Error = " The game currently unavailable. Please try again at another time ".

[Elohir]

Look, I love FM - have done for years, totally addicted. I can understand SI going through the activation route on Steam (even giving the disaster a couple of years ago when the servers got overloaded on release day). But surely we should have been given an option to either continue or abandon Steam after that? I wanted to play my game 2 hours ago and couldn't.

If I turn off the automatic updates in Steam would that fix this issue? Or would Steam block me opening the game until the update is applied?

Disabling updating won't work, it'll update anyway. Long story short, there's nothing you can do.

[Keko]

Yaaaayyyyyy, i also gaot that #the game is unavailable#.... Thanx SI, wonderfull DRM, very effective, so effective that even customers cannot play... :-P

[mon_irl]

Got the message myself there as it happens, although I am more the, glad others are getting it rather than preparing to burn down SI HQ due to it

I'm sure it will resolve itself in a bit, lets not worry.

[pigfacemonkeyman]

Look, I love FM - have done for years, totally addicted. I can understand SI going through the activation route on Steam (even giving the disaster a couple of years ago when the servers got overloaded on release day). But surely we should have been given an option to either continue or abandon Steam after that? I wanted to play my game 2 hours ago and couldn't.

If I turn off the automatic updates in Steam would that fix this issue? Or would Steam block me opening the game until the update is applied?

Unless this has been addressed by Steam then no.

well, STEAM ALWAYS ignores your setting and reverts back to "Always automatically update" every time it restarts so unless you are never ever gonna go online. it doesn't really matter

This ^^^^^^^^^^ It would be extremely nice of SI, seeing as they are the ones responsible for forcing Steam on us in the first place, to
alert them of this issue and have it amended.

We have already informed Steam and they are investigating the issue.

[matt garside]

Guys at SI, I know you're doing your best and it's not really your fault, but I too got this unable to play message blah blah. Verified the cache thing as instructed and then it started downloading something.

It then came up with a message saying "FM12 is now updated" or something like that, went to play it, it started installing the update and now all I get is an error message saying:

A serious error was encountered and the application will close. An error file has been generated in:

........../SportsInteractive/FootballManager2012/crashdumps/FM2012/v12.0.3.231651.dmp

Now leaving me unable to play the game, any suggestions?

[dafuge]

Verify the cache again, then try.

[uncle ron]

Guys at SI, I know you're doing your best and it's not really your fault, but I too got this unable to play message blah blah. Verified the cache thing as instructed and then it started downloading something.

It then came up with a message saying "FM12 is now updated" or something like that, went to play it, it started installing the update and now all I get is an error message saying:

A serious error was encountered and the application will close. An error file has been generated in:

........../SportsInteractive/FootballManager2012/crashdumps/FM2012/v12.0.3.231651.dmp

Now leaving me unable to play the game, any suggestions?

I got this message after the update and verifying the cache, I then rebooted the PC and I was able to play the game.

[Elohir]

Guys at SI, I know you're doing your best and it's not really your fault, but I too got this unable to play message blah blah. Verified the cache thing as instructed and then it started downloading something.

It then came up with a message saying "FM12 is now updated" or something like that, went to play it, it started installing the update and now all I get is an error message saying:

A serious error was encountered and the application will close. An error file has been generated in:

........../SportsInteractive/FootballManager2012/crashdumps/FM2012/v12.0.3.231651.dmp

Now leaving me unable to play the game, any suggestions?

10 Verify Cache
20 GOTO 10

[matt garside]

Done that, it says 3 files failed to validate and will be reaquired (Steam updates again). It says it's finished downloading, I click play game and it works. Thanks dafuge.

However, if it is possible I would take the update offline (if this is possible) until this has been fixed, because otherwise you're going to have a fair few pissed off people.

Failing that how about making a sticky at the top of the forum explaining the steps that you should go through, saving everyone having to read through this thread and post their own problems?

Also, is there a possible issue that 3 files failed to validate?

[madmufc]

for me, as with others, i had to verify the files twice and the game worked without a problem.
without complaining.

so for people not wanting to go back through and actually read how to do it, and would rather ask "how?" and then complain...

1. open steam
2. right click fm12
3. click properties
4. click "local files" tab
5. click "verify integrity of game cache..."

wait for it to complete verifying, then downloading.
exit steam.
restart steam,
REPEAT STEPS 1-5 AGAIN

then you should be good to go.

Did this once and it has started downloading so hopefully all fixed, cheers.

[JonnyCurrie]

Unfortunately got the same issue.

Tried validating the cache once and it gave me a serious error but trying it again.

EDIT: Ahh, it's finding more bits that need updated.

Obviously been an issue with the original update attempt. Shouldn't be a problem if I just keep doing this until it's fully patched, hopefully.

[Gentleman]

Yeah, same problem here. Verified the cache and it works now, but taking previous updates on FM into account and the final patch always broke my game more than the previous one. I`m not saying how SI does a ****** job at updates, far from it, but some patches seem to work better for some people while others get a broken game from it. In that light it would be disastrous if you have a working game and Steam updates the game for you and you end up with a crippled game. I would like to be able to tell Steam that I don`t want the update, but despite my settings and being offline, it still updates it. I really hope that there won`t be any gamebreakers due to Steam installing the patches without my consent, but I`m seriously anxious for it.

[JonnyCurrie]

Mines working again.

Took a few times to verify that it was fully patched but it's all good again.

No idea why people are going mental about it. Just follow the instructions SI have set out and it'll be fixed in 5-10 minutes.

[leikasen]

Steam-error

The game is currently unavailable. Please try again at another time...

this is the message i get when i try to start the game today.... WTF WTF WTF

[leikasen]

MODS! react!!!!!

[SWaRFeGa]

Jeez. Wanna wait more than 2 minutes? Maybe that could be time you spent searching the forum for answers that are already out there.

[Cadijk van Kaarhandel]

Just came home from work and get this message.

I've paid for this game and i want to play it now.

If i'd known it was going to stop me playing it when i wanted i would never have gone with Steam (spit) and i certainly won't again.

I'm away to do the 'verify cache' thing (again) and sincerely hope that it works.

Can SI or Sega please tell me - what benefits does Steam give me, the paying customer? And please don't say "it applies patches etc" because i am quite capable of doing that myself.

Yours Disgruntedly,
CvK

[remmah]

Just came home from work and get this message.

I've paid for this game and i want to play it now.

If i'd known it was going to stop me playing it when i wanted i would never have gone with Steam (spit) and i certainly won't again.

I'm away to do the 'verify cache' thing (again) and sincerely hope that it works.

Can SI or Sega please tell me - what benefits does Steam give me, the paying customer? And please don't say "it applies patches etc" because i am quite capable of doing that myself.

Yours Disgruntedly,
CvK

I could not agree more - to angry to post my own thoughts

and still waiting for update to load via my 1.5mb broadband - 20 mins to go

[itdoesntmatterwhatthissays]

Erm, this happened a few times yesterday but got through okay after two or three clicks, 40mins later im still sat here waiting to start my third season...
SI? wtf?!

Right, now its validating the files....2 need to be validated? I dont remember this on old CMs/FMs....
But will it now work...
yey!

Oh no, it finally loaded....a serious error has occurred; something about crash dumps...will take a screenshot for any admins who might want it....

As said in one of your admins posts Steam is a business decision for SI; in my opinion that means it has nothing to do with the consumer

[Elohir]

No idea why people are going mental about it. Just follow the instructions SI have set out and it'll be fixed in 5-10 minutes.

Number of active users on this forum - 1500?
Number of copies of FM sold - 400,000?

So, you can fairly safely assume that for every single person on the forum that have had this problem (complaint or no) there are around 250+ people out there with the same problem and no threads to read through for a work-around.

That's why this is a problem, why a few posts hidden in forum threads are not a solution, and why a lot of people are angry about it.

[Rhesus]

For what it's worth, my FM2012 game has been updated, I did not have to verify cache, game started without problem.. Never had any problems with Steam. Ever. With any game.
Keep up the good work, SI

[leikasen]

the cachy thing worked for me, sorry about the rant mods...

[Herter]

How many v1 releases of FM/CM have had a bug which stopped the user from ever playing the game?

My immediate answer is all of them..

That's the difference.It could absolutely be 100% down to an issue with Steam, but considering SI forced that choice onto their customer base knowing full well that a large portion of users were going to have huge issues (see staff posts in other thread about other Steam releases) it is absolutely their fault, and responsibility.

I agree that SI have a big responsibility in this.. and thats also why you see Neil and other SI staff member active on the forums to support and help people with their issues. If SI said "Not our problem, contact Steam" then I'd understand if people got angry.. SI are actually helping out alot.. just look in this thread how many people have got their problems fixed. So, Yes, it is their responsibility.. and they live up to it!

Wait, what? You're sure 99.9% of users will 'get help' when steam stops their game from working, but without Steam none of them would have been able to 'get help' with issues caused by a lack of patching? Evidently I've missed out on the complimentary Steam Fairy with every purchase. ¬_¬

What Fairies? I said that most users have the steam platform now to get help through, which they did not before. How is that related to fairies? And where did I say that "none of the would have been able to get help"? Dont put words into my mouth.. But surely you can see that before steam ALOT of users never installed the patches and therefore had to "live" with the bugs and such? If you want to have a debate on this I suggest you stop posting nonsense and be concrete with your points.

[Herter]

For what it's worth, my FM2012 game has been updated, I did not have to verify cache, game started without problem.. Never had any problems with Steam. Ever. With any game.
Keep up the good work, SI

Same here.. :P

[avfc88]

Number of active users on this forum - 1500?
Number of copies of FM sold - 400,000?

So, you can fairly safely assume that for every single person on the forum that have had this problem (complaint or no) there are around 250+ people out there with the same problem and no threads to read through for a work-around.

That's why this is a problem, why a few posts hidden in forum threads are not a solution, and why a lot of people are angry about it.

Not really hard for people to go on google is it and search there problems. Some people just need to use common sense.

[remmah]

Number of active users on this forum - 1500?
Number of copies of FM sold - 400,000?

So, you can fairly safely assume that for every single person on the forum that have had this problem (complaint or no) there are around 250+ people out there with the same problem and no threads to read through for a work-around.

That's why this is a problem, why a few posts hidden in forum threads are not a solution, and why a lot of people are angry about it.

My update seems to have worked aswell after following instructions from neil..

But I believe most of you and mostly SI have missed the point

Not all computer users know what to do and advising them to go into the registry is monsterously stupid.

I drive a car that does not mean I can fix it.

SI are taking the Pi**

I have been playing this since 1991 this is the worst.

Again the normal paying public have to suffer.

The game has already been cracked so all this is just to make more bucks $$$$$$$$$$$

[Herter]

My update seems to have worked aswell after following instructions from neil..

But I believe most of you and mostly SI have missed the point

Not all computer users know what to do and advising them to go into the registry is monsterously stupid.

I drive a car that does not mean I can fix it.

SI are taking the Pi**

I have been playing this since 1991 this is the worst.

Again the normal paying public have to suffer.

The game has already been cracked so all this is just to make more bucks $$$$$$$$$$$

sigh.. yet another caveman..

[Cadijk van Kaarhandel]

sigh.. yet another caveman..

Why is he a caveman?

He makes a valid point.

Not everyone would know to look here so as to solve their problems.

If you rely on Steam, it just says "try again later".

Why can't Steam give the advice about checking the cache which is on this thread?

[milnerpoint]

My update seems to have worked aswell after following instructions from neil..

But I believe most of you and mostly SI have missed the point

Not all computer users know what to do and advising them to go into the registry is monsterously stupid.

I drive a car that does not mean I can fix it.

SI are taking the Pi**

I have been playing this since 1991 this is the worst.

Again the normal paying public have to suffer.

The game has already been cracked so all this is just to make more bucks $$$$$$$$$$$

No one has to edit anything in the registry, please do not spread complete nonsense like that.

If there is a cracked version it is well hidden because its not on any of the normal pirate sites i visit, what i have seen is a tone of angry little thieves unhappy because they cant play the game for free.

[Elohir]

My immediate answer is all of them..

So no FM game has ever been able to start on release, until a patch is applied? and you say I need to be concrete with my points?

What Fairies? I said that most users have the steam platform now to get help through, which they did not before. How is that related to fairies? And where did I say that "none of the would have been able to get help"? Dont put words into my mouth.. But surely you can see that before steam ALOT of users never installed the patches and therefore had to "live" with the bugs and such? If you want to have a debate on this I suggest you stop posting nonsense and be concrete with your points.

I was being facetious as your premise of "99.9% of steam users will receive help while non-steam user would have to not receive help" was ridiculous, and so I assumed was meant tongue-in-cheek.

[Elohir]

Not really hard for people to go on google is it and search there problems. Some people just need to use common sense.

For me, no. For you, I assume not. You have to remember though that FMs user base is not that of something like Fallout. A hell of a lot of FM users are not computer/net savvy, but they've always (traditionally) been able to install it and play - even if they have to fiddle about with downloading a patch at some point. While most of us will automatically google something that doesn't work, the vast majority of computers users will not.

[Lawlore]

My immediate answer is all of them..

Which is just not true- the previous games, unpatched, are still playable. It may be unbalanced, there may be bugs, but it runs. That is the point being made, I believe, and it's a reasonable one. Previously, some people may have had no idea whatsoever that there were newer patches available that would improve parts of their game- but not knowing that didn't prevent them from playing the earlier version.

I agree that SI have a big responsibility in this.. and thats also why you see Neil and other SI staff member active on the forums to support and help people with their issues. If SI said "Not our problem, contact Steam" then I'd understand if people got angry.. SI are actually helping out alot.. just look in this thread how many people have got their problems fixed. So, Yes, it is their responsibility.. and they live up to it!

The SI forum support is and has always been very good, I won't argue that- I'd go so far to say I don't know another company which is as dedicated to sorting out issues raised, and for that they're to be highly commended. The two Neils, Bertie, all of those guys, do an excellent job of keeping patient and talking irate people through things to get their game working, and that's fantastic.

But that still doesn't change the fact that there appears to have been no in-game or in-client information about the update (as there wasn't for the "licensing issues" one detailed here), and that is a problem. If the game needs to be updated, it needs to make the user aware of that and, ideally, get the user to confirm the update. It should not just do it on its own, and if some people in this thread are saying that even turning off automatic updating didn't stop it, that's also a concern. In this case, it looks like it didn't even tell the user that it was an update which was required, just that the game was "unavailable", leaving people to turn to the forums to try and find out why. Yes, the answers are there, but the onus shouldn't be on the customer to search and find them when all they want to do is play a game they've paid for.

[11Clarkie11]

Purchased from Steam and been getting this message all day? Why can I not launch the game?

[Lawlore]

http://community.sigames.com/showthr...her-time-quot-.

[itdoesntmatterwhatthissays]

Okay, validated two more files, crashed, crashed some more, then validated again (third time); this time three validated and it has worked!
Back to getting hammered in the Premiership....

[strangeboy]

sigh.. yet another caveman..

See it's an attitude like that that pisses people off. Whilst I agree the cries of outrage here may be over the top...there's a valid argument that you SHOULD NOT have to veryify caches and do stuff that MANY people don't know what they're doing in order to install an update. That's the whole selling feature of Steam. Steam should fix this before they put up updates. I haven't tried mine yet cause I'm at work, but I'm not looking forward to it.

[milnerpoint]

Do companies have an obligation to inform customers before they release updates to their software?

I cannot think of me ever having received an email from Microsoft before any update has been needed, or the makers of COD when they release a game update, it just happens and you have to live with it. I think SI are one of the few companies who give us a lot of info on what they have fixed/updated.

[11Clarkie11]

If re-validated files and now I have a serious error trying to launch?

[dafuge]

If re-validated files and now I have a serious error trying to launch?

Try verifying the game cache again.

[Cadijk van Kaarhandel]

Do companies have an obligation to inform customers before they release updates to their software?

I cannot think of me ever having received an email from Microsoft before any update has been needed, or the makers of COD when they release a game update, it just happens and you have to live with it. I think SI are one of the few companies who give us a lot of info on what they have fixed/updated.

Milner my gripe isn't with the upgrade itself.

Its the frankly useless Steam message. "You can't play this right now, bye" or something.

Why couldn't the instructions to fix it, as listed by the people on this thread, be given right there and then by Steam?

Pretty poor showing if we're being honest.

[sean_macleod]

am i the only one that didnt have to confirm the cache?

[tony-starks]

so these days you can't play the game without installing the latest update, that's a shame, I preferred how things were for all these years.

[Herter]

[QUOTE=Elohir;7230250]So no FM game has ever been able to start on release, until a patch is applied? and you say I need to be concrete with my points?[/QOUTE]

- are you really this thickheaded?.. Whats with your "lets put words into other people's mouths".. I said that NO FM has EVER had NO "unable to start the game"-experience.. ALL revision of FM have had X amount of people that are unable to play the game.. The world isnt black and white you know.. there is a thing called "grey"

I was being facetious as your premise of "99.9% of steam users will receive help while non-steam user would have to not receive help" was ridiculous, and so I assumed was meant tongue-in-cheek.

Well it might not be 99,9%.. I admit the number isnt based on any scientific study, but I'll rephrase: "most steam users have better options of getting help then non-steam FM-gamers had before FM12".. did that help?

[Herter]

Which is just not true- the previous games, unpatched, are still playable. It may be unbalanced, there may be bugs, but it runs. That is the point being made, I believe, and it's a reasonable one. Previously, some people may have had no idea whatsoever that there were newer patches available that would improve parts of their game- but not knowing that didn't prevent them from playing the earlier version.

Well.. it IS true.. each version of FM has seen its share of users that cannot start the game.. as have just about ALL games ever released..

[J8mb0]

Thank you Nick Brock. The problem is fixed for me.

[Robioto]

What's the deal with this? I'm forced to use this programme that has caused me nothing trouble in the past and I've got home after a 12 hour shift at work and I can't play the game, the game I paid £29.99 of my hard earned cash for, the reatil copy I bought to avoid having to use Steam. As a regular paying customer I am livid that we have to use this. Why can't I play the game? Getting fed up with this now for christ sake SI/Sega just leave the activation how it was instead of trying something new every year which will eventually get cracked anyway.

[smythw]

Had this problem myself just now. But I managed to sort it after coming here and reading bits of this thread and verifying my cache twice.

That said, a message from steam stating "Game is unavailable; please try later" (and the associated crashes that occur after one cache verify) is not what users should be seeing from a mature product that is meant to make things easier for us to play our games. I've still no idea why it was unavailable. Was steam downloading an update? Is it because my internet is screwed? Are the steam servers down? If I'd not verified my cache would I have been there all day waiting for it to do something? Do I have to sacrifice a chicken to play?

On the premise that it was downloading an update in the background, why not tell me? Or, why couldn't I play with the previous version till the update was ready to be applied? Even better, why doesn't steam ask me if I want to apply the patch and even perhaps let me know what's in the patch before I decide?

Another very good point has been raised. Many players of fm2012 never come here, and will never have used steam. All these steam issues will be reflecting straight back on SI.

[Robioto]

Had this problem myself just now. But I managed to sort it after coming here and reading bits of this thread and verifying my cache twice.

I'm doing it now and hopefully it will work. But the point is we shouldn't have to do this, we shouldn't be forced to use Stam. Simple. All it does is cause me problems.

[Kriss]

[QUOTE=smythw;7230646] Even better, why doesn't steam ask me if I want to apply the patch and even perhaps let me know what's in the patch before I decide? [QUOTE]

Eminently sensible and would avoid alienating people unecessarily.

[Swindon69]

Frankly after reading this and other bits on the forum I think I'll skip this one - I can't see any benefit Steam brings to me as a user and I frankly don't want to end up faffing around trying to start a game.

[fmcanbefun]

Frankly after reading this and other bits on the forum I think I'll skip this one - I can't see any benefit Steam brings to me as a user and I frankly don't want to end up faffing around trying to start a game.

Yea 100% concur, I am a noob at this. I remember where FM games used to be about the easiest of access and could've been played anytime. It gave a sense of security and a sense of consistency(as in like the feeling where you can go to any Burger King in the world and you know exactly what to expect) of a basic cell phone game like snake yet the fun factor of one of the most deepest games.

Plus previous version of FM such as 2011 are still good games and would more than do that job as I have learned.

[sean_macleod]

Yea 100% concur, I am a noob at this. I remember where FM games used to be about the easiest of access and could've been played anytime. It gave a sense of security and a sense of consistency(as in like the feeling where you can go to any Burger King in the world and you know exactly what to expect) of a basic cell phone game like snake yet the fun factor of one of the most deepest games.

Plus previous version of FM such as 2011 are still good games and would more than do that job as I have learned.

But there also easily pirated

[Mendeth]

Frankly after reading this and other bits on the forum I think I'll skip this one - I can't see any benefit Steam brings to me as a user and I frankly don't want to end up faffing around trying to start a game.

You mean apart from (generally) quick and easy access to your game(s), auto-updates, not having to hunt around for that CD of the game you haven't played in a year and a half and, last but not least, having all your steam-registered games in one place, in an intuitive program? I've been using Steam for a few years now and apart from the odd day or two of downtime and occasional individual game issues (I'm talking about 2-3 days out of 500+), I haven't had any major issues of note. I'd wholeheartedly recommend Steam to anyone.

[Swindon69]

OK - I have easy access to my games, they are on a shelf, I could get patches from appropriate websites and they generally had auto installer.

And in 20+ years of gaming I've had zero days of downtime.

[jambo14]

RAGING!! after spending an hour trying to get the game to work after all the crap with steam i get 4 hours into my game and it say an error has occured and need to close this application down, now whats that all about? i pay £30 for this game and its not working properly i want an answer as to y its doing it as im not playing it again for it t unexpectdly to close, and im no saving my game every week, very very very unhappy here

[Mendeth]

OK - I have easy access to my games, they are on a shelf, I could get patches from appropriate websites and they generally had auto installer.

Fair enough, if you're organised enough (I'm terribly disorganised) then having games on a shelf is relatively quick access (though, to continue my original point, still not as quick as Steam, where you just click on the game and it loads, no CD load times, etc.) and if you are diligent enough to keep checking for updates, then I suppose the auto-update isn't too much of a benefit either. I appreciate it's a matter of personal choice but in my opinion Steam and digital downloads in general are really quite useful, let alone far easier and more reliable (no risk of CD corruption, loss or damage), and seem on track to become the sole means of buying and acquiring PC games. I'm not surprised that SI/SEGA have taken the decision to go down the Steam-only route.

[ViceCityKing]

Guys I had same thing, had to do cache thing twice but now update is starting to download.

I purchased disk version as I dont think you should have to deal with Steam if you dont want to. And although auto updates are fine, there is more than one example where an SI update has corrupted many games, that is my main worry I am years into a game - one stray update and the game is gone.

Steam should be optional if you have bought the disk version, fair enough for those people who want to use steam - but it should not be forced onto anyone. This is clearly because selling a game through steam is so much more profitable.

This issue is a major one and could cost many game players, as has been said I dont have as many hours as I used to play and I really cant be bothered messing around with steam every time I want to play. Really, really disappointed in SI over this.

[Vazza]

So, I've been trying to play FM12 for the past hour. In my library, it says FM12 - Download starting but nothing happens even after leaving it for 20 minutes and if I try to launch the game it says validating files then successful but I then get a message saying "steam servers are too busy at the moment". Anyone else with a similar problem?

EDIT: Tried the verify cache thing several times with no change.

[Champions_09]

When i do the cache validation it takes a few seconds and says it is successful, i then click play and the "Preparing to launch football manager" box appears then disappears then nothing. When i try to quit steam it tells me to shut down FM first

[Monkofdoom]

Thanks to the good advice on page 1 of this thread & comments by Neil, mine after several Verifications decided to start downloading the update. It took at least three verifications, along with two reboots of the steam client. On the third try it then started downloading. Have to say it's pretty poor how this has updated but pleased the SI chaps are on hand to help us out.

[Wilko4]

They arn't helping the rest of us who still have problems though, it's all gone quiet!

[milnerpoint]

They arn't helping the rest of us who still have problems though, it's all gone quiet!

have you even asked?

[RTHerringbone]

Same sort of issues for me, which were all easily resolvable using the cache business. Not ideal as I thought Steam would advise me when a download was downloading, and a warning that "Game is unavailable; please try later" is initially a bit disturbing if you don't know what's going on. I'm definitely no technophobe, but this was an irritant for me and a hassle I didn't expect. It's no dig at SI, but my experience of the wider FM platform has been tarnished to a minor degree by the Steam interface.

[jambo14]

someone from si going to explain why i got a error and game had to close, remember this is after the update was loaded and 4 hours of gameplay played???????????????

[fmcanbefun]

good luck with everyone with issues.

[Justino]

I came on here because I wanted feedback on whether I should buy the game. Its safe to say I won't buy it. Why should the person who's payed a lot of money have to verify cache and fix the mistakes steam and SI have made. It's not as simple saying well download 100 mb file when some players have a limited internet usage policy and can't download these files every few weeks

Thankfully I've come on and seen this. Now I don't want no childish insults just because I'm not buying it, I've given my reasons and I hope SI will improve value for customers

[Swindon69]

I have to say that I enjoyed the demo and was going to purchase this version having skipped '11 but having seen the issues I think I'll stck with FM10.

[RTHerringbone]

That was some edit!

[RTHerringbone]

That was some edit!

re : fmcanbefun

[tony-starks]

Same sort of issues for me, which were all easily resolvable using the cache business. Not ideal as I thought Steam would advise me when a download was downloading, and a warning that "Game is unavailable; please try later" is initially a bit disturbing if you don't know what's going on. I'm definitely no technophobe, but this was an irritant for me and a hassle I didn't expect. It's no dig at SI, but my experience of the wider FM platform has been tarnished to a minor degree by the Steam interface.

have to agree with this

[StewartJRobertson]

Im not happy with this to be honest. I will read through previous posts and i'll fix it, but i have to say im disgusted that this can happen so soon after release.

Before anyone starts having a go at me for being negative, please bear in mind i am entitled to my opinion as a customer.

[tordand]

Got the same error message on my laptop. Have to say I'm hugely disappointed, angered and frustrated at this whole "Steam-thing". Theres been nothing but problems all the time, from trying to download the demo, trying to play the game, trying to play a network game with my brother (with the game installed on my two computers). Have used hours trying to get in touch with steam support, searching in here and in google. Now I am completely fed up. And its a huge shame because I rate FM the definite best managergame released. But the frustration over this - in other words, Steam - I will seriously look into other games like CM and FIFA manager. But before I reluctantly say goodbye to FM for now, I'm seriously wondering what the arguments are for fixing something that isnt broken? FM worked beautifully fine wothout Steam, and could have done if using Steam was optional.

[KLH84]

Same fun, fun error for me. I've followed the instructions and the update has been downloaded/cache verified multiple times, but to no avail. Never had any issues with Steam before so I'm not going to start calling for heads to roll. Tis mildly annoying, especially as I've switched it on to play as NBA 2K12 has been spanking me all evening.

FM, you're not giving me the comfort I was hoping for...

[Kriss]

Same fun, fun error for me. I've followed the instructions and the update has been downloaded/cache verified multiple times, but to no avail. Never had any issues with Steam before so I'm not going to start calling for heads to roll. Tis mildly annoying, especially as I've switched it on to play as NBA 2K12 has been spanking me all evening.

FM, you're not giving me the comfort I was hoping for...

I did it this way, verified cache once and then closed Steam, reopened Steam and verified cache again, when I was sure it had finished counted to 10 and clicked play.

[StewartJRobertson]

Now have it working. It does seem essential to restart steam in between verifying the caches. I feel sorry for those gamers who either dont know about these forums or who know zilch about computers. Its only easy if you know how.

[KLH84]

I did it this way, verified cache once and then closed Steam, reopened Steam and verified cache again, when I was sure it had finished counted to 10 and clicked play.

I've just tried this - I even counted mississippily. It's fine, it's just delaying me shouting at Arshavin. If a full restart doesn't help...erm...perhaps I can verify another 48 times

[robuk]

The SI forum support is and has always been very good, I won't argue that- I'd go so far to say I don't know another company which is as dedicated to sorting out issues raised, and for that they're to be highly commended. The two Neils, Bertie, all of those guys, do an excellent job of keeping patient and talking irate people through things to get their game working, and that's fantastic.

But that still doesn't change the fact that there appears to have been no in-game or in-client information about the update (as there wasn't for the "licensing issues" one detailed here), and that is a problem. If the game needs to be updated, it needs to make the user aware of that and, ideally, get the user to confirm the update. It should not just do it on its own, and if some people in this thread are saying that even turning off automatic updating didn't stop it, that's also a concern. In this case, it looks like it didn't even tell the user that it was an update which was required, just that the game was "unavailable", leaving people to turn to the forums to try and find out why. Yes, the answers are there, but the onus shouldn't be on the customer to search and find them when all they want to do is play a game they've paid for.

I think this sums it up perfectly,i came onto the forums spitting feathers because i couldn't play the game but found this thread which explained what i had to do and have had no problem since,however there must be thousands of people out there who haven't got a clue whats going on with their game and chances are they have never visited this site so how will they know how to resolve issues with the game starting.

[thepenrice]

verifying method works thanks neil.

but it is a total joke that we have to do this to play the game weve payed for! great game supported by this awful steam junk. i hate having it installed on my computer, FM takes longer to load up as it has to wait for steam then i get all these steam popups when i quit FM! WTF! SI should hang their heads in shame at making us use it. the game is 2 steps forward and steam takes it 3 steps back! rubbish

feels good to vent

DIE STEAM

[avfc88]

For me, no. For you, I assume not. You have to remember though that FMs user base is not that of something like Fallout. A hell of a lot of FM users are not computer/net savvy, but they've always (traditionally) been able to install it and play - even if they have to fiddle about with downloading a patch at some point. While most of us will automatically google something that doesn't work, the vast majority of computers users will not.

Sorry but the most basic of computers users know how to use google and search something on it.

[luke262]

I have tried the earlier suggestions, however in my steam library it only has the FM editor and FM Resource archiver, am I missing something here or should it also have FM 12 because checking the validity of the editor and resource archiver is having no effect (they are %100 fine by the way) and FM12 is not automatically updating itself, what do i do?

[aliken]

Validating now... so hopefully I will be able to play soon.

Still this whole situation is a bit ridiculous...

[thepenrice]

I have tried the earlier suggestions, however in my steam library it only has the FM editor and FM Resource archiver, am I missing something here or should it also have FM 12 because checking the validity of the editor and resource archiver is having no effect (they are %100 fine by the way) and FM12 is not automatically updating itself, what do i do?

if you downloaded it through steam it should be there, or did you install from disk?

[Kriss]

I have tried the earlier suggestions, however in my steam library it only has the FM editor and FM Resource archiver, am I missing something here or should it also have FM 12 because checking the validity of the editor and resource archiver is having no effect (they are 0 fine by the way) and FM12 is not automatically updating itself, what do i do?

At the top directly under library clcik the arrow next to "tools" and change it to "All Games"

[McGeady10]

I'm getting this error as well. I'm all for SI getting sales for the people who play the game but a happy medium has to be struck between preventing piracy and making life difficult for those of us who've supported the game for years... Very disappointed I'm again having DRM issues with Football Manager.

[Kriss]

verifying method works thanks neil.

but it is a total joke that we have to do this to play the game weve payed for! great game supported by this awful steam junk. i hate having it installed on my computer, FM takes longer to load up as it has to wait for steam then i get all these steam popups when i quit FM! WTF! SI should hang their heads in shame at making us use it. the game is 2 steps forward and steam takes it 3 steps back! rubbish

feels good to vent

DIE STEAM

Tbf you shouldn't have to do this, I've never had to with all the hundreds of game updates Steam has managed for me, to be blunt, this has been cocked up somewhere by someone.

[Keko]

Great, i have payed 30€ and cannot play my game, while a pirate that steals the game can play without problems. Great DRM!

[antonyhoggan]

Originally Posted by jase19

for me, as with others, i had to verify the files twice and the game worked without a problem.
without complaining.

so for people not wanting to go back through and actually read how to do it, and would rather ask "how?" and then complain...

1. open steam
2. right click fm12
3. click properties
4. click "local files" tab
5. click "verify integrity of game cache..."

wait for it to complete verifying, then downloading.
exit steam.
restart steam,
REPEAT STEPS 1-5 AGAIN

then you should be good to go.

Sorted...

Frustrating to begin with.

Gotta love the forum.

[sussexroyal]

I must say that I do not expect to pay £30 and then not be able to play the damned thing when I want. I do not think that verifying cache (twice). One major crash dump is an acceptable way to do a patch. Neil said that it is as easier than downloading from a patch from a website.
Scenario 1. Buy game verify with Steam. Play game. no internet access due to Virgin repairing cabinet. Can still pay game no internet needed. Can patch when I want.
Scenario 2. Buy game. Verify with steam. Unable to play due to Virgin reapairing cabinet as game requires steam to run. Unable to find fix as no internet access. Unable to play game. ****** off.
This is not acceptable. Scenarios are fictitious but do happen. Not very impressed. Have brought game since 00/01. Maybe the last unless Steam is dropped. I have played Shogun 2 with steam doing updates without issue why cant they do it properly with FM.

[McGeady10]

Completely horrendous... Home from work at 6:45, dinner, shower, catch up with family... then sit down at 8:30 for an hours play on the new FM before getting ready for bed only to find it's taken me 30 minutes to get it working. Absolutely shocking and totally unacceptable. I've played FM since Tommy Johnson and Kitson were superstars and I feel totally let down that they can't seem to find a DRM system that doesn't penalise me for actually BUYING the game year after year.

[Champions_09]

Completely horrendous... Home from work at 6:45, dinner, shower, catch up with family... then sit down at 8:30 for an hours play on the new FM before getting ready for bed only to find it's taken me 30 minutes to get it working. Absolutely shocking and totally unacceptable. I've played FM since Tommy Johnson and Kitson were superstars and I feel totally let down that they can't seem to find a DRM system that doesn't penalise me for actually BUYING the game year after year.

At least you can get it working, iv been trying since six o'clock

[Kriss]

I have played Shogun 2 with steam doing updates without issue why cant they do it properly with FM.

Exactly, I've loads of Steam games, never had this problem, I just wish I knew if it's SI or Steam I should be angry with, a name would be even better

[Kriss]

At least you can get it working, iv been trying since six o'clock

Have you done it exactly like this?

1. open steam
2. right click fm12
3. click properties
4. click "local files" tab
5. click "verify integrity of game cache..."

wait for it to complete verifying, then downloading.
exit steam.
restart steam,
REPEAT STEPS 1-5 AGAIN

then you should be good to go

[KLH84]

Just a note, it wasn't working for me but a system restart and trying again forced the issue.

Can't see how this can be an SI fault, but then Steam have never done this with another game I've used so...oh well, always help in the forums regardless. Thanks all.

[Champions_09]

Have you done it exactly like this?

1. open steam
2. right click fm12
3. click properties
4. click "local files" tab
5. click "verify integrity of game cache..."

wait for it to complete verifying, then downloading.
exit steam.
restart steam,
REPEAT STEPS 1-5 AGAIN

then you should be good to go

Yeah done this many times, can't be bothered trying anymore.

[stevies qpr]

i have just tried to play football manager, and i got the same message, that it was unavailable,
i did that daft verifing thing, now i cannot run it at all and have had to un install it, and got to wait 3 hours again for it to install,

how would i go about a refund, as gamestation wont entertain me???

[IMT]

They will be smart enough to go to steam/fm forums if in need

3 people I work with have moaned about their broken game, they were lucky I knew how to get them sorted, they are not PC people, they do not use forums (basically they are thick ), but why should thick people suffer because people steal the game?

I know it may seem like this is all ok, as as we speak there is not a working pirated copy available, although nosing at one of their forums, the releasers were all waiting for the hotfix before attempting a crack anyway (whether that is true or not I do not know). But this is why I was so anti SI using Steam, not everyone is PC savvy like the rest of us, and really people shouldn't have to jump through hoops not just to install the game, but everytime there is an update.

I don't really care if this solution has prevented a pirated copy being released, I still don't think SI should release it this way next year, as this has caused more problems than the 09 release which they admitted was a mistake, so surely this has to be a mistake too? I saw a Sega person type the other day, "our main aim is what is best for us in protecting our game from being pirated", their main aim should be what is easiest for paying customers imo.

[smythw]

Sorry but the most basic of computers users know how to use google and search something on it.

Sorry, but I'd expect the most basic of software that was properly designed to make it easy to organise and play my games to:

1) Not pop up with confusing messages saying "Game currently unavailable, please try later".
2) Not create crash-dumps when clicking on play AFTER its told me my cache is verified.

I should be clearly informed when a patch is being downloaded.
I should be clearly informed why I cannot play a game I have purchased, and when I will be allowed to do so.

If steam is a mature piece of software it should do the basics well.

I don't have any irrational hatred of steam or valve. If steam made my life easier I wouldn't be complaining, I'd be playing FM2012. I dislike steam because I can maintain my software library more effectively manually. I've never had a crash dump in any previous versions of FM after applying a patch. Nor have I ever had it tell me that it was unavailable to play, with no further explanation about why I can't play or when I might be able to do so.

[Kriss]

Sorry, but I'd expect the most basic of software that was properly designed to make it easy to organise and play my games to:

1) Not pop up with confusing messages saying "Game currently unavailable, please try later".
2) Not create crash-dumps when clicking on play AFTER its told me my cache is verified.

I should be clearly informed when a patch is being downloaded.
I should be clearly informed why I cannot play a game I have purchased, and when I will be allowed to do so.

If steam is a mature piece of software it should do the basics well.

I totally agree with all of this, up until today Steam did all of those things for me, today was a one off and I'd love to know how it glitched because this was unusual behaviour.

As always it couldn't have happened at a worse time, i.e. when so many people are just (reluctantly) getting to grips with Steam for the first time.

[remmah]

No one has to edit anything in the registry, please do not spread complete nonsense like that.

If there is a cracked version it is well hidden because its not on any of the normal pirate sites i visit, what i have seen is a tone of angry little thieves unhappy because they cant play the game for free.

I hope you are no impling that I am a "angry little theif". That I am not, I may not be as savy as most on this site but I more than likely bought my first copy before you even knew what football was.

[stevies qpr]

whenever i try to re install it automatically connects to steam???