All of my players disappeared

[pholmer]

The title says it all. I created a game where black players could play in the MLB starting in 1911. (Thank you Lansdowne St.) All went well until 1922 when I tried to import some players to be Free Agents who could be claimed in a draft by any club. But the players I imported had no names. They had history, positions, and stats, but no names or photos. So I used a command that said "Delete all Free Agents" and deleted them. I went to my team in the new game and found I had no players. I tried my backup, but it wouldn't work. The other teams had none either. Other games I've played for years were missing players too. I must have disconnected from some database or other, but what one? Does anyone have a suggestion?

[pholmer]

Where is player data supposed to be stored anyway? (On a Mac.) What is the path to it?

[LansdowneSt]

Hi pholmer,

I was just getting ready to crash for the night when I saw this. Do you mean every game you've ever played has no players all of a sudden?

The players are in the .lg file as they get pulled into the game's save file but originally, they are in the various cs files contained in the historical.database.odb file in the /stats folder or in the InteGREATed mod, in the /statsNeL folder. To see where the game is pointing (and it will differ depending on how you started the game (with or without mod)) go to the League Settings of a save, then the Historical tab and on the right-hand side it will have a database path.

[pholmer]

This is the path:

/Users/phillipholmer/Library/Containers/com.ootpdevelopments.ootp25macqlm/Data/Application Support/Out of the Park Developments/OOTP Baseball 25/statsNeLMod

The trouble is I don't have this folder on my computer. Starting at:

com.ootpdevelopments

That file doesn't exist on my computer. ???

[LansdowneSt]

Let’s try the basics. Go to the Main Initial Start Screen. Hit Settings. On the pop up go to Trouble Shooting and select force reinstallation or verify files (the text varies depending if fast spring or steam). Then go to open folder with customizable data. Is the /stats folder there? Is the /statsNeL folder there. If the mod is missing go back to the main page and at the bottom, if Steam, open Workshop. Go to the mod and redownload it and reinstall it.

[pholmer]

This is where my saved games are located:

Users/phillipholmer/Library/Containers/OOTP Baseball 25/Data/Application Support/Out of the Park Developments/OOTP Baseball 25/saved_games

Could my game be saving data in one place and searching for them in another?

I tried the force installation. It seemed to be moving a lot of data, but no players were in my game. The path it defaulted to was the one with the
com.OOTP blah blah

[pholmer]

As I said, the com/OOTP file was not on my computer. So I created one with all the subsequent computers in the address in them. I found that where my backups were stored and where the game looked for them were two different places. So I placed the same data for my OOTP game in both folders. I wanted to see if that would work. It didn't.

When I tried to import players from any csv (or other) file, the whole game crashed. I tried to send the crash report along, but couldn't figure out how to attach it. The report was sent to Apple if that helps.

So now I'm wondering if I should get a new copy of OOTP 25 and start over again. You know, start the game from the beginning, add the Negro League modification to it, and start from scratch again.

Does that sound like the best strategy to you?

[LansdowneSt]

The save might be lost. I wish I could figure out what happened. Try redownloading OOTP 25 from the post with the final patch. Then resubscribe to the mods. Remember there is a how-to in the InteGREATed mod that installs in a /documents folder (go to settings from main page, troubleshooting tab, open files with customizable data). I wish I had seen anything like this to be of more help but as a PC user that's never seen all the players go "poof", I'm also not sure what else to do.

[pholmer]

I did start a new game and everything is working fine. However, I am still concerned by the two data paths I mentioned earlier in this thread. When I save the game, it saves to:

Users/phillipholmer/Library/Containers/OOTP Baseball 25/Data/Application Support/Out of the Park Developments/OOTP Baseball 25/saved_games

which is where I would expect it to be. However, when I do a backup it goes to the "com.OOTPdevelopments..." datapath, even though I have deleted that file from the database. I try to go up the chain to manually change the datapath, but I can't get to the "containers" folder; I get stopped 2 or 3 levels below that.
As far as playing the game goes, I am fine as long as my Mac doesn't crash which I'm not worried about. But I would like to know where my backups should go and how to get them there before I get my copy of OOTP 26.

I do have one concern about free agents. I started this game in 1911 and at the end of the year there were a ton of free agents to choose from. But since then there have been less than 10 each year. In my first "Integreated" game (the one with the missing players) the Monarchs didn't have enough players (in 1922) and the game stopped until I could get thea few. I'm now in 1917 in my current game.

I have a dozen or so different csv flles, and I figured there would be some time-appropriate players in them. But whenever I try to import players, either I get one player imported or the game crashes. Should i use some other file format other than csv? Or can the "Prospect Pipeline" be turned into Free Agents?

I appreciate your time and input on my situation as it has evovled. If you want me to seek counsel elsewhere I would understand. By the way, you might like to know that I named my 1st game "The Big Black and White Game", after the Ray Bradbury short story of the same name. My current game is simply named "Integreated Baseball'.

By the way, there are attachments to this, a spreadsheet and a pdf file entitled "Great Negro Leaguers" which I made to inform myself in what year NeL players would become available free agents or draft prospects. I already have Pop Lloyd, Oscar Charleston, Scotteswood Poles, Rube Foster, Smokey Joe Williams, and Babe Ruth on my 1917 Yankees team. Let me know if the attachments don't come through.

[LansdowneSt]

I wish I could help with the containers but I'm a PC guy, so Macs are Greek to me.

Check something for me, and this is important for the "not enough players issue", tell me if the amateur draft is turned on or if you are having rookies assigned to their historical team. If the latter, all the new players go to the 16 AL/NL teams and the only free agents you are seeing are those released naturally AND the NeL rookie players that have no historical AL/NL team and are coded to come in as free agents and not to the four additional NeL mod teams. I'd turn on the amateur draft (if not on) so the NeL teams can be competitive.

As to when people debut in the mod, go to the OOTP Main Screen, hit "Settings", on the pop-up go to the Troubleshooting tab. Look for a button that says to the effect of, Open files with customizable data, Open the documents folder and get the mod manual as a pdf. Open it and turn toward the back. There should be a list of names sorted by debut date so you can see who appears when.

BTW: That's a heck of Yankees team!

[pholmer]

I've worked up to 1926 so far and I've assembled a team comprised of many of the starters from the 1927 "Murderer's Row" Yankees team & some of the best Negro Leagues players. In the 15 years of the game, we've won the pennant 12 times and the WS 8 times. I had to expand my active roster to 30 to use all the talented people.

Checking the "Rookie Draft" box solved my free agent problem, and we have had productive drafts and free agent signings ever since. I must say that this Mod that you and Garlon and whoever have created gives me the most fun I have ever had with OOTP, and I have been playing since OOTP 9.

I still have one problem, however. I spend quite a lot of time organizing the lineups I'll use each season, as well as both backups and giving some good playing time to each player. (Even Bullet Rogan, who keeps trying to be an outfielder when I need him to pitch. So I give him an occasional backup slot in Center Field.)

But after I set it up, it lasts about 10 minutes. Everything gets jumbled. After I simulate a month, I find 4 star players on the reserve roster and 1 star rookies playing on the field. Is there some way to lock in these choices? Have I missed checking or unchecking a box somewhere?

[LansdowneSt]

Originally Posted by pholmer

I've worked up to 1926 so far and I've assembled a team comprised of many of the starters from the 1927 "Murderer's Row" Yankees team & some of the best Negro Leagues players. In the 15 years of the game, we've won the pennant 12 times and the WS 8 times. I had to expand my active roster to 30 to use all the talented people.

Man, as a Red Sox fan, I hate seeing any Yankee team be this good

Originally Posted by pholmer

Checking the "Rookie Draft" box solved my free agent problem, and we have had productive drafts and free agent signings ever since.

Glad that solved the issue!

Originally Posted by pholmer

I must say that this Mod that you and Garlon and whoever have created gives me the most fun I have ever had with OOTP, and I have been playing since OOTP 9.

Thanks for saying that. We put a ton of manhours into making it. This comment makes my day

Originally Posted by pholmer

I still have one problem, however. I spend quite a lot of time organizing the lineups I'll use each season, as well as both backups and giving some good playing time to each player. (Even Bullet Rogan, who keeps trying to be an outfielder when I need him to pitch. So I give him an occasional backup slot in Center Field.)

But after I set it up, it lasts about 10 minutes. Everything gets jumbled. After I simulate a month, I find 4 star players on the reserve roster and 1 star rookies playing on the field. Is there some way to lock in these choices? Have I missed checking or unchecking a box somewhere?

hmmmm, was the game started in Replay mode? Sometimes that will default various toggles to ensure people play where they were supposed to as opposed to default mode (recalc) or career mode (development engine only) which allow more freedom. I think at its heart, it a an overstuffed with talent issue and not inherent to the NeL guys being there (other than the fact they are talented!)

On the League Settings (Historical tab, I think) make sure historical transactions and line-ups are off.

Check the defense of some of the players. So, Cool Papa Bell is probably a natural CF, learning LF experience. Make sure Spring Training is on so those players can accelerate learning positions then - because you have a lot of stars that may be slightly out-of-position like that.

To that end, check the recalc setting for the game. If it on? If so is it 1-, 3- or 5-year recalc? There is a fielding setting - what is it looking to, a year range? Career? Single year?

In the Manager home screen, make sure Do Not Disturb is off and on the right-hand side, all the delegations are such that you control the line-up and transactions. That's one that can cause this kind of movement for sure.

Lastly, as to locking positions, that's an in-game ability. You should be able to set the line-up and then go to the strategy setting of the players and find a toggle box to lock position, set the percent fatigue to rest them and even force start. Just don't force start without also selecting a percentage to bench them at a certain % if tired!

[pholmer]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner; your suggestions worked so well that I have played my NeL game up through 1963. I mentioned before that I had to expand the roster beyond 25 players. I did this because I decided not to replace many historical Yankee players with NeL players, but to blend them together. Eventually, this became problematic and unworkable. So I am starting over.

This time I will build the best 25-player teams each year, using only free agents and draftees that I can fit into the roster of 25. Since I am not using minor leagues, I will use the reserve roster as a place to deposit young players waiting for a roster spot to open up.

Thanks again for your assistance and the NeL mod. Now back to 1911.