Game will not start any league

Darklimits · 12-23-2018, 01:32 AM

I just got this game last night, and I haven't been able to anything with the game.

When I try to start a new standard game, I get the error "Could not open saved game folder".

This had me try all sorts of things as I am familiar with PC game issues; permission on the game folder are not the read only option, running the game as administrator, uninstalling and reinstalling, also tried installing on another hard drive to see if that was maybe an issue.

One thing I did notice is it is not saving the created game folder in the Saved Game (...\steamapps\common\Franchise Hockey Manager 5\default_data\saved_games) folder on default, but rather, into the root folder for the game (...\steamapps\common\Franchise Hockey Manager 5). I'm not sure if that is something.

Also, I did try to start a new custom game, it gave me a error about my database being the wrong version, and then it wouldn't go further than that.

Few things of note;
There is a "Debug.txt" file in the root install folder. This is what is in that file. "[1222/210230.812:ERROR:settings.cc(324)] Settings version is not 1"

Also, There is a file called "defult_folders.cfg", All it has in it is this;
[Folders]
FHMAppFolder=
FHMCustFolder=

I've tried to do a Trace file, but it doesn't seem to save any file unless that it the debug file I mentioned earlier.

As well, nothing happens when I try to register a new user, I fill out all the fields, and hit ok. Nothing, nor does anything happen when I try to login, the button doesn't seem to do anything.

Os is Windows 10 Home Edition, and the Game Version is 5.5 build 55

Any help with this would be amazing.

Thank you in advance.

JeffR · 12-23-2018, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darklimits

I just got this game last night, and I haven't been able to anything with the game.

When I try to start a new standard game, I get the error "Could not open saved game folder".

This had me try all sorts of things as I am familiar with PC game issues; permission on the game folder are not the read only option, running the game as administrator, uninstalling and reinstalling, also tried installing on another hard drive to see if that was maybe an issue.

One thing I did notice is it is not saving the created game folder in the Saved Game (...\steamapps\common\Franchise Hockey Manager 5\default_data\saved_games) folder on default, but rather, into the root folder for the game (...\steamapps\common\Franchise Hockey Manager 5). I'm not sure if that is something.

No, default_data just defines the structure for the actual working version of the data folder, which is normally placed in a subfolder of \Documents, and is where the save folder should be. And from the sounds of it, it's not there. It should be in (assuming a default installation) C:\Users\(your username)\Documents\Out of the Park Developments\Franchise Hockey Manager 5. Is there anything there?

Darklimits · 12-23-2018, 12:31 PM

There is nothing in my documents folder for the game.

JeffR · 12-23-2018, 06:50 PM

Well, that's definitely the problem. The game needs to be able to write to the save folder, which on a default installation goes into the documents folder, but if you're not even getting the subfolder structure in there, it's being prevented from writing anything there. And it seems to be happening during the installation - normally, when we see this, Steam manages to install the game OK but then then the problem occurs when the game is run and it doesn't have permission to write to the save folder the install created, which it needs to do to create a new game. But in this case, it's not even getting to that point.

One easy thing to try: in the Steam menu, go to Steam-Settings, then Account, then Beta Participation, and if it's on something besides None, change it to none. That's the Steam client beta option, and a bit of googling suggests some people have had that same debug.txt file with the error message that you got appear when the beta client couldn't install or launch the game properly. If it wasn't on None, once you've switched it back, right-click on the game and do Properties-Local Files-Verify Integrity of Game Files, which should re-try installing the documents folder stuff.

If that's not it, my next guess would be either very restrictive permissions being set on your document folder, or an Antivirus that's being excessively vigilant. Running the Steam client as administrator may help with the former, and the latter would require whitelisting the game for that AV.

Darklimits · 12-24-2018, 02:03 AM

Ok, so I removed that beta option, uninstalled the game completely, deleted the settings files under the game settings folder.

I restarted Steam, which updated, and I also ran it as administrator. Reinstalled the game, ran it as Admin. It was a fresh install as I got the browser window saying thank you for buying the game.

Nothing has changed. Still will not do anything.

I do not have a AV per say, I only have the Windows Defender program. As I've never had this issue with any other of my 30+ games before... I'm hesitant to say this is the issue as I just installed Civ 6 and it didn't have any issues running that game.

JeffR · 12-24-2018, 04:49 AM

If, from the start screen, you go to settings-troubleshooting and hit the Open Customizable Data Folder button, what folder (if anything) does that open for you?

Darklimits · 12-26-2018, 02:00 AM

When I hit that option in the game, nothing happens, no folder, no message, nothing.

JeffR · 12-26-2018, 08:20 AM

I haven't tried this before, but it's worth a shot, since I've never seen the whole folder fail to be created. If nothing else, if it won't copy we'll know it's not something going wrong with the game setup:

-create Out of the Park Developments and Franchise Hockey Manager 5 subfolders in your documents folder, so you have \Documents\Out of the Park Developments\Franchise Hockey Manager 5 (exactly like that, including the spacing)
-go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Franchise Hockey Manager 5\default_data and copy every subfolder in there into the FHM subfolder you created in Documents, so e.g. the first one will be \Documents\Out of the Park Developments\Franchise Hockey Manager 5\database
-open one of the subfolders and right-click on a file and select properties, and check if it's set to Read-only in the attributes. If it is, you'll need to switch all the files/subfolders you just copied to have Read-only turned off.

That should manually re-create the setup of the files that need to be in \Documents, which are the working ones the game uses.

One other thing to rule out: the full file path to your doucments folder (including your system name, etc.) doesn't use any characters not from a Latin alphabet, does it? Kanji, Cyrillic, etc. OOTP's had some problems with Japanese users getting failed installs because of that, but I've never had it happen it with FHM.

Darklimits · 12-27-2018, 12:53 AM

Ok.

I created the folders in my documents. Copy and Pasted the folders in to that folder, and none of the folders or files in the Documents folder had a read only tag.

I tried again to start a league, got the same issue as before.

Interestingly, Settings>Troubleshooting>Open Customizable Data Folder pops up with a folder now. So that's something interesting.

I have a feeling we're getting closer to finding the issue. I've never really had a game do this before were I was literally in the dark on how to fix it. Usually I'm fairly good at solving these things.

Thanks for all the support on this.

JeffR · 12-27-2018, 06:21 AM

Yeah, very interesting - you're not blocked from writing to that folder, but the game appears to be. My #1 suspect at this point would be Windows Defender's "Exploit Guard" - it blocks ransomware-type programs from locking you out of your documents by limiting their access, but can also affect legitimate applications. It's worth a try to whitelist FHM5 in there - Microsoft has instructions for doing that at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...rolled-folders . In theory, it should already whitelist the game automatically, but maybe it didn't for some reason.

Darklimits · 12-27-2018, 12:58 PM

That Worked!!!

Now I can enjoy this game!!

Thank you so much for the help. I'm not sure why it was preventing it on my computer... hmmm.

But all is good now!

JeffR · 12-27-2018, 06:20 PM

Ah, good to know, we can check that earlier in the process the next time we get a similar report.

12-27-2018, 12:58 PM	#11
Darklimits Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 6	Solved! That Worked!!! Now I can enjoy this game!! Thank you so much for the help. I'm not sure why it was preventing it on my computer... hmmm. But all is good now!

12-23-2018, 01:32 AM	#1
Darklimits Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 6	Game will not start any league I just got this game last night, and I haven't been able to anything with the game. When I try to start a new standard game, I get the error "Could not open saved game folder". This had me try all sorts of things as I am familiar with PC game issues; permission on the game folder are not the read only option, running the game as administrator, uninstalling and reinstalling, also tried installing on another hard drive to see if that was maybe an issue. One thing I did notice is it is not saving the created game folder in the Saved Game (...\steamapps\common\Franchise Hockey Manager 5\default_data\saved_games) folder on default, but rather, into the root folder for the game (...\steamapps\common\Franchise Hockey Manager 5). I'm not sure if that is something. Also, I did try to start a new custom game, it gave me a error about my database being the wrong version, and then it wouldn't go further than that. Few things of note; There is a "Debug.txt" file in the root install folder. This is what is in that file. "[1222/210230.812:ERROR:settings.cc(324)] Settings version is not 1" Also, There is a file called "defult_folders.cfg", All it has in it is this; [Folders] FHMAppFolder= FHMCustFolder= I've tried to do a Trace file, but it doesn't seem to save any file unless that it the debug file I mentioned earlier. As well, nothing happens when I try to register a new user, I fill out all the fields, and hit ok. Nothing, nor does anything happen when I try to login, the button doesn't seem to do anything. Os is Windows 10 Home Edition, and the Game Version is 5.5 build 55 Any help with this would be amazing. Thank you in advance.

12-23-2018, 12:31 PM	#3
Darklimits Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 6	There is nothing in my documents folder for the game.

12-23-2018, 06:50 PM	#4
JeffR FHM Producer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kelowna, BC Posts: 16,623	Well, that's definitely the problem. The game needs to be able to write to the save folder, which on a default installation goes into the documents folder, but if you're not even getting the subfolder structure in there, it's being prevented from writing anything there. And it seems to be happening during the installation - normally, when we see this, Steam manages to install the game OK but then then the problem occurs when the game is run and it doesn't have permission to write to the save folder the install created, which it needs to do to create a new game. But in this case, it's not even getting to that point. One easy thing to try: in the Steam menu, go to Steam-Settings, then Account, then Beta Participation, and if it's on something besides None, change it to none. That's the Steam client beta option, and a bit of googling suggests some people have had that same debug.txt file with the error message that you got appear when the beta client couldn't install or launch the game properly. If it wasn't on None, once you've switched it back, right-click on the game and do Properties-Local Files-Verify Integrity of Game Files, which should re-try installing the documents folder stuff. If that's not it, my next guess would be either very restrictive permissions being set on your document folder, or an Antivirus that's being excessively vigilant. Running the Steam client as administrator may help with the former, and the latter would require whitelisting the game for that AV.

12-24-2018, 02:03 AM	#5
Darklimits Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 6	Ok, so I removed that beta option, uninstalled the game completely, deleted the settings files under the game settings folder. I restarted Steam, which updated, and I also ran it as administrator. Reinstalled the game, ran it as Admin. It was a fresh install as I got the browser window saying thank you for buying the game. Nothing has changed. Still will not do anything. I do not have a AV per say, I only have the Windows Defender program. As I've never had this issue with any other of my 30+ games before... I'm hesitant to say this is the issue as I just installed Civ 6 and it didn't have any issues running that game.

12-24-2018, 04:49 AM	#6
JeffR FHM Producer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kelowna, BC Posts: 16,623	If, from the start screen, you go to settings-troubleshooting and hit the Open Customizable Data Folder button, what folder (if anything) does that open for you?

12-26-2018, 02:00 AM	#7
Darklimits Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 6	When I hit that option in the game, nothing happens, no folder, no message, nothing.

12-26-2018, 08:20 AM	#8
JeffR FHM Producer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kelowna, BC Posts: 16,623	I haven't tried this before, but it's worth a shot, since I've never seen the whole folder fail to be created. If nothing else, if it won't copy we'll know it's not something going wrong with the game setup: -create Out of the Park Developments and Franchise Hockey Manager 5 subfolders in your documents folder, so you have \Documents\Out of the Park Developments\Franchise Hockey Manager 5 (exactly like that, including the spacing) -go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Franchise Hockey Manager 5\default_data and copy every subfolder in there into the FHM subfolder you created in Documents, so e.g. the first one will be \Documents\Out of the Park Developments\Franchise Hockey Manager 5\database -open one of the subfolders and right-click on a file and select properties, and check if it's set to Read-only in the attributes. If it is, you'll need to switch all the files/subfolders you just copied to have Read-only turned off. That should manually re-create the setup of the files that need to be in \Documents, which are the working ones the game uses. One other thing to rule out: the full file path to your doucments folder (including your system name, etc.) doesn't use any characters not from a Latin alphabet, does it? Kanji, Cyrillic, etc. OOTP's had some problems with Japanese users getting failed installs because of that, but I've never had it happen it with FHM.

12-27-2018, 12:53 AM	#9
Darklimits Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 6	Ok. I created the folders in my documents. Copy and Pasted the folders in to that folder, and none of the folders or files in the Documents folder had a read only tag. I tried again to start a league, got the same issue as before. Interestingly, Settings>Troubleshooting>Open Customizable Data Folder pops up with a folder now. So that's something interesting. I have a feeling we're getting closer to finding the issue. I've never really had a game do this before were I was literally in the dark on how to fix it. Usually I'm fairly good at solving these things. Thanks for all the support on this.

12-27-2018, 06:21 AM	#10
JeffR FHM Producer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kelowna, BC Posts: 16,623	Yeah, very interesting - you're not blocked from writing to that folder, but the game appears to be. My #1 suspect at this point would be Windows Defender's "Exploit Guard" - it blocks ransomware-type programs from locking you out of your documents by limiting their access, but can also affect legitimate applications. It's worth a try to whitelist FHM5 in there - Microsoft has instructions for doing that at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...rolled-folders . In theory, it should already whitelist the game automatically, but maybe it didn't for some reason.

12-27-2018, 06:20 PM	#12
JeffR FHM Producer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kelowna, BC Posts: 16,623	Ah, good to know, we can check that earlier in the process the next time we get a similar report.