RSW

Hi All,

new player here!

I'm having trouble running the client, when I launch it I get a window open that says "RSW Client Game List"
which stays on the screen for a few seconds with the windows "working" circle, and then vanishes!

Do I need to set up Compatibility modes or something? OS is Windows 10 Home

Mat

Hi Mat! Welcome to RSW!

I'm not sure what's going wrong with your client, but let's see if we can figure it out. It shouldn't be a compatibility issue; the client is compiled for Windows 10 and should run fine on any Windows 10 machine.

One possibility is that somehow the client database is corrupt. That would be really weird if you've only just installed it for the first time, but weird things happen sometimes, I guess. If this is the case, resetting the client database should clear it up. In fact, since this is a new install, let's reset the entire RSW save folder. To do this, type %appdata% in the Windows search bar. This should take you to the folder C:\Users\<your name>\AppData\Roaming (note that AppData and Roaming are both hidden folders, and you can't navigate to them the usual way). In this folder you'll see a folder named RSW; click on this and then hit the Delete key to delete the folder. Then try to launch the RSW client again and see if it loads (it should prompt you for a username and password).

Another possibility that comes to mind is that maybe some firewall software (like Norton or whatever) is blocking the client's attempt to communicate to the game server, and causing it to crash as soon as it makes the attempt. Make sure you have configured your firewall software to allow any network communications by rsw_client.exe.

If you can't get anywhere with either of these, let's try some diagnostic experiments. First, try right-clicking on the RSW Client icon and selecting "Run as Administrator". Maybe that will make a difference?

If that doesn't help, let's try starting up in offline mode. In the Windows "Run" dialog, type the following command: The easiest way to do this is to click the "SELECT ALL" button above, then hit Control-C to copy the command to the clipboard, then Windows-R to bring up the Run dialog, and Control-V to paste the command, then hit Enter to run it.

This should launch the RSW client in "offline" mode, where it won't attempt to connect to the server. If it launches and doesn't crash, then you can try hitting the F5 key (or picking File | Download Games from the menu) and clicking Yes when it asks you if you want to connect. If *that* makes it crash, then we have at least proven that it's crashing whenever it tries to communicate to the server, and we can proceed from there.

David

Thank you for a very comprehensive reply!

I've tried your suggestions, the client runs fine in offline mode, but crashes when I try to "download games" which would as you say suggest a connectivity issue!

I'm using the built in windows firewall, and the free version of avast anti-virus. I've added rsw_client to the allowed apps list in windows firewall, and also tried disabling the firewall and antivirus and still have the same problem.

I'm *NOT* getting the usual dialogue box you get when windows firewall blocks an application

I've done a password reset on the rswgame site just to make sure I'm not being daft

Do I need to open any ports on my router ? thats about the only thing else I can think of.

Thanks for your help

Mat

No, there should be no open ports needed. RSW just makes an outgoing connection to the RSW server.

Hmm, I've just tried setting up a clean VM with Windows Firewall and Avast free anti-virus, and it was able to launch and run RSW Client without issues. So, it's not that, or at least not only that.

Does it crash before or after it prompts you for your username/password? That might give me a clue.

I suppose the next thing to do is for me to send you debug builds of the client with more logging enabled, so we can narrow down what's happening in the crash. I'll put together a build and contact you via email, if you don't mind that.

In the meantime, it is at least technically *possible* to play with the RSW Client entirely in offline mode, but it may not be terribly pleasant. It would mean downloading the game report in XML form from the website and then importing that into the client. And then when you finish entering your orders, you have to either cut-and-paste them from the client into the website, or perhaps use the send-via-email mechanism (unless that also crashes the client).

Hopefully we'll get this sorted out quickly though so it won't be too burdensome in the meantime.

David

It crashes after prompting for username/password