Save File Corruption (v. 0.5)

I’m getting this message when trying to open a character up now:
game.cpp[1051]: game::find_mission(8) - it’s NULL!

It freezes and crashes immediately. This started to occur after I did some defense mode play and returned to my normal game.

I’m getting this in the windows crash report:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Cataclysm.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 51939c94
Fault Module Name: Cataclysm.exe
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 51939c94
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00188f44
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 0a9e
Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
Additional Information 3: 0a9e
Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

My other characters are unaffected and are operating normally. Is there a way to recover the save file (ie disabling NPC and mission or deleting that portion of the data from the save file?) Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Here is the SAV file if that helps. Are there any other files I should upload to aid in solving this issue?


Cole Thompson.sav (43.6 KB)

For the first c4t4cly5m out there, I had an archive that updated every time I left the game; with folders named etc etc.
Now, I backup on daily basis and it works just fine - for as long as you check (x)BEST compression method to save some space.

Thanks for the advice. What do you use to generate archives? Also, did you have it set up to automatically update an archive or did you do it manually? Last question: so is there no hope in recovering this borked save file?

I just reviewed what you said and wanted to type you that you should mind that CataDDA is in development, so far features have been scattered for easier modding so keep an eye out for incompatibilities. So, enjoy and experiment… err, explore the game’s possibilities. :slight_smile:
Archiving tools are plentiful and mostly free; although I preferred 7zip over .rar, WinRaR is more user-friendly but also has a handful of command-line options for you to use (updating archives, naming, paths etc.) You can create a batch job for archiving if you’re a Windows user, if that’s more convenient for you.
I’d like that the character save file you created could be used, but until the character/world generation is all wrapped up you’ll just have to be patient like the rest of us.
Remember to have fun!

This sounds like another case of partial autosave. Anyway, I’m pretty sure that character is gone, considering the only thing you uploaded is the character save. I believe the current git version changed autosave to be a complete save so this sort of thing doesn’t happen anymore. You should either compile the game yourself or download a nightly build from the main Cataclysm site. If you’re REALLY attached to that character, it’s probably possible to salvage parts of the character like stats/skills/mutations/bionics/items but that’s basically cheating (I won’t tell if you don’t). If you know what to look for, you can start a new character and just copy those parts from the old one into the new one.

Thanks for the helpful feedback! I do realize this is all a nebulous alpha version, so I didn’t go in expecting to be too attached to my character (especially because of permadeath.) I’m just hoping that any information on crashes I provide can help with the development of the game. What a great community!

I did actually find reading through your save file useful.

I’ve removed mission 8 from your active missions list in Cole Thompson - mission14.sav, and incase your master.gsav file was corrupted I also removed all missions in Cole Thompson - no mission.sav rename the one that works.
[sub]drive.google.com[/sub]Cole Thompson-13.05.30.zip

Wow, thanks! I tend to avoid interacting with missions now. They seem to be the buggiest part about NPCs. By the way, I tried downloading the file, and was denied permissions.

oops.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2ow7EFftHRiWTgyNWNta0ZUVm8/edit?usp=sharing