Nothing to forgive, Sky, just a simple exchange of ideas with no angst or offense taken.

The whole CTD issue is pretty complex. Could be anything from mixed up single mission data, to hardpoint mis-assignment to well, a whole host of problems including these multiskin issues that are presently bedeviling us.

Anyhow, I hope we go forward in 2019 with a motto of "No angst, no offense, only an exchange of data for the betterment of the EAW flying experience".

As to your question, I'm pretty sure the various fixes haven't been released yet but we'll need to have Mr. Jelly chime in on that and I think he's on real world sabbatical from EAW at the moment.

Questions do abound -

Do you have the full 1.6 install?

Can you select other scenarios, different execs and different plane sets?

If so, try a planeset from SPAW or DAW with the default EAW scenario and see if the CTD's still occur. Then try the planset that is giving you trouble but select the SPAW theater.

I am in Switzerland with just my laptop, so I cannot do much until I get back

My goodness, there's no panic, at all. From what I hear, you're probably snowed in!

I have a full 1.60 install.

Some observations.

The problem occurs in the form of a freeze as often as a ctd.

It also happens with the Emil ETO Mordred (set 60) planeset. It does not happen with the ETO Late set, with Emil ETO 2 or 3 or with the ZZZZZ set.

It happens in other scenarios with both your set and Emil/Mordred.

It seems to happen only with B-17's, in both cases. It doesn't happen with Lanc's, B-26's, B-24's and so on. Although your B-17 set is a multiskin, the Emil/Mordred one appears not to be, but is a HR set. I have no difficulty in 1.29, 1.28E or 1.40 with almost exactly similar missions, scenarios and set-ups and using HR B-17's in most cases and multiskin ones in the case of 1.40.

The freezing vs CTD's leads me to believe that some of the planes have incorrect middle and long distance models as this is a more likely a cause for this type of problem. If these models have hardpoints, especially the long distance ones ( S.3dz ) it's very easy to have graphic anomalies which cause the freezes vs CTD's, so that's good info.

If you are feeling adventurous I can take you through the process for removing the possibly offending files and then you can try the same missions to see if the freezing and CTD's are eliminated.

One other thing.

The B-17's are not my set either. At the time these CTD's started occurring the only multiskins I had put together were the B-26's but you probably don't have that set yet either.

FWIW, I've since made a set of multiskin A-20's just to see if my approach vs the "standard" multiskin approach is viable. So far I haven't had any problems with them.

It's hard to keep up with which set is which, so sorry for laying the blame on you! I just assumed since it was contained within a planeset named after Ray, it was your work.

I will certainly give the removal of the putative guilty files a go, if it's not extremely complicated. I can manage folder structures and the like, but manipulating the internal information contained within files would be beyond me.

I don't do the blame thing, Sky, so don't be concerned. I was just clarifying the who, what, where of the issue.

If you go to a subfolder of your 1.6 install named Aircraft_Inventory you'll see a bunch more subfolders with names like ETOplanes, Malta140_planes, SPAWplanes and probably others as well.

Drill down through the ETOPlanes folder, then the Skins folder, then the USA folder until you see the B17F(multi) and B17G(multi) folders. Make a copy of each of these folders just for safety's sake. You can delete them once the experiment is concluded. The copied folders can remain in place, they won't confuse the game.

Open each of the two original folders and find the files PLANEM.3dz and PLANES.3dz. Rename these two with something like PLANEMorig.3dz and PLANESorig.3dz.

Now try running the game. If it runs, you will notice that the planes disappear at long distances and then pop into view at about 5000 feet. That's because the game hasn't got a mid and long distance model to display. Obviously this will only affect the B-17's so you will still see all the other planes at a distance.

You will have to accept that for right now until we get other exec problems sorted but eventually they will be issued.

Let me know how it goes.

I'll get on to that tonight.

Actually got around to it sooner. I went a step further and replaced the two relevant files from the corresponding ones in the B-24. Preliminary results, but I will need more time on this, indicate that the freezes\ctd's are eliminated, but I retain a distant view of the bombers. I will report in more detail later, but it's looking promising.

Good thinking. At the distance involved you'd be hard pressed to see the difference between the B-17 and B-24.

You know what else looks promising?

A new user who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty.

Thanks. I can confirm that my solution seems to be continuing to work with your eponymous planeset. I also did the same with the Emil\Mordred planeset and all seems to be working ok. As you say, I can see no difference between the distant images of the B-24 and the B-17. This workaround will certainly do for now.

Edit:

To obviate any differences in the images, I used the PlaneM and PlaneS 3dz files from the Planes_ETO B-17 skin-folders, which are also working quite satisfactorily.

Whoa, "eponymous"????

I think I've been complimented.........................or insulted..............................I'm not sure which.

We can get to use words like 'eponymous' when we're anonymous...

I'll get my coat, now.

Don't you mean integument?

Revisiting earlier posts it seems like the problem was caused by a missing "planeT.3dz" and a quick bodge was to put one in the "GameData" folder. In the 1.29 and earlier cases there would be one such as "PBB17T.3dz" in the 3D.cdf file, so the problem did not occur.

That indubitably signifies my elucidatory tendency.

Didn't you mean to say tendentious hallucinatory tendencies?

FYI, you might be surprised at the distance you can tell a b-17 apart from a b-24 in the real world. The high wing on the b-24 sitting on top of the oval fuselage easily sets it apart from a Boeing. The Wings of Freedom tour flies in and out or the Westminster Airport each fall for the last zillion years and they fly over my job site each time they take off and land. That plus when they fly in they follow Md. Route 140 west from Baltimore and can be seen for miles as they approach the airport.

P.S. good luck to y'all. I hope you can get things to work in 1.6X as well as they do in 1.28/9. It will be worth the effort.

The solution to this particular problem is baked in.

We do have a few other unrelated issues to deal with but a bit of real life has intruded.

"...Ah Life, the tiny little pill you take every day..."

or, as my Mom used to say...

That's Life,
What's that?
A magazine,
Where do you get it?
At the corner drug.
How much does it cost?
25 cents,
I've only got a dime,
Well, that's Life...

I feel ya Ray, positive thoughts do help.