Using Avast & Having problems saving the game?

[rapsdjff]

The Issue

After a recent update to Avast, saving in Battle Brothers (including autosaves before every battle) takes about 40 seconds - much longer than normal. It may appear as if the game has frozen or crashed, but it will usually save and then continue to run normally.

Solutions

• Open Avast, under COMPONENTS>FILE SYSTEM SHIELD>Customize>Exclusions> add the game folder and the save folder (My Documents\Battle Brothers\savegames) to the exclusion list.
  
• Go to COMPONENTS>BEHAVIOR SHIELD>Customize> and also add the 'Battle Brothers.exe' file to the exclusions.
  
• Go to PERFORMANCE>GAME MODE> and disable the game mode for Battle Brothers. Do not turn off the game mode entirely.
  
• Reboot your PC.

Note that some people have reported that this option isn't working for them and only the following does.

or

Completely deinstall Avast. Deactivating it isn't enough.

or

Wait until the saving process is complete. Even if this takes a long time, do not press any key until the game has finished saving and can be played again. Pressing any key while the game is saving this way could result in corrupted saves.

We've contacted Avast Software and hope that the issue will be resolved in a timely manner.

[Lord Stuffington]

Woah, big warning for Avast users now Oo

Is only the free version causing saving issues? Because I use Avast business security and never had any problems.

[rapsdjff]

We've only tested with the free version ourselves and ran into all kinds of problems. Interesting to hear that Avast Business Security apparently doesn't cause these problems.

[NM9G]

Probably that new "game mode" update Avast added.

[McGuffin]

Adding the game and the savegame folder in avast exclusions seems to do the trick
I don't have issues with the free version with these settings (but i haven't played a lot yet)

[love to resign]

This explains a lot. I might try McGuffin's trick--Ironman is totally unbearable as is.

Thanks for the info, and thanks for looking for a solution, Overhype.

[Plunge-O-Sphere]

I've been having the same problems with Avast and the above tip has returned things to normal for now (thanks McGuffin!)

Hopefully I'll be able to start an iron man campaign without save corruption issues now.

edit - The above only worked for me once and now Battle Brothers can't load the world map after the initial fight. Looks like it's farewell to Avast now unfortunately.

[rapsdjff]

Thanks, I've amended the post above and will also update the popup. However, following your instructions did not solve the issue for us - only deinstalling Avast did.

[Plunge-O-Sphere]

Originally posted by rapsdjff:

Thanks, I've amended the post above and will also update the popup. However, following your instructions did not solve the issue for us - only deinstalling Avast did.

Hi rapsdjff,

Unfortunately the solution offered by McGuffin only worked once for me and now Battle Brothers can't load the campaign map after the first battle.

I've edited my above post to reflect this and it appears that my only option now at this stage is to uninstall Avast as you have mentioned.

[o,..,0]

excellent! I found a solution!
You need: avast=>performans=>GAME MODE=>Battle Brothers=>disabled

Loaded and saved instantly!

[McGuffin]

Originally posted by Plunge-O-Sphere:

Unfortunately the solution offered by McGuffin only worked once for me and now Battle Brothers can't load the campaign map after the first battle.

maybe double check your exclusion list, because I played for 3 hours yesterday, with save and reload, and I have no issue at all...
Be sure you exclude the whole game folder and not the game.exe alone (+ of course the savegame folder)

[High_Plains_Drifter]

So, never had a problem until this last patch. Now my 281 day ironman game file cannot be loaded. Is my save ruined? Can't you guys go back and see what was changed that started the problems with Avast and correct?

[Plunge-O-Sphere]

Originally posted by McGuffin:

maybe double check your exclusion list, because I played for 3 hours yesterday, with save and reload, and I have no issue at all...
Be sure you exclude the whole game folder and not the game.exe alone (+ of course the savegame folder)

Hey McGuffin,

I managed to reach day 10 on my first campaign before it first crashed during a save. After that it started to crash at every save.

I did exclude the whole Battle Brothers directory last night and it loaded the world map after the first battle and performance also improved. I tried again today expecting the same to happen, but it wouldn't even load the map (exclusions were still in place).

I removed Avast and installed a new AV and everything is working fine now (easy way out I know).

[High_Plains_Drifter]

Ok, so I think I have solved the problem while still using Avast. Tested to day 10 so far:

Open Avast, under COMPONENTS>FILE SYSTEM SHIELD>Customize>Exclusions...make sure you add both the steam battle brothers folder(ex mine: D:\steamapps\common\Battle Brothers\) as well as saved game folder (ex mine: D:\Documents\Battle Brothers\). You can browse to wherever you have your folders on your system.

I also went to COMPONENTS>BEHAVIOR SHIELD>Customize and added the battle brothers .exe file as well.

Surprisingly, under PERFORMANCE>GAME MODE> I had previously added Battle Brothers under that tab but have been running it as "disabled" for this particular game.

So far everything is working fine, no hang ups, save is fine, etc. Will continue testing but I hope this can help others. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you as well. Cheers!

[rapsdjff]

Alright, we just got word from Avast Software that Battle Brothers has been white-listed. We did some testing, and everything seems to work fine with Avast installed for us so far, but we want to be a 100% sure before we remove the warning popup.

It'd be great if any of you would be willing to give it a try, too, and report your findings here for everyone else.

[love to resign]

@rapsdjff-- I haven't done any troubleshooting of my own and am working with a free Avast installation. I tried playing tonight, and it was totally smooth for the first hour or so. Then it went back to its old tricks--long save times coupled with the appearance that the game had crashed.