Range check error

neofit · #1 April 17th, 2002, 10:51 AM

I am running SEIV Gold 1.67 on Win2KPro SP2 and am having a 'Range Check Error' during the AI turn, when Player 12 plays. Then the game just stays there until I Alt-F4 out to the desktop. I am not using any mods at all, the game is installed just as Malfador intended, playing as human, all default, small quadrant, hard difficulty, Lots of enemies.

I've seen this happen all the time with 1.60 during my turn, when I destroy everything on a planet then right-click on it to see its status. I get the 'Range Check Error', then empty windows where the planet status should be displayed, but nothing seemed to be harmed and I could continue playing without reloading. But this error happens during the AI turn and the game stops.

I don't keep old saves, I save once at the beginning of the turn and once at the end, to reduce cheating, I only reload when I misclick. I tried reloading both saves about 3-4 times and always get the RCE, like something happens to Player 12 in any case and the randomness factor wouldn't let him avoid it. Or maybe it's something that happens right after Player 12's turn, before the message is erased, don't know.

Anyone else saw this? I found a few Messages on this board related to this error, but the Last one is more than a year old, so this seems to be new (or maybe a fact of life for the old-timers?

). Haven't tried reinstalling yet, I was, ahem, rather late for work already

I'd hate to scrap this campaign, it was finally hard, started getting attacked during the Escort and Frigate era, was a lot of fun, even more so now that I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Atrocities · #2 April 17th, 2002, 11:05 AM

While in the game, click on the upper left hand icon (options) and then click players tab. Switch player 12 to human control. Then make your turn. Watch what player 12 does. usually the AI tries to do something really stupid.

90% of the time doing this will prevent the RCE. After the turn is processed, and you have watched what the AI has done, process the turn again. Switch the player 12 back to AI control and save the game. Make your turn, if you get an RCE then, or while processing player 12's move while under human control, then the game is lost and its time to restart. Send the save game file to Malfador along with a detailed discription.

Best of luck. FYI, the Last time this subject was brought up was three or four days ago.

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...&f=23&t=004969
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...&f=23&t=005069

[ 17 April 2002: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

[ 17 April 2002: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

neofit · #3 April 17th, 2002, 04:41 PM

Thank you Atrocities. Can't wait to try, two hours left

Before posting I went to the search page and typed the three words: range check error. I got a page-full of threads, the most recent one being dated April 6th, 2001.
I redid this right after reading this post and got the same page of old and unsorted threads. There is also a line saying: "Displaying Topics 41 - 79 (79 total)" yet there is nowhere to click to go to the next page of results. I think I am almost not guilty, and thank you for taking the time to answer.

capnq · #4 April 17th, 2002, 11:02 PM

The search function here can be finicky, and a lot of people are acronym-happy.

A search on "RCE" pulls up a dozen threads in just the Last five days.

neofit · #5 April 18th, 2002, 11:39 AM

quote:
Originally posted by capnq:
The search function here can be finicky, and a lot of people are acronym-happy. A search on "RCE" pulls up a dozen threads in just the Last five days.

Heh! Just tried to search on 'range check error' and this very post is not listed. I am outraged!

neofit · #6 April 18th, 2002, 11:50 AM

Anyway, the fix worked fine and saved my campaign, thank you Atrocities.

To whom do I send the 'broken' saved games, is se4@malfador.com OK?

Atrocities · #7 April 18th, 2002, 12:40 PM

When you do a search, be sure you select the correct time period under DATE to be searched.

And I am glad the fix worked for you. Other RCE's can be caused by the Fighter Bug. Its a problem that occures when lots of ships or fighters engage in battle. The best way to avoid getting it is once you do get it, play the AI turn, and limit the amount of ships he sends to attack you. Best of luck.

DirectorTsaarx · #8 April 18th, 2002, 05:26 PM

Well, I've run into an RCE; it's a Gold game that I started on Version 1.60 & updated to 1.67. The RCE occurs immediately after the Last player's turn. I've attempted setting that player to human (and leaving it human control, even went to empire options and selected the "complete AI off" and "individual ministers off" buttons, just in case). RCE still occurs. I've also noticed that if I wait a couple minutes, my empire starts to come up, but I can't select anything or see my ships. I'm about to start deleting all my ships' orders to see where the problem lies.

HOWEVER, it would be nice if I could find this "debug settings" file that Aaron supposedly added in Version 1.61. Maybe that would narrow the problem down a little faster...

DirectorTsaarx · #9 April 18th, 2002, 05:56 PM

Well, I did some further testing on my RCE; I cleared orders for 2 of my fleets, and the problem disappeared. So I decided to try again, but clearing orders for only 1 fleet at a time. RCE occurred no matter which set of orders I cleared. So I cleared both sets of orders again, and the RCE still happened. So now I have an error that may or may not be repeatable...

I'll be sending to Malfador soon...

neofit · #10 April 18th, 2002, 07:38 PM

quote:
Originally posted by DirectorTsaarx:
Well, I did some further testing on my RCE; I cleared orders for 2 of my fleets, and the problem disappeared. So I decided to try again, but clearing orders for only 1 fleet at a time. RCE occurred no matter which set of orders I cleared. So I cleared both sets of orders again, and the RCE still happened. So now I have an error that may or may not be repeatable...

Mine was weird too. Happened during Last player's turn too. What I did:

1. Reload Save #1, made at the beginning of the curren turn, press 'End Turn' -> RCE. Repeated 4-5 times, RCEs all the time.

2. Reload Save #2, made at the end of the current turn. 4-5 tries again, RCEs all the time.

3. Reload. Used Atrocities' hint. At the Player 12's turn, click 'End Turn'. RCE.

4. Reload. At the end of Player 12's turn, click on one of his planets (so as to see its stats), end the turn -> RCE.

5. Reload. At the end of Player 12's turn, click on one of his ships (so as to see its stats), end the turn -> NO RCE.

6. Reload. At the end of Player 12's turn, didn't click anywhere, just ended the turn -> NO RCE!

Didn't test anymore. So I guess that my RCE was tied to a random factor and could be avoided through many many tries. I am glad I managed to get through without messing around with that AI player's actions.