How does cloud save work?

[birolay]

Hey guys. Can someone give me pointers on how exactly can I achieve seamless save cloud sync between my devices? Notably between my PC and my Steam Deck?

Is it about using the exact the same cores? The exact same rom filename? Same rom directory? All of the aforementioned? None of them?

Will it sync just the regular saves, or also savestates? Or both?

I'm also looking for long-term reliability... So, If down the road in a few years I want to revisit an old save... Say I forgot which core i've used, am I boned?

Thank you!

[Dgo]

I guess yes as you've mentioned you need to use all the same: rom, core, etc. You have savestates and native saving for some games. If savefiles are that important also make a back up.

Some people reported that they couldn't sync between devices so I recommend you in those cases transferring manually your save files. There seems to be some issues.

[roflBeck]

It syncs everything in the save folder and the state folder. I think it also syncs things like button remaps and emulator settings. But yes, make sure your rom file names are the same, because the save files and such are the same name as the rom file (at least for a lot of retro platforms, like cartridge-based ones). As for what core, I don't think it matters in most cases. Although for some platforms, it might since they could save as different file types. If it doesn't work for one, try a different core. There's not that many cores per console.

[Gequi]

I used cloud save recently and it did not sync settings, just save and state folders

[birolay]

I'm using the same rom files and cores, and it's not syncing jack. Neither save, nor savestates or configs.

What am I doing wrong? Could it be because the Steam Deck uses a native Linux version of RetroArch?

Also... I'd love for it to also sync my shader setup, so I don't have to manually select the crt filters each install. Specially considering I use different shaders for different platforms.

Is that possible?

[Darth Scythe]

Commenting with same issue. I have the same file, same core, and it used to sync between deck and desktop and no longer seems to.

Both devices say they are synced with the cloud as well so it just seems like that for whatever reason the steam cloud does not have any saves on it any longer

[ChoquePumper]

Originally posted by birolay:

What am I doing wrong? Could it be because the Steam Deck uses a native Linux version of RetroArch?

If you have set different directories for saves, states and config in Settings > Directory, other than the default (where retroarch is installed), then it will not sync anything.
You can take a look at https://steamdb.info/app/1118310/ufs/ to check the locations used for cloud sync and what patterns (or file extensions) are elegible. For RetroArch, it's the install location.

Important note: Make sure the following items in Settings > Saving are the same in all your devices (because the configuration file retroarch.cfg is not synced):

• Sort Saves into Folders by Core Name (default: yes)
  
• Sort Save States into Folders by Core Name (default: yes)
  
• Sort Saves into Folders by Content Directory (default: no)
  
• Sort Save States into Folders by Content Directory (default: no)

If you change any of the above, do it in every other device too. By selecting 'yes', retroarch will create subdirectories in the saves or states directories, and it will sync with the all the names of directories as they are. If you set to 'no', all saves will be in the same folder, with the con of colliding names by accident (e.g. saves of the same name for different consoles).

[Darth Scythe]

Originally posted by ChoquePumper:

If you have set different directories for saves, states and config in Settings > Directory, other than the default (where retroarch is installed), then it will not sync anything.
You can take a look at https://steamdb.info/app/1118310/ufs/ to check the locations used for cloud sync and what patterns (or file extensions) are elegible. For RetroArch, it's the install location.

Important note: Make sure the following items in Settings > Saving are the same in all your devices (because the configuration file retroarch.cfg is not synced):

• Sort Saves into Folders by Core Name (default: yes)
  
• Sort Save States into Folders by Core Name (default: yes)
  
• Sort Saves into Folders by Content Directory (default: no)
  
• Sort Save States into Folders by Content Directory (default: no)

If you change any of the above, do it in every other device too. By selecting 'yes', retroarch will create subdirectories in the saves or states directories, and it will sync with the all the names of directories as they are. If you set to 'no', all saves will be in the same folder, with the con of colliding names by accident (e.g. saves of the same name for different consoles).

So I can say that it used to work for me, and I changed nothing. Just simply one day my saves on my steam deck did not match. Interestingly, the game I know that previously was synced, on deck no longer has a save period (or save states)

I can check this but everything should be default because I didn't go into the settings at all.

[Dgo]

Probably an update broke something to avoid the sync.

[Stormtr8per]

I'm going to post in this thread too, because I have the same problem. Since I'm a layman, I think RetroArch is very confusing to use compared with other emulators.

I have the exact core (BlastEm), the exact same name for the specific ROM, and I believe the directories (in both machines) are exactly the same.

I have made attempts to look after the specific settings that Darth Scythe has mentioned in retroarch.cfg. Furthermore, I've also visited the URL that the poster has mentioned, but unfortunately, I'm not getting any wiser.

Anyway, regarding the following settings that Darth Scythe has mentioned...

Originally posted by Darth Scythe:

• Sort Saves into Folders by Core Name (default: yes)
  
• Sort Save States into Folders by Core Name (default: yes)
  
• Sort Saves into Folders by Content Directory (default: no)
  
• Sort Save States into Folders by Content Directory (default: no)

...I've found the following lines, but I'm not sure which of them that corresponds to the settings that the poster mentioned:

• savefiles_in_content_dir = "false"
  
• savestates_in_content_dir = "false"
  
• sort_savefiles_by_content_enable = "false"
  
• sort_savefiles_enable = "true"
  
• sort_savestates_by_content_enable = "false"
  
• sort_savestates_enable = "true"

I haven't changed anything in retroarch.cfg before I stumbled upon this thread.