American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

If I hit the save file button while playing a turn in an HPS campaign, why doesn't it save my moves so I can pick back up where I left off? Is this just a problem I'm having or is this universal? Does that option not work with campaigns?

I've been having computer problems and the machine is randomly rebooting or freezing on me so I try to hit the save button during games regularly, but it seems to not make a difference - I just had to restart a turn from the beginning even though I had been saving it after a recent reboot.


Regards,

Lt. Gen. Alan Lynn
CSA Chief of Staff
3rd Bgde, 3rd Cav Div, II Corps, AoA

God Bless <><

General Lynn,

I haven't tried using the save button to save a game to continue later. I just click on the X close button and it will ask if you what to save the game and then click YES and it will save it.

Respectfully,
Lt. Gen. Gery Bastiani
III Corp
AotM CSA



"If there is a shell or bullet over there destined for us, it will find us" - General James Longstreet

I think single turn can get screwed up if you save it. But it is autosaved somehow, so that if something happens and you have to restart the game it will pick up where you left off. But with multiphase you have save it or you start again at the beginning of the phase. I think. Don't have time tonight to run a test.

MG Mike Mihalik
1/III/AoMiss/CSA

In MP games, the SAVE button is used ALL the time and several times during each turn. In many, many MP games, I have never, ever seen a problem with using the SAVE button. I am currently playing TWO MP Campaign games, Antietam and Atlanta, and there are 3 or 4 players per side and of the many turns we have played, there has not been a save problem. Saving the game and sending it to the next player is done all the time and these are CAMPAIGN games. Without being able to SAVE the turns, MP games would not be possible.

In long scenarios vs a single opponent, I have often used the SAVE button to complete the turn at a later time. Some of the times I have done this has been in a campaign game. Sometimes playing any game, someone calls you for SUPPER, so you hit the SAVE button and complete the turn, later.

I do not know how many games I have played in the HPS series in this and other clubs, but I imagine it is over 100 games; in NONE of these over 100 games have I had any problem with the SAVE feature.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
General, Commanding, Army of Ohio

ACWGC Cabinet Member
ACWGC Records Site Administrator
</b></font id="gold">

Alan
Is VISTA your operating system?

Colonel Tony Best
Army of Georgia

In campaign games, you cannot save without also exiting the game. I believe that has something to do with the way campaigns and scenarios are connected. While playing a campaign scenario, temporary files are created, but only when actually closing the campaign game is the information contained there written to the .cpf (campaign) file. If you just save, but do not close the game, this does not happen, and the .cpf file reflects the situation in the scenario at the time it was last opened.

So yes, you can save during campaign play, but only if you also exit the game. You can leave the campaign frontend open, but the game has to be closed.

Gen. Walter, USA
<i>The Blue Blitz</i>
3/2/VIII AoS

West Point Class of '01

Forgot to say, actually, you can just exit. Saving is then automatic. Hitting the "save" button does nothing.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by D.S. Walter</i>
<br />In campaign games, you cannot save without also exiting the game. I believe that has something to do with the way campaigns and scenarios are connected. While playing a campaign scenario, temporary files are created, but only when actually closing the campaign game is the information contained there written to the .cpf (campaign) file. If you just save, but do not close the game, this does not happen, and the .cpf file reflects the situation in the scenario at the time it was last opened.

So yes, you can save during campaign play, but only if you also exit the game. You can leave the campaign frontend open, but the game has to be closed.

Gen. Walter, USA
<i>The Blue Blitz</i>
3/2/VIII AoS
West Point Class of '01
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Thank you, Gen. Walter. That explains it. I have not been saving and exiting, just saving - so that when the computer freezes or reboots it hasn't really saved anything evidently. I suppose I will have to make it a habit of saving and exiting and restarting instead. Seems a bit unecessary, but if it is the only way, then it is the only way.

Regards,

Lt. Gen. Alan Lynn
CSA Chief of Staff
3rd Bgde, 3rd Cav Div, II Corps, AoA

God Bless <><

No way, Bill.

The SAVE button ALWAYS works for ANY game, scenario, campaign, etc. I ALWAYS use the SAVE button and I always have no problems. It is counter-intuitive NOT to use the supplied SAVE button.

So, Bill's trial is not valid. My trialis tested over several campaign games and two of which are currently going on.

The statements that the SAVE button does nothing are not accurate statements. In ANY campaign game, if you press the save button AND exit, you or your partners can open the campaign game and continue playing.

In ANY scenario (not a campaign), if you press the SAVE button AND DO NOT EXIT, you can continue to play on.

In ANY scenario (including a campaign), if you press the SAVE button AND EXIT, you can continue to play on after starting the game and selecting the appropriate saved game or saved campaign.

Using the menu choice of FILE/ SAVE serves the exact same function as using the FILE SAVE BUTTON.

My advice is to ALWAYS use the save button to ensure the game gets saved, properly, then exit.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
General, Commanding, Army of Ohio

ACWGC Cabinet Member
ACWGC Records Site Administrator
</b></font id="gold">

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Ernie Sands</i>
In ANY scenario (including a campaign), if you press the SAVE button AND EXIT, you can continue to play on after starting the game and selecting the appropriate saved game or saved campaign.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Yes. But in a scenario, it also works without saving. And it does not work without exiting. It's exiting that saves the battle in a campaign, not saving. Really. I tried it a hundred times, and I tried it again before I posted this here. Start any campaign game, move a unit, and exit without saving, then open the game again. The unit will be where you moved it to, even though you didn't save.

We often had the problem in MP games when a player would play his turn, save, then zip and send the file to his teammates while still having the game open (say, to comment on his moves, etc.). The moves were not saved.

Gen. Walter, USA
<i>The Blue Blitz</i>
3/2/VIII AoS

West Point Class of '01

You can also try this: save your campaign game, then kill the game without properly exiting (say in the task manager). Your moves are not saved.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Bill Peters</i>
<br />Honestly Ernie, the Save feature FOR THE CAMPAIGN GAMES doesnt work. Say what you want but if you exit the game without saving the file is saved. If you save the file and exit, the exit action causes the program to write the temp file back to the .cpf file. And if you get hit with a power strike and have already saved the game (or the PC crashes) the file will NOT be saved.

This is what Alan is talking about. He falls into the category that has tried to save the file but has had a system error.

So here is a simple list:

1. Save file/power failure - no save.
2. Save file/exit - saved.
3. Exit - saved.

The Exiting of the program funny enough is what saved the file. Have never seen this in a program before but it all has to do with the fact that the Campaign Front End takes over when you exit the Battle Engine. Thus its not the same as say killing Excel in the middle of entering in tons of cell information. This is a two-step process.

Again, good catch Dierk. Rich H. should know about this if he doesnt already.

Col. Bill Peters, The Boise Rifles, II Corps Artillery, AoA
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Wrong again, Bill. The save function DOES work. On the REMOTE, REMOTE, REMOTE chance that a power problem happens JUST when you try to SAVE, then maybe your odd method works.

The problem Alan had was SAVING and NOT EXITING. It had nothing to do with POWER FAILURE.

If you think there is a program problem, then you should report it to HPS SUPPORT.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
General, Commanding, Army of Ohio

ACWGC Cabinet Member
ACWGC Records Site Administrator
</b></font id="gold">

[:p]

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
General, Commanding, Army of Ohio

ACWGC Cabinet Member
ACWGC Records Site Administrator
</b></font id="gold">