever ever zip anything until I'd fully exited SP. Seemed to do the trick.

[tracer]

No, I exited SP completely...I never use ALT-TAB. If I think the game has been idle for a long time, what I do now is perform a manual save (taking a peek to be sure the hard drive activity light blinks), then reload the save, and then end the turn.

The burned hand teaches best.

[Wild Bill]

The "rec" file is a recent addition to help with game saves...well not recent-recent. You'll notice that it is not in any other version of SP.

As Gmenfan says, it automatically remakes itself if you delete it. Kinda like the "steel.prf" file we used to have to delete so frequently. If the game ever does lock up on you by the way or a scenario will not play, try deleting "steel.prf" (in save folder). It will also remake itself. It only keeps a list of your preferences.

Wild Bill