DIY CTD solutions
I see that many people are having recurring CTD prolems with the rome total realism mod. These steps i will write wont fix any persefic problems and the steps will be quite general. The aim is to teach those of you out there who dont know about how to fix CTD's yourself. I understand that there is a number of stuck threads about CTD's but many dont give advice about how to solve them yourself. I though of course appreciate the help that members like florin80 is doing who is actively helping individuals.
Note: This beginning bit is just a prelude so for more people with a more advanced understanding skip this first part and read on from "Diagnosing and solving". Also, this thread will be about CTD's which happen when you end turn and the AI does it moves.
What causes CTD's?
CTD's can be caused by lots of things. A common one is by coding written wrong or triggers that happen that the computer cant really understand. The computer can't work out what happening and is kind of like "WTF?". this makes it crash to desktop. I know this explananation is not totally accurate but i hope it gives you an idea of what causes them.
So what CTD am i experiencing?
Thats the thing, its often hard to know. Common CTD's are listed in one of the stuck threads at the top of the forum. Though they cant cover all of them because some are just completely random that only 1 player might ever experience due to their cicumstances (e.g. they could have a strange group of settlements or units in strange places).
Before reading the steps make sure you have installed the CTD revolt fix, which is given in this thread: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=112696 At first you might not be able to change the files because its in a rar file. If this is the case then go onto google and type in rar file converter or something. They'll then be a site which you can download it off. you will then be able to access the modified file then overite them over the origninal files.
Diagnosing and Solving:
Diagnosing
1) The very first thing you should do is to load up your most recent autosave. Once there press the ` key on your keyboard (the retarded one next to the 1 on your keyboard. This will open a cheat menu. in it write "toggle_fow" (no speech marks of course). This will activate a cheat that will turn fog of war on (unless you already have it on). This will allow you to see everything on the map.
2) Press esc and go to game options. on the bottom of the game options select "follow AI movements". This means that when you end the turn it follows every movement the AI makes.
3) Press end turn and watch the AI movements slowly, dont push the space bar to make it go quicker cos you might miss a movement. however, if you know the CTD happens on an AI like gaul (that i guess is quite late) then fast forward to there cautiously then go to normal speed so you can save time by not watching AI's that dont effect you.
4) Watch the AI movements closely. soon you will get that CTD that you've been getting. (if you dont get a CTD then the CTD could just be random. if this happens and it doesnt CTD play on.) remember what caused it. this can be anything. i find typical ones are when a character or army/navy move or a settlement is taken.
Solving
1) Now that you know what the problem is see if you can do something about stopping it before u end term. If you can stop it within the turn then great. one i got is that i would get a CTD everytime this diplomat from macedonia moved. To stop him i surroneded him with units. he couldnt move, so no CTD. However, some cannot be fixed within a turn so a different approach needs to be taken.
2) If you cannot fix the CTD by using step 1 then follow the next steps. Luckily some clever clogs has made a mod which allows people to play multiplayer campaign on the same computer. You may ask whats this to do with fixing CTD's? Well what the mod allows you to do is to control AI movements for more than one factions. So perhaps an AI movement by carthage is causing a CTD. Well by using the mod u can take control of carthage and make sure they dont move. This mod then thus allows you to control the faction which isnt your own, giving you time to sort out the CTD by blocking or stopping the 'trigger' of it.
The download can be found in this thread. http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=64876 This isnt my own work. Note: follow the instructions exactly. dont try and do things in different orders. its seems difficult but just follow the instructions and it will be fine. Also, don't get put of by the "hot seat campaign" bit. The original purpose of the mod was to allow people to play campaign against each other but it can also be used to sort out CTD's.
3) Now that you have followed the tutorial made by Myrddral you should have installed it and no how it works so i wont go through that with you. Now you can go about stopping the trigger of the CTD and moving forces or taking actions which will stop the CTD.
Hopefully this guide will help all you gamers out there not familiar with CTD's a helping hand in sorting them out yourself. remember though alot of CTD's have patches found in the sticky threads at the top of the page. Also, make sure you have the latest RTR mod which you can download from the official rtr site www.rometotalrealism.org . Personally i would advise you to get the latest version and transfer your saves to it (if you have an older version like gold). Platimun i would say is probally the most reliable. however, if you have lots of mini mods etc dont bother and im unsure if gold is save compatible to platimun so do your own research on that matter. the strong community at twcenter are always keen to help.
Hope this helped guys!
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Besides, it has a nice introduction. So I`ll stuck this one too. Good job! 
Re: DIY CTD solutions
Originally Posted by RTRhannibal
That`s incredibly helpful! I can`t believe that`s the answer of the carthaginian ctd that has been reported since RTR 6 Gold or earlier. 3 years of this crash with no solution until now. Many thanks!
Am I lucky you`ve looked into this.
