Von Wibble
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 35
Registered: 07-21-2008
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The game loads fine and I can click on any of the options in the first main menu, but then if I choose any option except "back to main menu" or "Play tutorial" the game just closes. It was working fine yesterday.

Playing on Windows 10, Steam. I have reinstalled it with no effect, and validated the files.

Von Wibble
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 35
Registered: 07-21-2008
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Looking further I see it updated yesterday, I don't know if that update is the problem? Is there a way to revert to an earlier version?

I have version 1.2.8.398

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5185
Registered: 02-04-2003
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Hi! Thanks for posting about this issue, and I'm sorry about the crash. It does sound like the new version is causing you trouble. I'm happy to help you troubleshoot this and get things working again.

This is the first time I've heard of any trouble running 1.2.8 on Steam. If you don't mind, would you please help me troubleshoot this issue so I can get it fixed for you?

I don't have the previous version available to select on Steam, so this is likely the most direct route to getting things working again for you.

Based on your description, I'm trying to figure out what could be causing this. I have some things for you to take a look at.

First, check for a file named drodrpg.err in the game's user data directory (iirc, it's "C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Caravel\drodrpg-1_0"). If you have one, please post the contents here. It may give insight on what went wrong.

Second, can you export your player progress to a file on disk from the Select Player screen (via the "Export" button)? Might be useful to save any play progress you care about before proceeding further (see next step).

Third, would you try renaming your user directory temporarily, e.g., rename the folder to something like "drodrpg-1_0-original", so the game will create a brand new folder on startup. If you can play normally after this point, it would indicate to me that there's an issue related to the player data files causing the crash, and starting with fresh data might be a workaround. (I'd have to investigate further to figure out exactly what that issue is...) From this point, if you can import your exported player data file and continue playing from that point, that might be all you need to resolve this issue.

Hopefully this works like magic, but if not, we can troubleshoot further.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 08-21-2021 12:32 AM]

Dragon Fogel
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2518
Registered: 06-21-2014
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For the record, I use Windows 10 and the Steam version and I'm not having any trouble. I didn't check all the menu options, but I was able to select "Continue playing".

Von Wibble
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 35
Registered: 07-21-2008
IP: Logged

File: drodrpg.err (8.1 KB)
Downloaded 49 times.
License: Public Domain

Thanks for this.

I can't open the .err file so am just attaching it here.

Trying to export the data gives a runtime error as well as a lot of error noises from the speakers.

For the third point, which folder exactly is it I need to rename?

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5185
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Thanks for the file and working with me on this. I appreciate your patience.

The drodrpg.err file is just a text file. You can use, for instance, Notepad to open it. I see it contains text like the following:

*** FIRST LOG IN SESSION 8/20/21 10:50AM ***
Assertion error in line 112 of DbSavedGameMoves.cpp: "!"Can't unpack move data""
Assertion error in line 1048 of DbHolds.cpp: "pSavedGame"

I don't know what offhand would cause this issue, but it means that your saved games can't be loaded. Maybe "Play New Game" might work. It may be indicative of some corruption in your local saved game data.

I think the third item I mentioned should still work. What I meant in my last post is to rename

"C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Caravel\drodrpg-1_0"

to something else, e.g.,

"C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Caravel\drodrpg-1_0 original"

Then the game should start. Let's go to that point to confirm the game will run with fresh data files. If that succeeds, then let me know what else you need to get back up and running, and then maybe I can help you fix the bad data files.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 08-21-2021 12:38 AM]

Von Wibble
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 35
Registered: 07-21-2008
IP: Logged

So, I have renamed the file, which created a copy of it, and tried opening, still doesn't work. But the err file is still referencing saves as you mention, so I'm not sure renaming the folder has meant it is starting with fresh data files?

There are save and savemoves files in the drodrpg and the drodrpg original folders, both are DAT files of the same size (186,841 and 28805 KB respectively) in both folders.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5185
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Von Wibble wrote:
So, I have renamed the file, which created a copy of it, and tried opening, still doesn't work. But the err file is still referencing saves as you mention, so I'm not sure renaming the folder has meant it is starting with fresh data files?

There are save and savemoves files in the drodrpg and the drodrpg original folders, both are DAT files of the same size (186,841 and 28805 KB respectively) in both folders.

Apologies for the confusion. No, what you describe doing is not what I was suggesting. If I'm understanding what you're saying you did, that won't work.

I didn't suggest to make copies of the folder or of specific files; you need to rename (move, not copy) the entire local directory out of the original location. This will cause the game to not find your current data files and create a brand new directory with a brand new set of user data files inside it. You have to start completely fresh to see if the game will run with a fresh player data directory. Would you please try this?

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 08-21-2021 03:07 PM]

Von Wibble
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 35
Registered: 07-21-2008
IP: Logged

Sorry, still not quite following. I'm not the most computer literate I'm afraid, thank you for your patience.

The file is in windows C, Users, name, Onedrive, Documents, Caravel, drodrpg 1.0

Do you want me to move the drod rpg 1.0 to a different folder (will the desktop be OK) or the caravel to a different folder? Or something else? Once moved do I need to change the name of it?

Thanks in advance.

Von Wibble
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 35
Registered: 07-21-2008
IP: Logged

So I have tried creating a new folder, and moving (not copying at all) drod 1.0 into that folder, renaming it as drod original.

Then when I try to load drod, it makes a new copy of drod 1.0 in the caravel folder I moved it from, and then doesn't work with the same problem as before.

So either I am still not doing exactly as asked (in which case I really need it spelling out) or this approach isn't working...

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5185
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Appreciate your patience as we work through these steps!

Von Wibble wrote:
So I have tried creating a new folder, and moving (not copying at all) drod 1.0 into that folder, renaming it as drod original.

Then when I try to load drod, it makes a new copy of drod 1.0 in the caravel folder I moved it from

Yes, this is essentially what I meant, so the game will create brand new contents inside the caravel folder from scratch. Based on your description, I think you did this step correctly.

...and then doesn't work with the same problem as before.

Just to make sure I'm understanding, I'd like to confirm that after you performed the above step, then when you started the game, it asked you to create a brand new player profile, and then when you tried playing the Tendry's Tale level set from the beginning, the game crashed. Also, the game did not give you the option to select "Continue Game", because you were starting with a new player profile. Is that right?

So either I am still not doing exactly as asked (in which case I really need it spelling out) or this approach isn't working...

Yes, if I understood what your step and what happened after correctly, sounds like this approach isn't working. This is quite odd, because it means the game is simply having trouble writing or reading from the game files. Still, this information is useful to narrow down the problem.

By chance, do you have non-English/non-Latin characters in your Windows username? We made some changes to accommodate this case, so just checking.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 08-24-2021 03:50 PM]

Von Wibble
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 35
Registered: 07-21-2008
IP: Logged

No, it didn't ask me to make a new profile, it is still using the old one - it makes a new folder in the previously existing place which has the same files as the ones I moved.

I don't have any non English non Latin characters in my username.

Dragon Fogel
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2518
Registered: 06-21-2014
IP: Logged

That sounds like the Steam cloud is syncing the old files. You'll want to turn that off and then get rid of the duplicate folder.

Right-click the game's title in Steam, select properties, and uncheck "Keep game saves in the Steam cloud".

Von Wibble
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 35
Registered: 07-21-2008
IP: Logged

That's done it, thanks!

New game works and I'm good to go.

Thanks both of you for your help. Luckily I was just starting a hold when it crashed so I'm happy enough to just go with the new profile.

I assume I can now check to keep save games in the steam cloud and it will use this new profile now so the problem won't come back?

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5185
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Glad to hear this worked! And thank you, Dragon Fogel, for your timely advice.

Von Wibble wrote: I assume I can now check to keep save games in the steam cloud and it will use this new profile now so the problem won't come back?

Yes, go ahead and re-enable this setting, and your data files should remain in a good state going forward.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 08-24-2021 07:00 PM]