Trying To Mod - Error

[drophammer]

I modified the Teams and Bowl files, trying to create a 10 conference set up. I did not create new teams, I just moved existing teams around. I renamed some conferences, changed the logos, but I have the supporting files in place. Here is the error.

DDSCF Error Log
-------------
Date: 9/30/2020 8:05:36 PM
Source: Draft Day Sports - College Football 2020
Message: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Stack Trace: at DDSCF.Team.get_Record()
at DDSCF.HomeScreen.DisplayHomePage()
at DDSCF.HomeScreen.jHXltKsKPIqzyFuTTBRBKxulIbXm(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.UserControl.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.UserControl.OnCreateControl()
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl(Boolean fIgnoreVisible)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl()
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlCollection.Add(Control value)
at DDSCF.App.LoadControl(UserControl c)
at DDSCF.App.ClickTeam(Int32 TeamID)
at IFqzgzxwKadjjmSsYxoiwqVJQvME.ptZTvVWGkORelVUvcNZOzBgIWNKq(App mainForm)
at DDSCF.AppMenu.zqQHcScpWelmYSxAgaxKpsNYNmTq(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

[slybelle1]

Sounds like your trying to create a custom league....might want to take a look at this post, few things are required for it to work.

viewtopic.php?f=314&t=31141

[drophammer]

Where is a schedule.csv template file?
I would love to be able to get this to work. The lack of any centralized instructions for how to do it is so frustrating!

[slybelle1]

Within the game and through the Team Schedule screen, when you choose the import season button, it displays a link to the template schedule file. However, right now that file appears to be unavailable.

I believe the template is the following:

WeekNumber,HomeTeamID,AwayTeamID

You would have that as your 1st header line in the file, then you would have lines for each game you would want to schedule. The IDs are the numbers assigned to each team within the teams.xml file. I have done this for the Pro Football game and it was fairly easy because of smaller teams and straightforward scheduling system. However, for the college game I can imagine this being pretty tedious based on the number of teams and ensuring the schedule balances out and such. My realworld mod that I created doesn't attempt to change the real life structure of the league so I don't have experience modifying (beyond changing names and other details) and using custom leagues myself. Maybe other people will chime in or you even might want to post some of your questions in the main college game forum (instead of here) where the developer may visit more.

It sounds like you also made other changes so it's also possible that maybe some other issue exists as well. The teams.xml and bowls.xml file are pretty strict so if the game encounters anything it wasn't expecting, good chance you'll cause an error.

[drophammer]

You ain't whistlin' Dixie on the scheduling being complicated.
I have had to invent something to handle it for me. I created a system that sets up predefined matchups for most weeks based on conference slots, but nonconference games have to get scheduled, and there is no way I was going to be able to eyeball that with any sense of reality. I built a bit of spreadsheet logic that does it for me, rejecting any random matchups that get created within the same conference. Then, it puts the weeks into a matrix so you can make sure you don't have any duplicate matchups.

Anyway, I am glad you mentioned the header info for the CSV, because I didn't see that mentioned anywhere. Do you happen to have an example of a file I could look at? I am pretty close to being ready to put mine together.

[slybelle1]

You ain't whistlin' Dixie on the scheduling being complicated.
I have had to invent something to handle it for me. I created a system that sets up predefined matchups for most weeks based on conference slots, but nonconference games have to get scheduled, and there is no way I was going to be able to eyeball that with any sense of reality. I built a bit of spreadsheet logic that does it for me, rejecting any random matchups that get created within the same conference. Then, it puts the weeks into a matrix so you can make sure you don't have any duplicate matchups.

Anyway, I am glad you mentioned the header info for the CSV, because I didn't see that mentioned anywhere. Do you happen to have an example of a file I could look at? I am pretty close to being ready to put mine together.

I don't have an example for college as I never did one but would look something like:

WeekNumber,HomeTeamID,AwayTeamID
1,2,3
1,4,5
1,6,7
2,9,10
2,13,11
2,20,71
etc.

[drophammer]

780 games over 13 weeks, scheduling 4 super conferences only against each other, scheduling the rest of the league with a conference and nonconference schedule. Complete. I am getting ready to give it a try. Thanks for your help!

[drophammer]

I got an error saying my Teams file wasn't valid, and it didn't see any teams or conferences. I actually used your RW mod as the baseline, moving a bunch of teams around, to hopefully be able to reuse the artwork and information.
I did change the type to CUSTOM. Are there other things that need to be changed?

[slybelle1]

I got an error saying my Teams file wasn't valid, and it didn't see any teams or conferences. I actually used your RW mod as the baseline, moving a bunch of teams around, to hopefully be able to reuse the artwork and information.
I did change the type to CUSTOM. Are there other things that need to be changed?

The Teams.XML file is based on an XML file format, which is a very structured file type. Any small formatting/syntax error will cause it to be invalid since it expects things to be very specific. If the error is saying the file is invalid, I suspect when you were editing the file you might have created a formatting/syntax error within the file such as tags not matching, missing quotes, etc. Unfortunately, there could be many possibilities and sometimes hard to find since the error can be very subtle to the eye. I would recommend using a FREE online XML verifying tool such as https://www.xmlvalidation.com/ that you can upload your file and it will check for mistakes and usually gives you a clue as to what it is. There are other tools out there so feel free to use others. If your file passes these tests, then there must be a problem specific to what the game is expecting versus what you put into the file. That likely will be much harder to find as could be anything from incorrect IDs, values, etc.

If you are unable to figure it out, send me a PM with your personal email and then maybe we can work offline to figure it out. You can send me your files and a screenshot of the exact error message your receiving and then we can try and troubleshoot.

[drophammer]

I use XML Pad to edit the XML files, so I do not have to worry about the notation and tag names and etc.
I would love to have you take a look at it.

I will send you a pm