Reinforcement battles - to CTD or not to CTD

[paullus]

Have you gotten far enough on the 1.5 conversion to check and see if the reinforcement CTD still happens there? You never know, that might somehow fix it.

[Malrubius]

Have you gotten far enough on the 1.5 conversion to check and see if the reinforcement CTD still happens there? You never know, that might somehow fix it.

I think you're right. The doubled PostBattle triggers bug in 1.2 was fixed in 1.5, and since it only seems to happen in player-fought battles, it seems something might be happening on the 2nd pass through the traits file.

It would be possible to set up a situation in descr_strat to make this pretty easy to test, once I've gotten 1.5 installed.

[Masy]

Sorry Malrubius no savegame, it happened a while ago. However i'm gonna try and get into some CTD reinforcment situations tonight, and will post any results (with saves).

[toxicseagull]

well..... reinforcement battle, without CTD.

as the casse, fighting the two rebel armys that you start with near you roaming. in the forests to the northeast of the starting province,
was playing patch 7.3a. open field (forest and road in map), winter, glorious defeat for me, i had a family member, they both had their starting generals but i killed one leader (of the smaller army) before end of battle.
largest army came on as reinforcment.

hope that helps, keep up the great work

[PseRamesses]

I´ve also had several reinforcement siege battles and only one has crashed so I tried out different approaches:

Besieging Hierosolyma with my (Seleukid) generals army.
Ptolemies has 2 hoplites and a general in the town.
Reinforcement army attacks, standing on siege works, contains some 60-70 solidiers of 4 types (almost depleted), no general.

1. CTD when exit battle.
2. CTD after viewing batt-stats, then exit battle.
3. CTD when intown general routs.
4. No CTD when I killed him.
5. No CTD when autocalc (as usual).

[Kull]

My second Reinforcement CTD, after playing many battles with reinforcements without CTDing, with many different conditions. I failed to keep the first CTD save-game though.

Eiperos vs Romani v.74,

How to reproduce the CTD:

1. Load the game.

2. Click on any town and activate the script (though it CTDed without it too, I tested it).

3. Look at the Italian boot, that's where the action will happen.

4. Press End turn, a Romani army SHOULD attack the little Eiperote stack sitting at the border, when the battle screen pops-up, select WITHDRAW from battle.

5. The Eiperote little stack will retreat a few steps back and sit right next to another Eiperote stack, the Romans should attack AGAIN. And it's in this battle, with an Eiperote reinforcement stack, PLUS a Romani reinforcement stack that the CTD will happen at the end of the battle (only tested a victory).

If things don't work as planned, let me know and I'll upload a save from the second battle screen pop-up:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V220UKOP

I tested this out with an EB v.74 setup, and here were the results:

1) Enemy had one army with a general, i had two armies with two generals. I deliberately decided to lose, just to see if that would cause a CTD. The result was a crushing defeat for me (my army "melted away), but no CTD.

2) Repeated the test, had identical force dispositions, and achieved a clear victory. No CTD.

3) Immediately after, returning from the Battle Map to the strat map, there was ANOTHER pre-battle map display. Apparently a second Roman army was hot on the heels of the first, and attacked me. Force dispositions were similar (1 army versus 2) but this time they were led by a Captain. Again I achieved a Clear Victory, and again, no CTD.

4) I combined my two armies under a General and attacked the Romans, putting Canusium under siege. The next turn they attacked 2 armies to my one, including a sally by the garrison of Canusium, with a captain and a general leading their forces. This time I achieved a Heroic Victory, but once again, no CTD.

Very odd.

Edit1: Once more into the breach!

5) Since the one-on-two didn't seem to be doing anything, I started over, and autoresolved into a defeat. The next turn the Romans had retreated north near Canusium, so I assembled a mid size army under a single General and followed after them, but stayed clear of Canusium (so the battle would have nothing to do with sieges). Sure enough, next turn the enemy attacked with two armies against my one (they had a captain and a general). The result was a long, bloody Heroic Victory, followed by a CTD!!! Woowoo! My first Reinforcement CTD!!

6) On a hunch, I decided to test out the same maneuver, but this time to fight the battle using a Captain. Basically I replicated all the moves from #5 and once again achieved a Heroic Victory, but this time there was no CTD.

Edit2: Used the exact same setup and ran out three more battles:

7) All three times I used a General. One battle was with scripts activated, and the other two were without scripts. All three resulted in Clear Victories. There were no CTDs in any of the battles.

Edit3: Modified the setup a little so I have fewer troops, and ran two battles:

8) Both times I used a General. One battle was with scripts activated, and the other was without scripts. Both resulted in Heroic Victories. Both times there was a CTD!

Edit4: The setup is now perfect. I can get a Heroic Victory anytime I want. Here are two more battles, identical troops to the previous two battles with one exception - No General leading my army:

9) Both times I used a Captain. One battle was with scripts activated, and the other was without scripts. Both resulted in Heroic Victories. Both times there was not a CTD!

Edit5: One final test. What happens if I lose?

10) Tried one battle, script on, army led by a General. The result was a Crushing Defeat, there was no CTD.

Edit6: What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment!

11) Tried two more battles, script on, army led by a General. The first one was an Average Victory, and there was a CTD. The second result was a Crushing Defeat, but this time I made sure not to harm the enemy Generals and ensured that mine escaped alive. Even so, there was no CTD.

If anyone wants to play with this, here's a link to the file.

And here's the start screen when you load it up. The army is in place near Canusium, surrounded by Romans and led by a Captain. If you want a General to lead your army, add the unit as indicated by the Green Arrow. When you are ready to go, just click End Turn: