I'm having trouble with hot-seat multiplayer games. I can play the game just fine, everything works, and there aren't any problems while I'm in a game. However, sometimes when I try to load a saved game, about mid-way through the loading bar, the game crashes and I get the little window saying that the game had an unexpected error and needed to close, etc. And it'll continue to crash with those specific saved games, and then the odd one or two saves will load just fine. So why do my saved games become corrupted?

-Windows XP
-200GB Hard Drive
-2.20 GHz RAM
-AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3700+
-GeForce 6150 LE ver. 169.21

This happens to me too...it's usually because I have too many fan maps in the map folder.

Clearing out all of them except the one I want to play usually helps.

edit: Once it gets corrupted it will never load.

I agree with the Reborn Phoenix's hypothesis :

For some strange reason, a "problematic" map-file can interfere with the game programme's normal execution and/or loading process -- even if that map-file is not directly implicated in a game !?

Go figure ...

Removing a "problematic" map-file can (sometimes) allow the game to launch and load properly.

In my case, it is a map that I created in the Editor which can be the source of the problem.

Hi there.

Wow, you're kidding! Too many maps in the Map file? I'll try it, but hard to see how the two are connected. I have tons of maps installed, and played blissfully for quite some time before this exact problem began occurring. Tried everything, reinstalling drivers, game, etc. etc.

Aloha, Sorceresss...

Would mods cause this sort of thing as well? Is there any good, detailed one stop shopping for info on mods and how and where to install them in HOF and TOTE. I've gotten most of them to work, but some I've collected would seem to go in other than the Data file or Fan Mod file(or perhaps they just don't work with a given version of Heroes)....

Cheers

My previous opinion was not based on expert technical knowledge, but rather, on empirical trial-and-error experiments.

It has happened to me to make grave mistakes when editing maps, and if the Editor accepted to save the file, the main game programme refused to launch or to load when it detected a bad map-file.

Removing the suspect map-file from its folder has always solved that type of problem, for me.

Consequently, by induction, I suppose that problematic (or fatally "corrupted") map-files (or mods) will be detected by the game programme and cause crashes. Removing those files (or mods) could fix the problem.

The same can be said of "corrupted" save-game files : sometimes, the game will immediately refuse to launch if it detects the existence of such a file. Removing it fixes the problem.

I have been playing at HM&M 5 for 2½ years (since the open beta), and encountering bad save-game or map files has very rarely happened to me. But in each & every case, removing the suspect file fixed the situation.

I do not use mods, and I do not play downloaded maps (I edit my own).

But to play safe, I do as the Reborn Phoenix implied. I keep very few map-editor made files in the game's official folders (only the ones I regularly play), and I keep my big map reserve in a personal folder that the game programme will not detect.

I have a different opinion. I've been playing HOMM V just as long, I think (as well as II, III and IV before, but that's not relevant now). I've never experienced the problems that I have had for several months now. I'm not sure but I think it happens with HOMM V ToE only since I lost interest in the other two versions about half a year ago.

I'm pretty sure it's a technical problem within HOMM 5 ToE itself. It does not happen on small maps, only the largest ones (size huge, impossible, etc.) The solution proposed above does not help: I cleared the Maps-directory but for the one I'm playing.

I still can't load a previously saved game while playing, the game just crashes. I have to restart the game (which implies clearing memory, so that's probably where the solution is to be found) and then I can load and play on.

However after having played the same map for some time, the situation becomes even worse, since I can't even load the last saved games anymore! Strangely, I can load a much older saved version of that same map.

I do use autosave, and I play on XP 32-bit.

I have exactly the same problem and I also believe it is map size related.
When I generate impossible size maps with the RMG I notice that the saves quicky gets corrupted.
Before that, I also noticed that if I try to load such a save from the game, it crashes, but it doesn't if I try to load them without having a game being played at the moment. (by quiting the game and launching it again from the desktop)
I'd appreciate some feedback of UBI's staff on that subjet.

By the way, I have a c2 duo 6850e 2go ram, 8800 GT, everything way above spec and the game AI's turns are soooo slow on impossible maps.

I wonder if UBI guys dare even crawl down here...
Come on ! This is a very important issue. It ruins the game fun completly !
Just watch it for yourself if you don't believe us.
Try creating an impossible map with the RMG and then launch it. Do a quicksave then a quickload and voila ... enjoy the crash !!!

Still no feedback... *sigh*

Can someone help me out with that please ?

Up

Anyone... tell me : "Yes it works / no it doesn't"
I mean... loading a previous save of "impossible" size from the game without crashing.
It takes less than one minutes guys... I just wanna know if it works for you.

That said happy christmas all !

I would never play an impossible size map because it is so boring.

I could test this for you if you like, but I always do a hard save through the menu, never use quick save.

Ok I tried this out.

I created an impossible size map with the rmg.

Hard save and load worked fine.

Quicksave and load worked fine.

No corruption nothing. What killed it for me was the long ai turns, about 3 minutes for all four ai's to go.

Edit: in the unlikely event that you return to look for an answer.

I have the same problem described by Helena1955 & alphac -- it sometimes (not always) crashes halfway thru loading a game in random maps of the biggest size, im ToTE, especially with the underground layer. Under 3.0 some of those saves could load if I exited the game, but I haven't noticed that under 3.1 (maybe just coincidence?)
I do autosaves and manual and I don't think it matters (no quicksaves recently, so can't say for sure).
Seems to maybe get worse as a campaign progresses (?).
Since it doesn't always happen, anyone's tests that say is doesn't happen to them aren't really conclusive unless the play quite a while and try lots of re-loads.
Sometimes it crashes under when it isn't loading a game, but those are usually when the game has been running for a LONG time, like leaving it in standby overnite instead of exiting, to avoid the risk of needing to load.
(Note Big maps are the only way to play this game that still interests me. My fix for the long, boring computer turns with large maps -- bring a book. Literally. If I don't have something to read during computer turns, something to read, I play another game).
@Sorceress: I don't do any map editing, and this has happened with just one or two random maps saved, so I don't think bad maps are a likely suspect.

Ok, same here. I played all the Campaigns without a problem, but when I created a RMG map of Impossible size with Impossible monsters I noticed immedatly I couldn't reload a save from within the game, but seemed allright from a fresh start, I played a few days like that and actually made it to level 35, when I could no longer load ANY saved games.
First try was a 2 player map, tried again with 8 players, it seems to work for awhile then gets somehow corrupted, it takes quite awhile to create, but if you only do a 2 player, the turns arent so bad, but the saves take a long time.
*(spelling)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Brozly,