[Offline Franchise] saved game doesn't load

TexasPhantom187
Rising Hotshot
4 years ago
@ichad28 yeah I completely agree with you. They need to rebuild this game from the ground up in order to fix the many issues it has. At this point this game has more bugs than fear Factor.🤣
FawnkyDonkeys
New Adventurer
4 years ago
@EA_Blueberry& @EA_Kent Please prioritize this. It makes offline CFMs unplayable.
For everyone else - we found some workarounds if you want to try them over here. Cloud CFMs are having awful desync issues that the devs and community help leaders refuse to acknowledge so there's not many options for even running a franchise successfully right now. They love to tweet about MUT and have livestreams, but goodness forbid they let CFM players even play the game we paid $70 for. Such a joke,
EA_Kent
Community Manager
4 years ago
Hey all,

If this is still giving you trouble can you please share the info I requested so we can send it up for a look?

Thank you.
FawnkyDonkeys
New Adventurer
4 years ago
@EA_Kent Sent a message. Here is a copy of the OP from M22 via @kansas82

This is a long report so forgive me in advance, but I want to be thorough for you guys. (I have good news and bad news).

I have had a decent chance to test the offline franchise mode after the update (I spent about 12 hours of my weekend testing this). I want to make note of a few things before starting my report:

I play on a ps4 pro
I play offline mode only
Prior to starting my first test file I did the following:
Deleted ALL Madden Data (save files and all)
Uninstalled Madden 22
Reinstalled Madden 22
Made sure Madden 22 was up to date on all recent updates
Started an entirely new profile and franchise from scratch
These test files were purely on new franchises that were created after this update. I feel that fixing an already corrupt file is a whole different issue of its own. I count those files as lost. Sorry guys.

Now that all that is out of the way here is a write up of how I played each file so that it can be repeated for testing purposes.

I have tested three total franchise files so far. Below is a short summary of the three.

File 1: My goal for this file was to simply make a mess and see if it corrupts the file at or around the exact same time my past files corrupted (Super bowl and post season games just past 2029). I wanted to do a speed play of what I or someone else may aim to do throughout an entire 30-year franchise mode. In short it crashed, and the file did corrupt. However, there is hopeful news for file 2 and 3.

For File 1 I did the following:

I started the 2022 season out by selecting 5 users.
The first was an undrafted improviser QB for the Lions.
The second was the regular coach for the Eagles
The third was the regular coach for the Colts
The fourth was the regular coach for the Seahawks
The fifth was the owner of the Texans
Settings to start the season
Rookie
Arcade
Offline
Salary Cap Off
Flags off
User Relocation Settings (ALL)
Simple mode for team management
Switched playbooks to KC playbook for all managed teams. I did this because I wanted to quickly test the hall of fame, NFL records, and stats.
Started with an active custom roster (downloaded a random updated “madden 23 rosters” from the top of the shared folder)
Imported a random “2022 draft class” from the shared community
Started at Pre-Season
From here I did the following:
Simulated the 2021-22 pre-season
Used another user to max out the stats of my “improvisor QB”
Made the Texans move to become the Portland Lumberjacks
Added a custom draft class
Rigged games for Cincinnati and Rams to make play offs and win super bowl like in real life (One of my favorite features is the league history and I like having it accurate. Now we just need an individual team history page to go with it that keeps track of past seasons of each team. That is a separate thread and suggestion though).
After the Texans’ moving process was complete (Week 6?) I simulated to the playoffs.
Had LA win the super bowl against Cincinnati
Simulated to the next season. Skipped offseason entirely
Rigged 2023 games to get my team to playoffs so that I could test an early crash in the play offs. I did not expect a crash this early. I Made it through with no crash. Lion’s won the super bowl. Still no crash
This is where I really started to make a mess.
I simulated the 2023 offseason and preseason.
At the start of the season (after pre-season), I decided to change an existing user’s team and create a new user as well. I retired the Texans or “Lumberjacks” owner and switched to the “Chargers” owner role under the same user. After that I chose to retire the Colts user and actually retired the user all together. I then immediately added the Chiefs as a new team/ new user to the league. - I suspect this moment to be important due to what I find during my second file.
After this I simulated to mid-season. I retired the Chargers owner in the middle of the season. (To simulate wanting to change teams or losing a desire to manage a team mid-season).
After that I simulated on to the post-season. I once again rigged games for the Lion’s to make the post season
I played the Superbowl and won. No issues and didn’t expect them.
Now this is where I felt good that the game had been messed with enough to crash.
I simulated 10 years to get closer to where I expected the crash.
I rigged games to make the playoffs.
I retired the Chief’s user while in the playoffs. Mostly for giggles and to see if it messed with things. Changing teams was common throughout my franchise runs in the past as well.
Rigged games to get the Lions to the super bowl.
Played the Super Bowl
Won the Super Bowl
No flags all game
Hit end game
Crashed and File Corrupted.

File 2: My goal for this file was to play as conservative as I could with as little change as possible from the start. A “Play it safe” file. In summary this file survived, but I made it my goal to find out why and what would result in a crash through process of elimination.

I started this franchise with the same settings as above... except I did not add a custom downloaded draft class.
My User’s this time:
Field General QB for the Chiefs. Mid-Round pick.
Eagles regular coach
Colts regular coach
Simmed the entire season
Simmed the offseason
Simmed the pre-season
Rigged games to make Super Bowl – won it and expected no issues
Simmed forward 10 years.
Started the 2033 season.
Simmed pre-season
Rigged main season for Eagles to make it to the super bowl
Played the super bowl – tested the flag theory by receiving a flag.
Won the game. Hit end game. (this is where the game had crashed in the past)
The game did not crash this time.
I decided to test it another season to be sure. The game did not crash in the 2034, 2035, or 2036 seasons. I'd say that this was evidence that had I stayed the course with this file that it likely would not crash… I wanted to know why it crashed in the past though.

Now I decided to do process of elimination from what I suspected to be the least likely to the most likely cause of the crash and to test all of it until I crashed the game and corrupted the file at the end of the Superbowl.
So, I made multiple save files at the conference championship in order to leave me some wiggle room to try these different scenarios at the super bowl that may result in a crash.
I tested editing rosters first, no issue. I expected no issue.
I tested playing two users at the Super bowl, no issue. I expected no issue.
I tested sliders, no issue. I expected no issue.
I tested creating an improvisor QB for one of the teams in the conference championship and playing as him. No issue. I expected no issue. (I’ll avoid the Lion’s to be safe).
I tested retiring a user completely and creating a new user that was controlling a team that was already in the playoffs. Still no issue. I expected an issue to be honest.
I tested adding a new owner after retiring an old user team, no issue. I expected an issue.
I tested the flag theory and no issue. I did not expect an issue.
I tested switching user teams. In this case I switched to the lions as an owner (or coach I do not remember which). I went to play the conference championship game and it told me that I could not play it due to a lack of coaches on the team. So, I went to the coach hiring screen and there were only two coaches left for hire. I could not hire them. It gave me an error message when I attempted to hire the only available coaches. I exited from the hiring menu and the game crashed. I did not expect this crash. I suspect it happened due to a lack of coaches AND may have been the result of me switching to a team that had not been auto managed on “simple mode” by the user. The file became corrupted.
I reloaded a backup as the last crash had deleted the file.
Next, I tested retiring a user from their role/team and switching that same user over to a different team/role instead of retiring the user completely. I then simulated the conference championship and played as the newly selected team in the super bowl. I expected the crash. I got the crash right where I expected it when I clicked “end game” at the super bowl. The file was corrupted.
I had one file left and decided to create two more backups of it. The only thing I had not tried that I could try was the custom draft class file I had downloaded. I added it during the playoffs so that may do it as well since it may have messed with Mock drafts… but it crashed at the end of the super bowl and corrupted the file. I tried this a second time and it crashed again.
Something to also make note of is that without the last three issues being involved the file was able to move on to 2037 every time. That is the farthest I have ever been able to get in this years franchise. I've managed to get through all 30 seasons in the past.
So, my guess is that the issue is in one of those three places. Or it has something to do with the Lion’s, but I doubt that since I experienced the crash with the Eagles as well.

I created a third file and I am not very far in, but I'm cautiously optimistic and plan to use it as a true franchise file as I plan to cautiously tip toe around these issues in hopes that this will do it for now. Of course this isn't a fix and I will follow up on how things go for my third file... but I feel confident that I have found at least some sort of work around until the issue is looked into and resolved completely. Things seem to run better than they did before, but the issue is still present.

In summary after testing things on file two I suspect that it has something to do with one of the following issues. They may even all tie together

When a user switches from one team to another mid to late season. (Retiring the user, but using the same user to change to a different team/role. Whereas the other option (the option to avoid the bug) is to retire the user all together and create a new user.
Lack of coaching staff in the mid game and operating a team that needs coaching staff whenever no coaching staff is available for hire.
Perhaps if the game is having errors when there is a lack of coaching staff it may also show errors for a team that a user "retires" the head coach on? I don't know to be honest.
Custom draft classes may do something wonky near the mid-game for some reason as well. My test may have messed things up as well since I added the custom class file near the end of the season instead of at the beginning. It may have messed with the game since it had already made mock drafts. None the less it created a similar crash and I would recommend be avoided until investigated.

My current fix for file 3 and advice for others.

If you decide to change a team or role… create a new user to play as your desired new team or role instead of switching from one role to another as that specific user. Create a new user all together and retire the old user.
Avoid changing or retiring user teams until the end of a season. It will not affect you in the early game, but it may come back to bite you in the later years of franchise for some reason.
Pray your team does not run out of coaches’ mid-game. I have turned coach firing off for now in hopes that this isn’t the root of the entire issue. I will likely do a quick sim to 2045 just to see what life looks like when there are no coaches left. I suspect owner roles may suffer a worse fate than coaching roles. My reason for this is that as a coach you'd have to chose to retire, but as an owner you may lose staff to retirement and be in trouble later down the road when there is no coaching staff available.

In short though… It appears that if you tread lightly the issue might be avoidable for now, but it is not entirely fixed either. I'm no game dev or coder. So, I could be wrong all together. I just did my part to break the game and attempt to MAYBE help you guys find what is going on. I hope that my information can help you guys target this better and find the overall root of the problem. My goal of all of this information was to make it repeatable. I also apologize for how long the post is. It may come to no use at all in the end... but this is what I experienced on my quick play through this past weekend. I will continue to report issues if they arise. I will not be able to spend much time on the game again until this weekend, unfortunately.

Have a great week and best of luck to you and the team!
EA_Kent
Community Manager
4 years ago
Thanks for sending me your info, everyone.

I've passed this along for a look.
EA_Kent
Community Manager
4 years ago
Hi everyone,

Since it seems like this might be related to importing Drafts, we wanted to see if we can gather a bit more info.

Do you remember the name and creator of the Draft file you imported before you noticed this happening? If so, can you please share that here? I will add it to our investigation.

Thanks!
PaddyB2016
New Scout
4 years ago
Hi @EA_Kent
On my end I used multiple creators, a different one for each in game year basically up until corruption happened in year 6 or so.

If you need specifics I can reinstall the game
and look?
Thanks for your attention to this.

P
TexasPhantom187
Rising Hotshot
4 years ago
@EA_Kent from what I can tell it happens if you import any draft class even ones that you created and saved yourself on or after the 2027 season.

I will be doing some more testing I believe even editing a draft class at or around that point may affect the game as well.
EA_Kent
Community Manager
4 years ago
Thanks for the updates! If you are able to replicate this could you snag the name of the file and the creator and share them here?

We're just trying to get more info on this to help with the investigation, and having that would be useful.

Thanks again!
TexasPhantom187
Rising Hotshot
4 years ago
@EA_Kent for example.

2023NFLDRAFT draft class created by BigGameGene.

But it doesn't matter which draft class you downloaded, any draft class that you import or created for your own personal use will cause the issue in the 2028 season or after.
TexasPhantom187
Rising Hotshot
4 years ago
After running more than a few tests I have come to the conclusion it's a connection between importing a draft and mock drafts rankings stage 1 through 3 more so in stage 2. My reasoning behind this belief is teams are moving up and down the mock draft rankings each week and importing a draft class is having some kind of ill effect with the mock draft.What makes it more strange is that it only happens in,or after the 2027 season which I cannot wrap my head around.
My first test was with the Minnesota Vikings as a head coach. I simulated through to the 2027 season made a hard save named (m-test). I imported a random draft class on week 2 simulated Midway to week 8 made a hard save file named (m-test2) exited to main menu. I went back in to load save file (m-test2) to my surprise it loaded. I simulated to the 2028 season made a hard save named (m-test3). Then I imported a random draft class on week 2 simulated Midway to week 8 exited back to main menu went to load (Auto save file m-test3) the file was corrupt.

Second test reload previous hard save named (m-test3) which was still working in the beginning of the 2028 season week 1. I simulated to week 2 made a new hard save named (v test) then I imported a draft class and simulated to Midway point week 8 then exit back to main menu. I went to load (Auto save v test) file was corrupted was able to recreate that same file corruption 5 more times. On the 6th time I decided to load hard save file named (v test) I simulated to the 2029 season Midway point week 8 I exited back to main menu went back in to load the file was corrupted which I already knew was going to happen giving what my test showed me in week 8 of the 2028 season and simulating through that point wasn't going to change anything.
Third test reload previous hard save named (m-test3) which was still working in the beginning of the 2028 season. This time I decided not to import any draft class to see what would happen. Week 1 I made a hard save named (v test 2) I simulated to the Midway point of the 2028 season week 8. Exited to main menu went back into franchise mode to load (auto save v test 2) and it loaded. I repeated that process into the 2029 season the file loaded. I simulated to the 2030 season and repeated the process and the file loaded. I simulated 10 years from that point every year the file loaded with no problems. On the 2040 season I decide to import a random draft class and simulated to the Midway point week 8 of that same season exited to main menu went to reload (auto save v test 2) and it was corrupted.
Fourth test I wanted to see if editing the draft class would cause a file corruption repeated the process from the previous test and the file was not corrupted. So NO editing a draft class can not cause a file corruption.
The fifth test yes there was a fifth test. I wanted to find out what made the game not have a file corruption in the 2022 season through the 2026 season and if it was possible to have a corruption within that point.
I found I could not create a corruption in between those years using the same process I used in the previous four tests which I found very odd.
It doesn't matter if you download a community custom draft class or created your own by editing a draft class and exported it to your profile. If you import "ANY DRAFT CLASS" on the 2028 season or beyond you will have issues especially when week 8 comes around with the second stage of the mock draft.!!
TexasPhantom187
Rising Hotshot
4 years ago
@EA_Kent I really want to enjoy Madden 23 but for the last 2 years it's been hard while we've been having issues like this I know it's not your fault EA_Kent but if EA
can correct problems like this one for franchise players it will make your job a whole lot easier in the long run.
EA_Kent
Community Manager
4 years ago
@jboss2244

Thank you! I will pass this information along.
kansas82
4 years ago
Another thing I've noticed is that around seasons 2027-2030 there begins to become a shortage of available coaches to hire. This forces teams to continue without def/off coaches. When I aim to fill those roles there is no one to pick from. So, the game doesn't generate enough coaches to fill up the whole 30 year franchise. Perhaps the two issues are related. Maybe they aren't. I don't know.
Steveoliver77
4 years ago
This issue is also occurring in long term franchises even if a custom draft file is not loaded. Quite a few of us over at the Operation Sports Forum have been testing. The bug seems to be triggered by a lack of coaches to replace the retired ones, although it's unclear why this does not also affect online franchises.
These are the results we have found:

1. 32 team control with all coach firing off. This is fine. Have tested all the way till 2042 season and no problems.

2. 32 team control with coach firing on. No custom draft file loaded. Went to 2032. Played a superbowl. Game crashed after pressing "Finish Game". Every time. File not recoverable.

3. 32 team control with all coach firing off (as per no.1) but imported custom draft file. Went to 2032. Played a superbowl. Game crashed after pressing "Finish Game". File not recoverable.
4. 32 team control and coach firing off, no importing custom draft file, but in-game generated draft class edited. Played all the way through to 2037. No problems.

So it seems there are at least two separate (but possibly connected triggers for the bug:

1. Coach firing on/coaches retiring
2. Importing a custom draft file.
This is a very serious problem for numerous players who want to play long term 10 year plus franchises, but who don't want to take 32 team control. Even the 32 team control workaround means no coach carousel. And means every single coach is at the same team 20 years later. Pete Carroll is still coaching at the age of 91!
The other workaround is simply not play any actual games and just sim through franchise mode. But that's not much fun either.
Hope this information helps.
kansas82
4 years ago
Absolutely agree with what was just said above by Steveoliver77. This issue isn't just related to draft classes. When testing in the past I also had very similar results. I managed to get to about 2037 with coach firing off while managing like 4 teams and never changing those teams. I noticed that if I changed teams late in the franchise that I'd also lose my file. I suspect that there are two or three things triggering this that relate to draft class, coaching shortages, and team switches. I should be able to do all of these things without crashing my game.
kansas82
4 years ago
I would advise that the devs actually break out a console and test this themselves by doing the following:
Pick a console (PlayStation or Xbox)
Start up madden
Start an offline franchise
leave coach firing on
Pick several teams to manage
Click the "Sim forward 10 years option"
Check back in on the simulation in 30 minutes
Add a custom draft class or edit the draft class
Sim to the half way point of the season
Switch out a user team (Have a user switch from broncos to lions)
Sim forward to playoffs
Force wins up to the super bowl
Play the super bowl
Click "Finish game"
If this does not crash the game then check the coaching staff on this team during the next season. If it still has staff switch to another team and sim forward another season and check in on the coaching staff.
Rinse and repeat. It wont take long to get a crash from this point. (at least from my experience)
kansas82
4 years ago
@EA_Kent - Can we get some sort of update on this? Not to be rude or pushy, but we've been patient for two years. If it is difficult or impossible to patch then just let us know. Give us something. If it is impossible to fix then take the year or two to completely scrap and rebuild Franchise mode from the ground up into something fresh and new. But please, someone let us know what is going on. The silence is so tough and we literally have no other modern NFL game to turn to. This deserves some sort of real focus and attention at this point. We've waited so long.
I just want to be able to play an offline franchise mode that won't go corrupt on me. I put a lot of time and effort into those files. I've played madden for a long time and have given a decent chunk of my money over the years to this company. I just want to see some sort of effort, transparency, and honesty being put forth in return.
I get that MUT makes the money, but man I feel left out on an island. I see a lot of franchise fans feeling the same way. We won't put up with this forever and we will move on. I'm on year two with no franchise. I have no intentions of being fooled for a third.
kansas82
4 years ago
Nightly bump.
deprak2002
4 years ago
Does this also happen on online franchise mode? I had this issue offline (Save file corrupted around year 2030, didn’t use custom draft classes, but had coach firing on) and I assume I have to start a new one. but I don’t want to start a whole new franchise just for the file to be corrupted again just 5-7 years in. If it works fine online and the issues are just servers, I’d rather that than losing my whole file at random.
I saw some people had success if they had 32 team control, but I’d rather not go through all that just to play a franchise mode.
ichad28
4 years ago
@EA_Kent following up on this
kansas82
4 years ago
I'm going to keep bumping posts with this issue until we get some sort of fix or answer. It has been two years without a fix.
Midland38217
4 years ago
@EA_Kent and @EA_Blueberry
I am copying my original post from your Madden 23 launch below:
”@EA_Blueberry aaaaaaand here we are again.

I posted this concern on this board weeks ago. I specifically tagged YOU, Blueberry. There was no response. And I know you remember me. It looks like my post was removed prior to launch, unless someone can show it to me.

This is the only reason I did not buy this game. If last year is any indication, it will take six months to fix this. That’s right, you will post about this issue until February. Sometime around the Super Bowl, you will be able to play your franchise.

Last year was “the year of the franchise.” This year, EA advertised a “revamped franchise experience.”

This is the first year I didn’t buy Madden because I no longer believe you.
I was right.”
There are 400 posts on this issue for Madden 22, “the year of the franchise.”

400.
Over 6-7 months.

I am glad to say I still haven’t bought your piece of garbage, unfortunately for the first time since the 90s. Your game doesn’t work. You clearly don’t test it and act aloof, claiming to pass along our feedback to whatever team is assigned to not fixing Franchise. You actually have the gall to advertise an improved Franchise for the second year in a row… and you STILL can’t save it.

I don’t even have the game but sympathize with everyone on this board as they helplessly try to do your testing for you with little to no response.

You are still the only football game available so people have tried to help you fix your falsely advertised “improved” franchise for two years. Once your competition comes out, we are gone.
kansas82
4 years ago
Maybe we will get an answer on this issue tomorrow? Until then I guess I'll have to send up another bump.
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bobert8121988
4 years ago
Chiming in here to say that coach firing is not the issue as that is turned off on my end.

I didn't even have to complete the game - simply starting and quitting the game causes the glitch. Kinda pathetic for EA to keep this BS up.