CTD finally eliminated.

**Skynet bunker** · April 23, 2019, 09:06 PM

Hello to all! I play RTW for a long time and have repeatedly encountered the problem of CTDs.
Finding some solutions on this resource (4 GB patch) came to the conclusion that they indirectly influence the solution of this problem. As a result of creating my own mod, I discovered the pattern of CTDs after big battles. CTDs are related to the number of enemy units remaining after the battle. No matter how large the battle, if you let at least one enemy detachment leave, you manage to avoid CTDs. Tested hundreds of times on Alexander TW exe. Apparently the glitch is connected with the loading of the strat map after the battle.
I hope this information will be useful to modders. Sorry for my English. I specifically registered to convey this information to you.

**Gaius Baltar** · April 25, 2019, 07:52 AM

Interesting material, do you have more information concerning your software? Do you use mods? How about your hardware?

**Skynet bunker** · April 25, 2019, 02:10 PM

Hi friend. I used only 4gb path. I play mostly in ME (Macedon Expansion). There were a lot of bugs and glitches. Correcting them, I gradually created my own mod with a lot of changes in graphics and balance. My computer is quite old. Here are its features: Intel core 2 duo e7400 2.80Ghz 1.73Ghz, 3gb RAM, Windows 7 64x, nvidia GeForce 520.
I studied this glitch for hundreds of hours playing with different factions and came to the conclusion that it was directly related to loading a strat map after the battle and the number of enemy units left after the battle. Note: an enemy unit cannot be pursued during its retreat.

**Gaius Baltar** · May 04, 2019, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by Skynet bunker

Hi friend. I used only 4gb path. I play mostly in ME (Macedon Expansion). There were a lot of bugs and glitches. Correcting them, I gradually created my own mod with a lot of changes in graphics and balance. My computer is quite old. Here are its features: Intel core 2 duo e7400 2.80Ghz 1.73Ghz, 3gb RAM, Windows 7 64x, nvidia GeForce 520.
I studied this glitch for hundreds of hours playing with different factions and came to the conclusion that it was directly related to loading a strat map after the battle and the number of enemy units left after the battle. Note: an enemy unit cannot be pursued during its retreat.

What version of DirectX are you using?

**Skynet bunker** · May 09, 2019, 12:59 PM

DirectX 11

**Gaius Baltar** · June 17, 2019, 07:20 PM

Suggest you uninstall and reinstall the software. Sounds like some of your data files may have been corrupted.

**Lanjane** · August 09, 2019, 03:15 PM

@Skynet bunker

Thanks a lot for your finding! That makes sense according to my own research as well. Problem is pathfinding related.

@Van Zandt

I have to make the topic starter's message more clear: he doesn't want help, but instead, he brings to us RTW players and modders awesome news, how to fully avoid that annoying "post-battle CTD" which a lot of RTW players are aware of.
As you know, there was a chance in Rome mods (and even vanilla game) that the game just crashes after the battle, especially high chance was when you killed every last one of enemy units. The bug was most annoying in siege reinforcement scenario when enemy attacked your army besieging his city with field reinforcements (this time, bug occurs when you capture a city and press "Occupy/Enslave/Exterminate" button)

So, according to Skynet bunker's finding, post-battle CTD can be totally eliminated if you let at least one enemy squad alive! (I must add, just check the counter and make sure that it says less than 90% enemies killed in total)

Personally I found another solution to this problem: I leave "show AI turns" always on, and after battle, just when campaign map loads, and before capture city animation fully plays and decision window appears, I quickly press Esc and save the game. Then, there's no press button CTD guaranteed.

Also I must add that 4Gb patch is obsolete for Rome - Total War because the game still can't handle more than 4Gb RAM, even when you unlock LAA. I checked it when making my Rome - Total Music mod (you can find more info on mod's page here - https://www.moddb.com/mods/lanjanes-...me-total-music). I quote this here:

Rome - Total War is a very old game, and because of that it can't handle RAM effectively, no matter how much RAM you have on your system. Once game's memory utilization reaches a threshold which is about ~1.4Gb RAM, it becomes very unstable and starts crashing randomly, post-battle or even in battle. That's why this mod was designed; because music which is defined in game text files, goes directly to RAM when game starts. To avoid that and to free a fair amount of RAM, different music set was used for each culture, so if you play for example greek campaign, other cultures are commented out because you don't need these files and you can save RAM if you comment out these tracks in game file.