Do you get Memory Allocation Errors when saving?

[snoochems]

Hi all,

I like my large Civilization games. 18+ civs, huge maps etc. But when ever the game gets too large, I get this "Memory Allocation Error" when saving the game. This means that the save game is corrupt, and attempting to load it is futile. And it seems I'm not alone.

So if you play 10 turns of the game, and then save it, get the error (which occurs about 50% of the time), you've lost all those 10 turns. Meaning you've just wasted your time.

I've been led to believe from other members of the community that this error has nothing to do with your hardware or PC setup. If you're playing a large game, it not a matter of "if" you get the error, but rather "when" you get the error. Once the game save file gets to a certain size, the error will start occurring. (for me it was when the save file got to about 1800KB)

I've had this problem when playing Civ 4 on 3 different PC's, in pretty much all the large games I've attempted playing. The error occurs in all versions of the game, from the unpatched Civ4 to the fully patched Warlords. In other words, the problem has existed since the game was released, and since then, several patches and an expansion have been released too. So if the problem has been around this long, then why hasn't Firaxis fixed it??? That's what I want to know...

A comment from a Civ 4 tech support moderator has me believe that Firaxis does not know about this problem, despite the fact that many people have had experienced it, and complained about it.

So what I would like to do is to get the Civ community to tell Firaxis that the problem is real, and post in the thread in the Troubleshooting forum (link below). From what I've seen on just this forum, I've very much NOT alone in experiencing this problem. I would like to see it fixed with patch, or at the very least, fixed in the next expansion pack, 'Beyond the Sword'.

The link is http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=5364836#post5364836

You may have experienced this in normal game play once ending a turn, but it is very likely caused from the 'Autosaving' that occurs at the end of the AI's turns.

Regards,
Snoochems

 

[Artosoft]

No problem here.

Regards,
Arto.

 

[grumbler]

Never encountered this problem in my huge map games.

 

[magicalsushi]

Me neither, but my files never seem to be much over 600kb, despite the fact that I also play 18 civs on huge maps. Perhaps it's because I'm no good at the game and play on relatively low difficulty levels?

 

[Thrallia]

never gotten the errors either.

One thing you could try to prevent getting this error, is try playing with the HOF mod...it condenses the save files so they are about 1/3 the size they normally are.

 

[snoochems]

What is it with the people in this General forum. All the other forums have people complaining about it.

 

[grumbler]

What is it with the people in this General forum. All the other forums have people complaining about it.

Which other forums?

 

[snoochems]

Tech support, creation forums etc, as well as Apolyton etc

 

[KMadCandy]

never gotten the errors either.

One thing you could try to prevent getting this error, is try playing with the HOF mod...it condenses the save files so they are about 1/3 the size they normally are.

not guaranteed to work. i never get the errors when not running the HoF mod. i do get them, on a quite frequent but not regular-enough-to-predict-and-plan-for basis, while using the HoF mod. to the extent that games were getting excluded due to crashes, and i had to quit submitting. believe me, i'm not happy about that, i was having a lot of fun there.

the mod works for most people, and i truly do love the features in it. i miss it terribly. but it won't necessarily solve this autosave crash problem, for me it in fact caused it. probably better stated, some fight between my pc and the mod caused it. i don't think it's the mod itself, because for most people the mod does work just fine. for me, the game itself works just fine, no crash issues, this only occurs when i add the mod to the mix. i think my computer's just haunted or something. i now play without it, and haven't crashed in weeks. and i still autosave every turm like i did when i used it.

 

[Thrallia]

KMadCandy, stop autosaving then, so that you can compete in the QM Challenge! I'll beat you to lowest ranked QM if you stop

 

[Fifty]

Maybe you need more memory.

 

[Commander Bello]

Maybe you need more memory.

It seems not to be a problem of memory (RAM) built in your machine.

The problem occurs typically after the save would get over a certain threshold (> 1550 KB).
Actually, this size of the save you will only get with a modded game (bigger maps, more unit types, more wonders etc.).
Looks as if at a certain amount of data to be administrated the engine may or may not make an error and thus, come back with the MAF.

I have had this error multiple times in different games, even if my built in memory (2 GB) was not utilized completely, but only up to ~ 90 - 95%.

Autosaving every turn may help, as sometimes you can get around it when you load an autosave of some turns before and do some things in a different manner.
Unfortunately, this takes much time (loading, playing the same turns again) and there is no guarantee of success.

But, since you CAN avoid the MAF if you are lucky enough, I assume that from a general point of view the problem could be solved.
I second the request to have Firaxis patched this, as it constitutes a contradiction to the moddability feature.

 

[Alsark]

I've only had this one time, which was when I was playing with the Hall of Fame modification on a time victory with marathon speed. Coincidentally, I crashed exactly on 2050 AD, and my game was excluded due to that. So yeah, that didn't make me very happy. I'm trying to get my game approved, but eh, I'll have to see how that turns out with time.

I'd also further like to confirm that it doesn't seem to be a problem with RAM. My computer, like Commander Bello's, has 2.0 GB worth of RAM. I have plenty of harddrive space, as well, with 44.9 GB worth of space left. My video card is lower end with 256 MB, although I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with my video card. However, I also don't agree with the theory that the error stems from the save file becoming too large in file size. The reason why I say that is because when this crash occurred I was playing on a tiny map. After my crash and after winning (again), the 2050 AD (when the auto-save crashed) save file totaled to only 95 KB. I had evidence that an auto-save was attempted during the crash because I had something like a 2 KB 2050 AD auto-save file, which obviously failed to completely save due to the small file size. I have saved games up to 356 KB just fine (on both normal saving and auto-saving), so the idea that it has to do with the file size of the save doesn't work for me.

I'm not sure what causes it, but they really do need to get it fixed. The problem is that it doesn't seem to happen very often - for most people. They would need to find a test subject who experiences this crash all of the time and then fix the problem accordingly, though knowing most gaming companies they would blame it on the modification rather than the game itself. Indeed, since the game itself never seems to crash this way, only with modifications, that could be a fairly valid argument on their part. I just really don't like having my games excluded when they take upwards of six hours :/.

 

[keldath]

there is a maf problem on large data modpacks,

and indeed in large maps +,

a maf occuers.

no matter the mem size. 4g of ram doesnt help.

see visa mod forum for disccution of this maf...

 

[Danielos]

I encounter problems like this regularly when reaching renaissance/industrial, and not only when saving. I have 512MB RAM, so I guess I´m asking for it...

 

[Jonny.utsa]

happens to me every attampt to save over 1500k. I hate it. I cant finish the game. I like to play the huge earth mod.

 

[Lord Baal]

happens to me every attampt to save over 1500k. I hate it. I cant finish the game. I like to play the huge earth mod.

Happens to me all the time too, on the same mod. I don't understand why. Seems to happen a lot after I build a wonder. If anyone has any idea how to stop this, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[The Almighty dF]

happens to me every attampt to save over 1500k. I hate it. I cant finish the game. I like to play the huge earth mod.

Did you -need- to bump a 3 year old thread?
There's been a bunch on the subject since then.

Basically, MAFs are for the most part... pretty unavoidable. Mainly due to some poor design, especially when it comes to the saving system (saves over a certain size break) and the system that decides trade routes.
There -are- some workarounds that offer some help, I know the Destiny Mod's thread details a nice workaround that has so far helped me avoid -most- MAFs (I still can't play on Huge, but neh.)

Increasing your RAM... won't help you that much, sadly. I've got 4 gigs and it's still an issue for me at times.

 

[Sneaky Snake]

I only recall having 1 MAF while trying to load a game. But when I play the RoM(rise of mankind) mod, I will almost always get a MAF just because I clicked "Start Game". Probably due to the sheer size of the mod.

 

[Praeclarus]

My game saves get over 2k almost every time, no MAFs, just really long load times