Repeatable Crash when approaching huge convoy

HellNY · 01-30-23, 09:07 PM

I recently re-purchased SH4 after a 14 year hiatus! Its been great. But last night on Dec 26th, 1941 I encountered something Ive never seen before. A Convoy that was impossibly large - 51 (yes, fifty-one) Japanese destroyers in 3 lines steaming west near Formasa. I do not recall ever seeing something like this when I played the game in 2008. I wondered if it was a bug it was so big.

I save the game before approaching. Every time I get close the game crashes - at least once I get to periscope depth. I dont even have to raise periscope, it crashes. Its just about proximity.

I am at my wits end. Ive tried "windowed mode," reducing the resolution, and turning off 3D sound channels. Nothing.

The only Mod is that I USED to have Captain Midnights radio mod but I uninstalled it because that *also* caused the game to crash. But since I removed it that problem is gone. WHat I have now is very specific to this convoy.

Does anyone know anything that might help? I cant continue the game now.

KaleunMarco · 01-30-23, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HellNY

I recently re-purchased SH4 after a 14 year hiatus! Its been great. But last night on Dec 26th, 1941 I encountered something Ive never seen before. A Convoy that was impossibly large - 51 (yes, fifty-one) Japanese destroyers in 3 lines steaming west near Formasa. I do not recall ever seeing something like this when I played the game in 2008. I wondered if it was a bug it was so big.

I save the game before approaching. Every time I get close the game crashes - at least once I get to periscope depth. I dont even have to raise periscope, it crashes. Its just about proximity.

I am at my wits end. Ive tried "windowed mode," reducing the resolution, and turning off 3D sound channels. Nothing.

The only Mod is that I USED to have Captain Midnights radio mod but I uninstalled it because that *also* caused the game to crash. But since I removed it that problem is gone. WHat I have now is very specific to this convoy.

Does anyone know anything that might help? I cant continue the game now.

yes, that's a known issue.
post your JSGME config. Tasks-Export to Clipboard then paste here (ctrl+v)

HellNY · 01-30-23, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

yes, that's a known issue.
post your JSGME config. Tasks-Export to Clipboard then paste here (ctrl+v)

Thanks KaleunMarco. I uninstalled any mods before this happened. But I do have the JSGME. I went to JSGME then Tasks but "Export Activated Mod List to.." is grayed out because no mods are active. The version of JSGME I have is v2.6.0.157.

..............?

I havent played this game since I was 39 years old. And that was 14 years ago. Im amazed it even runs.

Any suggestion?

HellNY · 01-30-23, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

yes, that's a known issue.
post your JSGME config. Tasks-Export to Clipboard then paste here (ctrl+v)

Here you go. I had to "add" this mod just to be able to produce the JSGME config. But this was crashing *without* this mod. The only issue I can think of otherwise is that I once had Captain Midnights Radio mod installed but it kept crashing my game. When I removed it, the crashing stopped but now my radio no longer "scans" for frequencies.

Its not obvious that that should have anything to do with why I get crashes approaching a large convoy.

I could really use someone's help because Im a very experienced player from 14 years ago but have no idea whats going on with this game and these mods today.

Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157
[C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Silent Hunters Wolves of the Pacific\MODS]

15 Magnified Hud Dials for v1.5_Large

propbeanie · 01-30-23, 11:49 PM

There are several mods out there, that if you had previously had them activated, and then de-activated them and did not empty the Save folder (or still had them activated), that you can end up with that situation. It is recommended that you empty the Save folder (C:\Users \UserName \Documents \SH4) and get rid of the bad data. If you are in the middle of a career and want to continue with that career instead, do NOT delete the data yet, but do NOT attempt to get close to the grouping. You should instead avoid the area from your Saved location, and return to base via a different route, hunting and sinking as you can along the way. There are several potential problem spots in the game, with two of them involving these growing groups traveling in a north-northeast direction, basically in line with French Indo-China, Formosa, Japan and the Kurile Islands. As time passes, the group grows larger and larger, and eventually make it to where you cannot continue the game until you do empty the Save folder. One thing to remember about mods is that the game basically runs off of the data in the Save folder, so when you change a mod set-up, you often have to clear the Save data, so that the Save folder "refreshes" its information.

HellNY · 01-31-23, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by propbeanie

There are several mods out there, that if you had previously had them activated, and then de-activated them and did not empty the Save folder (or still had them activated), that you can end up with that situation. .

I appreciate all this info, and the explanation. Just requesting clarification

1. I only ever installed 1 mod - the captain Midnight Radio mod. From what you describe, would you agree it is highly unlikely this would cause this? After all, I just started playing the game ona fresh install after nearly 15 years.

2. What is causing this "growing group of ships" problem spot? From what you say, it keeps building until a campaign is unplayable? Do all campaigns eventually come to a grinding halt? How can it be prevented? I'm not clear about the scope and cause of this issue.

propbeanie · 01-31-23, 12:57 AM

1. No, that mod did not cause it. But if you had corrupted data in the Save folder from the CTD, that could cause a similar issue, hence the suggestion to empty the Save folder. See the other thread about correcting the Captain Midnight radio mod's config with Digital_Trucker's RSM mod, but you do still need to delete the Save folder data to clear those bad DD "convoys"...
2. Some game versions and mods had improperly "docked" ships in what are called RGG (Random Generated Groups), that instead of being "anchored" and set at zero knots speed to sit alongside a dock, instead were not "anchored" and had the default 5 knots speed still set, which then allows the ships to travel around the world. When the game then runs, the game's internal database tracks where the ships are continually, and every so many hours (generally about once every few months) will "spawn" another ship to replace the one that left the dock... Since they are all set to the same "heading" (ie: 24 degrees true), they all follow the same track. Since the game does not check for collisions until a ship is actually within the player's sub area and then actually generates the 3D ship, they never run aground, and just continue on their merry way. When your player sub gets within approximately 32nm of where the ship(s) are tracking, then they spawn into the 3D world, and start "stealing bandwidth" from the game. There might only be three or four near you, so you wouldn't notice an impact, but later in the war, that number might be 3 or 4 dozen, or perhaps hundreds of ships, which is when you get a CTD, because the game cannot handle that amount of data.

Open your game folder, and right-click on the SH4.exe file, and click on the "Properties" menu choice. Then click on the "Details" tab, and about the middle of that page is the "Product Version:" such as 1.3.1.0, or 1.5.0.0 - what number do you have for yours?

fitzcarraldo · 02-03-23, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HellNY

I recently re-purchased SH4 after a 14 year hiatus! Its been great. But last night on Dec 26th, 1941 I encountered something Ive never seen before. A Convoy that was impossibly large - 51 (yes, fifty-one) Japanese destroyers in 3 lines steaming west near Formasa. I do not recall ever seeing something like this when I played the game in 2008. I wondered if it was a bug it was so big.

I save the game before approaching. Every time I get close the game crashes - at least once I get to periscope depth. I dont even have to raise periscope, it crashes. Its just about proximity.

I am at my wits end. Ive tried "windowed mode," reducing the resolution, and turning off 3D sound channels. Nothing.

The only Mod is that I USED to have Captain Midnights radio mod but I uninstalled it because that *also* caused the game to crash. But since I removed it that problem is gone. WHat I have now is very specific to this convoy.

Does anyone know anything that might help? I cant continue the game now.

Do you use some supermod? (FOTRSU, TMO, etc)?

Did you apply the 4Gb patch?

Good luck!

Fitzcarraldo

01-30-23, 09:07 PM	#1
HellNY Swabbie Join Date: Jan 2023 Posts: 9 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	Repeatable Crash when approaching huge convoy I recently re-purchased SH4 after a 14 year hiatus! Its been great. But last night on Dec 26th, 1941 I encountered something Ive never seen before. A Convoy that was impossibly large - 51 (yes, fifty-one) Japanese destroyers in 3 lines steaming west near Formasa. I do not recall ever seeing something like this when I played the game in 2008. I wondered if it was a bug it was so big. I save the game before approaching. Every time I get close the game crashes - at least once I get to periscope depth. I dont even have to raise periscope, it crashes. Its just about proximity. I am at my wits end. Ive tried "windowed mode," reducing the resolution, and turning off 3D sound channels. Nothing. The only Mod is that I USED to have Captain Midnights radio mod but I uninstalled it because that also caused the game to crash. But since I removed it that problem is gone. WHat I have now is very specific to this convoy. Does anyone know anything that might help? I cant continue the game now.

01-30-23, 11:49 PM	#5
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,749 Downloads: 440 Uploads: 2	There are several mods out there, that if you had previously had them activated, and then de-activated them and did not empty the Save folder (or still had them activated), that you can end up with that situation. It is recommended that you empty the Save folder (C:\Users \UserName \Documents \SH4) and get rid of the bad data. If you are in the middle of a career and want to continue with that career instead, do NOT delete the data yet, but do NOT attempt to get close to the grouping. You should instead avoid the area from your Saved location, and return to base via a different route, hunting and sinking as you can along the way. There are several potential problem spots in the game, with two of them involving these growing groups traveling in a north-northeast direction, basically in line with French Indo-China, Formosa, Japan and the Kurile Islands. As time passes, the group grows larger and larger, and eventually make it to where you cannot continue the game until you do empty the Save folder. One thing to remember about mods is that the game basically runs off of the data in the Save folder, so when you change a mod set-up, you often have to clear the Save data, so that the Save folder "refreshes" its information. __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna

01-31-23, 12:57 AM	#7
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,749 Downloads: 440 Uploads: 2	1. No, that mod did not cause it. But if you had corrupted data in the Save folder from the CTD, that could cause a similar issue, hence the suggestion to empty the Save folder. See the other thread about correcting the Captain Midnight radio mod's config with Digital_Trucker's RSM mod, but you do still need to delete the Save folder data to clear those bad DD "convoys"... 2. Some game versions and mods had improperly "docked" ships in what are called RGG (Random Generated Groups), that instead of being "anchored" and set at zero knots speed to sit alongside a dock, instead were not "anchored" and had the default 5 knots speed still set, which then allows the ships to travel around the world. When the game then runs, the game's internal database tracks where the ships are continually, and every so many hours (generally about once every few months) will "spawn" another ship to replace the one that left the dock... Since they are all set to the same "heading" (ie: 24 degrees true), they all follow the same track. Since the game does not check for collisions until a ship is actually within the player's sub area and then actually generates the 3D ship, they never run aground, and just continue on their merry way. When your player sub gets within approximately 32nm of where the ship(s) are tracking, then they spawn into the 3D world, and start "stealing bandwidth" from the game. There might only be three or four near you, so you wouldn't notice an impact, but later in the war, that number might be 3 or 4 dozen, or perhaps hundreds of ships, which is when you get a CTD, because the game cannot handle that amount of data. Open your game folder, and right-click on the SH4.exe file, and click on the "Properties" menu choice. Then click on the "Details" tab, and about the middle of that page is the "Product Version:" such as 1.3.1.0, or 1.5.0.0 - what number do you have for yours? __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna