Crash To Desktop bug

[JZ_Temple]

During about six hours of play on my first day I did have one CTD. The game restarted OK and I restarted using the Autosave. I'd prefer if there were none at all, but one in six hours is not too upsetting. There were no messages or other indications as to the cause.

[jomorisin]

I think I read in the readme file that due to the amount of RAM used by the game as it progresses (more buildings, people, etc), there is a possibility of crashes. There are some suggestions as to fine-tuning the game options to help, but I don't think 1 crash in 6 hours is too bad-as long as you saved!

Be ye of good cheer because I can't even get the game to run yet.

[mgwalter]

I've saw one CTD after about five hours of play. It happened just as I hit the thirty-year mark. I figured it was a sign that I should stop playing and get to bed...

[rogerwilco]

If you have allocated most of your memory to "Tropico" in the Memory Settings (F2 key), then there's a good chance that it may crash if you exit the game and then start it again.   The game doesn't seem to relinquish the memory right away, which means it's best to just reboot your PC.

[Hagbard]

I had a CTD after four hours of playing and then, after restarting the game (w/out booting), like every 15-20 minutes.
This happens even when I play in Safe Mode!
Can this be really reduced by booting the PC?
Thanx!

[SirVilu]

(german version) I played the tutorial, 3 years before end, the CTD occured. BUT, the loaded game crashes every time at the same point. again and again

[El_Bruno]

I experienced the same bug 3 times in a 6 hour session   and every time I reloaded without rebooting, the game would run slower on an huge island, until at the end after clicking on a building, it took 3 seconds for the statistics to come up. But when I rebooted, the game ran at a perfectly normal speed.

[caddet]

The speed issue is based on memory usage.  Apparently, the CTD doesn't free up the memory that the game was using, it just kills the program.  When you restart, you are now using that much more memory.  After a couple of restarts (without rebooting), your computer is bogged down with memory that it thinks is still reserved for the dead games.

[RaGe]

Love this game. Problem is when ever i play a scenario i eventually crash can be in 5 minutes to 2 hours. When i load the saved scenario it still crashes even if im in safe mode. Random maps i get a occasional crash when playing in safe mode or not. My cpu is p3 866, 128 mb Ram, Direct x 8a, ati rage 128, I thought it was the cd so i exchanged it for another one same problems. Ive tried it on 2 of my families other cpus same probs.

[coskuner]

I played smoothly for about 6 hours straight, then it crashed the first time. No big deal, so I restared from Autosave.
Promptly CTD...
Ok so I guess the dadgumed thing doesn't free up system memory still used by the crashed game, no problem I'll reboot and play from autosave...
Promptly CTD...
Hmm...they have a patch out...lets try that...
Promptly CTD...
Well, maybe the autosave is corrupt. Just load it, and save the game to a different file, maybe that will help...
Promptly CTD...

So I guess at some point the game just needs more memory/processing power than my 256 Mb, 900 Mhz T-Bird can provide...

[TargetBoy]

After playing (and losing) a full 20 year scenario, I CTD.  I lost the last election and the little note popped up saying the power was changing hands.  As soon as I clicked on OK, it crashed instead of going to a movie or the main menu. I have PII 400mhz with 192 RAM, more than enough according to the min requirements but this game still stresses my system.

[DeathMoJo]

This is common in windows when you get a CTD.  Windows does not free up the memory it was using on the game, so when you start again you have very little left and a very high risk of crash.  Even if you exit the game(not get a CTD) and start the game again it did not free all the memory up.  When you quit a program it does not always free up all the memory and so a reboot is very smart to do each time if you crash often.

[taliba]

coskuner... I have the exact same problem... and it is really pissing me off.  I can't play at all now... it crashes after about a minute of play.

[mypen]

I seem to ctd a lot.  There seems to be no pattern.  It can happen at the start or anytime during the game.  Most of the time, autosave allows me to pick up where I ended but sometimes I noticed that it is 10 years behind on the game where I left off.

Any suggestions to stop the crashing?

[Toby]

Yep,
This new patch has definately caused CTD for me.
  Before I installed it I had none, now I get plenty, but within a group.
  From what I have seen, it seems to be when when it is running one of its update checks (like when a person suddenly jumps a bit further forward instantaneously).
  I have a P3 833, with 128MB RAM, so surely the computer should be able to cope?
  I have tried the above suggestions, but it is still 'straight to DT'; and worst still, once I get the first one, it will happen every 1-5 minutes thereafter, until it seems to correct its'self, however, it will usually unbalance a few game-months later.
  Saving every 30 seconds is not my idea of fun!
  It would be good if this thread was sent to POPTOP!!
Toby

[madmanbc]

This might help, it might not.  I've been able to consistently duplicate this CTD on one map at around the same place everytime.  I'm in the process of making a map that I will use to test various things.  I've been saving it after every change I make, so when things go wrong I can just back up one step and try again.  Anyway, here is a link to a page that links to a zip that contains two maps, v.06 doesn't crash, v.07 does:

http://www.madmanbc.com/main/tropico/

You can see I've moved most of the starting "town" from the north part of the island to the south.  I also used the RemovePeople cheat and just filled each and every job manually using "U".  I've moved everything prior to this version so I don't think that is the problem, but I've read elsewhere that there is a theory concerning the "RemovePeople" cheat that can cause the CTD.  I tend to agree since that is one of the things I did in the move from v.06 to v.07.

Prior to v.07 of this map, I've only ran into the CTD once or twice in about one or two weeks of play.

madmanbc

[Ray-14-Tn]

most of you people are lucky you get to play for 6 or more hours i get 1-5 minutes if im lucky somepelase tell me what i have to do

[robbo]

NEVER HAD ONE
fingers crossed though

[Toby]

Cheers madmanbc,
Thanks for the help.
My last game, with which I have experiented, has had no crashes, mind you, I did keep the changes simple!
Toby

[Reignking]

Toby: same sytem, and I just got my first crash today, and it happens every time in this game.  OF COURSE, I am kickin butt...

[Toby]

ReignKing,
Is it a consistant crash at the same point in the game? (for me, the announcement of the election rival from a save caused the same crash several times).
Is it an edited map?- I would be interested to compare the crashes.
Toby

[Reignking]

It happens in 1979, at the same point every time.  I've played with the settings, but nothing.  The memory used is 60.  The map is a random map.

[Toby]

Reign,
Have you worked out the cause of the crash yet?
Such as, clicking on a particular part of the Island, or, the announcement of an election rival etc.
Toby

[Kaiser Sose]

Does anyone know of any solutions that will actually stop, the crashes from occuring? I've tried every one mentioned here, and still, two minutes into the game...CTD!!!!

[Sadian]

I've discovered the same crash bug,

1999, at the end of an election, Autosave restores the game, I win the election then the game promptly crashes in the same spot. I've turned all my options down and up, I've followed all of the suggestions in the History and .txt files (i.e. turning sound acceleration off)

Count me in for a new patch that remedies this problem.

Sadian