A modder's guide to CTDs

[khelvan]

My hope is to generate a long list of exactly what can cause errors throughout all of RTW. I would love to be able to compile and update this list. I hope we continue to have participation, even if only adding a few here and there.

EDU = /data/export_descr_unit.txt
DMB = /data/descr_model_battle.txt

RTW Loading CTDs:
- Mismatch between descr_names.txt and names.txt

Loading Screen Slowdowns:
- campaign_descriptions.txt must have less than 1000 characters per line and less than 20 lines per faction, or file load time is increased by 85%

Faction selection screen:
- Lack of campaign descriptions.

Campaign Map Loading Kick to Main Menu:
- Typographical error in descr_strat.txt
- Overwriting rather than deleting and then copying an update of map tga files
- Resource not defined in EDB
- Typo in building capabilities in EDB

Campaign Map Loading CTDs:
- Landmass ratio problem causes a CTD when loading the campaign map.
- A named character has an invalid name in descr_strat.
- The game is loaded but the screen is centered onto a buggy region (see the campaign map scrolling CTDs).

In Campaign Mode CTDs:
During play/AI turn:
- A family member being generated without a general_unit for the faction.
- A new character is generated and not given a valid name.
- Some building bonuses in the same building level as certain unit recruitment strings (this will happen both during AI turn and when the building is right-clicked).
- Units able to be recruited in EDB but no faction "ownership" for a faction in EDU.
- Units added to descr_rebel_factions.txt but no slave faction ownership in EDU.
- Units added to descr_mercenaries.txt but no mercenary_unit in EDU.
- Bad defined type of unit for army spawned via script file
- Mismatch between export_desc_character_traits.txt and export_VnVs.txt entries causes CTD when viewing the portrait of a named character with the bad trait.

Scrolling over campaign map:
- Not enough province/settlements on a too large map (fix : add provinces on the map/may be fixed with BI) causes CTD while scrolling the map.
- Error with the rebel faction/settlement owner and or creator (when you scroll over a given settlement)
- Some hidden resources can cause CTDs when you scroll over the region.

Custom Battle Menu Selection CTD:
- If you forgot to put in the second (or first) skeleton to units with secondary attacks in EDU.txt, the game CTDs the moment your mouse arrow reaches that unit in the menu.

Battle Loading CTDs:
- A unit with the attribute mercenary_unit in EDU that has no texture line for "merc" in the soldier, officer, and other related models found in DMB.
- A non-mercenary_unit in EDU that has no texture line in DMB for any faction given ownership of the unit in EDU, for the soldier, officer, and other related models.
- A sprite defined in DMB with no distance value.

In Battle Mode CTDs:
- Bad defined formations for Human Player (i.e. mainly changing names of formations in "descr_formations.txt" file)

BI specific:
- A reference to spawn event in descr_sm_factions and have modded the game to include those factions at the start date will CTD on AI's turn.