Display Error/Plato MFC error

[rich12545]

ORIGINAL: ericbabe

ORIGINAL: jchastain

Hey Eric -
As I included in my reader IGN review, the quality level on this game is at least as good as you get in any modern first release products from the big boys. It's not perfect, but you guys did a great job and we all really appreciate the effort you are putting into the additional refinements you're doing now. Thanks!

Thanks for that. I really appreciated your IGN review, by the way. And I appreciate all the constructive feedback from you and the other players. We're a pretty small operation and our target audience is a pretty small niche market, and it rather continues to astound me that people would even think to compare COG to mainstream computer games at all.

I'd like to use this engine as the basis for some sequel products, so I have a keen interest in getting COG closer to perfect not only for its own sake but for the sake of the sequels. I've learned a lot from you guys over the last two weeks, especially by way of how my ideal game varies from the sort of game that you all are looking for. Anyway, thanks again for the review and for all your excellent feedback.


Eric

I'm another one who's waiting for the patch to get back to it. But I have to say this is one of the top games I've seen in 25 years of computer wargaming. It looks like one of those games that will remain long after many others are collecting dust.

[jchastain]

ORIGINAL: ericbabe

I've learned a lot from you guys over the last two weeks, especially by way of how my ideal game varies from the sort of game that you all are looking for. Anyway, thanks again for the review and for all your excellent feedback.

No problem on the review. This really is a great game and I hope that others will find and try it.

The statement above is quite provocative though. My curiosity is piqued. I have to ask - in what way is your ideal game different from what we have been asking for?

[Eugene]

Maybe someone has already found a way to continue a campaign compromised by repeated crashes, but, for those who didn't, I feel it could be usefull to share what seems to work everytime at least in my experience.
I have been playing the game since the first day it came out and I'm quite sure of two things:
- the problem has nothing to do with video cards or drivers (see also previous posts) although it could be made worse by older hardware or software.
- the problem eventually happens no matter which armies are involved in combat and also their size seems not to be a decisive factor even if Russia and big armies appear to have a bigger share of problems.
Now a temporary solution that has been working for me:
When the game crashes dont restart the game from the last savefile you used but choose the most recent previous autosave you can find.Let say you start from "France1" and have a CTD, when you start again the game check which is the most recent autosave (use the tooltip) and load it. As soon as the campaign is loaded save again and give the file any name you want, even "France1". The reason for this last passage is that I want to preserve the autosave, just in case, and prefer to play with its copy. Exit, load the new savefile and play, everything now should be ok.
I had to use this system a few times and the result was always positive, as a consequence I believe that the PLATO problem is due to corrupted savefiles.

[jhdeerslayer]

I had it happen to me now when changing screens within the Diplomacy Screen as Britains. I got blocky graphics and then the MFC window appeared. I've played for many hours and suddenly it did this. I have an ATI 9600XT

[jchastain]

ORIGINAL: Eugene

Maybe someone has already found a way to continue a campaign compromised by repeated crashes, but, for those who didn't, I feel it could be usefull to share what seems to work everytime at least in my experience.
I have been playing the game since the first day it came out and I'm quite sure of two things:
- the problem has nothing to do with video cards or drivers (see also previous posts) although it could be made worse by older hardware or software.
- the problem eventually happens no matter which armies are involved in combat and also their size seems not to be a decisive factor even if Russia and big armies appear to have a bigger share of problems.
Now a temporary solution that has been working for me:
When the game crashes dont restart the game from the last savefile you used but choose the most recent previous autosave you can find.Let say you start from "France1" and have a CTD, when you start again the game check which is the most recent autosave (use the tooltip) and load it. As soon as the campaign is loaded save again and give the file any name you want, even "France1". The reason for this last passage is that I want to preserve the autosave, just in case, and prefer to play with its copy. Exit, load the new savefile and play, everything now should be ok.
I had to use this system a few times and the result was always positive, as a consequence I believe that the PLATO problem is due to corrupted savefiles.

I have reached essentially the same conclusion. When I had a problem, I could reload the last autosave and the problem always reoccured in the ensuing battle. And yet, I could play other games with no problem. I suspect that something is being corrupted in the end of turn logic that is then getting written to a savegame. But once a saved game is bad, it seems to stay bad.

[Eugene]

The point is not to use the last saved file or autosave you used when the game crashed , but the previous most recent one (there should be maximum ten to chose from). If you keep trying loading the same corrupted file it will always give you CTDs, maybe not at the first battle or the second but for sure at the big one at the end of the turn. Following the system I indicated in my previous post it should also be easy to continue the campaign and at the same time sending the incriminated savefile to the devs for proper examination.

[kc_chiefs]

I get the plato MFC Application error alot. Happens during any phase of the game as well as when quitting.

Took the advice of a friend and closed all programs when playing the game including alot of items in the System Tray. Still crashes.

System is:

AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3000+ 2.00 Ghz
1.00 GB of RAM
Samsung SP1614C 150 GB hard drive
Windows XP Pro 64 Bit Service Pack 1 (this OS is very new)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro AGP (0x4E48) - driver ver. 6.14.10.0278 (MS Windows Hardware Compatibility) (driver was installed by the shop that built the system - its the right driver)
Video BIOS Info: BK-ATI VER008.015.058.000
Samsung SyncMaster 930B 19 inch flat panel

This system really cooks. My shop will install XP 32 if I dont like XP 64.

Game runs fine on my older home-built 866 mhz system (XP 32 Home Edition - Service Pack 2). I had one crash I think.

Havent tried the game on my Toshiba Satelite laptop yet.

Sure hope that a patch comes out that can fix this issue. I hate playing the game on my slow-box.

[Barrold]

Crud

I just had my first Plato crash during a detailed combat. It occurred in a battle with over 100K on both sides with me being France against Russia and Austria. It was well into the battle so it may very well have been the end of the first day. The enemy was wavering...and then crash to desktop. Oh the swearing!

BDH

[jchastain]

ORIGINAL: jchastain

ORIGINAL: ericbabe

I've learned a lot from you guys over the last two weeks, especially by way of how my ideal game varies from the sort of game that you all are looking for. Anyway, thanks again for the review and for all your excellent feedback.

No problem on the review. This really is a great game and I hope that others will find and try it.

The statement above is quite provocative though. My curiosity is piqued. I have to ask - in what way is your ideal game different from what we have been asking for?

Never did get an answer on this one and I am still a tad curious. Eric, did you just miss the question or are your own devilish preferences a deep dark secret?