I tried deleting the contents of the descr_mercs file and this time I was able to see the loading screen come up for a split second before another CTD occured. For experimentation, I also deleted the contents of descr_harvests and descr_events. Since these are similar to the mercs file I assumed it wouldn't make a difference - was I wrong? This time I just got a CTD after I clicked the arrow to start the game. I know these crashes are not due to a misspelt character name in descr_strat because I have not added any characters or armies yet. Really, I'm just trying to get the map to load to get a general idea of what it looks like in-game before I start adding in details. Is there another reason that you know of that could be causing these crashes, Makanyane?