Recommendation: Games shouldn't create .developer_name directory in user's home

[Dr0zD[SVK]]

Games shouldn't create .developer_name (.frictionalgames, .frozenbyte etc.) directory in user's home folder. Games should store data only in Steam folder.

IMHO. I can be also wrong and there are planty reasons why current way is better, but I can't think of any. (ok, maybe I can cp these directories and simlink them into home folder, but...)

[blacke4dawn]

Where the save-games and game specific config files are stored is pretty much up to the individual devs, but I would love to see a guideline that "consolidates" them using the XDG standards.

[ADHD]

Right. Thank God they at least make these directories hidden. :)

[immanetize]

blacke4dawn:

Where the save-games and game specific config files are stored is pretty much up to the individual devs, but I would love to see a guideline that "consolidates" them using the XDG standards.

For the reader's reference, the standards referred to above are maintained at http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html

[yzhernand]

So while I agree that Steam (if it has ANY control over this, as it has already been pointed out that this is largely due to the individual developers), I still think it should CHECK if these directories exist first, and then maybe copy any existing saves over. Thanks to that happening, most of my pre-steam achievements in games have successfully ported over to steam once I installed the game via Steam, so I was pretty happy about that.

[bugsbony]

There definitely should be some guidelines as to where preferences and saved games should be saved. Using XDG is a good start, but it would be even better if it was possible to have specific folders for games, as games are very different from the other types of software

[[K] Nonno Cicala / Gribbit]

I prefer if saved games and configs files are stored in a place independent from Steam, like it is now, but I'd like to see some kind of standard used by the devs.

[Naum]

bugsbony:

games are very different from the other types of software

Could you elaborate on what you regard as relevant differences between games and other software in this context? Because intuitively, I'd say they're pretty similar as far as the XDG spec's subject matter is concerned.

[Dr0zD[SVK]]

Still, I don't want to imagine my home folder when multiple games will create multiple .developer_name directories. Today, there are just aprox. two folders like this, but in a year, there can be twenty (more games on steam, more directories). Games (config or whatever) files shouldn't be placed directly in home folder - rather /usr/share/games (probably not appropriete) or ~/.steam directory seems also like a right place.

[blacke4dawn]

Dr0zDSVK:

Still, I don't want to imagine my home folder when multiple games will create multiple .developer_name directories. Today, there are just aprox. two folders like this, but in a year, there can be twenty (more games on steam, more directories). Games (config or whatever) files shouldn't be placed directly in home folder - rather /usr/share/games (probably not appropriete) or ~/.steam directory seems also like a right place.

Using /usr/share/games may not be an option since not many have that much space on that partition. Besides, that place is more appropriate if the game is installed through the package manager. A better solution is to be able to choose where the game library will be placed, and making it shareable between multiple accounts.

As for where to save their data, they should follow the XDG standard by using $XDG_DATA_HOME and/or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME depending on what they save. Of course Steam could re-export those with a /steam appended but that's another matter. But as I said, that is up to the individual game devs, and I'm not sure if that is something that Valve should force upon them.

[Sindwiller]

+1

[Sindwiller]

"Using /usr/share/games may not be an option since not many have that much space on that partition."

It is generally a poor decision to move /usr or even /usr/share onto a separate partition.

[blacke4dawn]

Sindwiller:

"Using /usr/share/games may not be an option since not many have that much space on that partition."

It is generally a poor decision to move /usr or even /usr/share onto a separate partition.

Right, so it applies to the root-partition as well if you don't use a separate one, and most won't have such a big root-partition since they save the space for a home-partition or even use a separate data/media partition (or even separate HDD).

[bugsbony]

First /usr is not for files that are modified by users, so putting savegames there is out of question.

Games are very different from other software for lots of reasons. With regards to config and savegames, they may fit the descriptions of the XDG standard, but they are still different enough that users may wish to put these elsewhere, if only for space reasons (some savegames can grow rather big) and for ease of sorting. I would suggest $XDG_GAME_* variables that would have priority over the regular $XDG_* variables.

[ADHD]

I can remember old good times when there was a Saves folder in every game. :)

[Sindwiller]

blacke4dawn:

Sindwiller:

"Using /usr/share/games may not be an option since not many have that much space on that partition."

It is generally a poor decision to move /usr or even /usr/share onto a separate partition.

Right, so it applies to the root-partition as well if you don't use a separate one, and most won't have such a big root-partition since they save the space for a home-partition or even use a separate data/media partition (or even separate HDD).

Which is exactly why game saves and configs should stay in ~/ by default, following the XDG standard as close as possible. I would definitely opt for $XDG_GAME_ variables, although I don't see that being implemented in the near future.

On the subject of partitioning, however: Having a /home partition (or a disk, even) which is separate from / is the only useful setup I can think of on a normal computer. A root partition, entailing /usr etc. should have a sizeable... size, since /var can at times grow big and system-wide installation of heaps and heaps of application and data isn't too uncommon, regardless of distribution.