AWESOMEMOD & SCRIPT HACKS: CRASH ISSUES THREAD

[shivafang]

Okay I've discovered something really strange.  And it's happened twice so I know I'm not imagining it.

Deleting the cache files is not enough.  I also have to empty the recycle bin.  Normally I empty the bin automatically, but sometimes I'm eager to play so I forget, and the game CTD's but when I empty the bin it works fine.

The bin shouldn't effect how a program operates, but it does.  *shrugs*.

I would think it would do something like that with a full drive, but my drive is only half full (though I have remapped my documents to exist on the D: drive, if that makes a difference.  My Sims is installed on drive F:)

EDIT:  Or maybe not - becuase I also had to delete my AweConfig as mentioned in this thread.  It's weird because it worked fine last night with the newest version and AweConfig, but now I have to delete it.  Fortunatly the only thing I use from default was the slider range, and I only wanted it for one sim (wanted to give her a long wichlike nose) so I'm good without it as long as her children can inherit that trait without it.

[phyllis_p]

Does the game always crash when you're on the second "ray" of the loading star? That's the "Random Crash". It seems to be fixed simply by randomly kicking the game and is not directly associated with AwesomeMod.

I should know by now to believe you.

I was SO SURE that it was the magic of deleting the caches that fixed things.  However, last night I decided to trust you on this.  The game crashed during load at that same old spot, but instead of deleting caches, I just tried starting again.  Lo and behold, it loaded fine.

You are The Awesome.  I should remember that.

[Fikcija]

Deleting the cache files is not enough.  I also have to empty the recycle bin.  Normally I empty the bin automatically, but sometimes I'm eager to play so I forget, and the game CTD's but when I empty the bin it works fine

Don't put anything in the recycle bin. Just delete it. REALLY delete it. I never use the recycle bin, what's the point? I actually don't even use the windows explorer, I prefer file manager. When it deletes, it actually deletes. End of story. Makes life easier.

[shivafang]

Don't put anything in the recycle bin. Just delete it. REALLY delete it. I never use the recycle bin, what's the point? I actually don't even use the windows explorer, I prefer file manager. When it deletes, it actually deletes. End of story. Makes life easier.

On windows (up to XP, I don't know about Vista), deleting a file puts it in the recycle bin.  Doesn't matter if you hit the 'delete' key or right click and selecting 'delete', it will go into the recycle bin.  You then have to empty the recycle bin to really get rid of them and free up hard disk space.

[Cheencheela]

Well, this sucks.

It appears I have to purge my ScriptCache EVERYTIME I want to start up the game. Or else it just CTD after the intro.
*Sigh*

Well, hope Pescado SIR ALMIGHTY will find an autonomous way for this.

Edit
Bullshit, it won't start at all now.

This is so random.

[phyllis_p]

Bullshit, it won't start at all now.

This is so random.

A magic that worked for me was to delete all files that were not in folders in My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3.  The all regenerate.  If you had edge scrolling enabled or any other custom option settings, you'll have to redo that once you get into the game.

Of course, it also worked for me to just try again without doing that.  Anyway.  Just sharing my rabbit's foot with you.

[Fikcija]

Don't put anything in the recycle bin. Just delete it. REALLY delete it. I never use the recycle bin, what's the point? I actually don't even use the windows explorer, I prefer file manager. When it deletes, it actually deletes. End of story. Makes life easier.

On windows (up to XP, I don't know about Vista), deleting a file puts it in the recycle bin.  Doesn't matter if you hit the 'delete' key or right click and selecting 'delete', it will go into the recycle bin.  You then have to empty the recycle bin to really get rid of them and free up hard disk space.

Ever heard of shift+delete?

[vagabondher]

I'm on a Mac. I have the frameworks folder in transgaming/c_drive/program files/electronic arts/the sims 3 and the Awesomemod in framework/mods/packages. I deleted scriptcache.package from Documents/EA Games/The Sims 3 and I'm using DeleteCachesAndStartTS3 by Marhis and I'm still getting "Unknown command: showconfig" in-game. Anyone have any ideas as to what's up with that?

[joshiejack]

by the looks of it you have it as framework/mods/packages?

There shouldn't be a framework folder?, it should just go to mods/packages

[vagabondher]

So within the frameworks folder there is Mods, Resource.cfg, and Game. If I remove the frameworks folder and simply put those three in The Sims 3 directory, then should I allow the Game folder to replace the one that is already there?

ETA: I tested out replacing the Game folder, but was unable to launch the game, as I got the dreaded 'Insert Disc' warning. Am trying out the game with everything except that Game folder from the frameworks.

ETA2: Nope, still getting the 'unknown'.

[Marhis]

Wait.
If you installed the framework and the awesomemod correctly, you should have the c_drive/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/ folder (and subfolders) exactly like this:



Check if it corresponds.

Note: the dll is labeled in yellow for easier spotting.

[vagabondher]

Fixed. Works in game. Or, at least, it shows up with the 'showconfig' prompt, I haven't been playing long enough to note any differences. Sims still seem to like taking an hour to stare at nothing before actually doing an action.

[J. M. Pescado]

THERE ARE FUCKING GHOSTS IN THIS GAME.
I reinstalled, followed instructions (Once again) and it worked.

This is basically a mystery, yes. It seems doing things, ANYTHING, from reinstalling the game, deleting arbitrary files, to rebooting the computer, will randomly jog things into working.

[Erry]

I did what Pythia said, at first boot it did not work, at second boot(did not delete or change anything) it did work and am able to run the game.

[redwards]

So, I've been having the on-load crash more often recently (wasn't getting it at all before). I think I've found a solution that works every time, for me, at least.

1. delete the cache files
2. start the game. It crashes. The cache files are regenerated, but they're all, like, 1k
3. don't touch the new cache files, start the game again. Everything works.

So far, that method is 3 for 3, but any other method seems to fail.

(I don't have the errorscript package installed right now, FYI).

If this persists, I may just make a copy of those fresh cache files and write a little batch file that overwrites the existing ones with the fresh ones before starting the game.

[Billmonaghan]

(I don't have the errorscript package installed right now, FYI).

I was having to delete all the cache files also, until I install the enablescripterror package.

Now I don't need to delete anything, other than to remove the script cache file each time I install a new version of the mod.

[mildlydisguised]

Just adding my report.  No crashes on load with any previous awesomemod but with this version I got seven crashes in a row despite deleting caches.  After the seventh crash I added the enablescripterror and was able to load the game.

[J. M. Pescado]

Yeah, it's basically voodoo. One of the things you can try is simply rebooting the computer.

[Fikcija]

Rebooting also doesn't always work. I find it more useful to remove the awesomemod, load the game (don't play, just let it load to and quit without loading any neighborhood), then install the awesomemod again and it works. To me this worked everytime, while other things seemed random. But it looks like it's different for everyone.

Edit - this seems to work too, perfectly, every time:

So, I've been having the on-load crash more often recently (wasn't getting it at all before). I think I've found a solution that works every time, for me, at least.

1. delete the cache files
2. start the game. It crashes. The cache files are regenerated, but they're all, like, 1k
3. don't touch the new cache files, start the game again. Everything works.

So far, that method is 3 for 3, but any other method seems to fail.

(I don't have the errorscript package installed right now, FYI).

If this persists, I may just make a copy of those fresh cache files and write a little batch file that overwrites the existing ones with the fresh ones before starting the game.

[redwards]

Rebooting also doesn't always work. I find it more useful to remove the awesomemod, load the game (don't play, just let it load to and quit without loading any neighborhood), then install the awesomemod again and it works. To me this worked everytime, while other things seemed random. But it looks like it's different for everyone.

Edit - this seems to work too, perfectly, every time:

So, I've been having the on-load crash more often recently (wasn't getting it at all before). I think I've found a solution that works every time, for me, at least.

1. delete the cache files
2. start the game. It crashes. The cache files are regenerated, but they're all, like, 1k
3. don't touch the new cache files, start the game again. Everything works.

So far, that method is 3 for 3, but any other method seems to fail.

(I don't have the errorscript package installed right now, FYI).

If this persists, I may just make a copy of those fresh cache files and write a little batch file that overwrites the existing ones with the fresh ones before starting the game.

Added the errorscript package back in, but also updated awesomemod. Behavior seems consistent. I'm working on a theory, but I bet this works for everyone:

1. If you don't have errorscript.package, you'll need to clear out the cache files every time you start the game. Run the game once to regenerate them (it will crash), and then the game will work, but you'll have to repeat this process every time you start the game.

2. If you DO have errorscript.package, the above is only true if you have updated awesomemod. As long as you don't update awesomemod, the game will start fine. When you update, you'll need to clear out the cache files, run the game once (crash), and then it will work fine and continue to work until you update awesomemod again.

So far the above is consistent for me.

[deroger]

Cool mod folks!

I also had the CTD problems, but found out that it was obviously a hack conflict to GORRE's "Faster Writing More Money" Hack. Since I removed that package my S3 boots up EVERY time.

Thx
Tom aka der oger

[Simius]

So, I've been having the on-load crash more often recently (wasn't getting it at all before). I think I've found a solution that works every time, for me, at least.

1. delete the cache files
2. start the game. It crashes. The cache files are regenerated, but they're all, like, 1k
3. don't touch the new cache files, start the game again. Everything works.

So far, that method is 3 for 3, but any other method seems to fail.

(I don't have the errorscript package installed right now, FYI).

If this persists, I may just make a copy of those fresh cache files and write a little batch file that overwrites the existing ones with the fresh ones before starting the game.

Okay... I gave that a try.  It CTD after I ran my bat file which copied the backup cache files over.  So I played around with it and just have it delete the cache files for me then launch the game... and it seems to work.  I'll have to wait for a few more builds to see if it continues to work or if it is entirely just voodoo.

Since I was already making .bat files... I also made one to automatically install any packages that are in my downloads folder.  The monkey installation utility won't overwrite mods... So I used to have to go in and delete them first then double click on them to install the updates. Now I can just run my .bat file and it does it for me.   

[Lobster]

OK, my game ran fine the FIRST time, but then the first time I went to save it hung on the save screen for about 10 minutes.  The progress circle wasn't animated but I could move my cursor.  Eventually I terminated the process.  The next time I went to load, I got the same problems described here.  Removing Awesome.package lets me load and I see that the save was successful.  I'm in the process of trying the many suggestions here.  When I say "first," I mean the first time I've run the game with ANY version of the mod.

In the error report, I found this line:

[Instruction data]
004df15b => DasmX86Dll.dll not found.

Might be worth looking in to?

With all due respect J. M. Pescado, and I mean that sincerely since your mod is really, well, awesome, I've found your claims of voodoo magic being the cause to be disheartening.  I understand that you don't see where the problem is, and that different people get different results from trying different things.  To me, this says there are multiple, different problems occurring that just all happen to have the same symptoms.  I know you must be looking for the problems and looking to fix them, but when you say, "this shouldn't be happening, it must be magic," it gives the impression that you aren't trying to fix the code because you don't perceive any problem with it.  If I had to wager a totally wild guess, there's a process you're using or added in to record necessary that's a bit "fragile."  For some people it works fine.  For others, it occasionally produces corrupt data that causes the game to crash.  So you may be right, it could be that there isn't anything in your code causing these crashes, but it also might be that it could stand to be a bit more robust.

But again, I'm sorry to criticize and I thank you for all your work.  I had a great time with your mod till I began to encounter problems with it.  Since these crashing problems appear to be new to this version, do you think you could make the previous version available as well?

EDIT: Clearing the cache files did it.

[Simius]

OK, my game ran fine the FIRST time, but then the first time I went to save it hung on the save screen for about 10 minutes.  The progress circle wasn't animated but I could move my cursor.  Eventually I terminated the process.  The next time I went to load, I got the same problems described here.  Removing Awesome.package lets me load and I see that the save was successful.  I'm in the process of trying the many suggestions here.  When I say "first," I mean the first time I've run the game with ANY version of the mod.

In the error report, I found this line:

[Instruction data]
004df15b => DasmX86Dll.dll not found.

Might be worth looking in to?

With all due respect J. M. Pescado, and I mean that sincerely since your mod is really, well, awesome, I've found your claims of voodoo magic being the cause to be disheartening.  I understand that you don't see where the problem is, and that different people get different results from trying different things.  To me, this says there are multiple, different problems occurring that just all happen to have the same symptoms.  I know you must be looking for the problems and looking to fix them, but when you say, "this shouldn't be happening, it must be magic," it gives the impression that you aren't trying to fix the code because you don't perceive any problem with it.  If I had to wager a totally wild guess, there's a process you're using or added in to record necessary that's a bit "fragile."  For some people it works fine.  For others, it occasionally produces corrupt data that causes the game to crash.  So you may be right, it could be that there isn't anything in your code causing these crashes, but it also might be that it could stand to be a bit more robust.

But again, I'm sorry to criticize and I thank you for all your work.  I had a great time with your mod till I began to encounter problems with it.  Since these crashing problems appear to be new to this version, do you think you could make the previous version available as well?

EDIT: Clearing the cache files did it.

I think that the problem is that the game ISN'T supposed to be modded.  But in all their glory they were able to do it anyway.  The downside of that is that the code for the game gets confused when a  a previous mod is changed.... Which causes it to CTD during bootup.  (it is looking for a file that says XYZ when the new file says XYZA and it crashes).  Clearing the cache seems to be a work around for that... although sometimes it takes a few tries (of clearing the cache or not doing so or whatever and continually restarting the game) to get the game to look for XYZA and actually be able to start.  I'm of the opinion it isn't anything really in the mod doing it... it is the fact there is a mod and it had been changed and the game can't handle that.

Your mileage may vary though.

[Roflganger]

I fully believe it IS Voodoo magic simply because all I have to do is keep reloading the game and eventually it works.  I don't delete cache files, I don't change anything.  I just keep reloading it, and on the 2nd or 3rd try, it loads successfully.  If nothing at all is changing, yet the game randomly works or doesn't, well I don't see how that can be anything but weird voodoo magic.  How do you fix a bug that randomly fixes and unfixes itself, and occurs at a point where the mod isn't even in play yet?