There are known bugs for the first FM Genie Scout 2008 version (Beta 2, Build 83) that became available to the public (in a strange way, but still). I will try to list everything I know here along with possible solutions if there are any.
This could help lead developer Eugene with solving remaining problems in the program. I mean it could work well for beta testing purposes.
Your best bet to have your FM Genie Scout 2008 working is to follow the following 5 simple steps:
1. Make sure you have FM08 and not WWSM08
2. Make sure you disable "Compress Saved Games" within the Game Preferences and Confirm it
3. Install latest official Patch 8.0.1 (and not one of the beta patches) [after that, you should have version 8.0.1 114310]
4. Start a new game with Patch 8.0.1
5. Save your game
Bug: Font Issue - font is difficult to read
Suggestion: Open "FM Genie Scout 2008" folder and find "Languages" folder. Get in there and find the file "English.lng". Open this file with Notepad (or Wordpad) and change FONT_CHARSET=0
Bug: Does not work with 8.0.0?
Suggestion: It seemed this Genie version is only compatible with latest official Patch 8.0.1. In theory, it should be compatible with all FM08 versions, like Eugene announced a few weeks ago.
Some users reported that they managed to get it to work with their 8.0.0 game, but it's probably a common problem the fact that after 1 year in the game, the save won't load in Genie Scout.
Bug: I get following error message: "The file doesn't seem to be a valid FM saved game"
Suggestion: Possible reason for this would be that you have WWSM08 and not FM08. Even though back Genie 2007 was compatible with FM07 and WWSM07, it seems that the new structure of WWSM08 is different than FM08, and thus, unfortunately, current Genie version won't work with WWSM08.
Bug: Error loading Entity Number: 3920 File Position: 1410864 Database Version: 1143 Club data seems to be corrupt.
Suggestion: No known workaround for this error. Try the 5 steps explained on the top.
Bug: I get following error message: "Player data seems to be corrupt"
Suggestion: No known workaround for this error. Try the 5 steps explained on the top.
Bug: I get following error message: "Data Corrupt wanted to read 4 bytes could only read 0 bytes"
Suggestion: Most probably you have forgotten either to disable "Compress Saved Games" or save a new game after doing so.
Bug: I applied the latest patch and disabled the compress option, but I get error again
Suggestion: Most probable scenario here is that your game was started with version 8.0.0 (or one of the beta patches) and then you updated to latest patch 8.0.1. Even if you did the remaining steps needed, it wouldn't work. You need to start a new game with patch 8.0.1.
Bug: I have a custom Database and it doesn't work
Suggestion: Most users report that it doesn't matter if you have normal, large or huge database (custom). Try the 5 steps explained on the top.
Bug: I still get an error, which says something like "Error loading entity number: 22761...", maybe because I'm on Vista?
Suggestion: This version should work in both XP and Vista. However, Vista users should right click the downloaded FMGenieScout.exe file and run as Administrator, as well as running FM2008 as Administrator (otherwise Genie Scout won't be able to access the protected memory area of FM2008 - that's the way that viruses/trojans traditionally install themselves into other programs on your computer).
In addition, Vista users should also turn off User Access Control (UAC - Google "Turn off UAC" if not sure) if they are still having problems.
Bug: I get following error message: "Can't allocate the DIB handle."
Suggestion: No known workaround for this error. Try the 5 steps explained on the top.
Bug: When I load a new game with patch 8.0.1 and save, I start using Genie Scout. However, after a few days, when I save my game again (compress file is ticked off), I get an error message saying "Out of Memory while loading Entity Number: 66173 from TFMPerson Container"
Suggestion: No known workaround for this error.
Minor Issue: "Cannot create file "C:\Windows\Fontsmthin.ttf". Access is denied."
Suggestion: Click OK and it will continue to load, nothing critical here.
I'll be editing this post as I learn about more bugs and workarounds.
This could help lead developer Eugene with solving remaining problems in the program. I mean it could work well for beta testing purposes.
Your best bet to have your FM Genie Scout 2008 working is to follow the following 5 simple steps:
1. Make sure you have FM08 and not WWSM08
2. Make sure you disable "Compress Saved Games" within the Game Preferences and Confirm it
3. Install latest official Patch 8.0.1 (and not one of the beta patches) [after that, you should have version 8.0.1 114310]
4. Start a new game with Patch 8.0.1
5. Save your game
Bug: Font Issue - font is difficult to read
Suggestion: Open "FM Genie Scout 2008" folder and find "Languages" folder. Get in there and find the file "English.lng". Open this file with Notepad (or Wordpad) and change FONT_CHARSET=0
Bug: Does not work with 8.0.0?
Suggestion: It seemed this Genie version is only compatible with latest official Patch 8.0.1. In theory, it should be compatible with all FM08 versions, like Eugene announced a few weeks ago.
Some users reported that they managed to get it to work with their 8.0.0 game, but it's probably a common problem the fact that after 1 year in the game, the save won't load in Genie Scout.
Bug: I get following error message: "The file doesn't seem to be a valid FM saved game"
Suggestion: Possible reason for this would be that you have WWSM08 and not FM08. Even though back Genie 2007 was compatible with FM07 and WWSM07, it seems that the new structure of WWSM08 is different than FM08, and thus, unfortunately, current Genie version won't work with WWSM08.
Bug: Error loading Entity Number: 3920 File Position: 1410864 Database Version: 1143 Club data seems to be corrupt.
Suggestion: No known workaround for this error. Try the 5 steps explained on the top.
Bug: I get following error message: "Player data seems to be corrupt"
Suggestion: No known workaround for this error. Try the 5 steps explained on the top.
Bug: I get following error message: "Data Corrupt wanted to read 4 bytes could only read 0 bytes"
Suggestion: Most probably you have forgotten either to disable "Compress Saved Games" or save a new game after doing so.
Bug: I applied the latest patch and disabled the compress option, but I get error again
Suggestion: Most probable scenario here is that your game was started with version 8.0.0 (or one of the beta patches) and then you updated to latest patch 8.0.1. Even if you did the remaining steps needed, it wouldn't work. You need to start a new game with patch 8.0.1.
Bug: I have a custom Database and it doesn't work
Suggestion: Most users report that it doesn't matter if you have normal, large or huge database (custom). Try the 5 steps explained on the top.
Bug: I still get an error, which says something like "Error loading entity number: 22761...", maybe because I'm on Vista?
Suggestion: This version should work in both XP and Vista. However, Vista users should right click the downloaded FMGenieScout.exe file and run as Administrator, as well as running FM2008 as Administrator (otherwise Genie Scout won't be able to access the protected memory area of FM2008 - that's the way that viruses/trojans traditionally install themselves into other programs on your computer).
In addition, Vista users should also turn off User Access Control (UAC - Google "Turn off UAC" if not sure) if they are still having problems.
Bug: I get following error message: "Can't allocate the DIB handle."
Suggestion: No known workaround for this error. Try the 5 steps explained on the top.
Bug: When I load a new game with patch 8.0.1 and save, I start using Genie Scout. However, after a few days, when I save my game again (compress file is ticked off), I get an error message saying "Out of Memory while loading Entity Number: 66173 from TFMPerson Container"
Suggestion: No known workaround for this error.
Minor Issue: "Cannot create file "C:\Windows\Fontsmthin.ttf". Access is denied."
Suggestion: Click OK and it will continue to load, nothing critical here.
I'll be editing this post as I learn about more bugs and workarounds.
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