Admiralty System Optimizer Launcher ran into an expected problem

[BreakingForce]

Describe the bug
i just freshly downloaded the "current" version of sto-aso, unzipped it to a directory, and ran the .exe. i get an error message "Admiralty System Optimizer Launcher ran into an expected problem." and the description is as follows:

java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.kor.launcher.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:150)

To Reproduce
i dunno, it just happens whenever i run the .exe. if i run the executable Jar file, the program loads, but seems to be unable to save any information (no admirals file is created)

Expected behavior
i mean...i expected the program to...work?

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: [e.g. iOS] Win10 Pro
• Browser [e.g. chrome, safari] Vivaldi
• Version [e.g. 22] version of the browser? the os? sto-aso? everything's current as of 9/21/2019, except sto-aso, which is version 1.0.30

Smartphone (please complete the following information):
what? why? this has nothing to do with a smartphone..

Additional context