Nearly 25 Years, Playing 'em All Out, Trashed!

[OldFatGuy]

Boy, words can't begin to describe.

First of all, it's OOTP8, but we all know OOTPX is OOTP8 with new features/fixes, and that's why I'm posting here for advice. If the mods don't like it here, move it.

Yes, I had 1 Full Backup (meaning copy of the saved game directory, I do that every March 1st), and 6 regular backups (the data files only backed up). But the "corruption" must've occurred before the oldest of these backups because I've restored them ALL only to find the same problem. I guess it's been there awhile but I never noticed it until it hit my team.

Like I said, words can't describe how I feel right now. Man oh man. I don't know how many hours I had into that league. Posting because I want to avoid this in the future, so if others have seen this same "corruption" maybe they can tell me how to avoid it, or recognize it early enough to resolve with clean backups.

Here's what happened. I noticed last year (1923) right after the draft, I was checking free agents and a name caught my eye. Because it was a guy I wanted to draft but he was taken before I got him. Cool, I thought. So, I clicked on him. He comes up with the Padres uniform on (and that's who drafted him), so I knew something was weird. Looked on history, showed him being drafted, but never released. Checked the Padres roster, and his name still appeared there. So I added the "Team" column to the Free Agent list to see how many others were on teams, but to avail, because it didn't even show a team beside this guy's name even though he was obviously still on the Padres roster.

Weird, I thought. I played out another week or so, he was still there, but no other problems so I figured it was a one time hiccup or something. 1924, I sign a big time foreign FA center fielder, so I trade my all-star center fielder to make budget room for the upcoming offseason. Play a couple of games out, and on the transaction screen (I check that EVERY DAY after I hit Finish Today), one message said the Mets signed FA CF Enrique Fernandes. Wow, another Enrique Fernandez I thought, oh well, there's too many repeat of names anyway, especially hispanic names IMO. But his ratings look familiar.

Yep, it was MY CF I HAD RECENTLY SIGNED. He was now no longer on my roster (even though I never released him). So now I have no way of knowing how many players are affected by this corruption, but it was here that I began restoring backups, and each and every backup had players listed on the free agent list that were also listed on team's rosters.

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

OK, has anyone seen this before?

What are the warning signs??

This league always (every year) had a hiccup every Januart 1st. When I would advance to January 1st of a new year, the first time I quit after that I would get the "OOTP has stopped working" message and would have to close the program. But, I would restart OOTP, look at my league, and it always "appeared" as though nothing was wrong, so I just continued. Could this be the source of the problem???

I just don't know if I have the drive to get started all over again in OOTPX without knowing if this same kind of thing is going to happen again. I'm really pissed off know, and don't think I could stand it again. Do you know how many games I played our???? THOUSANDS!!!

Please folks, any help is appreciated. What caused this? What signs can I look for to notice it next time?? What good are backups if they too are corrupted because you hadn't recognized the corruption? If you get the program stops working message, should that be an automatic restore??? What happens if the restore also gets the message on the same day???

WTF??????????

[OldFatGuy]

Whoops, just noticed this was in OOTP11. I thought I was in the OOTPX forum.

Man, I'm so pissed I didn't even take the time to check the forum.

Sorry.

[Dr. P.R. Park III]

You probably didn't realize this, but there really are so many different ways to interpret the title of this thread...took me a bit of time to figure out what you were talking about.

[JWay]

have you tried retiring that player, or deleting him?

[Goody]

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

Boy, words can't begin to describe.

First of all, it's OOTP8, but we all know OOTPX is OOTP8 with new features/fixes, and that's why I'm posting here for advice. If the mods don't like it here, move it.

Yes, I had 1 Full Backup (meaning copy of the saved game directory, I do that every March 1st), and 6 regular backups (the data files only backed up). But the "corruption" must've occurred before the oldest of these backups because I've restored them ALL only to find the same problem. I guess it's been there awhile but I never noticed it until it hit my team.

Like I said, words can't describe how I feel right now. Man oh man. I don't know how many hours I had into that league. Posting because I want to avoid this in the future, so if others have seen this same "corruption" maybe they can tell me how to avoid it, or recognize it early enough to resolve with clean backups.

Here's what happened. I noticed last year (1923) right after the draft, I was checking free agents and a name caught my eye. Because it was a guy I wanted to draft but he was taken before I got him. Cool, I thought. So, I clicked on him. He comes up with the Padres uniform on (and that's who drafted him), so I knew something was weird. Looked on history, showed him being drafted, but never released. Checked the Padres roster, and his name still appeared there. So I added the "Team" column to the Free Agent list to see how many others were on teams, but to avail, because it didn't even show a team beside this guy's name even though he was obviously still on the Padres roster.

Weird, I thought. I played out another week or so, he was still there, but no other problems so I figured it was a one time hiccup or something. 1924, I sign a big time foreign FA center fielder, so I trade my all-star center fielder to make budget room for the upcoming offseason. Play a couple of games out, and on the transaction screen (I check that EVERY DAY after I hit Finish Today), one message said the Mets signed FA CF Enrique Fernandes. Wow, another Enrique Fernandez I thought, oh well, there's too many repeat of names anyway, especially hispanic names IMO. But his ratings look familiar.

Yep, it was MY CF I HAD RECENTLY SIGNED. He was now no longer on my roster (even though I never released him). So now I have no way of knowing how many players are affected by this corruption, but it was here that I began restoring backups, and each and every backup had players listed on the free agent list that were also listed on team's rosters.

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

OK, has anyone seen this before?

What are the warning signs??

This league always (every year) had a hiccup every Januart 1st. When I would advance to January 1st of a new year, the first time I quit after that I would get the "OOTP has stopped working" message and would have to close the program. But, I would restart OOTP, look at my league, and it always "appeared" as though nothing was wrong, so I just continued. Could this be the source of the problem???

I just don't know if I have the drive to get started all over again in OOTPX without knowing if this same kind of thing is going to happen again. I'm really pissed off know, and don't think I could stand it again. Do you know how many games I played our???? THOUSANDS!!!

Please folks, any help is appreciated. What caused this? What signs can I look for to notice it next time?? What good are backups if they too are corrupted because you hadn't recognized the corruption? If you get the program stops working message, should that be an automatic restore??? What happens if the restore also gets the message on the same day???

WTF??????????

Your story does raise awareness, and I'm glad you shared it where I'd see it. I will now always restore from a backup if I get that message and check for things like this regularly.

I'm sorry your league was trashed. At least remember the good times you had playing it before you realized it was corrupted. I guess an OOTP league can be a lot like an ex.

[endgame]

OFG, what are the time intervals of your backups? Is the oldest 5yrs; the next 3yrs, etc.? Also, are those backups full folders of your league's directory under Saved Games?

[silvam14]

Originally Posted by Dr. P.R. Park III

You probably didn't realize this, but there really are so many different ways to interpret the title of this thread...took me a bit of time to figure out what you were talking about.

It sounds like he's going to spend the next 25 years trashed!

[OldFatGuy]

Originally Posted by endgame

OFG, what are the time intervals of your backups? Is the oldest 5yrs; the next 3yrs, etc.? Also, are those backups full folders of your league's directory under Saved Games?

Every March 1st I would copy the entire saved games folder to another location (and on my USB drive). This copy had the uniforms, stadiums, you know, ALL the data.

Every Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, and Sep 1st I would do a "quick backup" where all it was copying was the data files.

But because this league is so big, I wouldn't keep repeating the process (otherwise, after nearly 25 years I'd have 150 backups, that's a lot of space), no, I would always just have six (well, actually 7 counting the big backup). So if it was June 1, of 1923, then the backups I have available are the just made June 1, 1923, May, 1 1923, April 1, 1923, March 1, 1923 (the big backup), Sep 1, 1922, Aug 1, 1922, and July 1, 1922. Then when I would backup July 1, 1923, I would delete July 1, 1922. Get it???

That was my backup strategy forever since I had this league. And the reason I only did the whole directory backup once a year is because believe it or not, just copying that folder to another location (and especially to the USB drive) TOOK A LONG TIME.

Anyways, that was my backup strategy, and if that's wrong, I'll gladly take advice on that. But what I really want to know is if this corruption has hit anyone else in any version, and if there are any warning signs to it.
And thanks for all the feedback.

And again, sorry for posting it in OOTP11. I was just so upset I hit the buttons and starting posting.

Sorry.

[JWay]

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

Every March 1st I would copy the entire saved games folder to another location (and on my USB drive). This copy had the uniforms, stadiums, you know, ALL the data.

Every Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, and Sep 1st I would do a "quick backup" where all it was copying was the data files.

But because this league is so big, I wouldn't keep repeating the process (otherwise, after nearly 25 years I'd have 150 backups, that's a lot of space), no, I would always just have six (well, actually 7 counting the big backup). So if it was June 1, of 1923, then the backups I have available are the just made June 1, 1923, May, 1 1923, April 1, 1923, March 1, 1923 (the big backup), Sep 1, 1922, Aug 1, 1922, and July 1, 1922. Then when I would backup July 1, 1923, I would delete July 1, 1922. Get it???

That was my backup strategy forever since I had this league. And the reason I only did the whole directory backup once a year is because believe it or not, just copying that folder to another location (and especially to the USB drive) TOOK A LONG TIME.

Anyways, that was my backup strategy, and if that's wrong, I'll gladly take advice on that. But what I really want to know is if this corruption has hit anyone else in any version, and if there are any warning signs to it.
And thanks for all the feedback.

And again, sorry for posting it in OOTP11. I was just so upset I hit the buttons and starting posting.

Sorry.

If you feel like coming ot South Dakota, we can go have a beer together! I feel your pain

[endgame]

No problem on any front, OFG. You're addressing and asking about a lot of issues, really, all at once. What I'd like to do is sort out an early origin, if you're willing to experiment a bit.

Can you go to back to one of those fully saved folders, say about 2-3 years ago, rename the last existing league folder currently in your saved games folder and paste the backup folder in there? Then start your game, but select Load Game from options and select it. Look for the problem you're referring to here.

If you see it, trash it - i.e. delete it from the directory; you have the original backup as you only pasted its copy to try out. Then move to the previous year, lather, rinse, repeat, until you can attest there IS no problem and the integrity of the league looks and feels secure to you in all respects. Stay with full folder backups and using the Load Game option.

That's a first, tough, and long process request. But if you're up for it. I'd like to begin with that examination.

[OldFatGuy]

Originally Posted by endgame

No problem on any front, OFG. You're addressing and asking about a lot of issues, really, all at once. What I'd like to do is sort out an early origin, if you're willing to experiment a bit.

Can you go to back to one of those fully saved folders, say about 2-3 years ago, rename the last existing league folder currently in your saved games folder and paste the backup folder in there? Then start your game, but select Load Game from options and select it. Look for the problem you're referring to here.

If you see it, trash it - i.e. delete it from the directory; you have the original backup as you only pasted its copy to try out. Then move to the previous year, lather, rinse, repeat, until you can attest there IS no problem and the integrity of the league looks and feels secure to you in all respects. Stay with full folder backups and using the Load Game option.

That's a first, tough, and long process request. But if you're up for it. I'd like to begin with that examination.

Sorry Endgame, I guess I'm just not being clear (probably cause I'm upset).

I did that backup routine every year, but I would delete the old backups, or else, as I said, after nearly 25 years I would've had nearly 150 backups.

In other words, I always only had 7 backups at one time. The one Big one (done every March 1st), and the 6 little ones (done on the 1st of the month of the seasons).

And I restored ALL of those backups I had available, looked at the free agent listings, and the corruption was there. There were players listed on the free agent list who were still on rosters.

[endgame]

crap. I probably didn't read well enough in eagerness to try and help. So when you say restored, you go about it the same way I described in my last post?

[OldFatGuy]

Here are some screen shots showing what I'm talking about.

Notice the first one is a listing of free agents. The first name there is Paul Myers. I click on him.

Look at the second pic, and the first thing you notice is he comes up with a uniform on. My pic settings are set to update Always as Needed, so this is the first weird thing you notice. If he is a free agent, he shouldn't be in a uniform.

Then look at the last pic, his history. He was drafted San Diego, but never released.

This is what I'm talking about. And that's what happened with my player (ironically a center fielder too). He was apparently (unknown to me) on my roster but ALSO listed as a free agent. Because he was on my team one day, then the next day I see in transactions that another team has signed him as a free agent. Only I never released him, and now he's gone from my team too. And with hundreds and hundreds of free agents, I have no clue HOW MANY of these corruptions there are. But I would restore my backups, start clicking through the free agents, and as soon as I found one example, then I knew that file was corrupted too.

Again, has anyone seen this before in any version???

[endgame]

Okay. Can you post one that shows him ON the San Diego Roster?

[TribeFanInNC]

Sorry OFG. As a fellow member of the 'play out all your games' club, I can certainly commiserate. Maybe somebody can come along and help work you through your corruption, though as you can imagine this is the busiest time of year for the head guys.

Hopefully, after you grieve, you can look at this as a new opportunity to create something equally as great. The creation of a new OOTP league is like Opening Day in baseball.

[TribeFanInNC]

Are all these guys new draftees? I wonder if there is a draft and release problem. Of course, that doesn't really explain why he was signed away from your team.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by OldFatGuy

In other words, I always only had 7 backups at one time. The one Big one (done every March 1st), and the 6 little ones (done on the 1st of the month of the seasons).

Just for the record, you didn't burn any of these to a CD or an external drive did you?

[OldFatGuy]

Originally Posted by endgame

Okay. Can you post one that shows him ON the San Diego Roster?

EDIT: No I didn't save any old ones to CD.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC

Are all these guys new draftees? I wonder if there is a draft and release problem. Of course, that doesn't really explain why he was signed away from your team.

Hard to walk away even when it's busy, isn't it, Tribe? Kinda like that bad accident where you have to watch all the people coming and going? Except this time, it's a bonafide urge to help. Think I'm going to end up feeling a little helpless though.

Sorry this is happening OFG. v11 will bring a whole new world to you.

[TribeFanInNC]

Yep.

I concur with EG - plunk down the $30 and start something new in OOTP XI and you'll only miss this league a little.