HoF Map Finder/Generator Utility 2016-10-05

[superslug]

Jeff, I run into that problem from time to time, usually when I haven't rebooted my computer for a few days. Although, it never does it to me twice in a row, so I'm not sure what's going on for you.

Have you tried slowing down your timers?

 

[jeffelammar]

Jeff, I run into that problem from time to time, usually when I haven't rebooted my computer for a few days. Although, it never does it to me twice in a row, so I'm not sure what's going on for you.

Have you tried slowing down your timers?

I tried them on the default values, and this computer is far faster than the old one.

I also rebooted in between a couple of the tries to see if something was hosed up in memory.

I'll try again when I get home tonight and I'll try messing with the timers too.

 

[Dianthus]

It might be worth making absolutely certain that the autosave directory is pointing to the correct place (I.e. the C3C dir rather than PTW when switching from PTW to C3C). I've seen this cause some strange things.

 

[Own]

What's an iteration? It says that it will restart C3C after so many iterations, but will in continue to generate maps overnight?

 

[superslug]

An iteration is each map it generates. There's a memory leak bug in C3C that "grows" every time a new map is generated and eventually it hogs so much ram that C3C won't work with Mapfinder. So, that's why Mapfinder has to restart the program every so many iterations.

Mapfinder can continue to generate maps overnight, there's actually been instances where a computer ran Mapfinder for several consecutive days without assistance.

 

[Gyathaar]

There's a memory leak bug in C3C that "grows" every time a new map is generated and eventually it hogs so much ram ...

I looked some into this, and it's not a memory leak.. I first thought it was a filehandler problem, but its not that either.. it has to be a stack overflow, a heap overflow or a buffer overflow most likely.

 

[Own]

When I was running mapfinder, it stopped for 5 minutes, so I had to "bump" it and then it loaded my sid game instead of quick starting .

 

[Dianthus]

I looked some into this, and it's not a memory leak.. I first thought it was a filehandler problem, but its not that either.. it has to be a stack overflow, a heap overflow or a buffer overflow most likely.

Gyathaar, are you talking about the clipboard problem that Moonsinger found/fixed a while back? That was different from the C3C one. The C3C one occurs even without mapfinder running, if you can be bothered to create enough maps by hand.

 

[Gyathaar]

Gyathaar, are you talking about the clipboard problem that Moonsinger found/fixed a while back? That was different from the C3C one. The C3C one occurs even without mapfinder running, if you can be bothered to create enough maps by hand.

No.. I am talking about the one inside game
It does use a small amount of extra memory every restart, but only a few kb.. not enough to make the machine run out of memory

 

[Methos]

No.. I am talking about the one inside game
It does use a small amount of extra memory every restart, but only a few kb.. not enough to make the machine run out of memory

Are you talking about the one where after creating a lot of maps (not using MapFinder but normally) where everything is named 'Nil'? I've never had it happen to me but read of others coming across it.

 

[Gyathaar]

Are you talking about the one where after creating a lot of maps (not using MapFinder but normally) where everything is named 'Nil'? I've never had it happen to me but read of others coming across it.

Yes.. you will get it after creating a certain number of maps without restarting C3C.. if I remember correctly the nil problem will happen at the 116th map on all my PCs

 

[superslug]

Yeah, it was about 102 for me.

 

[Moonsinger]

When I was running mapfinder, it stopped for 5 minutes, so I had to "bump" it and then it loaded my sid game instead of quick starting .

Sound like you are not pointing MF to the correct AUTO save directory of Civ3/PTW/C3C. If you are 100% sure that you have told MapFinder the correct autosave directory of Civ3, please post the content of MapFinder.INI file. Since MapFinder does remember almost everything you told it, I can pretty much tell why it doesn't work just by viewing what inside the MapFinder.INI file.

 

[jeffelammar]

I tried them on the default values, and this computer is far faster than the old one.

I also rebooted in between a couple of the tries to see if something was hosed up in memory.

I'll try again when I get home tonight and I'll try messing with the timers too.

For what it's worth, this turned out to be pilot error. I had noticed that it was pointed to the vanilla autosave folder, but when I changed it I changed it to the c3c saves folder instead of the autosave

Now things work great except the MapReport program. The screenshots on the mapreport page are all messed up with the save game dialogs completely covering the start area. Would this be a factor of timing?

 

[Ginger_Ale]

2 questions:

1. In the Map Report, how do I save a game - or - how do I play the save games that are acceptable? I don't see one in the folder where the screenshot and .set file is. (I set it to put all saves in C:/HoF/Histographic/)

2. I have it set to restart after 33 iterations. However, after 33 iterations, it does not reload C3C. It just keeps saying "Waiting for Civ to launch...". Should I change the timings?

 

[gmaharriet]

1. In the Map Report, how do I save a game - or - how do I play the save games that are acceptable? I don't see one in the folder where the screenshot and .set file is. (I set it to put all saves in C:/HoF/Histographic/)

All 3 files...jpg, .set and .sav...should be in the folder you're saving the maps to from MapFinder. What I do is first go through the map report jpg's and delete any I know I'd never play. Then I shut it down and use Windows Explorer to take another look and give the jpg files names, like 0025734China.jpg. I have separate folders for sizes, map types and difficulty levels, like RegStdC7-8civ...for Regent, standard map, continents 70% water with 8 civs...and I move all of the same type to its own folder. Then when I want to play one, I name the .sav file also and copy it to my Conquests/Saves folder, where I often have a dozen or so I want to play soon.

2. I have it set to restart after 33 iterations. However, after 33 iterations, it does not reload C3C. It just keeps saying "Waiting for Civ to launch...". Should I change the timings?

Mine is set to restart after 25 iterations. I have a P4,1.9ghz, 512megs RAM, and it runs all night with no problems. It actually shuts down C3C each time and then reloads it to run another 25.

I just LOVE it!!! Many thanks, Moonsinger!!!

 

[EMan]

2 questions:

1. In the Map Report, how do I save a game - or - how do I play the save games that are acceptable? I don't see one in the folder where the screenshot and .set file is. (I set it to put all saves in C:/HoF/Histographic/)

2. I have it set to restart after 33 iterations. However, after 33 iterations, it does not reload C3C. It just keeps saying "Waiting for Civ to launch...". Should I change the timings?

1. Are you sure you have ANY Acceptable Maps? ........because of the "2. Problem"! (If you only looked at 33 Maps!!)

2. Try increasing the timing of "ms delay before restarting C3C" to say, 60,000+.

 

[Ginger_Ale]

1. Yes, I did get 1 acceptable map. I found that MF made a file called "MapFinderTmp" or similar in my /Saves/ folder.

2. Ok, thanks.

 

[EMan]

FYI G_A, the accepted map filenames will take the format "IterationNumber.SAV" ......so the one you are referring to is some kind of intermediate or temporary file that is not a final "Acceptable File".

When Moonsinger shows up here, she can give you a full explanation.

 

[gmaharriet]

I don't know if this will help or not, but I'm going to try an abbreviated version of what my HD (drive C) looks like from Windows Explorer:

Local disk (C: )
-[ ] Civ3Map
|
|-Maps
|
+Regent
|
-Warlord
|-WLStdC7-8civs
|-WLSmP6-3civs
+Documents and Settings
+Mapfinder_v65
+Program Files
|
-Infogrames Interactive
|
-Conquests
+ Art
+Saves
+Scenarios

Obviously, it's not complete, but notice that there are 3 separate areas involved. Civ3Map has the subfolder "Maps" where the program sends the .jpg, .sav and .set files when they are first generated. The Mapfinder program is in a separate folder. Then the game is under Program Files and the maps you want to play can be moved to the appropriate "save" subfolder.

As Eman pointed out, the acceptable files show the iteration number with the extensions .sav, .jpg and .set as 3 separate files.

I noticed that your system has almost the same specs as mine, so what works on my computer should work on yours. I hope I'm not confusing the issue even more. And as Eman also said, Moonsinger can probably explain it best.

Edited for typo.