Old save files from before 10/19/2021 need to be converted to work with version 1.0.8

[Binary Jellyfish]

I had to release an update to fix issues with the leaderboards, and it required some fairly extensive changes under the hood. This ended up breaking existing save files. Fortunately, they just need to be converted into the new format, and then they'll work again.

In order to do this, I needed to create a separate program which you'll need to download. I couldn't just have the game do it automatically due to technical reasons. Sorry for the inconvenience! The process is simple though, and should only take a couple minutes.

Step 1: Download the file here (download button is in top right):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Jiqo9xO4XuJTPq3g759ck-VtSfuSIqW/view?usp=sharing

Step 2: Extract/unzip it

Step 3: Inside run ImpossibleSoaringSaveFileConverter.exe

Step 4: Click the big blue "Convert Files!" button

Close the program and you're done and ready to play again! You can now delete the converter program off your computer, you shouldn't need it anymore.


And of course, if you're just now playing the game for the first time anytime after 10/18/2021, then you don't need to worry about any of this, since you don't have any old files to begin with.

[Binary Jellyfish]

If you want the technical explanation, read on, otherwise, feel free to ignore the rest of this post.

Basically, a couple weeks ago the leaderboards just randomly stopped working. I'm still not exactly sure why, but the best I can figure is that some minor thing changed with Steam that made it so the leaderboards couldn't communicate with them properly anymore.

To handle the leaderboards, achievements, and the whole Steamworks integration for Impossible Soaring, I use an API called Facepunch.Steamworks. The version I was using in the game was pretty old, so I tried to upgrade to a newer version, in hopes of solving the leaderboard problem. And it did!

But, the new Facepunch.Steamworks version wasn't compatible with the .Net scripting runtime version the game was using. The game is built in Unity, and switching the .Net version wasn't a big deal (I just needed to switch from 3.5 to 4) but it came with a catch - existing save files would no longer work.

The game's save files are saved using a binary formatter built into Unity. When the .Net version was changed, it apparently made changes to the way the binary formatter worked as well, which meant the game would no longer be able to read the old save files.

The solution required two parts. First, was to switch to an entirely different method of saving files with JSON instead of using the binary formatter. This works regardless of the .Net version. Then the second part was to make a separate, simple Unity application that used the old 3.5 .Net version to read files, but the new JSON system to write them. So, it takes the old files and converts them into JSON, which the new version of Impossible Soaring can actually read. Kind of convoluted, but it works.