archibalduk wrote:I don't think the fact the days do not match the dates will cause any issue. The game will adjust the dates to the nearest date matching the day of the week (this is the purpose of the day of the week setting IIRC). But maybe there is some other issue with the dates.
The fact the crash is occurring on the last date of the regular season suggests that the issue relates to the following stage. I had the same issue when working on the 1974 NHL - the game would crash whilst processing the final matches of the season because the following stage (the playoffs) contained an error. EHM and the Editor use a different stage numbering system. EHM numbers the first stage as -1, the second stage as 0, the third as 1, etc. The Editor uses 1 as the first stage, 2 as the second, 3 as the third, etc. This is simply to make it easier to understand. So when the EHM error refers to Stage 0, this is Stage 2 in the Editor. Looking in the Editor, Stage 2 is the relegation playouts. I would hazard a guess that the issue lies here.
Stage 2 draws teams from Stage 1 (the regular season) and the playoff winners from the HockeyEttan. I wonder if the HockeyEttan is not completing its season in time for the Allsvenskan playoffs (is this what you mean by the Allsvenskan regular season finishing too soon?). Perhaps we need to see whether a team has won the HockeyEttan playoffs on or prior to 23 February. If not, this could be the issue.
I think I have found the cause, but I will need to test it out. Simming 8 seasons in game is really time consuming. I wonder if changing the database start date to 2025 will allow me to replicate the issue in 2026 (rather than having to sim from 2017).
In the 2017/18 season, the Allsvenskan regular season finishes on Monday 26 February 2018 (i.e. this is the date on which the final round of regular season games are played). Game #3 of the HockeyEttan playoffs also takes place on this date (assuming the series goes to three games). So at the end of the day on 26 February the game will be able to draw the teams from the Allsvenskan and HockeyEttan for the Allsvenskan playouts (being Stage 2 of the Allsvenskan). So that's all fine.
However, in the 2025/26 season the HockeyEttan playoffs are not complete by the time the Allsvenskan regular season finishes. Game #1 of the HockeyEttan playoffs takes place on Monday 23 February 2026 (Game #2 is scheduled for 25 February and I assume Game #3 would be on 27 February). The Allsvenskan regular season finishes on Monday 23 February 2026. So at the end of the day on 23 February the game crashes because there are no teams from the HockeyEttan playoffs to draw into the Allsvenskan playouts (this is my theory based on the error message we get).
I expect that the solution will be to bring the HockeyEttan playoffs forward a few days (or to extend the Allsvenskan regular season by a few days). I need to test it out, but I think Stage 17 of the HockeyEttan has the Schedule Date that needs to be altered. I think if that were set to 19 / Monday then it might fix things (it is currently set to 20 / Monday) because it will be exactly one week before the Allsvenskan is set to finish. This might enable the game to correctly adjust the dates each season whilst allowing a sufficient period of time for the HockeyEttan playoffs to be concluded.
ehmfail by Gordon Lister, on Flickr
