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..

[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/showthread.php/282480-Error-quot-The-game-currently-unavailable.-Please-try-again-at-another-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]

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]

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?

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.