Won't let me load into savegame as myself

Technical Support & Bugs
#1

I’m at the beginning of a game of Pax Porfiriana, and after a couple logfiles (we e-mail them back and forth), I’m now unable to open a logfile as myself. When I launch the savegame and VASSAL loads it, VASSAL keeps asking me which side I want to join as: blue, yellow, or observer. I am green (and am playing against red), but I don’t have that option.

So far as I know I haven’t changed anything, either in VASSAL or on the computer.

Is this a recognizable issue?

VASSAL didn’t do this the last time I used it (for Paths of Glory, probably a year ago now).

Here’s exactly what happened:

  1. My opponent set up the game and e-mailed me “Pax_001.vsav”.

  2. I loaded the save file, took my turn, and e-mailed him “Pax_002.vsav”.

  3. He took his turn and e-mailed me “Pax_003.vlog”.

  4. I loaded the logfile, stepped through his turn, and e-mailed him “Pax_004.vlog”.

  5. He took his turn and e-mailed me “Pax_005.vlog”.

  6. When I load ‘Pax_005.vlog’, it forces me to join as blue, yellow, or an observer.

I also can’t load ‘Pax_003.vlog’, which I once could. But I can load ‘Pax_001.vsav’.

Is it significant that I received a vsav file and sent back a vsav file, but we traded vlog files from then on? I was surprised that I had a vsav file to send him as my first file after receiving a vsav file from him. I’m used to trading vlog files.

My only guess is that if I accidentally saved my first turn in a vsav file, then it went to him with the green player (me) as part of setup, prepared for the game to start. So then green would from then on be unavailable. I can’t explain how I was able to take one more turn using a logfile I now can’t get into as myself, but it’s my best guess.

What can I do to prevent this from happening?

#2

Have you by chance been playing this game on more than one computer (e.g., taken some turns at home, some turns at work or elsewhere)? This has all the hallmarks of being a module password issue.

#3

Hmm … I switched out enough ancillary computer hardware to cause me to have to re-register Windows. Would that do it?

#4

No, that would not explain it. If you had been using multiple computers to play, the most likely explanation was that the password you used (the one you enter the very first time you use a given module on a computer) in one place was not 100% identical to the password you used on a different computer.