Game crashes and freezes

number11 · 06-09-2007, 05:10 AM

I’ve experienced two game crashes over the last day and now my game is freezing every time I try to load it. Here is what happened: First crash was when I was looking at ML Roster screen and I then switched to look at catchers. I then switched to look at all catchers in the entire organization. When that screen appeared I hit the button to sort them by overall rating and that was when the crash happened, bringing up the Microsoft error report screen. After restarting the computer and attempting to restart the game, the game would start, but when I hit continue, the loading bar would go all the way to 100 percent Initializing and freeze. I left it for about 10 minutes, but nothing. After trying that several times, I then decided that rather than hitting continue that I would load the game again through the load game option. I did that and while it stalled on the 100 percent complete, it eventually (five minutes or so) loaded and reverted to a saved game about two game weeks back. As I was dealing with this, I checked out the forums for other similar issues. That was when I noticed the new patch. I downloaded and installed the latest patch and the next time I loaded the game it seemed to work fine. I played from preseason into June, saving every few weeks along the way, and had no problems. When the June draft rolled around, I did the draft. As I was drafting players, I would look at their pictures and if some 16 or 17 year old I was planning to draft had pictures that made them look 40 years old, I would generate new pictures. When the draft was complete, I went to save the game. It was then that the game crashed again. Trying to load the game back up, the game now freezes at loading at 93 percent generating faces. I’ve tried to load several times, both by using continue and load game, but it freezes each time at the same place and won’t load even after an hour or so. I’m using Airmen’s roster packs and Gambo’s face packs. My system is XP Pro SP2, Intel Pentium M 740 processor at 1.73 Ghz, 512 MB RAM, and Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. I have about 23 gigs of free space on the hard drive the game is running on. Any ideas on what went wrong and how I can salvage my current game? I just managed to get the M’s out from under all the awful contracts the old (real life) GM made and now we are the top team in the league, and I’d really hate to have to start all over again. Disappointing too, because just this morning I was encouraging a friend to buy what I told him was the best sports sim game I’ve ever played. Thanks in advance for any help.

number11 · 06-09-2007, 05:19 AM

Not sure why that all posted as one paragraph. Sorry about that. Let me try again so it is easier to read:

I’ve experienced two game crashes over the last day and now my game is freezing every time I try to load it. Here is what happened:

<o></o>
First crash was when looking at ML Roster screen and I then switched to look at catchers. I then switched to look at all catchers in the entire organization. When that screen appeared I hit the button to sort them by overall rating and that was when the crash happened, bringing up the Microsoft error report screen.

<o></o>
After restarting the computer and attempting to restart the game, the game would start, but when I hit continue, the loading bar would go all the way to 100 percent Initializing and freeze. I left it for about 10 minutes, but nothing.

<o></o>
After trying that several times, I then decided that rather than hitting continue that I would load the game again through the load game option. I did that and while it stalled on the 100 percent complete, it eventually (five minutes or so) loaded and reverted to a saved game about two game weeks back.

<o></o>
As I was dealing with this, I checked out the forums for other similar issues. That was when I noticed the new patch.
<o></o>
I downloaded and installed the latest patch and the next time I loaded the game it seemed to work fine.

<o></o>
I played from preseason into June, saving every few weeks along the way, and had no problems.

<o></o>
When the June draft rolled around, I did the draft. As I was drafting players, I would look at their pictures and if some 16 or 17 year old I was planning to draft had pictures that made them look 40 years old, I would generate new pictures.
<o></o>
When the draft was complete, I went to save the game. It was then that the game crashed again.

<o></o>
Trying to load the game back up, the game now freezes at loading at 93 percent generating faces.

<o></o>
I’ve tried to load several times, both by using continue and load game, but it freezes each time at the same place and won’t load even after an hour or so.

<o></o>
I’m using Airmen’s roster packs and Gambo’s face packs.

<o></o>
My system is XP Pro SP2, Intel Pentium M 740 processor at 1,73 Ghz, 512 MB RAM, and Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. I have about 23 gigs of free space on the hard drive the game is running on.

<o></o>
Any ideas on what went wrong and how I can salvage my current game? I just managed to get the M’s out from under all the awful contracts the old (real life) GM made and now we are the top team in the league, and I’d really hate to have to start all over again.

<o></o>
Disappointing too, because just this morning I was encouraging a friend to buy what I told him was the best sports sim game I’ve ever played.

<o></o>
Thanks in advance for any help.
<o>
</o>

Nutlaw · 06-09-2007, 11:25 AM

Try disabling FaceGen from the Game Preferences selection on the main page when you load up OOTP. If that allows you to at least get to the game, then try enabling FaceGen to see what happens. Let us know what you find?

If you continue to have trouble sorting large lists, from that same Game Preferences screen change the "Lists" option from "Scroll bars" to "Page selectors".

number11 · 06-09-2007, 12:51 PM

Thanks for the reply.

I disabled Face Gen and attempted another load. It froze again on 93 percent generating faces. Rebooted and tried again, after 20 minutes it's still frozen in the same place.

As for the lists, I already had my lists set up to view by page.

Any other ideas?

Nutlaw · 06-09-2007, 02:27 PM

That's odd. I'm not sure why it would try to generate faces when FaceGen is disabled.

Alright, try moving the faces.dat file out of your league directory and then try loading up the game.

If that doesn't work, try temporarily moving the contents of your news\html\images folder out and then try loading the game.

number11 · 06-09-2007, 03:22 PM

After my last post, I just left the game hanging frozen and went off to do some other things.

When I came back -- between an hour or two later -- the game was loaded up.

Seems that turning off face gen worked, but it still took at least an hour to load.

I saved the game fresh this time without a problem. Now I'm going to advance the game a few days, save, reboot and see what happens.

Should I still re-enable face gen?

number11 · 06-09-2007, 03:35 PM

OK, so Iadvanced the game a few days, saved, and then shut the game dwon.

I restarted and hit continue league and this time the whole thing loaded in under a minute. So it seems to be loading OK for now.

I'd like to do this a few more times without a hitch before I'll feel comfortable again. I've got to get some sleep now, but will try this again tomorrow.

Would you recommend turning face-gen back on and seeing what happens?

Nutlaw · 06-09-2007, 03:45 PM

Yeah, give it a shot. If it starts going crazy on you again, you have the workaround.

cec2 · 06-10-2007, 11:01 PM

I had a similar situation. I had auto-save on each week due to some previous crashes. In the offseason, early February I believe, the game crashed during a save.

Now when I open the game and try to load the league, it gets to "Loading Faces 93%" and seems to hang.

I had already tried disabling Facegen, and deleting the coach/player face images, but nothing changed.

After reading this post I'm going to let it run overnight and see if it is able to finish loading like this case. Hope so.

cec2 · 06-11-2007, 08:17 AM

Thankfully it did work. Took at least an hour to load - I checked one more time before going to sleep. But it did load, and now it did save and load just fine.

Nutlaw · 06-11-2007, 06:52 PM

Glad to hear it.

Number11, did turning FaceGen back on work out for you?

number11 · 06-12-2007, 02:26 AM

It seems to be working fine with FaceGen turned back on.

The only thing is that it is now going back through and changing all of the previous FaceGen photos. And it is doing it one at a time.

So when I get a message and there is a new plaer in it, it creates his photo. If I check out a minor league guy, it creates his photo.

I guess it's not a big deal, but it was frustrating to have a few of my active roster guys have their faces changed. I'd gotten to know them by their old faces.

I'd mess around with the photos again to get them how I like, but to be honest I'm kind of scared of FaceGen now.

It will be interesting to see if once the game creates all the new faces if it will start freezing again.

Nutlaw · 06-12-2007, 07:12 PM

Yes, very strange behavior. Since it seems to have settled down for you now, however, I'm going to close this thread. If you have any further trouble with it, please ask a moderator to re-open the thread and we can continue to troubleshoot it. Thanks.

06-09-2007, 05:10 AM	#1
number11 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 9	Game crashes and freezes I’ve experienced two game crashes over the last day and now my game is freezing every time I try to load it. Here is what happened: First crash was when I was looking at ML Roster screen and I then switched to look at catchers. I then switched to look at all catchers in the entire organization. When that screen appeared I hit the button to sort them by overall rating and that was when the crash happened, bringing up the Microsoft error report screen. After restarting the computer and attempting to restart the game, the game would start, but when I hit continue, the loading bar would go all the way to 100 percent Initializing and freeze. I left it for about 10 minutes, but nothing. After trying that several times, I then decided that rather than hitting continue that I would load the game again through the load game option. I did that and while it stalled on the 100 percent complete, it eventually (five minutes or so) loaded and reverted to a saved game about two game weeks back. As I was dealing with this, I checked out the forums for other similar issues. That was when I noticed the new patch. I downloaded and installed the latest patch and the next time I loaded the game it seemed to work fine. I played from preseason into June, saving every few weeks along the way, and had no problems. When the June draft rolled around, I did the draft. As I was drafting players, I would look at their pictures and if some 16 or 17 year old I was planning to draft had pictures that made them look 40 years old, I would generate new pictures. When the draft was complete, I went to save the game. It was then that the game crashed again. Trying to load the game back up, the game now freezes at loading at 93 percent generating faces. I’ve tried to load several times, both by using continue and load game, but it freezes each time at the same place and won’t load even after an hour or so. I’m using Airmen’s roster packs and Gambo’s face packs. My system is XP Pro SP2, Intel Pentium M 740 processor at 1.73 Ghz, 512 MB RAM, and Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. I have about 23 gigs of free space on the hard drive the game is running on. Any ideas on what went wrong and how I can salvage my current game? I just managed to get the M’s out from under all the awful contracts the old (real life) GM made and now we are the top team in the league, and I’d really hate to have to start all over again. Disappointing too, because just this morning I was encouraging a friend to buy what I told him was the best sports sim game I’ve ever played. Thanks in advance for any help.

06-09-2007, 05:19 AM	#2
number11 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 9	Not sure why that all posted as one paragraph. Sorry about that. Let me try again so it is easier to read: I’ve experienced two game crashes over the last day and now my game is freezing every time I try to load it. Here is what happened: <o></o> First crash was when looking at ML Roster screen and I then switched to look at catchers. I then switched to look at all catchers in the entire organization. When that screen appeared I hit the button to sort them by overall rating and that was when the crash happened, bringing up the Microsoft error report screen. <o></o> After restarting the computer and attempting to restart the game, the game would start, but when I hit continue, the loading bar would go all the way to 100 percent Initializing and freeze. I left it for about 10 minutes, but nothing. <o></o> After trying that several times, I then decided that rather than hitting continue that I would load the game again through the load game option. I did that and while it stalled on the 100 percent complete, it eventually (five minutes or so) loaded and reverted to a saved game about two game weeks back. <o></o> As I was dealing with this, I checked out the forums for other similar issues. That was when I noticed the new patch. <o></o> I downloaded and installed the latest patch and the next time I loaded the game it seemed to work fine. <o></o> I played from preseason into June, saving every few weeks along the way, and had no problems. <o></o> When the June draft rolled around, I did the draft. As I was drafting players, I would look at their pictures and if some 16 or 17 year old I was planning to draft had pictures that made them look 40 years old, I would generate new pictures. <o></o> When the draft was complete, I went to save the game. It was then that the game crashed again. <o></o> Trying to load the game back up, the game now freezes at loading at 93 percent generating faces. <o></o> I’ve tried to load several times, both by using continue and load game, but it freezes each time at the same place and won’t load even after an hour or so. <o></o> I’m using Airmen’s roster packs and Gambo’s face packs. <o></o> My system is XP Pro SP2, Intel Pentium M 740 processor at 1,73 Ghz, 512 MB RAM, and Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. I have about 23 gigs of free space on the hard drive the game is running on. <o></o> Any ideas on what went wrong and how I can salvage my current game? I just managed to get the M’s out from under all the awful contracts the old (real life) GM made and now we are the top team in the league, and I’d really hate to have to start all over again. <o></o> Disappointing too, because just this morning I was encouraging a friend to buy what I told him was the best sports sim game I’ve ever played. <o></o> Thanks in advance for any help. <o> </o>

06-09-2007, 11:25 AM	#3
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	Try disabling FaceGen from the Game Preferences selection on the main page when you load up OOTP. If that allows you to at least get to the game, then try enabling FaceGen to see what happens. Let us know what you find? If you continue to have trouble sorting large lists, from that same Game Preferences screen change the "Lists" option from "Scroll bars" to "Page selectors".

06-09-2007, 12:51 PM	#4
number11 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 9	Thanks for the reply. I disabled Face Gen and attempted another load. It froze again on 93 percent generating faces. Rebooted and tried again, after 20 minutes it's still frozen in the same place. As for the lists, I already had my lists set up to view by page. Any other ideas?

06-09-2007, 02:27 PM	#5
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	That's odd. I'm not sure why it would try to generate faces when FaceGen is disabled. Alright, try moving the faces.dat file out of your league directory and then try loading up the game. If that doesn't work, try temporarily moving the contents of your news\html\images folder out and then try loading the game.

06-09-2007, 03:22 PM	#6
number11 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 9	After my last post, I just left the game hanging frozen and went off to do some other things. When I came back -- between an hour or two later -- the game was loaded up. Seems that turning off face gen worked, but it still took at least an hour to load. I saved the game fresh this time without a problem. Now I'm going to advance the game a few days, save, reboot and see what happens. Should I still re-enable face gen?

06-09-2007, 03:35 PM	#7
number11 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 9	OK, so Iadvanced the game a few days, saved, and then shut the game dwon. I restarted and hit continue league and this time the whole thing loaded in under a minute. So it seems to be loading OK for now. I'd like to do this a few more times without a hitch before I'll feel comfortable again. I've got to get some sleep now, but will try this again tomorrow. Would you recommend turning face-gen back on and seeing what happens?

06-09-2007, 03:45 PM	#8
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	Yeah, give it a shot. If it starts going crazy on you again, you have the workaround.

06-10-2007, 11:01 PM	#9
cec2 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 48	I had a similar situation. I had auto-save on each week due to some previous crashes. In the offseason, early February I believe, the game crashed during a save. Now when I open the game and try to load the league, it gets to "Loading Faces 93%" and seems to hang. I had already tried disabling Facegen, and deleting the coach/player face images, but nothing changed. After reading this post I'm going to let it run overnight and see if it is able to finish loading like this case. Hope so.

06-11-2007, 08:17 AM	#10
cec2 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 48	Thankfully it did work. Took at least an hour to load - I checked one more time before going to sleep. But it did load, and now it did save and load just fine.

06-11-2007, 06:52 PM	#11
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	Glad to hear it. Number11, did turning FaceGen back on work out for you?

06-12-2007, 02:26 AM	#12
number11 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 9	It seems to be working fine with FaceGen turned back on. The only thing is that it is now going back through and changing all of the previous FaceGen photos. And it is doing it one at a time. So when I get a message and there is a new plaer in it, it creates his photo. If I check out a minor league guy, it creates his photo. I guess it's not a big deal, but it was frustrating to have a few of my active roster guys have their faces changed. I'd gotten to know them by their old faces. I'd mess around with the photos again to get them how I like, but to be honest I'm kind of scared of FaceGen now. It will be interesting to see if once the game creates all the new faces if it will start freezing again.

06-12-2007, 07:12 PM	#13
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	Yes, very strange behavior. Since it seems to have settled down for you now, however, I'm going to close this thread. If you have any further trouble with it, please ask a moderator to re-open the thread and we can continue to troubleshoot it. Thanks.