Steam: A Problem with Save Game Data

[naninho205]

Around 2013, Double Fine started developing Linux ports of their older games. This was a great initiative but, with the Steam Linux client still in diapers, some problems arose. Mainly, the Steam Cloud couldn't sync between different platforms, forcing us to replay the games from the beginning.

Some of the games that weren't working back then are now syncing flawlessly between different platforms (Costume Quest, Stacking). Others still aren't (Psychonauts, Brütal Legend).

But what bothers me the most right now is the fact that with their newer games (Broken Age, Grim Fandango) Double Fine decided to put the saved data loosely into the game folder. Sure, the Steam Cloud works fine with these games but the problem is that it doesn't distinguish which data belongs to each user! The other day I started playing Broken Age after a long time, only to find that my brother (using HIS Windows account and HIS Steam account on the same computer) replaced all of my saves with his own! WE NEED A FIX!

This is the current situation for the games that I had the chance to try:

Steam Game         Save Game Data Location (Windows)                 Account-specific    Cross-platform Sync



Psychonauts        \profiles\                          X                   X

//Costume Quest    \userdata\\115100\         ✓                   ✓

//Stacking         \userdata\\115110\         ✓                   ✓

The Cave           %APPDATA%\Doublefine\TheCave\\           ✓                   X

Brütal Legend      %APPDATA%\Doublefine\BrutalLegend\\      ✓                   X

Broken Age         \saves\                             X                   ✓

//Hack 'n' Slash   \userdata\\246070\         ✓                   ✓

Grim Fandango      \saves\                             X                   ✓

From the table it becomes apparent that the ideal way to manage the saves on Steam is the one that Valve recommends: \userdata\\\local\, \userdata\\\remote\. As is the case with the three commented games, the saves remain isolated from other accounts and also sync perfectly between Windows, Mac and Linux.

So, Double Fine fellas:

Can you PLEASE update your games to support that kind of directory? Or if it is too difficult, can you at least consider to add a folder inside /saves/ in your newer games???

Thank you very much,

naninho205

[ThunderPeel]

Great post! I really hope someone at DF takes note!

[naninho205]

Great post! I really hope someone at DF takes note!

Thanks!

By the way, you think this is the correct place for this thread? I mean, it's more like a Bug Report/Petition rather than a Discussion, but I couldn't find a general Technical Support forum nor anything like that.

[Bidiot Bales]

Great post! I really hope someone at DF takes note!

Thanks!

By the way, you think this is the correct place for this thread? I mean, it's more like a Bug Report/Petition rather than a Discussion, but I couldn't find a general Technical Support forum nor anything like that.

It's fine here. You could shoot them an email at support@doublefine.com as well, they're more likely to see it.

[flesk]

Yeah, I think this is the best place for the thread since it doesn't concern just one game. They're probably going to be pretty busy supporting Broken Age the coming weeks, but I'll try to help make sure this thread gets noticed. Also, I don't think it would be out of place to create a separate thread for just the Broken Age save issue, and then link to this thread.

EDIT: Heh, I had to go do something else and got ninja'd by more than 20 minutes. :red:

[naninho205]

It's fine here. You could shoot them an email at support@doublefine.com as well, they're more likely to see it.

Yeah, already tried that. Like ten days ago, still no answer.

Yeah, I think this is the best place for the thread since it doesn't concern just one game. They're probably going to be pretty busy supporting Broken Age the coming weeks, but I'll try to help make sure this thread gets noticed. Also, I don't think it would be out of place to create a separate thread for just the Broken Age save issue, and then link to this thread.

EDIT: Heh, I had to go do something else and got ninja'd by more than 20 minutes. :red:

That's a good idea! We should probably do that after Act II becomes available on Steam.

[Smiles]

Yeah, already tried that. Like ten days ago, still no answer.

They're probably still pretty geared up for a game launch, I'd give a little more time.

Smiles

[DF Oliver]

Hi naninho205.

Sorry you lost game progress because of this. You definitely raise a good point.

The reason why both Broken Age and Grim store their save games next to the executable is because of the cross-platform cloud saves. We are using Steam's 'auto cloud' feature, which means that Steam takes care of syncing files on all three PC platforms.

I like you suggestion to use the Steam user ID as a folder name as it seems like the best solution for this scenario.

Oliver.

[chickenmonger]

I tell ya, if some genius made a MIT-licensed middleware for a universal save/load system, it would be the best thing ever. It might also be the most complicated thing ever. Save/load is *hard*.

[naninho205]

Sorry you lost game progress because of this.

No worries. My idea was to start over from the beginning of Act 1, honestly.

I like you suggestion to use the Steam user ID as a folder name as it seems like the best solution for this scenario.

Well, good then! But now the question is, will you be able to fix it from Germany???

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

[subert]

Some games have problem with save files .Even if your position is saved next start back you to the first scene.