User Data Path Issue

Peedo · 07-09-2010, 02:12 AM

Anyone know anything about the topic of user data path, as it relates to the Expert Settings box, loated in Preferences?

I just lost my entire Universe, because my user data path inadvertantly changed, but I can't figure out what it changed to. All I have left is the Main screen.

Any help/assistance from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

RandyTiger · 07-09-2010, 11:25 AM

I recommend you file a support ticket; they'd be able to help you with the problem. Link is in my signature. Good luck.

Peedo · 07-09-2010, 03:02 PM

RandyTiger:

I filed a Support Ticket just a couple hours prior to initiating this thread. Support suggested I post the issue in the forum to see if anyone in the community had any knowledge of this type of issue.

This mess began while I was snooping in the Expert Settings section of the Preferences and clicked "Select", located to the right of "Custom saved games path". I wanted to see what I thought the Select button would reveal as "choices". I didn't realize that the "Select" button would actually change my database, which it apparently did.

The following day, when I turned on the computer and went to the OOTP Main screen, I hit the "Continue" button for the current game and got the first of 4 error messages, but no game.

A warning to everyone: DON'T MESS THE THE SELECT BUTTON IN THE EXPERT SETTINGS SECTION OF PREFERENCES.

Still waiting for someone to pull me out of the abyss...........

RandyTiger · 07-09-2010, 03:18 PM

It surprises me Support wasn't able to help you with the issue. You'd think they would have forwarded it up to Markus or someone in the development team for analysis...

Good luck on getting it resolved.

RchW · 07-09-2010, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peedo

RandyTiger:

I filed a Support Ticket just a couple hours prior to initiating this thread. Support suggested I post the issue in the forum to see if anyone in the community had any knowledge of this type of issue.

This mess began while I was snooping in the Expert Settings section of the Preferences and clicked "Select", located to the right of "Custom saved games path". I wanted to see what I thought the Select button would reveal as "choices". I didn't realize that the "Select" button would actually change my database, which it apparently did.

The following day, when I turned on the computer and went to the OOTP Main screen, I hit the "Continue" button for the current game and got the first of 4 error messages, but no game.

A warning to everyone: DON'T MESS THE THE SELECT BUTTON IN THE EXPERT SETTINGS SECTION OF PREFERENCES.

Still waiting for someone to pull me out of the abyss...........

Have you checked to see if your league file (x.lg) is still in the ..data\saved_games folder?

I suspect that it might be and that your only problem is that the game no longer points to that folder.

If that is the case then an easy fix may be made by editing one of the path files in the config folder.

Peedo · 07-09-2010, 05:15 PM

RchW:
Yes, I see that my league is still in the data/saved_games folder. I guess that's good news.

How do I "edit one of the path files in the config folder? Please be basic in your instructions as I have marginal computer skills.

Thank you for the help. I'm desparate and going thru withdrawals.

EDIT: just in case it means anything, I might add that when I hit the "Continue" option from the Main screen, the first error message I got read: "OOTP cannot load this database because the file world.dat is missing". After hitting the "O.K" button on the first error message, a second error message appeared, which read: "The loading of the database failed. It is either corrupt or save-game from an old version".

I also received 2 additional error messages that were different from the first 2 above.

SteveP · 07-09-2010, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peedo

A warning to everyone: DON'T MESS THE THE SELECT BUTTON IN THE EXPERT SETTINGS SECTION OF PREFERENCES.

Well put. They don't call it "expert" for nothing ...

When you hit the Select button, that should have brought up a window for you to navigate and point to a new location where you wanted your saved games to reside. If that window never came up, then that's part of the mystery. If that window did come up, and you did anything other than hit Cancel, then you may have inadvertently told the game to save your games in some other place. You can go back to that Expert settings tab and try to fix the problem by hitting Reset on that page.

It's also worth doing a little more checking to see if the league folder you see in your saved games folder is really your league. It may not have all the files you need for your league to function. A good way to tell is if there is a world.dat file in your league folder. If not, then that is not your league -- just a partial facsimile. Your league may be in some other location entirely -- but the game now doesn't know where it is.

That's just a bunch of info to help you try to figure things out. Don't know enough to be more precise.

RchW · 07-09-2010, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peedo

RchW:
Yes, I see that my league is still in the data/saved_games folder. I guess that's good news.

How do I "edit one of the path files in the config folder? Please be basic in your instructions as I have marginal computer skills.

Thank you for the help. I'm desparate and going thru withdrawals.

EDIT: just in case it means anything, I might add that when I hit the "Continue" option from the Main screen, the first error message I got read: "OOTP cannot load this database because the file world.dat is missing". After hitting the "O.K" button on the first error message, a second error message appeared, which read: "The loading of the database failed. It is either corrupt or save-game from an old version".

I also received 2 additional error messages that were different from the first 2 above.

Yeah, don't use the continue button. Your data path has changed and the game can't find the file.

What operating system are you on?

RchW · 07-09-2010, 07:01 PM

This may be easier than I thought but you have to be able to do a couple of things. This assumes a Windows OS; if you have something different I can't help.

Do you know how to open files by right clicking and choosing "open with" and choosing a program? I hope so.

Here is the step by step

Launch OOTP

Choose "Game Preferences" then click on the "Troubleshooting" tab.

Click on Open folder containing file "paths.cfg"

Windows file manager (or other program) will launch and show a list of files.

Right click on the file "paths.cfg". Hopefully you will have a choice to "open with". If so open with notepad or any text editor. This file is a text file.

Delete all text in the file. It should be blank.

Save as___ paths.cfg.

Don't save it with a .txt extension it wont work.

After all this exit OOTP. Exit is on the bottom RHS.

Launch OOTP and you should be good.

Peedo · 07-09-2010, 07:10 PM

Steve:

When I was initially snooping around in Expert Settings box, and after I hit "Select", I realized I shouldn't have hit select, so I exited (can't remember exactly how) without hitting "Cancel", so I guess the damage was already done. When I realized I couldn't locate my game, I returned to Expert Settings in an attempt to locate the correct database, but at that time I didn't know what to look for. Then, before exiting Expert, I did hit "Reset", but by that time I think it was too late.

I went into My Computer and located my league folder/saved_games and did see world.dat, so I guess that's my game I'm looking for. Now what?

RchW: I'm operating on Windows 7 Ultimate, 64 bit.

SteveP · 07-09-2010, 07:48 PM

It occurs to me that there is another simple step we ought to look at:

When you launch OOTP, go to Load Game instead to Continue [Your League]. The Load Game should take you to wherever the game thinks your saved games are located. If it has the correct location (and make sure it is), you should be able to point to your league and start it up. Otherwise, you should be able to use that window to point the game to the correct Saved Games folder. At least it should give you some more info about your situation.

Peedo · 07-09-2010, 07:49 PM

RchW:

I followed your instructions, then tried to launch OOTP by hitting the "Continue" button from the Main screen, but the only response I got was the following error message: "OOTP cannot load this database because the file world.dat is missing!

When I hit the "O.K." button on the above error message, I then received a second error message, which read, "The loading of the database failed. It is either corrupt or a save-game from an old version".

At this point, did I delete some info in the "paths.cfg" that I shouldn't have?

Peedo · 07-09-2010, 08:44 PM

Steve:

O.K., when I hit Load Game, I'm taken to a box titled Select Existing Restore Folder. In checking the file path of what is at the top of the box (C:\User........OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\default.lg\backups) the backup folder is empty. But when I hit the Favorites drop down arrow, I get a list of paths, one of which is the path to my game (OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg). Another path listed is ...OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games. The remaining paths end with either the word "ballcaps", "jerseys", "stats", or something else as a suffix to either OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games or OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg.

The reason I detail this info is because when I was trying to find my database path in the Expert Settings box, I kept clicking on what I recognized to be my game (.....OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg) but I still could not access my game.

Unless you see something I don't in the list above, I still believe my game path is OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg. What do you think before I hit any choices?

RchW · 07-09-2010, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peedo

RchW:

I followed your instructions, then tried to launch OOTP by hitting the "Continue" button from the Main screen, but the only response I got was the following error message: "OOTP cannot load this database because the file world.dat is missing!

When I hit the "O.K." button on the above error message, I then received a second error message, which read, "The loading of the database failed. It is either corrupt or a save-game from an old version".

At this point, did I delete some info in the "paths.cfg" that I shouldn't have?

Aaarghh, don't use continue. Even if you fixed the path issue it can't find the league. See SteveP's post above and mine previous to that. Try again using load game. Make sure you exit the game before trying anything. Post a screen shot of what you see when you click load game.

The paths.cfg file should be blank, I actually created and solved this problem on another computer using the method listed. Unless your data path is non standard, this should work. Double check that you didn't save paths.cfg as paths.txt.

Is your paths.cfg file in a path like this?

"C:\Users\Your name\AppData\Roaming\Out of the Park Developments\OOTP Baseball 11\config\paths.cfg"

Are your saved games in a folder path like this?

"L:\Out of the Park Developments\OOTP Baseball 11\data\saved_games\Fict 2080.lg"

RchW · 07-09-2010, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peedo

Steve:

O.K., when I hit Load Game, I'm taken to a box titled Select Existing Restore Folder. In checking the file path of what is at the top of the box (C:\User........OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\default.lg\backups) the backup folder is empty. But when I hit the Favorites drop down arrow, I get a list of paths, one of which is the path to my game (OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg). Another path listed is ...OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games. The remaining paths end with either the word "ballcaps", "jerseys", "stats", or something else as a suffix to either OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games or OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg.

The reason I detail this info is because when I was trying to find my database path in the Expert Settings box, I kept clicking on what I recognized to be my game (.....OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg) but I still could not access my game.

Unless you see something I don't in the list above, I still believe my game path is OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg. What do you think before I hit any choices?

You need a path that has \data\ above saved_games or the game will not load.

Rather than using OOTP, use Windows explorer to see if that data folder is around. See my post above.

Peedo · 07-09-2010, 09:04 PM

Ok, I'll follow RchW's latest instruction first, then Steve's.

First, however, I guess I should back out of this "Select Existing Restore Folder" screen w/o doing anything on it.

Please give me a few minutes............

Peedo · 07-09-2010, 10:05 PM

RchW:

I went back thru your instructions you gave at 4:01 p.m. to dble check what I did. I did delete all the text in the file, and it's still empty. When I hit "Save As", the screen that appeared was what I modified. In doing so, I changed the "file name" to "_paths.cfg". That was the only line that was modifiable. The "Save As Type" line, immediately under the file name, read "Text Documents (*.txt)" and was not modifiable. That was the way this particular file was saved.

The file path to my game is: C:\Users\VetteFan\MyDocuments\Out of the Park Developments\OOTP Baseball 11\. However, where your example also includes (...config\paths.cfg), following \OOTP Baseball 11\, mine doesn't. In fact, I don't see any "config" file or "paths.cfg" in my game's directory. Is this what you mean when you ask what my paths.cfg file is?

As for the path for my saved games, it's the same as what I indicated above (C:\ Users................\OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games. That's it! Am I missing some files?

I'd send a screen shot, but I don't know how that's done. This seems to be getting very complicated.

I don't understand what you mean when you say use Windows explorer to see if the data folder is around.

RchW · 07-09-2010, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peedo

RchW:

I went back thru your instructions you gave at 4:01 p.m. to dble check what I did. I did delete all the text in the file, and it's still empty. When I hit "Save As", the screen that appeared was what I modified. In doing so, I changed the "file name" to "_paths.cfg". That was the only line that was modifiable. The "Save As Type" line, immediately under the file name, read "Text Documents (*.txt)" and was not modifiable. That was the way this particular file was saved.

The file path to my game is: C:\Users\VetteFan\MyDocuments\Out of the Park Developments\OOTP Baseball 11\. However, where your example also includes (...config\paths.cfg), following \OOTP Baseball 11\, mine doesn't. In fact, I don't see any "config" file or "paths.cfg" in my game's directory. Is this what you mean when you ask what my paths.cfg file is?

As for the path for my saved games, it's the same as what I indicated above (C:\ Users................\OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games. That's it! Am I missing some files?

I'd send a screen shot, but I don't know how that's done. This seems to be getting very complicated.

I don't understand what you mean when you say use Windows explorer to see if the data folder is around.

The config files are in a hidden folder that you may have to get Windows explorer to show

Click Organize

Click folder and search options

Click the view tab

Click on show hidden files folders and drives.

Your config files will not be anywhere near your regular OOTP files. They will be at

"C:\Users\Your name\AppData\Roaming\Out of the Park Developments\OOTP Baseball 11\config\paths.cfg"

Hopefully once you unhide these files you can click through to this path.

07-09-2010, 02:12 AM	#1
Peedo Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: kidnap capital of the world Posts: 83	User Data Path Issue Anyone know anything about the topic of user data path, as it relates to the Expert Settings box, loated in Preferences? I just lost my entire Universe, because my user data path inadvertantly changed, but I can't figure out what it changed to. All I have left is the Main screen. Any help/assistance from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

07-09-2010, 05:15 PM	#6
Peedo Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: kidnap capital of the world Posts: 83	RchW: Yes, I see that my league is still in the data/saved_games folder. I guess that's good news. How do I "edit one of the path files in the config folder? Please be basic in your instructions as I have marginal computer skills. Thank you for the help. I'm desparate and going thru withdrawals. EDIT: just in case it means anything, I might add that when I hit the "Continue" option from the Main screen, the first error message I got read: "OOTP cannot load this database because the file world.dat is missing". After hitting the "O.K" button on the first error message, a second error message appeared, which read: "The loading of the database failed. It is either corrupt or save-game from an old version". I also received 2 additional error messages that were different from the first 2 above. Last edited by Peedo; 07-09-2010 at 05:56 PM.

07-09-2010, 07:01 PM	#9
RchW Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: The big smoke Posts: 15,628	This may be easier than I thought but you have to be able to do a couple of things. This assumes a Windows OS; if you have something different I can't help. Do you know how to open files by right clicking and choosing "open with" and choosing a program? I hope so. Here is the step by step Launch OOTP Choose "Game Preferences" then click on the "Troubleshooting" tab. Click on Open folder containing file "paths.cfg" Windows file manager (or other program) will launch and show a list of files. Right click on the file "paths.cfg". Hopefully you will have a choice to "open with". If so open with notepad or any text editor. This file is a text file. Delete all text in the file. It should be blank. Save as___ paths.cfg. Don't save it with a .txt extension it wont work. After all this exit OOTP. Exit is on the bottom RHS. Launch OOTP and you should be good. __________________ 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

07-09-2010, 11:16 PM	#19
RchW Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: The big smoke Posts: 15,628	Here is a screenshot on how to save the existing paths.cfg. After you delete the text in it. The file name should not have any dashes or underscores in front or in it. Note the path across the top. Attached Images __________________ 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

07-09-2010, 11:59 PM	#20
Peedo Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: kidnap capital of the world Posts: 83	RchW: I must be missing a step after you indicate "show missing files and drives". The "Folder Options" is on my screen, overlayiaying the Internet Explorer screen, but nothing is happening. I hit "OK" on the "Folder Options", but still nothing. Is there a step omitted?

07-09-2010, 11:25 AM	#2
RandyTiger Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 2,510	I recommend you file a support ticket; they'd be able to help you with the problem. Link is in my signature. Good luck.

07-09-2010, 03:02 PM	#3
Peedo Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: kidnap capital of the world Posts: 83	RandyTiger: I filed a Support Ticket just a couple hours prior to initiating this thread. Support suggested I post the issue in the forum to see if anyone in the community had any knowledge of this type of issue. This mess began while I was snooping in the Expert Settings section of the Preferences and clicked "Select", located to the right of "Custom saved games path". I wanted to see what I thought the Select button would reveal as "choices". I didn't realize that the "Select" button would actually change my database, which it apparently did. The following day, when I turned on the computer and went to the OOTP Main screen, I hit the "Continue" button for the current game and got the first of 4 error messages, but no game. A warning to everyone: DON'T MESS THE THE SELECT BUTTON IN THE EXPERT SETTINGS SECTION OF PREFERENCES. Still waiting for someone to pull me out of the abyss...........

07-09-2010, 03:18 PM	#4
RandyTiger Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 2,510	It surprises me Support wasn't able to help you with the issue. You'd think they would have forwarded it up to Markus or someone in the development team for analysis... Good luck on getting it resolved.

07-09-2010, 07:10 PM	#10
Peedo Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: kidnap capital of the world Posts: 83	Steve: When I was initially snooping around in Expert Settings box, and after I hit "Select", I realized I shouldn't have hit select, so I exited (can't remember exactly how) without hitting "Cancel", so I guess the damage was already done. When I realized I couldn't locate my game, I returned to Expert Settings in an attempt to locate the correct database, but at that time I didn't know what to look for. Then, before exiting Expert, I did hit "Reset", but by that time I think it was too late. I went into My Computer and located my league folder/saved_games and did see world.dat, so I guess that's my game I'm looking for. Now what? RchW: I'm operating on Windows 7 Ultimate, 64 bit.

07-09-2010, 07:48 PM	#11
SteveP Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3,109	It occurs to me that there is another simple step we ought to look at: When you launch OOTP, go to Load Game instead to Continue [Your League]. The Load Game should take you to wherever the game thinks your saved games are located. If it has the correct location (and make sure it is), you should be able to point to your league and start it up. Otherwise, you should be able to use that window to point the game to the correct Saved Games folder. At least it should give you some more info about your situation.

07-09-2010, 07:49 PM	#12
Peedo Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: kidnap capital of the world Posts: 83	RchW: I followed your instructions, then tried to launch OOTP by hitting the "Continue" button from the Main screen, but the only response I got was the following error message: "OOTP cannot load this database because the file world.dat is missing! When I hit the "O.K." button on the above error message, I then received a second error message, which read, "The loading of the database failed. It is either corrupt or a save-game from an old version". At this point, did I delete some info in the "paths.cfg" that I shouldn't have?

07-09-2010, 08:44 PM	#13
Peedo Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: kidnap capital of the world Posts: 83	Steve: O.K., when I hit Load Game, I'm taken to a box titled Select Existing Restore Folder. In checking the file path of what is at the top of the box (C:\User........OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\default.lg\backups) the backup folder is empty. But when I hit the Favorites drop down arrow, I get a list of paths, one of which is the path to my game (OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg). Another path listed is ...OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games. The remaining paths end with either the word "ballcaps", "jerseys", "stats", or something else as a suffix to either OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games or OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg. The reason I detail this info is because when I was trying to find my database path in the Expert Settings box, I kept clicking on what I recognized to be my game (.....OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg) but I still could not access my game. Unless you see something I don't in the list above, I still believe my game path is OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games\Major League 2004.lg. What do you think before I hit any choices?

07-09-2010, 09:04 PM	#16
Peedo Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: kidnap capital of the world Posts: 83	Ok, I'll follow RchW's latest instruction first, then Steve's. First, however, I guess I should back out of this "Select Existing Restore Folder" screen w/o doing anything on it. Please give me a few minutes............

07-09-2010, 10:05 PM	#17
Peedo Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: kidnap capital of the world Posts: 83	RchW: I went back thru your instructions you gave at 4:01 p.m. to dble check what I did. I did delete all the text in the file, and it's still empty. When I hit "Save As", the screen that appeared was what I modified. In doing so, I changed the "file name" to "_paths.cfg". That was the only line that was modifiable. The "Save As Type" line, immediately under the file name, read "Text Documents (*.txt)" and was not modifiable. That was the way this particular file was saved. The file path to my game is: C:\Users\VetteFan\MyDocuments\Out of the Park Developments\OOTP Baseball 11\. However, where your example also includes (...config\paths.cfg), following \OOTP Baseball 11\, mine doesn't. In fact, I don't see any "config" file or "paths.cfg" in my game's directory. Is this what you mean when you ask what my paths.cfg file is? As for the path for my saved games, it's the same as what I indicated above (C:\ Users................\OOTP Baseball 11\saved_games. That's it! Am I missing some files? I'd send a screen shot, but I don't know how that's done. This seems to be getting very complicated. I don't understand what you mean when you say use Windows explorer to see if the data folder is around.