Game freezes when loading league

BPS · 08-06-2004, 04:00 AM

OOTP 6 ran flawlessly before.

But now I think something in my most recent league folder got corrupted and this makes OOTP gag. This problem, however, happened just after switching hardware in my computer so who knows if hardware is problem (but maybe it is just a coincidence).

Hardware situation: I had to replace mobo and, so, also put in new CPU and memory. Also put in new harddrive. New mobo = Asus P4P800-E with Intel 3.0 Northwood and 512 mb DDR Dual channel memory. Same Radeon graphics card as I had before. Most up-to-date DirectX. Win XP Pro with all patches. As far as I can tell video driver is the most recent available.

The problem: loaded OOTP 6 on new HD. Patched up to 6.3. Copied league folder from old HD to new HD. Put into OOTP directory where it should be.

Started OOTP. Then: Continue league/File/Open league. I then clicked on league name. League starts to load but then freezes. It freezes at about 75% of the way into loading. Then Windows XP says "OOTP6.exe has encountered a problem." Good deduction Windows!

So I uninstalled OOTP and then reinstalled it. But the same thing happened.

New tactic: start OOTP and restore league from my most recent backup (restored it over the default career league). Works! But my backups are created at the end of the season so the next action is "proceed to next season." So I click on this button. Get "generating league reports" message but game freezes at this point. Must shut down via Windows task manager.

I can, however, load a backup from an earlier year--although it subjectively seems to take a very long time to go through the loading league stage--and it seems to work out okay. I can proceed to the next season with no problem. I haven't played the game after it loads up but I suppose it should be okay.

I guess this suggests it is not a hardware problem but maybe something in league data.

Any suggestions as to what, if anything, I can do to solve this?

If it is a problem with the data in my league file, I suppose it is a problem with one of the mysterious "dat" files. Can some or all of these be replaced with an older copy of the dat file (from a previous year)? I suppose some of these remain unchanged year-to-year but some must change (I guess).

In my 42-year old league some records were set in the last season and, so, I'd hate to have to rerun this season.

Thanks.

Steve Kuffrey · 08-06-2004, 08:27 AM

Did you move the files via CD?

BPS · 08-06-2004, 10:05 PM

I did not move them by CD. It was direct HD to HD transfer of data.

But to make sure that some files weren't somehow made "read only" I changed attributes to not be read only for all files in the league folder I'm trying to use. Then I tried any to load the league but no luck. It froze at the same point as before (about 80% into loading process).

BPS · 08-08-2004, 12:00 AM

.... help .....

BPS · 08-08-2004, 01:49 AM

Through a process of trial-and-error I've determined that something is wrong with the Players.dat file in my league folder.

I systematically replaced the current version of each dat files with a version from the previous year's backuped league. The league only loads when the Players.dat file from a previous year replaces the current one. If all the dat files are from the current year and only the players.dat file is from a previous year then the league loads.

I assume, however, that the player.dat file is updated every season (new players and new changed ratings for players) and so using the players.dat file from a previous year won't end up working in the current season.

So how should I proceed? Can anything be done to fix the current player.dat file?

08-06-2004, 04:00 AM	#1
BPS All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 717	Game freezes when loading league OOTP 6 ran flawlessly before. But now I think something in my most recent league folder got corrupted and this makes OOTP gag. This problem, however, happened just after switching hardware in my computer so who knows if hardware is problem (but maybe it is just a coincidence). Hardware situation: I had to replace mobo and, so, also put in new CPU and memory. Also put in new harddrive. New mobo = Asus P4P800-E with Intel 3.0 Northwood and 512 mb DDR Dual channel memory. Same Radeon graphics card as I had before. Most up-to-date DirectX. Win XP Pro with all patches. As far as I can tell video driver is the most recent available. The problem: loaded OOTP 6 on new HD. Patched up to 6.3. Copied league folder from old HD to new HD. Put into OOTP directory where it should be. Started OOTP. Then: Continue league/File/Open league. I then clicked on league name. League starts to load but then freezes. It freezes at about 75% of the way into loading. Then Windows XP says "OOTP6.exe has encountered a problem." Good deduction Windows! So I uninstalled OOTP and then reinstalled it. But the same thing happened. New tactic: start OOTP and restore league from my most recent backup (restored it over the default career league). Works! But my backups are created at the end of the season so the next action is "proceed to next season." So I click on this button. Get "generating league reports" message but game freezes at this point. Must shut down via Windows task manager. I can, however, load a backup from an earlier year--although it subjectively seems to take a very long time to go through the loading league stage--and it seems to work out okay. I can proceed to the next season with no problem. I haven't played the game after it loads up but I suppose it should be okay. I guess this suggests it is not a hardware problem but maybe something in league data. Any suggestions as to what, if anything, I can do to solve this? If it is a problem with the data in my league file, I suppose it is a problem with one of the mysterious "dat" files. Can some or all of these be replaced with an older copy of the dat file (from a previous year)? I suppose some of these remain unchanged year-to-year but some must change (I guess). In my 42-year old league some records were set in the last season and, so, I'd hate to have to rerun this season. Thanks. Last edited by BPS; 08-06-2004 at 04:02 AM.

08-06-2004, 08:27 AM	#2
Steve Kuffrey Administrator Join Date: Jul 1999 Location: S.E. TN - Georgia born and raised Posts: 17,023	Did you move the files via CD? __________________ Steve Kuffrey DABS Atlanta Braves - 2008 Eastern Division Champ *DBLC Atlanta Braves - 2011, 2014 East Division Champ, 2012, 2013 NL Wildcard Baseball Maelstrom-Montreal Expos-2013 Tourney winner, 2014 WC Team Sparky's League - Tampa Bay D'Rays Epicenter Baseball League - Astros 2014 The CBL Rewind - Phillies '95

08-06-2004, 10:05 PM	#3
BPS All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 717	I did not move them by CD. It was direct HD to HD transfer of data. But to make sure that some files weren't somehow made "read only" I changed attributes to not be read only for all files in the league folder I'm trying to use. Then I tried any to load the league but no luck. It froze at the same point as before (about 80% into loading process).

08-08-2004, 12:00 AM	#4
BPS All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 717	.... help .....

08-08-2004, 01:49 AM	#5
BPS All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 717	Through a process of trial-and-error I've determined that something is wrong with the Players.dat file in my league folder. I systematically replaced the current version of each dat files with a version from the previous year's backuped league. The league only loads when the Players.dat file from a previous year replaces the current one. If all the dat files are from the current year and only the players.dat file is from a previous year then the league loads. I assume, however, that the player.dat file is updated every season (new players and new changed ratings for players) and so using the players.dat file from a previous year won't end up working in the current season. So how should I proceed? Can anything be done to fix the current player.dat file?