[HELP] How to Share a Map with a Friend?

[Z-One]

Hi guys, so the deal is:

Along with other 2 friends we have been playing a non-dedicated game in The Island and after about a year of gameplay we decided to move on to another adventure and for the sake of keeping our memories, we decided to backup the whole map and share it between us.

I used to be the Hoster and I am also the one that uploaded the map, now the issue:

My friend tried to log on the copied map but he always crashes in the last moments of loading (around Island_Ruins).

I gave him a copy of the modlist (including the order of mods), I made a .zip with everything in the "Saved" folder including: "Config", "SavedArksLocal" and "SaveGames".

After failed attempts, he tried to log in another map and he ended spawning with my character, including my level + skins from achievements. Later we figured that the issue was the LocalProfile which he removed and went on to spawn again with his character but with my skins achievements unlocked...?

Anyway... are we doing something wrong? Is it possible to share a map with a friend? If yes, then could someone please share how to do it?

I would be very grateful on any insight about this!

Thanks!

[zerassar]

SP and non-dedi saves link the host to the host character.
Your friend is now the host... Hence them getting the behaviour they see.

This is normal and to be expected. This, amongst a slew of other reasons, is why most veterans here recommend dedicated servers instead. A proper dedicated server uses steam64ID's to match a player to their character.

[Z-One]

Yes, we've decided to migrate to a dedicated server from now on, I already know how to do it, but still, isn't there a way to keep the memory of this map?

[zerassar]

Originally posted by Z-One:

Yes, we've decided to migrate to a dedicated server from now on, I already know how to do it, but still, isn't there a way to keep the memory of this map?

Load the map into your dedicated server. Plenty of guides online how to do that.
One thing you may need to do is force claim the tribes using admin commands.

[Z-One]

Originally posted by zerassar:

Originally posted by Z-One:

Yes, we've decided to migrate to a dedicated server from now on, I already know how to do it, but still, isn't there a way to keep the memory of this map?

Load the map into your dedicated server. Plenty of guides online how to do that.
One thing you may need to do is force claim the tribes using admin commands.

I see... that's indeed a possibility... We might end up doing that, I would still like a more simple way for those guys though hahaha

But I will take your suggestion into consideration if no other options are available!

[zerassar]

Originally posted by Z-One:

Originally posted by zerassar:

Load the map into your dedicated server. Plenty of guides online how to do that.
One thing you may need to do is force claim the tribes using admin commands.

I see... that's indeed a possibility... We might end up doing that, I would still like a more simple way for those guys though hahaha

But I will take your suggestion into consideration if no other options are available!

Unfortunately there is no true "single player" in Ark. Everything is a variation of the server.
Hence why you get weirdness like this. You're not sharing a savegame like other games may have... You're sharing a servers world files, those have made assumptions about who the host is and what the host owns in that world.

Dedicated servers though you can happily share those world files around and doesnt matter who hosts it... It will seamlessly register people with their steamID's to the correct server profiles.

[Z-One]

I see, I have read other people stating the same on different topics... damn, that's so sad... thanks for sharing what you know!

[🦊 Hermit]

If you rename the arkprofile files before trying to log in (changing your friend's character's name to LocalPlayer and your own character's name to your SteamID) it should work smoothly. Do you have a clean copy of the files to send them again so they can try from the start?

[william_es]

Originally posted by 🦊 Hermit:

If you rename the arkprofile files before trying to log in (changing your friend's character's name to LocalPlayer and your own character's name to your SteamID) it should work smoothly. Do you have a clean copy of the files to send them again so they can try from the start?

This, +1

A non-dedicated game is essentially just a single player game where other people joined. It has generic labels for the hosts characters instead (as other earlier mentioned) the steam64 ids.

[Z-One]

Originally posted by 🦊 Hermit:

If you rename the arkprofile files before trying to log in (changing your friend's character's name to LocalPlayer and your own character's name to your SteamID) it should work smoothly. Do you have a clean copy of the files to send them again so they can try from the start?

Originally posted by william_es:

Originally posted by 🦊 Hermit:

If you rename the arkprofile files before trying to log in (changing your friend's character's name to LocalPlayer and your own character's name to your SteamID) it should work smoothly. Do you have a clean copy of the files to send them again so they can try from the start?

This, +1

A non-dedicated game is essentially just a single player game where other people joined. It has generic labels for the hosts characters instead (as other earlier mentioned) the steam64 ids.

My friend just tried it and it still didn't worked. He still crashed in the last moments of loading (around Island_Ruins).

[Siegbert]

Bump

[Siegbert]

Originally posted by Siegbert:

Bump

BumpX2

[🦊 Hermit]

Originally posted by Z-One:

My friend just tried it and it still didn't worked. He still crashed in the last moments of loading (around Island_Ruins).

Is your friend able to log in to that map on a server, or on single player without the save files you give them?

[Z-One]

Originally posted by 🦊 Hermit:

Originally posted by Z-One:

My friend just tried it and it still didn't worked. He still crashed in the last moments of loading (around Island_Ruins).

Is your friend able to log in to that map on a server, or on single player without the save files you give them?

He still didn't try it with a dedicated server setup, our game was heavily modded so I don't know if its really worthy all that work (+30 mods).

He can join any other map without issues, only our map (my savefile) crashes him.

[🦊 Hermit]

I'm afraid I'm at a loss. So long as you copied the files across correctly and he put them in the correct place, and also he changed the filenames over so that the correct character was identified with his account, then I don't know of any other reason why it wouldn't be working. The only remaining item that might have a bearing is some kind of mod issue, whether he hasn't gotten the mod list installed correctly or something, idk.

[Siegbert]

Originally posted by Siegbert:

Originally posted by Siegbert:

Bump

BumpX2

BumpX3