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20.4.2 Troubleshooting: Online / Network Game Problems, Lost / Missing Saves, Saving Bug

Roundup of most common 20.4.2 bug reports and steps you can take as a workaround until the next FM20 hotfix patch arrives.
Started on 19 September 2020 by Stam
Latest Reply on 4 October 2020 by raktlu
  • POSTS9
  • VIEWS27009
  • FOLLOWERS1
 
Sports Interactive caught us all by surprise by releasing a patch for Football Manager 2020 despite repeatedly explaining there wouldn't be any more of them. It's also surprising that the changelog of this new 20.4.2 patch didn't mention any bug fixes that we'd expect to see (e.g. the right click of doom).

Its sole purpose was to enable cross-play for network games between Steam and Epic, right after making FM20 available on the Epic Games platform for the first time ever.

Shortly after 20.4.2 was released, SI forums started being bombarded by bug reports. A day later, SI rolled out a hotfix patch also called 20.4.2 which is confusing. Supposedly this should fix most (if not all) reported issues, but there are still comments that suggest otherwise.

So I thought it would be helpful for the community if I could put together a list of the most common problems some (or most) people are experiencing after updating their game to this version. And of course add troubleshooting information for each problem.

20.4.2 Known Issues

3D manager avatar and last saved game are lost

Workaround: Use the 'Load Game' option to manually select the save you wish to load. Your saved games should still be there.

Save Game no longer appearing, not even via 'Load Game'

Workaround: Go to your C: Drive folder via Windows Explorer and search via the 'search option' in the top right hand corner for your save game file name - this should locate your file.
By default your save game folder location should be as follows: C:\Users\YOUR USERNAME\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2020\games
If you saved via the Cloud, you should be able to manually find your files by doing the following:
- Click ‘File Explorer’ from within the taskbar (or click ‘Desktop/Start’ then type in ‘File Explorer’)
- On the header click ‘View’ and make sure above ‘Show/hide’ that ‘Hidden Items’ is ticked
- Navigate to C:\Users\[Your Windows Username]\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2020\cloud\games

Pressing the 'Save Game' button results in 'Save Game Failed' error message

Workaround: Use the 'Save Game As' option to manually save your game, then you can choose to overwrite the file.
Recommendation: Avoid creating subfolders within the 'games' folder to organize your saves. Keep everything unorganized.

Unable to Access Network/Online Games

Workaround: The best way to connect is by searching for a friends server via the lobby but remember you need to search for the EXACT name of the server to find it.
Try disabling the 'show only friends' option and try again. Whoever is hosting the save can try to change the preference for that save to not 'just friends', then save it again.
If you find you're unable to connect, go back to the main menu and try again. If that still doesn't work, ask the host to change the server name and try again.
May also be worth restarting steam as well when trying again.

Workaround for EPIC GAMES users:
Make sure your online settings is not set to 'just friends' in the lobby.
And then make sure it is not set to 'just friends' in your savegame settings as well.
Make sure to save. Close to lobby.
Make sure settings is still not set to 'just friends'. Then boot up.
Credit: @Loffen_1

Can't import training schedules (and some other files) on Epic

Workaround: None. You'd need to recreate these files from scratch. SI are aware of the issue and hoping to address it in a future version.

Can't get past the loading screen

Workaround: Keep the game as 'vanilla' as possible. Avoid installing custom skins and other addons. Verify the integrity of game cache if needed and try again.

If you don't care about FM20 on the Epic Games platform or have friends using that whom you wish to play network games with, I highly recommend to avoid getting this update on Steam. At least until SI roll out a hotfix that actually addresses the issues properly.
2
Rober's avatar Group Rober
4 yearsEdited
Well done! :D
"Avoid creating subfolders within the 'games' folder to organize your saves. Keep everything unorganized". This is driving me nuts!
1
If you don't care about FM20 on the Epic Games platform or have friends using that whom you wish to play network games with, I highly recommend to avoid getting this update on Steam. At least until SI roll out a hotfix that actually addresses the issues properly.
if i installed the hotfix how do i remove it ?
2020-09-21 15:37#277920 desent :
If you don't care about FM20 on the Epic Games platform or have friends using that whom you wish to play network games with, I highly recommend to avoid getting this update on Steam. At least until SI roll out a hotfix that actually addresses the issues properly.
if i installed the hotfix how do i remove it ?

You can't sadly. Gonna have to wait until SI find their trousers.
I can't save anything, not local or on Epic cloud.
Tried all the suggestions here, still not luck - help?
2020-09-25 21:08#278025 raktlu : I can't save anything, not local or on Epic cloud.
Tried all the suggestions here, still not luck - help?

I was saving both locally and on cloud, couldnt see à thing. Found saves in a temporary folder, as per the above. I think you then need to copy the file back to the Games folder
Ooh, I just got it working.

Saw a video on youtube - you need to

  • go to the epic game launcher
  • go to the settings cog on the left
  • scroll down till you see FM
  • click to see what's there
  • choose the additional command line and add this
  • --user_data_location="C:\Users\Bobby\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 202
0"
Changing the path to where your folder is.

Launch again and boom, games save!
2020-09-27 22:13#278057 Goudinho : Ooh, I just got it working.

Saw a video on youtube - you need to

  • go to the epic game launcher
  • go to the settings cog on the left
  • scroll down till you see FM
  • click to see what's there
  • choose the additional command line and add this
  • --user_data_location="C:\Users\Bobby\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 202
0"
Changing the path to where your folder is.

Launch again and boom, games save!

Still I can't see my save games anywhere!

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