OOTP 17 won't load databases thinking they are of a previous version (they are not)
 

Hi all,

I would very much like to continue with my game, but it is not loading with the error "OOTP cannot load this database because it has been created with an earlier version of OOTP."

The database has not been created with an earlier version, but whatever. So I try to import from OOTP 16 like it suggests, and I run into an error that says this: "OOTP cannot import this saved game because it was saved with OOTP -1. This version of OOTP can only import saved games with version #16."

Now I'd like to head-off a response like "You're database is corrupted, sorry." I'm a big progress saver. I have multiple copies of the database from various points in time, including several I saved to different computers in case of a hard drive failure. NONE of the databases will load. ALL of them report the same errors. It is not possible for them all to have been corrupted in the same way. Something must be wrong with the OOTP17 program.

I attempted an uninstall/reinstall, but I still get the same errors. Can some one help with this? I'm 8 seasons into a game, and I really don't want to lose progress especially after taking the trouble to save it multiple times in multiple places across devices.

In terms of what caused this, the program was open when my laptop unexpectedly rebooted (open with no unsaved progress). If the program was corrupted somehow, it seemingly should have been rectified with the uninstall/reinstall, but it was not.

Thanks
Michael

Further data: I tried loading many myriad of saved databases on a different installation of the game on a different computer, and it is seeing the same error for each as well. I don't see how all of my saved databases (some on the machine, one in the cloud, one on a thumbdrive, and two on a different machine) could all start showing the same error during loading on two different installations of the game on two different machines.

The fact that the game thinks the database's game version is "OOTP -1" might be a tell, since "OOTP -1" doesn't exist. But I don't know how to investigate that issue.

Thanks
Michael

.dat files zipped up at ftp://ootpsupport.com/incoming/ootp/saved_games/ as Seattle_2_2016.zip

Hi Michael:

I got your support ticket, am working on it now:)

Long shot idea: try installing the latest patch version of 16? The database structure changed around update #5 or so.