Backup file system is a disaster

Swprod · 01-21-2026, 08:17 PM

I have tried to do a fictitious league twice. The first time the personnel of the entire league changed after several games. I had made several backups, but there was only the one backup file.

The second time things seemed to be going well thru spring training. My team was tied for the best record of the 30 teams. But as soon as the regular season started everything changed radically. I still seemed to have the same players, but they had the worst record of all 30 teams, scoring an average of about 2 runs per game. The hitting was terrible. I decided to fire the hitting coach, and discovered that all the coaches in my organization had changed, and the replacements all had miserable ratings.
Clearly, there is a critical problem with OOTP data management. I’ve got a Mac, and although I was doing a full backup every couple of games, there was only one backup file visible, and it had probably been corrupted since opening day. HOURS WASTED.

The only reliable fix would be to allow the user to choose where to store backup files, and to allow the user to select a “change name” so if there is a backup after every game, the last reliable copy can always be restored. This is just standard practice with computer games and computer software everywhere — or should be. I’m not going to buy another version until OOTP makes it happen.

Carplos · 01-21-2026, 11:15 PM

Just make a copy of the .lg backup folder and rename it or store it somewhere else of your choosing.

Put a link to the OOTP customizable folder on your sidebar for easy access, that's what I do.

Quote:

Clearly, there is a critical problem with OOTP data management

If that were true, there'd be a lot more reports of this happening.

Swprod · 01-22-2026, 02:07 AM

I have never had problems like this with any other database server -- not a game, not a business software. Normally, to make a backup of one's data there is a prompt within the program for the user to name and place a backup. There is no need to go outside the program to perform data management. As designed for the Mac, the location of OOTP data is deliberately hidden in the program's library, which is designed by Apple to prevent potentially disruptive user interactions with a software -- not to place the user's data. The library is not meant to be a place where dynamic data is stored. It would be easy, and seamless within OOTP, when a user clicks "backup" to allow a location to be specified. It would have saved me from a waste of dozens of hours.
If no one else has ever raised this issue maybe it's because they just discarded OOTP in disgust. There's no excuse for it, there's no advantage in it, so why not deal with backups the way possibly every other product on the market does: Provide a prompt for the user to specify where and under what name the backup is to be stored. And simply store it there.

LansdowneSt · 01-22-2026, 07:57 AM

You need to give all those backups different names. You might have been saving atop the same file each time if you just had one backup file. Every time you back up it requires you to give it a name so the option exists but presumably not used.

Swprod · 01-23-2026, 08:39 PM

OOTP lets me create a backup folder, but only within the OOTP file system architecture. I created a backup folder and maybe it put the files in the folder, but when I tried to restore the backup only the original backup folder appears.
Is this only a problem on the Mac? Why insist on creating backup folders 10 or 12 folders deep in the OOTP library? And why can I create a backup folder that isn't available when trying to restore.
I should be able to put backups on an external drive. Why not?

01-21-2026, 08:17 PM	#1
Swprod Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Santa Rosa, CA Posts: 133	Backup file system is a disaster I have tried to do a fictitious league twice. The first time the personnel of the entire league changed after several games. I had made several backups, but there was only the one backup file. The second time things seemed to be going well thru spring training. My team was tied for the best record of the 30 teams. But as soon as the regular season started everything changed radically. I still seemed to have the same players, but they had the worst record of all 30 teams, scoring an average of about 2 runs per game. The hitting was terrible. I decided to fire the hitting coach, and discovered that all the coaches in my organization had changed, and the replacements all had miserable ratings. Clearly, there is a critical problem with OOTP data management. I’ve got a Mac, and although I was doing a full backup every couple of games, there was only one backup file visible, and it had probably been corrupted since opening day. HOURS WASTED. The only reliable fix would be to allow the user to choose where to store backup files, and to allow the user to select a “change name” so if there is a backup after every game, the last reliable copy can always be restored. This is just standard practice with computer games and computer software everywhere — or should be. I’m not going to buy another version until OOTP makes it happen.

01-22-2026, 07:57 AM	#4
LansdowneSt Global Moderator Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: From Duxbury, Mass residing Baltimore Posts: 7,842	You need to give all those backups different names. You might have been saving atop the same file each time if you just had one backup file. Every time you back up it requires you to give it a name so the option exists but presumably not used. __________________ Complete Universe Facegen Pack 2.0 (mine included) https://www.mediafire.com/file_premi...k_2.0.zip/file Just my Facegen Pack: https://www.mediafire.com/file_premi..._Pack.zip/file

01-23-2026, 08:39 PM	#5
Swprod Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Santa Rosa, CA Posts: 133	OOTP backups OOTP lets me create a backup folder, but only within the OOTP file system architecture. I created a backup folder and maybe it put the files in the folder, but when I tried to restore the backup only the original backup folder appears. Is this only a problem on the Mac? Why insist on creating backup folders 10 or 12 folders deep in the OOTP library? And why can I create a backup folder that isn't available when trying to restore. I should be able to put backups on an external drive. Why not?

01-22-2026, 02:07 AM	#3
Swprod Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Santa Rosa, CA Posts: 133	I have never had problems like this with any other database server -- not a game, not a business software. Normally, to make a backup of one's data there is a prompt within the program for the user to name and place a backup. There is no need to go outside the program to perform data management. As designed for the Mac, the location of OOTP data is deliberately hidden in the program's library, which is designed by Apple to prevent potentially disruptive user interactions with a software -- not to place the user's data. The library is not meant to be a place where dynamic data is stored. It would be easy, and seamless within OOTP, when a user clicks "backup" to allow a location to be specified. It would have saved me from a waste of dozens of hours. If no one else has ever raised this issue maybe it's because they just discarded OOTP in disgust. There's no excuse for it, there's no advantage in it, so why not deal with backups the way possibly every other product on the market does: Provide a prompt for the user to specify where and under what name the backup is to be stored. And simply store it there.