I saved the game I played for about 20 min that I mentioned in post above:
http://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4204657/Re:_EECH_1.16.0_[TESTING]#Post4204657
I went to continue where I left off just now and it gave me this error message at the generating campaign screen...
But I can start a new game, any game, as long as it's not a previously saved game.
I only have one saved game under version 1.16, the one I played for 20 min.