the Hourglass of Death

[Mindblank]

I'm re-discovering RTW EB with great pleasure, playing 1.2 a few years after my last try of 0.8. However, I'm more and more plagued by what I now call the Hourglass of Death (HoD) bug, since about 230 BC: upon ending a turn, the AI plays the other factions and when my next turn starts, the hourglass keeps spinning and I can't do anything short of ending the application through the task manager and re-launching the game.

I have checked the Frequently encountered issues thread, tried every trick there, including running the mod with the BI exe, but the HoD keeps appearing every 4-5 turns or so. I also tried toggling the fog of war and looking for rebellious cities but could not find any (although I admit it's a daunting task and I may have missed stuff). The only "fix" that works has been to reload a saved game exactly two turns earlier and just replay the turns. I don't even have to replay those turns very differently; it always seems to get me past the HoD, but only for it to appear again a couple of turns later.

I really enjoy the game and my campaign in particular, but I'm afraid this issue is getting too frequent now for me to keep it up. I have limited opportunities to play due to real life obligations, and I just can't afford to replay turns over and over again. As you can guess, I'm quite desperate to get any help I can get to vanquish the HoD.

Thanks in advance !

[XSamatan]

1.2 fixes applied?
If you have no minimods installed, please upload your savegame and I'll give it a try.

XSamatan

[Mindblank]

Yes, all 1.2 fixes applied, and no minimods installed.

Here is a link to the uploaded save: spring_end_O.sav

Thanks in advance XSamatan, I very much appreciate your help :)

[XSamatan]

It was a script error, but it should be fixed, it allowed me to play five turns into your campaign.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

If you want to know what caused the error:
The EBBS spawns defenders in certain central European regions, this caused the crash. I transferred the critical region's (Eburonum) ownership to the Sweboz, it should be fine now.

XSamatan

[Mindblank]

Thank you. I'm anxious to try this out, either tonight or in a couple of days. I'll let you know how it goes.

If the script creates defenders (I assume Eleutheroi) from time to time, does it mean I can expect this to happen again? Any recommendations for me on how to avoid or fix this if it happens again?

Congratulations by the way, for partaking in the creation and maintenance of one of the most immersive mods I have ever tried in my whole gaming life. RTW with EB is easily in the top 3 of my all-time favorite games.

[XSamatan]

No, that should not happen again as I transferred the critical region's (Eburonum) ownership to the Sweboz, the script won't fire again.

Have fun with your campaign!

XSamatan