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Frequently Asked Questions

This F.A.Q. contains a list of the questions most frequently asked by customers and potential customers of Front Office Football.

Last updated: November 2, 2023.

Front Office Football Nine

How do I order Front Office Football Nine?

Visit our Front Office Football Nine Steam Store.

I'm looking for Front Office Football Nine product support

Steam provides support for their platform and all questions related to the actual purchase of the game. For all other questions, please see the Front Office Football Nine Documentation.

Front Office Football Eight

How do I order Front Office Football Eight?

Visit our Front Office Football Eight Steam Store.

Is there a demo version of Front Office Football Eight?

There isn't. Because Steam has a return policy, you'll have enough time with the game that if it really isn't for you, you can return it. We also provide a wealth of information about the game. You can even try Front Office Football Seven for free for three days before purchasing.

How do I join a multi-player league?

You could create one for you and your friends. Instructions are in the game's help file. If you're looking to join an existing league, one great online source for information about the game and for matchmaking is Front Office Football Central.

I've started the game, and the menu, calendar or email window simply isn't on the screen. What went wrong?

The graphics settings for the game may have been corrupted in some manner, and this could definitely have happened with the 4K monitor issue with version 8.2. Exit the game, delete the frfoot.fgr file from your universe folder in your saved game area, and restart the game. This will also fix the problem that can occur when a key in-game window is moved outside of the internal display area.

I am trying to locate the saved game folders (universe, leagues, import, export) the game uses. Where are they?

These folders are in the AppData folder in your Users/Your_Profile_Name folder. However, these folders are hidden, by default, in Vista and Windows 7/8/10. So, in your file manager (File Explorer or My Computer or Computer on the Start Menu), go to Folder Options, click the View tab, and make sure you check the box to show Hidden files and folders.

Underneath the AppData folder, you'll find the files in Local/Solecismic Software/Front Office Football Eight.

If you are looking for the installation files, you'll find them in the Steam/SteamApps/common/Front Office Football Eight folder where you installed Steam. If you're interested in modifying the graphics files, you'll find them in the pictures folder. Just about everything that can be modded can be found there. You will no longer find any use for ResHack.

I am on Windows 7 (or Vista) and am running into an issue where some screens are partially drawn in one area of the screen while the background is drawn elsewhere. What can I do?

This problem is affecting some Windows 7 users, and we've been unable to determine exactly why. You may be able to resolve the problem by not using the Windows Classic theme and switching to a theme that uses Aero. Also, some people have resolved the issue by going through the Control Panel, Advanced System Settings, Performance, and checking all the boxes, including Use Visual Styles on Windows and Buttons, on the Adjust for Best Appearance screen.

When running the "Create History" function, the game appears to hang without returning control. Is it broken?

No, it isn't. Sometimes, when switching control of Windows away from Create History and other functions that take a long time to run and operate different parts of the games, Windows (this is most common with Windows 10) will not give Front Office Football an opportunity to update the graphics. While this could be improved by introducing more threads, that might also introduce instability. Don't worry, control will eventually return. It takes less than a minute to create one season of history for the game.

Will the draft files from The College Years work with Front Office Football Eight?

Yes. As long as you have the most recent version of The College Years. Just use the button currently assigned to Front Office Football 2004 (this will work for Front Office Football Seven as well). Versions prior to 1.2a do not support exporting into Front Office Football Seven or Eight.

Can saved games be imported from Front Office Football Seven?

There are too many differences in the file formats to support this function.

I have game play questions about Front Office Football Eight?

First, read as much as you can in the game's help file, which can be accessed by hitting F1 from any screen. There are hundreds of pages of information. If you want to know more about the internal workings of Front Office Football, we're not going to spoil the fun of discovery for you. There are hundreds of thousands of lines of code in the game, and it would just take too much time to provide those details.

Will there be more updates for Front Office Football?

It's possible there will be very minor updates in the future, but nothing signficant like a new player file or a 17-game schedule.

I selected 2020 as the start year, and starting with 2021, the two Los Angeles teams are playing in an empty stadium. Is this a selective COVID feature?

No, sorry, it's just a bug. Since I can't update the code right now and this is not an issue that can be fixed within saved games, all I can do is provide a file to replace the stadium information file that goes with the 2020 rosters. Download this data file and replace the same file in the installation (usually C:\Program_Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Front Office Football Eight\datafile\stadium_2020.fdt). Once that file is replaced, new universes won't experience this issue.

Front Office Football Seven

How do I order Front Office Football Seven?

Visit our Front Office Football Seven Steam Store.

If you would prefer the ViaTech version, you can Front Office Football Seven, Verison 7.2 - ViaTech version download the latest version and run the installer.

What is the difference between the Steam verison and the ViaTech version?

The Steam product and the ViaTech product use the same code base, but have different DRM systems. The major difference between the two is that the Steam product requires the installation of the Steam client and includes Steam Achievements. Steam Achievements are only viewable through the Steam client and are triggered when a player achieves something specific within Front Office Football, like winning the Front Office Bowl.

The products are not interchangeable. Steam games can be played through a desktop link or directly through the Steam client. Front Office Football requires that Steam is running when the game is played.

Since these are technically different products, we can't offer you an exchange of versions. Please don't ask ViaTech, either. They have no special access to the Steam store.

When installing the ViaTech product or when trying to run the ViaTech product, nothing happens?

Vista and Windows 7/8/10 require administrative privileges to run certain types of programs. You should try the following actions:

Right-click on the product icon entry in the installation folder (usually under Program Files (x86)/Solecismic Software/Front Office Football Seven/Front Office Football Seven.exe. Allow it to run as administrator by checking the appropriate box.

If you were unable to install the product, find the downloaded installation program. Right-click on the entry or icon. Allow it to run as administrator.

If this does not work, you're dealing with interference from your anti-virus software. It may have to be turned off or even uninstalled before Front Office Football can be installed. ZoneAlarm is particularly troublesome with the electronic licensing software. The ZoneAlarm toolbar can block installation. We also would never recommend AVG, which refuses to eliminate false positives in their virus detection system. We recommend you stick with Windows Defender.

If you've tried turning off/uninstalling your anti-virus software, and/or granting Front Office Football permission to run within that software and you still don't get a response when trying to run Front Office Football, execution might be blocked by the Windows Data Execution Prevention service (DEP).

To ensure DEP is working properly, open the Control Panel, go the System window, click on the "Advanced" tab or the "Advanced system settings" menu option, then click on "Performance" under "Settings". Finally, click on the "Data Execution Prevention" tab.

Verify that "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only" is selected. If this doesn't solve your problem, try the "Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select" option, then add Windows/runservice.exe and Program Files (x86)/Solecismic Software/Front Office Football Seven.exe as exceptions.

If this doesn't work, it's possible that the eLicense Control Service is being prevented from running.

To ensure the Control Service is running, access your Windows Control Panel, then Administrative Tools, then open Services. Make sure the "LicCtrl" service is set to "Automatic" and has a status of "Started". Some optimization software disables the license control, and the Control Service needs to be white-listed.

Finally, it's possible the Licensing Control won't start without the msvcr71.dll file. A copy of this file is located in the Front Office Football Seven installation directory (usually under Program Files (x86)/Solecismic Software). This file should also be part of the operating system, but it isn't always installed. You could try copying this file into your Windows, Windows/System32 or Windows/SysWOW64 directory. You will need administrative privileges to do this and we advocate only doing this if everything else has failed. You can also search online for a copy of msvcr71.dll directly from Microsoft if you're uncomfortable adding our version to your Windows installation.

I've run out of ViaTech licenses due to hard disk crashes or computers that no longer work. What can I do?

We want our customers to have some flexibility with the licensing system. So ViaTech, in most cases, is willing to reset your licenses. Contact ViaTech support to make that request. Make sure to white-list elicense.com in your anti-spam settings to ensure you will receive a response. When they receive your email, they usually respond within 48 hours.

The College Years

Can I update The College Years with the current conference structure?

No. The conference structure is limited to the 2004 college football FBS division.

Are you able to import draft files from The College Years into Front Office Football?

Yes, you can create draft files for all existing versions of Front Office Football, including Front Office Football Eight. Solecismic Eight players are assigned to random small colleges.

I'm having trouble getting The College Years running. What can I try?

Since this is a ViaTech product, you can try the remedies suggested in the Front Office Football Seven section above. Also, since this is an older product, it defaults to run out of the Program Files series of folders. You will need to give your user account privileges to read, write and execute files within all folders within the installation.

General Questions

Would you tell about your next product?

At this time, nothing has been decided about future games.

I appreciate very much that people are still interested in my work, 25 years after the beginning of Front Office Football.

Are Front Office Football 2007, 2004, the Fourth Edition and The College Years still available?

These products are no longer on sale. We also can't sell or support the EA Sports versions of Front Office football from 1999-2002. If you have a license to install the CD for one of our older games, unfortunately we no longer have records of those purchases and cannot resend you a code.

My question isn't addressed here. Are there more answers?

For questions about game play, please check the game's help file (press F1 from any screen).

If your question is about the installation of the ViaTech version of the game or about their electronic licensing, you'll receive a much faster and more accurate answer from ViaTech support. They also handle the license resets and financial transactions for us.

For questions about the Steam version of the game, please contact Valve through the Steam web site.

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