Failed to Load Actor Data

[Sausage_Boi]

I have lost 2 games, and thousands of hours to a "Failed to Load Actor Data" issue. WHAT IS CAUSING THIS? It seems to me, whenever I use the steam version of RMVXA, and my laptop battery dies, or the machine otherwise turns off while the program is running, it breaks my games. It has broken 2 of them, and it is really frustrating. Is there any way to fix this, or ...?


I have both Steam version and Disc (but I lost my disc key, so I can't reinstall with it.) I have never had this issue in the nearly 2 years I was using the disc copy, but after the switch to steam I have lost 2 games in just the last 6 months.

 

[Wavelength]

It seems to me, whenever I use the steam version of RMVXA, and my laptop battery dies, or the machine otherwise turns off while the program is running, it breaks my games.

This is pretty much what causes it (which sucks here in Florida where we have lots of lightning strikes), but most likely your work is not entirely lost.  Often it's just one file in your project that's corrupt (possibly something like a single map if you are lucky).


Start a new, clean project, and start copying your folders over one by one (in your new project, rename your old folder or move it somewhere else, replace it with the appropriate folder from your corrupt game, and try to reopen the program).  If it works, great - you saved that entire folder.  If it doesn't, you've narrowed down the corruption.  Delete that folder, restore the new project's version of that folder, and start copying the files one by one (or a few at a time if you're impatient) from the corrupt project and trying to reopen the program.  This way you can separate the good files from the corrupt ones and start from where you left off, minus any files that became corrupt.


I have had this problem nearly ten times, and only once was the project so badly corrupted that I couldn't restore most of it using this technique.


And from now on, make backups of your stuff every week or so and move those backups to an external HDD or thumb drive.  That way you can avoid having to do this more drastic "find the corruption" measure, and you will also be protected in case your hard drive burns out (which could render your projects completely unrecoverable).


I hope this helps you recover most of your work!

 

[Zalerinian]

The program keeps the files open when the program is open. If the program closes unexpectedly, then the files risk being damaged, which has happened to you twice. You should be keeping backups of your games so you don't lose them when you forget to plug your laptop in, or a blackout kills the power. Keeping your project safe is a part of your responsibility.

 

[Sausage_Boi]

I was just going through trying to find a backup I had, found one from the end of May, but I replaced actor data, then class data was corrupt. I replaced a bunch of files, and now both of my Tileset's data is failing to load. Both copies and another. Any idea on what to do for broken tileset data?

You should be keeping backups of your games so you don't lose them when you forget to plug your laptop in, or a blackout kills the power. Keeping your project safe is a part of your responsibility.

As you can see, Backups are not the issue: 


http://postimg.org/image/p8begsm7f/full/


The most recent backup I have is from about 10 days ago. The Tileset data fails to load on BOTH files, and in both folders. I am looking for practical solutions to the current issue, thank you.

 

[2DGameStudios]

I would uninstall and reinstall VX and then load your project back in to it. Should hopefull resolve your issue.

 

[Sausage_Boi]

I'm probably going to have to try that. I was wondering if the failed tileset data is because I had made a ton of edits to the defaults and made plenty of custom stuff, too.

 

[Andar]

The frequency of failures is also dependent on what settings you choose for your windows.


Here is some background info (a bit simplified, but hopefully no techies will object to that):


A file is damaged if it has not been completely saved to the harddrive. Because on the harddrive all data is sequential, each sector containing the info where the next sector to load is stored. Not saving one sector means that the later data is lost, and that Windows has problems opening the file (because it is incomplete).


And now there is the cache. Loading and especially saving to the harddrive takes time. More time than a lot of people are willing to wait. For that reason all hard drives have a cache (RAM) that is a lot faster, but as with all caches it cannot store data without power.


So most data (especially if a file is changed multiple times) is first kept to the cache, and only physically saved on the hard drive when the HDD controller has the time to do that.


That in fact is what the "shutdown" procedure is about: to give all parts of the computer time to store the data permanently on the HDD while removing it from the memory.


And that is why power failures, resets or switching the computer off without shutdown may cause damage to the files: because the last changes to them might still be only in memory and not yet really transferred to the HDD.


But there are settings that affect that - for example you can set external drives to decide between speed and safety by saying they should store directly or work with cache.


And several so-called "windows-optimizers" also accelerate Windows by increasing cache and focusing on speed (without telling the user that this also has an increased chance of data loss if the shutdown procedure is not completed correctly.


So if you have a high number of damaged files, I suggest checking for the setting of your computer.


However, additionally use a drive check program to check your HDD's S.M.A.R.T. Status - if that is below 80%, then the drive might be in critical condition and a few weeks or months before total failure. Because that can be another cause; an old or otherwise damaged HDD. Each HDD has a number of reserve sectors - if a sector fails for harddrive reasons, one of those reserve sectors (which is empty) is switched in as a replacement, also causing file damage.


But if that happens regularly, it means that the harddrive is in critical condition and that the reserve sectors are used up fast. And once they're gone, the damage will accelerate and become visible...

 

[Shaz]

You can also turn off the steam update.