Sorry to hear you're having this trouble! 😢
This looks like a bug in Spine 4.3.23 where a NullPointerException occurs when loading certain project files. The good news is that your project data is very likely recoverable since the file is still 5.8 KB and not empty or corrupted.
Here's what you can try:
Send the project file to Esoteric Software
The most reliable path forward is to email your .spine project file directly to the team:
contact@esotericsoftware.com
They can fix the file so it opens again, and also identify the root cause so it can be patched in a future version of Spine.
Check your backups
You already found that the 00:52 backup opens fine — that's great! Your backups are located here:
Windows: <user home folder>\Spine\backups
You can also open the backups folder directly from Spine's settings under the Files section. See the Settings - Spine User Guide for more details.
Check the spine.log for more details
Before running Spine again (which would overwrite the log), check the log file for any additional error information:
Windows: %UserProfile%\Spine\spine.log
or C:\Users\Admin\Spine\spine.log in your case. You can include this log when emailing the project file, as it may help identify the cause.
What to include in your email
- One or more of the failing
.spine backup files (e.g., the ones from after 00:52)
- The
spine.log file
- A description of what you were doing before the issue appeared (any new features used, changes made, etc.)
Hopefully the 00:52 backup means you haven't lost too much work, and the team should be able to get you the fixed file back quickly!
