diff --git a/src/gui/control/card_viewer.cpp b/src/gui/control/card_viewer.cpp
index 12cbc6f5..34a2c8ca 100644
--- a/src/gui/control/card_viewer.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/control/card_viewer.cpp
@@ -72,7 +72,9 @@ void CardViewer::onChangeSize() {
 void CardViewer::onPaint(wxPaintEvent&) {
 	#ifdef _DEBUG
 		// we don't want recursion
-		assert(!inOnPaint());
+		if (inOnPaint()) {
+			wxTrap();
+		}
 		WITH_DYNAMIC_ARG(inOnPaint, true);
 	#endif
 	wxSize cs = GetClientSize();
@@ -129,7 +131,9 @@ class CardViewer::OverdrawDC : private OverdrawDC_aux, public RotatedDC {
 shared_ptr<RotatedDC> CardViewer::overdrawDC() {
 	#ifdef _DEBUG
 		// don't call from onPaint
-		assert(!inOnPaint());
+		if (inOnPaint()) {
+			wxTrap();
+		}
 	#endif
 	return shared_ptr<RotatedDC>(new OverdrawDC(this));
 }
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index c059bebc..fb68e1a2 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ class MSE : public wxApp {
 	int OnExit();
 	/// On exception: display error message
 	bool OnExceptionInMainLoop();
+	/// Fancier assert
+	#if defined(_MSC_VER) && defined(_DEBUG)
+		void OnAssert(const wxChar *file, int line, const wxChar *cond, const wxChar *msg);
+	#endif
 };
 
 IMPLEMENT_APP(MSE)
@@ -265,3 +269,18 @@ bool MSE::OnExceptionInMainLoop() {
 	} CATCH_ALL_ERRORS(true);
 	return true;
 }
+
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && defined(_DEBUG)
+	// Print assert failures to debug output
+	void msvc_assert(const char*, const char*, const char*, unsigned);
+	void MSE::OnAssert(const wxChar *file, int line, const wxChar *cond, const wxChar *msg) {
+		#ifdef UNICODE
+			char file_[1024]; wcstombs(file_,file,1023);
+			char cond_[1024]; wcstombs(cond_,cond,1023);
+			char msg_ [1024]; wcstombs(msg_, msg, 1023);
+			msvc_assert(msg_, cond_, file_, line);
+		#else
+			msvc_assert(msg, cond, file, line);
+		#endif
+	}
+#endif
diff --git a/src/util/error.cpp b/src/util/error.cpp
index db0e919e..e861b50a 100644
--- a/src/util/error.cpp
+++ b/src/util/error.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,25 @@
 
 DECLARE_TYPEOF_COLLECTION(ScriptParseError);
 
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Debug utilities
+
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && defined(_DEBUG)
+	void msvc_assert(const char* msg, const char* expr, const char* file, unsigned line) {
+		if (IsDebuggerPresent()) {
+			char buffer[1024];
+			if (msg) {
+				sprintf(buffer, "Assertion failed: %s: %s, file %s, line %d\n", msg, expr, file, line);
+			} else {
+				sprintf(buffer, "Assertion failed: %s, file %s, line %d\n", expr, file, line);
+			}
+			OutputDebugStringA(buffer);
+			DebugBreak();
+		} else {
+			_assert(expr, file, line);
+		}
+	}
+#endif
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Error types
 
 Error::Error(const String& message)
diff --git a/src/util/prec.hpp b/src/util/prec.hpp
index 737eafe4..53eb881d 100644
--- a/src/util/prec.hpp
+++ b/src/util/prec.hpp
@@ -80,12 +80,21 @@ class FileName : public wxString {
 #include "reflect.hpp"
 #include "regex.hpp"
 
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Debugging fixes
+
 #ifdef _MSC_VER
-//# pragma conform(forScope,on)    // in "for(int x=..);" x goes out of scope after the for
-// somehow forScope pragma doesn't work in precompiled headers, use this hack instead:
-#ifdef _DEBUG
-	#define for if(false);else for
-#endif
+	//# pragma conform(forScope,on)    // in "for(int x=..);" x goes out of scope after the for
+	// somehow forScope pragma doesn't work in precompiled headers, use this hack instead:
+	#ifdef _DEBUG
+		#define for if(false);else for
+	#endif
+	
+	#ifdef _DEBUG
+		// Use OutputDebugString/DebugBreak for assertions if in debug mode
+		void msvc_assert(const char*, const char*, const char*, unsigned);
+		#undef assert
+		#define assert(exp) (void)( (exp) || (msvc_assert(nullptr, #exp, __FILE__, __LINE__), 0) )
+	#endif
 #endif
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- : EOF
diff --git a/src/util/regex.hpp b/src/util/regex.hpp
index 51cbe4d0..57da3a12 100644
--- a/src/util/regex.hpp
+++ b/src/util/regex.hpp
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@
 			}
 		};
 		
+		inline Regex() {}
+		inline Regex(const String& code) { assign(code); }
+		
 		void assign(const String& code);
 		inline bool matches(const String& str) const {
 			return regex_search(str.begin(), str.end(), regex);
@@ -126,6 +129,9 @@
 			friend class ScriptRegex;
 		};
 		
+		inline Regex() {}
+		inline Regex(const String& code) { assign(code); }
+		
 		void assign(const String& code);
 		inline bool matches(const String& str) const {
 			return regex.Matches(str);