Save Game Disappeared

GardnerFTW · 06-04-2009, 10:10 AM

This happened last night, so please forgive me if I forget something.

Version: 10.0.7
PC/MAC: PC
What were you doing? I was simming until the end of the regular season.
What happened? I saved the game after expanding my roster on 9/1/09 of the season (along with a couple of times earlier in the season). Following that, I set the game to sim until the end of the regular season. I stepped away to use the restroom, when I returned, my laptop had shut down. As I had stepped away, I'm not sure why exactly happened. When I turned my laptop back on, and restarted OOTP X, my saved game was not listed when I attempted to load it. The save is also not listed in the saved_games folder in the directory. I also checked to ensure it was not some how in the Recycle Bin, it was not. I know the game had a save file because I had loaded it once before.
Reproducible? Don't Know.
Problem occurs with other leagues? Other league I started save is still listed in game and in the directory.

Hope that covers everything, if not I apologize, and will be happy to provide anything else needed. I'm assuming I'm not getting that save back, but luckily I was only in the first season.

f.montoya · 06-04-2009, 11:15 AM

This may not be what you want to hear but I recommend that you figure out why your computer shuts down unexpectedly while you use the toilet and fix that problem. Scan for viruses, check your power options and make sure your computer does not shut down without YOUR permissions.

Tony M · 06-04-2009, 11:17 AM

My laptop sometimes shuts down due to me having forgotten to leave the power charger plugged in. Normally I shut it down to Hibernate mode and it has no problems remembering what has happened, but a complete shutdown without the game being exited will cause the problems you are seeing.

RchW · 06-04-2009, 11:28 AM

Do you remember what the auto save setting was? It is under the menu game setup. The default is yearly. If the computer shut down before reaching Dec 31/Jan 1 the league is toast.

I lost a league the way you describe with that setting. Now I auto save weekly. That way you can only lose 7 days or less.

To me the default setting for auto save should be weekly. New users will get snagged by this more than once.

GardnerFTW · 06-04-2009, 12:20 PM

I should add, and I forgot this this morning. That the first time I loaded the game after this, the save actually was showing up on the list of saved games. When I clicked to load the game it then disappeared from the list.

I typically change the auto-save to monthly, but I cannot promise that I did on this particular game. I did however manually save it a few times through the season. Including about 5 minutes prior to having the problem.

The laptop shutting down is a problem I've had with every laptop I've ever owned (on my 3rd now) after they get a few years old, and one of the older ones we have here at work for presentations and such is starting to have similar problems too. Virus protection and scans are up to date. Typically, in my experience, its either a problem with the battery getting old, a problem with the power cord, or occassionally a problem with overheating...or a combination. My initial thought was overheating in this instance since I did have it sitting on the bed, but it was no hotter than normal.

But I've had plenty of instances with past OOTP's and other games with a laptop shutting down for one of the above reasons, where I may have lost progress since my previous save, but have never just had a save disappear completely, and that's why I thought it was worth mentioning, as it seemed like sort of an oddity. Typically, you just lose everything since the last save and move on.

Like I said originally, I don't expect to find a way to get this save back. Just thought it was worth looking into, in case something could be done to prevent it from happening to someone else or at a time when I'm deeper into a game. I will have to keep this as a note and lesson to remember to back-up from time to time in a different directory.

Thanks for the input thus far though.

06-04-2009, 10:10 AM	#1
GardnerFTW Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 17	Save Game Disappeared This happened last night, so please forgive me if I forget something. Version: 10.0.7 PC/MAC: PC What were you doing? I was simming until the end of the regular season. What happened? I saved the game after expanding my roster on 9/1/09 of the season (along with a couple of times earlier in the season). Following that, I set the game to sim until the end of the regular season. I stepped away to use the restroom, when I returned, my laptop had shut down. As I had stepped away, I'm not sure why exactly happened. When I turned my laptop back on, and restarted OOTP X, my saved game was not listed when I attempted to load it. The save is also not listed in the saved_games folder in the directory. I also checked to ensure it was not some how in the Recycle Bin, it was not. I know the game had a save file because I had loaded it once before. Reproducible? Don't Know. Problem occurs with other leagues? Other league I started save is still listed in game and in the directory. Hope that covers everything, if not I apologize, and will be happy to provide anything else needed. I'm assuming I'm not getting that save back, but luckily I was only in the first season.

06-04-2009, 11:15 AM	#2
f.montoya Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,074	This may not be what you want to hear but I recommend that you figure out why your computer shuts down unexpectedly while you use the toilet and fix that problem. Scan for viruses, check your power options and make sure your computer does not shut down without YOUR permissions. __________________ Fidel Montoya Asahi2 Baseball League ex-Commissioner(Historical League Since 2004) Ex-Web Host Current Mod Maker??

06-04-2009, 11:17 AM	#3
Tony M Global Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Here Posts: 6,156	My laptop sometimes shuts down due to me having forgotten to leave the power charger plugged in. Normally I shut it down to Hibernate mode and it has no problems remembering what has happened, but a complete shutdown without the game being exited will cause the problems you are seeing. __________________ This signature is intentionally blank

06-04-2009, 11:28 AM	#4
RchW Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Toronto ON by way of Glasgow UK Posts: 15,629	Do you remember what the auto save setting was? It is under the menu game setup. The default is yearly. If the computer shut down before reaching Dec 31/Jan 1 the league is toast. I lost a league the way you describe with that setting. Now I auto save weekly. That way you can only lose 7 days or less. To me the default setting for auto save should be weekly. New users will get snagged by this more than once. __________________ Cheers RichW If you’re looking for a good cause to donate money to please consider a Donation to Parkinson’s Canada. It may help me have a better future and if not me, someone else. Thanks. “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” Frank Wilhoit

06-04-2009, 12:20 PM	#5
GardnerFTW Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 17	I should add, and I forgot this this morning. That the first time I loaded the game after this, the save actually was showing up on the list of saved games. When I clicked to load the game it then disappeared from the list. I typically change the auto-save to monthly, but I cannot promise that I did on this particular game. I did however manually save it a few times through the season. Including about 5 minutes prior to having the problem. The laptop shutting down is a problem I've had with every laptop I've ever owned (on my 3rd now) after they get a few years old, and one of the older ones we have here at work for presentations and such is starting to have similar problems too. Virus protection and scans are up to date. Typically, in my experience, its either a problem with the battery getting old, a problem with the power cord, or occassionally a problem with overheating...or a combination. My initial thought was overheating in this instance since I did have it sitting on the bed, but it was no hotter than normal. But I've had plenty of instances with past OOTP's and other games with a laptop shutting down for one of the above reasons, where I may have lost progress since my previous save, but have never just had a save disappear completely, and that's why I thought it was worth mentioning, as it seemed like sort of an oddity. Typically, you just lose everything since the last save and move on. Like I said originally, I don't expect to find a way to get this save back. Just thought it was worth looking into, in case something could be done to prevent it from happening to someone else or at a time when I'm deeper into a game. I will have to keep this as a note and lesson to remember to back-up from time to time in a different directory. Thanks for the input thus far though.