Harpoon ANW HUCE - game freezes on BOL

[burroughs]

As per thread subject ( mind I have just duplicated my thread from Subsim site ) - I tested that on both my OSs - Win7 and Win8 and two different machines using various databases in the course of the investigation, launching different scenarios as long as they had a platform with weaponry capable of BOL. Tested the game .exe file with different compatibility settings and with or without optional files initialized, but the result is always the same - the game freezes beyond recovery as soon as the BOL dialogue box is closed. I have searched Harplonk's channel on YT, but found only a similar issue with the TALD engagements, but nothing about BOL freezing the game.

I have had CMANO for several years, but somehow Harpoon found its way into a fond attachment, but this is a major game stopper and I have not seen that before. BTW, kudos to you Herman again - as long as this game has such ambassadors the rumours about its demise are furthest from truth and not only premature. I had about half a year break from the game and returned to that in confusion - I read all of the manuals and did the tutorial scenarios only to find out now I am at a loss how to do certain things. Then it takes up to 8 minutes to watch a tutorial video from Harplonk's channel and I am back in full swing again. That's a modern digital miracle, but not possible without human will and commitment.

By the way, I was playing the Advanced Subs scenario from the Falklands battleset - Argentinian Naptunes and Trackers keep prosecuting and engaging a friendly sub Santa Cruz and even without confirming that hostile - or they do. But they keep prosecuting the British Swiftsuire SSBN and won't attack even though considered hostile - I marked that hostile manually, but then it was confirmed. So I decided to order a BOL launch to discourage the sub from releasing Harpoons, but the planes keep overflying the target, the missiles get launched, hit the Argentinian LST target and the sub dives. I know that Swiftsuire is fast and silent, but I am having a bit of a grudge here about the whole experience - with the BOL freeze issue killing the game on top of that.

[Herman Hum]

As per thread subject ( mind I have just duplicated my thread from Subsim site ) - I tested that on both my OSs - Win7 and Win8 and two different machines using various databases in the course of the investigation, launching different scenarios as long as they had a platform with weaponry capable of BOL. Tested the game .exe file with different compatibility settings and with or without optional files initialized, but the result is always the same - the game freezes beyond recovery as soon as the BOL dialogue box is closed. I have searched Harplonk's channel on YT, but found only a similar issue with the TALD engagements, but nothing about BOL freezing the game.

I tested for your crash, but could not replicate it on either my WinXP or Win7 Pro machines. In both instances, I ran the 01.0 Advance Subs scenario from the Falklands Battleset at 1:1 time compression and fired BOL torpedoes successfully from the SSN Spartan without any CTD.

The BOL CTD bug was discovered and reported in v3.11 of HUE. CTD upon Bearing-Only-Launch

I re-tested when v3.11.1 was released and found that the bug had been (supposedly) fixed, when the CTD did not recur. (It is the last item on the list.) viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18#p328

Your mention of HUCE confused me at start, but I think that we are discussing the HUE version of the game. Is your HUE version v3.11 or v3.11.1? That could explain a great deal and solve your problem.

I have had CMANO for several years, but somehow Harpoon found its way into a fond attachment, but this is a major game stopper and I have not seen that before. BTW, kudos to you Herman again - as long as this game has such ambassadors the rumours about its demise are furthest from truth and not only premature. I had about half a year break from the game and returned to that in confusion - I read all of the manuals and did the tutorial scenarios only to find out now I am at a loss how to do certain things. Then it takes up to 8 minutes to watch a tutorial video from Harplonk's channel and I am back in full swing again. That's a modern digital miracle, but not possible without human will and commitment.

It drives certain people nuts to know that users continue to play and enjoy Harpoon. Glad to see your return to the game. Harpoon will continue so long as there are folks interested in playing it, regardless of HarPlonk or any channel supporting it.

By the way, I was playing the Advanced Subs scenario from the Falklands battleset - Argentinian Naptunes and Trackers keep prosecuting and engaging a friendly sub Santa Cruz and even without confirming that hostile - or they do. But they keep prosecuting the British Swiftsuire SSBN and won't attack even though considered hostile - I marked that hostile manually, but then it was confirmed. So I decided to order a BOL launch to discourage the sub from releasing Harpoons, but the planes keep overflying the target, the missiles get launched, hit the Argentinian LST target and the sub dives. I know that Swiftsuire is fast and silent, but I am having a bit of a grudge here about the whole experience - with the BOL freeze issue killing the game on top of that.

If you are playing the scenario from the Argentine side and set up the Neptunes and Trackers on AI-controlled ASW patrol missions, they probably attack the Santa Cruz because they cannot confirm that it is friendly. Players can declare a contact hostile with the H-hotkey, but there is no 'friendly' equivalent.

A possible explanation for their inability to attack SSN Swiftsure is weapons release altitude. Torpedoes cannot be dropped if the aircraft are too high. Also, the Swiftsure may not be sufficiently localized. If the SSN is within an uncertainty zone, the planes may not know where to drop the torpedoes.

You raise another possibility. Did you detect the submarine on the surface? I cannot remember for certain if ASW torpedoes can fire on a submarine while it is on the surface, but I think that they can.

If you have specific questions about a game situation, a saved game file would help clear up uncertainties.

[burroughs]

Yes, indeed, I should have checked that more carefully, it's the HUE version I bought off MG site some year and a half ago. The game version I am running now is Harpoon Advanced Naval Warfare: H3CE version 3.11.1.0 release version - that's what the interface displays and when I used the launcher update check tool yesterday it kept saying I happen to have the newest game version. I have just attached the save game file in the .zip archive format - the situation covers the aircraft prosecuting the Santa Cruz contact and the Swiftsure one is about to ... er, surface, so to speak.

Thanks a lot. And yes, they closed my posts twice at the MG forums in the CMANO section, once because I was trying to find out if I should buy HUE. I found that odd and now I can understand what was behind that. I have received some hate replies only twice - at Combat Mission Battlefront site - more trolling as a matter of fact than actual hate - but sheer hatred at MG CMANO forums. Those people are a sect or something?

[Herman Hum]

The game version I am running now is Harpoon Advanced Naval Warfare: H3CE version 3.11.1.0 release version - that's what the interface displays and when I used the launcher update check tool yesterday it kept saying I happen to have the newest game version.

Just because the launcher says that your game version is the latest and the 3.11.1.0 appears in the top border, does NOT necessarily mean you actually have the latest version. The launchers have been faulty and the idiots at AGSI have actually issued different files with the exact same version number. Therefore, you should make absolutely certain that you are using the correct v3.11.1.0 game engine file. I have attached my copy of the game engine for v3.11.1.0 for your convenience, along with a few *.dll files that might be different from your versions. Please check and compare these files with yours. If you prefer, you can grab the files directly from Matrix:
ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/Harpoon-U ... v31110.zip



Be certain to compare the exact size of each file and not just the name. (Don't worry about the file name. I re-named my Harpoon3.exe to Harpoon3_111, to help me keep track of the various versions I have on my system.)

I have just attached the save game file in the .zip archive format - the situation covers the aircraft prosecuting the Santa Cruz contact and the Swiftsure one is about to ... er, surface, so to speak.

I have run your file in both WinXP and Win7 Pro systems. (Note, you have opened the Formation editor about ten times!) I was able to drop BOL torpedoes from Tracker unit A211 without any problems.

I think that I can explain the behaviour of the A211 Tracker. You have manually ordered it to attack the Swiftsure. It shows "Requested Intercept" in the mission field. Because the target is a submarine and you do not have it constantly localized precisely, A211 cannot calculate a path to intercept it. Therefore, it does not know exactly where the Swiftsure is or where it is going. Thus, it just cancels the mission and circles.

You can try this solution:

1) Click on the Swiftsure
2) Create a Sub Strike Mission and assign A211 to the mission

The aircraft will now conduct the same interception and launch a torpedo once it is within range.

Furthermore, unit A209 is another Tracker. It is moving towards the G034 (Santa Cruz.) The Task set for it is "Investigate Contact." Because the contact is in Yellow, it is considered unknown, (even though YOU may know that it is on your side.) Unfortunately, the AI does not know it is on your side. It only sees the Yellow/Unknown contact and will try to investigate/prosecute. There is no way to manually designate G034 as friendly.

Thanks a lot. And yes, they closed my posts twice at the MG forums in the CMANO section, once because I was trying to find out if I should buy HUE. I found that odd and now I can understand what was behind that. I have received some hate replies only twice - at Combat Mission Battlefront site - more trolling as a matter of fact than actual hate - but sheer hatred at MG CMANO forums. Those people are a sect or something?

Just think about the Soviet Union and North Korea. They built fences to keep the people from escaping because the regime live(d) in fear that their victims would find out how well the rest of the world was living. This is the same mentality of MNO; they know that their game is crap and that the rest of the world is laughing at them; thus they try to ensure that no one knows of any alternatives. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=500

[burroughs]

That's an obvious truth about the formation windows - saw them each time while opening the file, but focused on something else as a matter of fact. Sorry about the inconvenience, it easily slipped off my memory.

Anyway, tested again on my Win 8 and the issue is still there everywhere. Nothing helped - the game was already updated, but I download the update and reinstalled that. Nothing. Checked each file you pointed to, comparing them to the ones in the package you attached, each weight is the same so I am assuming they were and are the correct ones. It's good to know that the issue had been recognized previously, too bad that that so far it's of no great help to me. I tried the WinXP service pack 3 compatibility mode, but didn't help either. I guess you already know I am using the latest version of the Player's DB. Thanks for trying anyway.

So Santa Cruz is doomed, yet another instance of inevitable friendly fire you once warned me about when I was asking about "White Death" scenario.

I am getting "Unknown exception" warning message on win7, too. The game keeps freezing.

[Herman Hum]

So Santa Cruz is doomed, yet another instance of inevitable friendly fire you once warned me about when I was asking about "White Death" scenario.

Sorry that you could find no solution to the issue. I am not absolutely certain if you are seeing the same bug, as the previous BOL bug caused a CTD while you report a game freeze.

Without a Win8 machine, I am unable to test effectively for the problem. I have another idea. Are you running the game in Full Window mode or Reduced Window mode? You might want to try Reduced Window. Just select the Run In Window mode box from the launcher and then move the sliders for Width and Hight(sic) to the maximum on the right.

You can always cancel the mission or draw a Nav Zone around the Santa Cruz that prevents entry by the aircraft. Also, you can hit the NumPad3 hotkey to drop the contact. Unfortunately, dropping the contact usually means it will simply be re-acquired on the next detection cycle.

[burroughs]

Well, I guess I'll try to run a help ticket at Matrix Games, perhaps my game download was faulty or something as I am getting exactly the same results on Win7. yes, I was running the game in windowed mode. No luck and no joy so far.

[Herman Hum]

I may be getting an old Win8 machine later this summer. I will try to remember to test for this anomaly under Win8, but it does not sound as though Win8 is the cause, since you are also seeing an Unhandled Exception error in Win7.

[Herman Hum]

Since you purchased the HUE bundle, you must also have the H3 game version 3.6.3
To be certain that the problem lies with HUE, can you start up your v3.6.3 and attempt a BOL launch with any scenario? BOL launches never cause any types of errors or crashes in v3.6.3

If you also crash v3.6.3, then it is more than likely a Win8 compatibility problem.

[burroughs]

Yes, I have been doing that since yesterday - that is why I have said before that I am getting that issue everywhere. I am getting that, for instance, in the Atlantic Ocean battleset, Baltic Sea Struggle scenario playing as Russia.

One moment, I happen to have only H3 Ultimate ANW installed in the version already mentioned.

[burroughs]

Allright, I have installed Harpoon 3.6.3 and was able to perform a successful BOL spot on. Perhaps I should have just reinstall ANW and/or the Player's DB? Actually I have just updated both.

[Herman Hum]

You have a known point in H3 v3.6.3 where the BOL function works. A re-installation of ANW and HUE may solve your problem. As you re-install ANW, I recommend that you de-install ANW, delete the ANW folder completely, and re-boot your computer before attempting the re-installation.

As you re-install, I suggest that you try the BOL function at every step of the process. The BOL function may work in the basic installation and then be corrupted by an update. If you bought the game within the last few years, I think that the basic game installation of ANW will bring your game up to the ANW v3.9.2 version.

If this is true, the next update is v3.9.4: ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/Harpoon3A ... e-v394.zip

v3.9.4 is the last functional version with multi-player capability. If you ever wish to play MP, stop updating at this point.

The next update is:
ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/Harpoon-U ... v3101a.zip
Historically, this update introduced the BOL CTD bug.

The final update is:
ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/Harpoon-U ... v31110.zip
In my experience, this update corrected the BOL CTD bug.

[FritzH]

You have a known point in H3 v3.6.3 where the BOL function works. A re-installation of ANW and HUE may solve your problem. As you re-install ANW, I recommend that you de-install ANW, delete the ANW folder completely, and re-boot your computer before attempting the re-installation.

As you re-install, I suggest that you try the BOL function at every step of the process. The BOL function may work in the basic installation and then be corrupted by an update. If you bought the game within the last few years, I think that the basic game installation of ANW will bring your game up to the ANW v3.9.2 version.

That is probably it. I had this issue with freezing and after reinstalling it went away.

[Herman Hum]

Another player reported a freeze involving BOL engagements.

http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/s ... tcount=247

It may or may not be related to this problem. They symptoms appeared to be similar. We met online via Steam and tried a few changes. IIRC, somehow, there was a file missing in his HUE v3.10 folder that was needed. We found it in the ANW folder, made a copy for the HUE folder and solved it. Now, I cannot remember the file name!

If anyone needs help with this problem, do feel free to contact me and we can walk through the process. Glad to hear that FritzH managed to solve his problem.