[warning] I changed from Proton to Native Linux and my save files got deleted!

[0x41414141]

Why would the game delete the save files... this is very upsetting.

I'm new to the game and lost everything I have done for the past two days of playthru, just because I was trying to squeeze better performance of this game that looks like Half Life and demands my GPU/CPU more than Cyberpunk 2077... [/salt]

[Myztkl©-Kev]

save file isn't gone, it's just kept in a different location. If you're using proton the save is in the proton config and when you're native it saves it elsewhere. I'm sure a google search will find you a solution. The game is taxing because it's literally a simulation, it requires a lot of CPU. I have a 13700k and a 3080ti and I still see FPS in the 40s sometimes.

GOG.com %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Egosoft\X4\save\
Steam %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Egosoft\X4\<user-id>\save\
Linux $HOME/.config/EgoSoft/X4/<user-id>/save/

[0x41414141]

Originally posted by Myztkl©-Kev:

save file isn't gone, it's just kept in a different location. If you're using proton the save is in the proton config and when you're native it saves it elsewhere. I'm sure a google search will find you a solution. The game is taxing because it's literally a simulation, it requires a lot of CPU. I have a 13700k and a 3080ti and I still see FPS in the 40s sometimes.

GOG.com %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Egosoft\X4\save\
Steam %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Egosoft\X4\<user-id>\save\
Linux $HOME/.config/EgoSoft/X4/<user-id>/save/

Thanks for pointing a possible solution, I will try it out. But this doesn't excuse the bug. I play a lot of games on Linux and never have had this happen to me.

The performance is not being bottlenecked by the simulation. My CPU is not struggling while GPU is at 100%. And I'm having bad performance (again, comparitively given the quality of these graphics) issues in TImelines which (supposedly unless the devs are insane) doesn't have the whole world simulation so your argument is moot.

[Myztkl©-Kev]

the issue is windows doesn't care if your save is kept in Save or save, linux does, and since the linux version came out afterwards, fixing whatever issue they had would cause windows users to lose data, so they are kept in 2 different locations depending on the version you are running or something, from what I can understand based on a few threads I read about it when I was trying to install on my steamdeck.

As for performance, I don't know what GPU you are running, but my GPU is barely taxed while playing this game (which is why I can super sample without any performance hits), while my CPU is constantly being rung out.

[0x41414141]

Originally posted by Myztkl©-Kev:

the issue is windows doesn't care if your save is kept in Save or save, linux does, and since the linux version came out afterwards, fixing whatever issue they had would cause windows users to lose data, so they are kept in 2 different locations depending on the version you are running or something, from what I can understand based on a few threads I read about it when I was trying to install on my steamdeck.

As for performance, I don't know what GPU you are running, but my GPU is barely taxed while playing this game (which is why I can super sample without any performance hits), while my CPU is constantly being rung out.

FIles are there but the tree structure is completely different.

I'm not going to waste (more) of my time trying to figure this out and make them compatible. I'll either just quit the game or start over.

This bug is a major oversight by the developers. Like I said; I play a LOT of games on Linux is this is the first time I've seen this behavior.

Regarding GPU, I have an RTX 3060, that plays Cyberpunk 2077 on very high settings very happily. I don't expect Egosoft to pump out performance of a game from a AAA studio that partners with NVIDIA; but I also don't expect a game that looks like some generic Unity engine game to peg my GPU and deliver subpar performance.

Regardless, the warning is here for other Linux users. Switching from Proton to Native does not behave like you expect: you have issues with your save files.

[Myztkl©-Kev]

you literally just have to copy the save file from one folder to the other, it's not that big of a deal though lol. Also, a 3060 is kind of a low end GPU today, that being said, the game requires a good CPU with good single thread performance because of the simulation. lowering the amount of traffic around stations by editing the XML can help with performance around stations. I get like 140+ fps in an open system, but dips to like 50-60 when in densely populated sectors with lots of stations. Graphics literally has nothing to do with it, you say your GPU is maxed but somehow I don't believe it, game is heavily CPU bound.

[0x41414141]

Originally posted by Myztkl©-Kev:

you literally just have to copy the save file from one folder to the other, it's not that big of a deal though lol.

I got a Steam Cloud corruption error when I tried loading my game after copying the siles inside the save folder. I will try copying the entire folder structure from the parent directory that holds the save folder...

Regardless if it works; I shouldn't have to be doing this. This is a bug.

[Myztkl©-Kev]

Originally posted by 0x41414141:

Originally posted by Myztkl©-Kev:

you literally just have to copy the save file from one folder to the other, it's not that big of a deal though lol.

I got a Steam Cloud corruption error when I tried loading my game after copying the siles inside the save folder. I will try copying the entire folder structure from the parent directory that holds the save folder...

Regardless if it works; I shouldn't have to be doing this. This is a bug.

it's not a bug because it's intended. Cloud saves won't work between OS'es because the files exist in 2 separate locations. I would actually turn cloud saves off or delete the save in the cloud (after backing up your local save) before moving the file.

[0x41414141]

Originally posted by Myztkl©-Kev:

Originally posted by 0x41414141:

I got a Steam Cloud corruption error when I tried loading my game after copying the siles inside the save folder. I will try copying the entire folder structure from the parent directory that holds the save folder...

Regardless if it works; I shouldn't have to be doing this. This is a bug.

it's not a bug because it's intended. Cloud saves won't work between OS'es because the files exist in 2 separate locations. I would actually turn cloud saves off or delete the save in the cloud (after backing up your local save) before moving the file.

Ok; so it's intended poor programming. sure.

[Myztkl©-Kev]

Originally posted by 0x41414141:

Originally posted by Myztkl©-Kev:

it's not a bug because it's intended. Cloud saves won't work between OS'es because the files exist in 2 separate locations. I would actually turn cloud saves off or delete the save in the cloud (after backing up your local save) before moving the file.

Ok; so it's intended poor programming. sure.

I mean, I explained it already, they made the linux version LATER, there was a problem with the way linux handles directories (case sensitive) that windows doesn't care about (not case sensitive). If they fixed it, everyone who already owned the game on windows would have lost their saves or data of some kind, so the compromise was to put the save directory in a different location for the linux version. So nobody is affected by anything unless you play the game on windows and native linux version, yeah it sucks, but it's not a bug or poor programming, just an oversight because they didn't originally plan on a linux version. but I can't expect you to understand that, considering you think your 3060 should give you good performance in a game that is CPU bound and barely uses your GPU.

[0x41414141]

Originally posted by Myztkl©-Kev:

Originally posted by 0x41414141:

Ok; so it's intended poor programming. sure.

I mean, I explained it already, they made the linux version LATER, there was a problem with the way linux handles directories (case sensitive) that windows doesn't care about (not case sensitive).

Sure. Everything has an explanation; including bugs and bad programming. I'm not questioning your explanation.

Originally posted by Myztkl©-Kev:

If they fixed it, everyone who already owned the game on windows would have lost their saves or data of some kind, so the compromise was to put the save directory in a different location for the linux version.

No, the fix is detecting what OS the game is running on and act accordingly. There's multiple possible solutions to this... from using symlinks to copying over files. Everything a user can do manually; they can automate behind the scenes making it invisible for the user that an issue ever occurred.

A user should not care that unix is case sensitive. Leaving the user to solve and figure this out is: bad programming.

And if the outcome of an action does not have the intended behavior, from the user's point of view it is a bug. All the technical, behind the scenes, explanations are moot. If it has unintended consequences, it's a bug.

Originally posted by Myztkl©-Kev:

So nobody is affected by anything unless you play the game on windows and native linux version, yeah it sucks, but it's not a bug or poor programming, just an oversight because they didn't originally plan on a linux version. but I can't expect you to understand that, considering you think your 3060 should give you good performance in a game that is CPU bound and barely uses your GPU.

I think you misread what I wrote... I'm not having any issues with the CPU (it's well under 20% utilization while the GPU is pegged.) Also, the performance issues have nothing to do with the sandbox; I have them in Timelines too which has missions that do not have a simulated universe to run (like I said; unless the developers are insane and for some reason are simulating the sandbox in a mission where it's literally a race loop).

So the issue is definitely performance on the graphical side.

And my poor 3060 can handle way more graphically intensive games.

I'll stop replying to this thread now... I get it you agree 100% with their programming decisions here and I disagree. We'll leave it at that.

[Myztkl©-Kev]

man, you would have been lost gaming on linux just 5 years ago.

[db48x]

Honestly, the issues with Proton have nothing to do with EgoSoft’s programming, whether it is good or bad or indifferent. Proton emulates a Windows system, so X4 puts the save games in the same place it puts them on Windows. Proton jumps through hoops to create a directory structure that mirrors what programs expect to see on Windows just so that this works correctly. But then when you uninstall the game from Proton and install the native Linux build of the game, suddenly X4 sees that the OS is Linux and puts them in the place they go on Linux. Proton is no longer there to make the game think it is Windows and create a special My Documents folder to put them in.

The real fault belongs to Valve. If they were really on the ball, they would make the game developers write down where the save files will go on different OSs, and when you transitioned from Proton to native Linux it would copy them over for you. But that’s a really hard problem, and you will never get 90% of the game developers to supply you with that information. Most of them don’t care about Linux, and they won’t take 5 minutes to type in that kind of information. So we are stuck doing it manually.