I have never seen a less intuitive save function in any game ever.

[Iago]

I've been struggling for about an hour just to figure out how to save my game.

Or rather, how to load it.

All I want to do is save my progress at a a certain in-game date, and be able to load back to that date. In case I change my mind about a trade, or want to re-try a matchup...whatever. Just save, and be able to load. Like in any other PC game that has EVER EXISTED.

Can someone please walk me through the backup process. Explain it to me like I am 8 years old.

I DID manage to somehow load back to a previous backup/save/whatever once, but then I noticed that all my custom logos and Jersey modifications were missing. Is that a common issue?

[Peregrine]

The way the basic save (OOTP menu - Save Game) works in this game is not like most other games. It doesn't save and let you go back to a previous point in time. The reason for this is that it automatically saves your league when you quit the game, or when you load a different league. So as far as I know, every time you load your league again it will be at the time you left it.

The backup function (OOTP menu -backup game) is mostly used to give you a backup in case of hard drive crashes or other problems that leaves you with a corrupted league. It includes a lot more data than the save, including past player data, old messages, etc. You can, if you want, use the backup function to go back in the past - but I wouldn't recommend doing it in this way unless there was a total disaster - because each restored backup has a new league name and a new league folder - so each time you're basically creating a new league which is taking up lots of hard drive space.

If you need to load from a backup, you can do that while in a game - OOTP menu - restore game from backup, or you can do it from the "load game" menu off the main screen. Just select the league database you want to restore and give it a new name at the bottom.

Hope this helps a little.

[endgame]

Yeah, no easy way, but in concept a simple process does exist. Here's what I do:

In my Saved Games folder I zip, in my case .rar, a new archive of my league folder. So in my Saved Games folder I have a Covenant.lg and a Covenant.lg.rar, the latter being the compressed full league file of my original. When I do my backups I simply 'add' to the archive, which updates it with new files created that playing session. I do this after the game is closed, and I do this probably weekly to serve as a backup.

Now what YOU can do is what I've done, with the exception that if you're doing so due to a particular decision or incident that you want to preserve, name the compressed file something like IagoGOBACK. It really doesn't take that long. Later, if you don't need that 'date' any longer, delete the whole darn thing. Lather, rinse, repeat, each time you DO want to preserve a date.

Now when you want to restore that 'day in time', go to your Saved Games folder and rename your league folder to OLDIagoLeague or whatever. Change the preserved league name to whatever the current was originally, say, IagoLeague. Open the game and then choose Load Game, select IagoLeague and you'll be back at the day you want. The only way to go a little wrong is to make sure you note what league's got what in it and you'll always be able to sub them out. You can usually identify by its file date if the name isn't enough to tell you.

PM me or post here if I can help further. It's easier than it sounds, really.

[OakDragon]

What I do, (on a Mac), is to save where I want to save, and then if I need to go back to it later, is force quit the program. When you reload OOTP, it will ask you if you want to clean up the text files (like news, etc.) that have newer entries than that date (because you played past it). Choose yes. Then, after that's done, the game will continue loading to where you saved it. There must be some similar function on the PC to the Mac's "Force Quit", but I'm not really familiar with them. It's a system-wide function to quit any program without saving.

[CONN CHRIS]

Thanks endgame - I've been using OOTP for a while and hadn't really gotten the hang of the backup feature.

[Iago]

Originally Posted by endgame

Now what YOU can do is what I've done, with the exception that if you're doing so due to a particular decision or incident that you want to preserve, name the compressed file something like IagoGOBACK. It really doesn't take that long. Later, if you don't need that 'date' any longer, delete the whole darn thing. Lather, rinse, repeat, each time you DO want to preserve a date.

Now when you want to restore that 'day in time', go to your Saved Games folder and rename your league folder to OLDIagoLeague or whatever. Change the preserved league name to whatever the current was originally, say, IagoLeague. Open the game and then choose Load Game, select IagoLeague and you'll be back at the day you want. The only way to go a little wrong is to make sure you note what league's got what in it and you'll always be able to sub them out. You can usually identify by its file date if the name isn't enough to tell you.

PM me or post here if I can help further. It's easier than it sounds, really.

Ok...well, I'm not going to .zip or .rar anything, that one extra step might be enough to make me abandon this game. Disk space is not a concern.

So basically need you to explain that last part to me like I am 5.

Say it is the middle of the season. I want to save my game. What EXACTLY do I do? So I use the "save" function? The "backup" function? I'm going to need like a step by step thing here.

[tejdog1]

The problem is, that if you continue playing forward from that point (even if you save game or whatever) - when you exit the program, it re-saves automatically.

Now, if you want to cheat or whatever (and don't care about anything you did from that save point forward), CTRL-ALT-DEL that sucker and then click OOTP in the task manager and close it that way, that's a controlled crash and doesn't save. It's definitely cheating if... say, your star ace just got hit by a milk truck or whatever wacky injury OOTP comes up with, but... there ya go

[RchW]

Originally Posted by Iago

Ok...well, I'm not going to .zip or .rar anything, that one extra step might be enough to make me abandon this game. Disk space is not a concern.

So basically need you to explain that last part to me like I am 5.

Say it is the middle of the season. I want to save my game. What EXACTLY do I do? So I use the "save" function? The "backup" function? I'm going to need like a step by step thing here.

Use backup. I'd recommend copy all files. Then you must go to the back up folder and rename the file. I recommend you use the in game date. Sometimes I use a generic thing like "after playoffs 2041". You could use something like "before XYZ trade".

It's even less work if you have a dual pane file manager or other utility. Something better than windows explorer.

[mike2228]

Originally Posted by Iago

I've been struggling for about an hour just to figure out how to save my game.

Or rather, how to load it.

All I want to do is save my progress at a a certain in-game date, and be able to load back to that date. In case I change my mind about a trade, or want to re-try a matchup...whatever. Just save, and be able to load. Like in any other PC game that has EVER EXISTED.

Can someone please walk me through the backup process. Explain it to me like I am 8 years old.

I DID manage to somehow load back to a previous backup/save/whatever once, but then I noticed that all my custom logos and Jersey modifications were missing. Is that a common issue?

Half the fun of the game in my opinion is being forced to take your lumps. We all screw up. Limiting the damage is the name of the game.

[tejdog1]

Originally Posted by mike2228

Half the fun of the game in my opinion is being forced to take your lumps. We all screw up. Limiting the damage is the name of the game.

This. Real GMs don't get a do-over button

[Bigrod]

Originally Posted by Iago

I've been struggling for about an hour just to figure out how to save my game.

Or rather, how to load it.

All I want to do is save my progress at a a certain in-game date, and be able to load back to that date. In case I change my mind about a trade, or want to re-try a matchup...whatever. Just save, and be able to load. Like in any other PC game that has EVER EXISTED.

Can someone please walk me through the backup process. Explain it to me like I am 8 years old.

I DID manage to somehow load back to a previous backup/save/whatever once, but then I noticed that all my custom logos and Jersey modifications were missing. Is that a common issue?

Here's all I do when and if I want to be able to start where I left off without losing anything. Very simple and only takes a couple of steps and a couple minutes. Less when you get used to it.
1. I save the game at the point I want.
2. I open my saved games folder and make a copy of the .lg I'm playing. Example: mlb2011.lg. I make a copy and name it mlb2011-2.lg.
3. When and if I want to continue at that point in the game, I start ootp, click on load game, select my 2011-2.lg and Poof..I'm right where I left off.
4. If I'm already playing the game that I decide I want to restart at the previous point I left off. I select "load game" from the drop down under the "ootp" tab top left and select my 2011-2.lg.
Here's an example. I decide I want to test some settings to see what difference they make.
1. Before I start the game, I make a copy of the mlb2011.lg and name it mlb2011-test.lg
2.Start the game with mlb2011-test.lg. Make my changes and run it. I decide I don't like them so I select "load game" from the top "ootp" tab.
3. Select mlb2011.lg. Now I have the game exactly the same as it was before I made the changes.
4. Now I delete the mlb2011-test.lg folder as I don't need it anymore.
You can copy and rename your .lg folder to anything you want as long as it ends in .lg and how you do it is entirely up to you, but it only takes a couple of minutes.
This eliminates the need to backup my .lg. I only use backup at the end of the season and only if I want to continue that .lg from year to year.
During the season, I just make a copy of it when I need to. Saves a ton of time.
Hope this helps and adds a little to the above ideas as everyone has their own way of doing things and there's really no right or wrong way of doing it.
If you want to use this method and need any help, just ask and I'll be more than glad to..
Good luck and enjoy.

[Iago]

Originally Posted by tejdog1

This. Real GMs don't get a do-over button

No, not "this."

The problem isn't that I wish to cheat normal in-game play, but rather that I don't want to lose 4 hours of work that I spent creating a customized league and what not. Someone just learning the game can get pretty frustrated when all that work is essentially erased if you accidentally delete half your league or something, and your only option is to basically start from scratch.

And by the way, the "this" phraseology is to 2011 what "epic" was to 2010. It makes you sound like a DB, but you just don't realize it yet. But thanks for the helpful reply.

[Iago]

Originally Posted by Bigrod

Here's all I do when and if I want to be able to start where I left off without losing anything. Very simple and only takes a couple of steps and a couple minutes. Less when you get used to it.
1. I save the game at the point I want.......

Hope this helps and adds a little to the above ideas as everyone has their own way of doing things and there's really no right or wrong way of doing it.
If you want to use this method and need any help, just ask and I'll be more than glad to..
Good luck and enjoy.

Thanks. Yeah, that's what I started doing. It's a cumbersome process, but it works.