Brad, sorry for not replying to this earlier...I was busy in RL and then I found the new beta available!
I've got Smart Exception installed, but I don't get a report when PM crashes. It just CTDs and that's it.
This build is a little bit better, but still not working on my machine. I can now get past the game setup screen (I couldn't even do that before!) but the first turn of the game I see a flash in the background of an error message. It just flashes and I don't get to see it, but the game freezes and I have to CTRL-ALT-DEL to get out. I wish I could see what that error message says when it flashes. I also wish I could get a report from Smart Exception for you.
I just checked and I do have a debug.err file! Here is the output:
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 369e99
Debug Message: LoadAllModelsInDirectory: No files matching mask *.mdl.
Debug Message: LoadAllModelsInDirectory: No files matching mask Gfx\*.mdl.
Debug Message: LoadAllModelsInDirectory: No files matching mask Setup\*.mdl.
Debug Message: Added fonts: font2 font1 Arial13B Arial16B2 Arial10
Debug Message: Added fonts: Arial12 Arial12B Arial14 Arial14B Arial16
Debug Message: Added fonts: Arial16B Arial18 Arial18B
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: No Event Music\*.mp3 files in current directory.
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Parsing screens\MessageBox.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\OptionsWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\TitleScreenWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\JoinGameWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\FantasySetupWnd.ini
Debug Message: Initialize Tilemaps
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Parsing screens\GameSetupWnd.ini
Debug Message: MemMan: Unable to find pointer in GetBlockInfo. Memory system: EditFields
ASSERT ERROR in file \Projects\Pear\Source\memman.cpp at line 581.
Debug Message: Parsing screens\WorldSetupWnd.ini
Debug Message: Unhide opening menu.
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateSetupWnd.ini
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CreateCandidateWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidatePortraitSelectWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\MainUI.ini
Debug Message: MemMan: Unable to find pointer in GetBlockInfo. Memory system: EditFields
ASSERT ERROR in file \Projects\Pear\Source\memman.cpp at line 581.
Debug Message: Parsing screens\NewsWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\ActivistPopupWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\TVShowPopupWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\EndorsementsWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\SpecialInterestWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\AssetsInfoWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\StateDetailsWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CharacteristicListEntryWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\TraitListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\TraitListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\TraitListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CampaignWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\InterviewWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\NewspaperWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\ElectionDayWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\HeadquartersWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\FundRaisingWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CandidateListEntry.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\CreateAdWnd.ini
Debug Message: Parsing screens\ExitPollWnd.ini
*DEBUG ERROR: *** No edit field definitions for group passed to EditFieldsUpdate ***
Debug Message: ******* GameStarted *******
Hope this helps!