Hello, I am new to Minecraft and therefore to the Forge. I followed the installation instructions, downloaded the latest version of the Forge Installer (not universal or anything, just the second link marked as (Installer)), and opened the installer.
It gave me the proper window that every install video and tutorial that I've seen shows should open, and after making sure "Install Client" was selected, I hit "Okay".
It IMMEDIATELY tells me that I need to run 1.8.1 at least once before it can install. I play this game on it's latest version on a regular basis, so I don't think it's a problem with how often I run the program. It has 1.8.1 as the latest - so it is updated properly.
Just in case I downloaded the installers for 1.8, 1.7.10, and 1.7.2 - all with the same error.
I haven't seen any support offered on any Forge discussion sites so far for this specific problem and I'm hoping someone can help me with this. Let me know if you need more information.