Introduction
In some specific situations, The Forge may be unable to launch a world, and instead displays the following error message :
While we try to make everything about the Foundry VTT experience as turn-key and easy to use as possible, there are some issues do not have an intuitive solution.
In this article we will explain what this error means, and how to resolve it.
Game Manager
The Game Manager is one of the hallmark features of The Forge. It takes all of the features you can do within the setup menu, and brings them to our intuitive, easy to use web interface. If you are subscribed at the Story Teller tier or above, you can enable/access it here.
However, by enabling this feature, the default Foundry VTT setup page is disabled, and replaced by he Game Manager’s interface. For most people, the Game Manager is an upgrade, and offers a great deal of flexibility and integration with The Forge’s greater service.
The “Cannot access Foundry’s setup page” error occurs when the user tries to access the Foundry setup page with the Game Manager enabled. This can happen in the following situations:
- The user manually entered the setup menu URL
https://mygameurl.forge-vtt.com/setup, either out of habit/memory, or by saved/bookmarked link. - A module tries to access the Foundry setup page for an unknown reason (the setup menu should not be accessible while a game is in session)
- The world you are trying to launch is inaccessible/unable to launch, and Foundry VTT redirects you to the setup page instead.
Let’s explore the possible issues that could prevent Foundry from launching the world:
Game System Not Installed
If you import/install a world for a system that is not installed on your account, Foundry will be unable to launch it, which will cause the issue mentioned above.
You can see which system the game requires by clicking on the “Configure Game” button and looking for the system: indicator next to the linked world’s name :
You can then check to see if the system is installed by doing the following:
- Login to The Forge, if you are not logged in already.
- Navigate to your Installed Systems page.
- Search for the system name in the Bazaar’s search terms entry, then press enter.
- Once you find the system, install it if it is not already installed.
- Attempt to launch your game. If the system was not installed, the world should now work, and successfully launch.
World Compatibility
In some situations, worlds and other content can be incompatible with previous versions of Foundry VTT. For example, worlds created/migrated to version 11 of Foundry VTT are incompatible with versions of Foundry VTT before version 11, due to significant structural changes in the database structure of a world.
When this occurs, the only solution is to revert to a backup compatible with earlier versions of Foundry VTT, or upgrade to version 11.
Foundry Version Incompatibility
In some cases, the needed system may be installed, but is incompatible with the installed version of Foundry VTT. This is rare, but can happen if you have recently downgraded your Foundry installation version, and the installed system requires a more recent version of Foundry.
To solve this issue, visit The Bazaar and after ensuring that the system is installed, update if an update is available.
On The Forge, performing a module or system update after downgrading Foundry VTT will also cause the incompatible modules and systems to downgrade to the most recent version compatible with the affected version of Foundry VTT.
Mismatched Foundry versions
Sometimes, there may be mismatching versions of Foundry VTT between worlds. If you have set a world to a different version than the the Game Manager, you may suffer from potential module/system incompatibility. By default, systems will be installed to match your default game version.
As an example, if your default version of Foundry VTT is set to 0.8.9, but you have a game that is locked to Foundry VTT version 0.7.10, the installed version of your system will be the latest version compatible with 0.8.9. In many cases, this will be incompatible with 0.7.10.
To fix this, we recommend setting your world/game to use the default version of Foundry, or manually installing an older version of the system. Please backup all content before doing so.
The world is corrupted
For any number of reasons, a game world can be corrupted or in a state that leaves Foundry VTT unable to launch it. This is very rare, but does sometimes occur. If this happens, we recommend exporting the world, and restoring the world.json file to a previously saved backup. Once this is done, re-import the world.
Other Errors
If you have attempted every troubleshooting step above and have not solved your problem, we recommend temporarily disabling Game Manager, and then launching Foundry VTT’s setup menu. Once there, try to launch the dysfunctional world. Hopefully, Foundry will render some relevant/useful error message to help explain the problem, or at least help technical support solve the problem.
If you require help, please reach out on our Discord (preferred), or via email at [email protected].