How to backup and restore saved games?

[Deathlok]

When installed via Steam, the saved games may be located here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\[USER ID]\262060

One might think the entire "262060" folder could be copied to a safe place and restored in case of emergency, but that may not quite be the case. I can verify that copying the folder while the game is running and restoring that results in a corrupted save file that will not load. The best you will get is a much, much older saved game the system considers a "backup" of its own.

There are another set of game files stored under Documents\Darkest. It appears to be ten "profile" folders . Mine are all empty. They do not appear to contain saved games, as I've read some argue.

Question is: How do we actually save progress in such a way that it can be restored in case of emergency? Do we have to first exit to the main menu or completely exit the game first?

[Velvet Waltz]

go to the 262060\remote folder and backup the profile_number folder you want (number corresponds to the save slot ingame)

[Deathlok]

If you copy the entire saved game folder, 262060, and return that entire folder (along with that remote subfolder) to its original location, aren't you backing up every single profile_X, anyway?

Or is it the case that we must NOT copy the 262060 folder, but only those profile_X subfolders inside C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\[USER ID]\262060\remote?

[Velvet Waltz]

I would assume so. it probably has to do with the global .jsons that are also in that folder.

[Velvet Waltz]

Originally posted by Deathlok:

Or is it the case that we must NOT copy the 262060 folder, but only those profile_X subfolders inside C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\[USER ID]\262060\remote?

yes.

[Zorlond]

I've got this song-n-dance I do whenever I start a new run (which I only do when I've got a new substantial mod I want to add). Keep in mind I keep Cloud Saving off for this game.

- Start new game.
- Set up mod list (this always takes forever, damn this game need a 'save mod list' system)
- Play, get Reynald and Dismas to the hamlet.
- Go to the map selection, then back to the hamlet.
- Exit game.
- Start game, load save file.
- Go to map selection, then back to the hamlet. (yes, again)
- Exit game.
- Go to the /userdata/(numbers)/(numbers)/remote directory.
- Ctrl-C (copy) on the 'profile_#' directory.
- Ctrl-V to paste it on my desktop. That is my backup.

The whole double-step thing of going back in is to force the game to create and use the 'backup' directory within the 'profile_#' dir. If that 'backup' doesn't exist, you didn't do the steps right. If, when I try to restore the backup, the game says the game is corrupted and has to restore from backup, it -should- restore to the backup it has, which is functionally identical to the regular save. If the backup doesn't exist, it will load a broken setup where your roster is empty and there's nobody on the coach. You can't move forward from there. You can also try to re-copy the desktop backup again, sometimes that works, but sometimes you just get the broken state again.

Please note, I don't do this every game-week, I only do this at Week 1 and that's it. RNG makes sure the game is never identical after the tutorial dungeon anyways.

[Deathlok]

That is a lot. This would have to be done for any game in progress—the loading, exiting, loading, and exiting—to make backups that work?

What a mess. It this an oversight or by design?

[Zorlond]

Probably by design. And it's also why I don't bother doing it after Week 1, it becomes too much of a hassle doing it every week, in addition to the odor of save-scumming.

[Velvet Waltz]

that extra effort has to come from the modding stuff.