Saves from multiple accounts on one computer

[Haze System]

My girlfriend and I both own the game and have our own saves, but are unable to play our own saves on the same computer. Will the devs ever make it possible to use our own saves on the same computer? It's really annoying that if I want to load my save it has to overwrite hers and lose all of her progress and she has to start over from the beginning. We're not even allowed to have separate saves if we're logged into Steam on our own Windows accounts.

[xNaquada]

BUMP. Having this issue for years, today someone pressed "upload" instead of download. Why are Steam profiles not properly supported? We both have copies of the game purchased, but the game just seems to overwrite the entire save directory everytime steam logs into the alternate account and launches STS.

[Zu]

Originally posted by xNaquada:

the game just seems to overwrite the entire save directory

Did you try using different save slots before deleting the others and leaving them empty? Like, person A uses save slot 2 on account A, person B uses save slot 3 on account B. If that doesn't work, perhaps one of you can play on the beta branch.

If that doesn't work either, perhaps having two steam libraries in different locations does the trick. Gaben stopped supporting multiple libraries on the same drive ages ago, but you can still force this feature back into steam by editing libraryfolders.vdf in Steam\steamapps.

Disclaimer: Not an excuse, just workaround suggestions.

[xNaquada]

I've tried everything. This is a well known issue that has threads here and on reddit over the years. I even submitted a bug report to MegaCrit a long time ago which was ignored.

Quite clear they don't intend to fix their mistake. The lack of a discrete profile folder or mapping for saves means that steam cloud will always overwrite the target directory next time the game launches on a separate account.

"but you can still force this feature back into steam by editing libraryfolders.vdf in Steam\steamapps"

Don't suppose you could recommend a resource to start looking into this? Aside from just starting to Google around I mean. In theory, having two copies of the game installed, where each profile accesses a discrete install directory would fix this issue, but as we know it's not possible by default.

Still, this is a nice lead, thanks for mentioning it.

[Zu]

Preface cuz I forgot:
None of this matters if you have multiple drives, preferably SSDs. One Steam library per physical drive is fair game and can be configured in Steam's Downloads settings.

Notepad sorcery reference:
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/135511294066324002/#c1319961618834919950

How to cast sorcery:

1) Create a new folder practically wherever and call it Steam.
2) Might have to create a steamapps folder (lowercase) inside it too.
3) Open libraryfolders.vdf with Notepad.
(It's in the original Steam\steamapps - a subfolder in the same place as steam.exe)
4) See the syntax above and adapt it to your new folder location.
5) Restart Steam (or even the pc) and you should see the folder when right-clicking Steam to check Settings->Downloads->Steam Library Folders.
6) When you tell Steam to install a game, there'll be a dropdown to choose a location.

In my case, tab presses seem to matter too:
<1 tab>"1"<2tabs>"RootDirectory:\\FolderName\\AgainIfYouCare\\Steam"

Example:
"1" "D:\\Thx_GabeN\\Steam"
If it doesn't work, you have a custom library elsewhere already so the "1" needs to be "2".
Stom might not like spacebar in folder names either, or the underscore in my example.
Yes, the vdf syntax needs double backslash. These-> \\
And perhaps both of your Steam accounts need to do this fancy pants edit.

Smol benefit of not installing your games in Steam's default library btw:
If you ever think reinstalling Steam might help in some way, you don't have to do the whole "soft uninstall" nonsense by manually deleting select files.
I forgot about that once and incidentally saved me some time because uninstalling Steam didn't uninstall the games in my custom library. I did have to verify their local files' integrity afterwards though.

[xNaquada]

Appreciate you typing this up! I scanned through it.

I do have multiple SSDs but as far as I'm aware, there's no way to directly map an account to a steam library folder on a specific drive (I've tried this already...there's no way to force a 2nd install, both steam accounts will "see" and only use the first install directory.

e..g I have a library on steam drive 1.
User A installs on drive 1. works fine
User B logs into steam, steam shows the game installed on drive 1 already, there's no way to reconfigure it to "forget" about that install or that library folder. Ergo there's no way to get a second copy installed. I've actually tried this already (trying to install into two separate steam libraries, but Steam detects the game installed from the other account and only provides an option to "play", not install again to a separate location/steamlibrary. It doesnt work.

The issue is specific to having each steam account only access a specific steamlibrary on a single machine-- and only that library, not any others that may be setup on the local machine.

[Spawnling]

Originally posted by xNaquada:

there's no way to reconfigure it to "forget" about that install or that library folder. Ergo there's no way to get a second copy installed. I've actually tried this already (trying to install into two separate steam libraries, but Steam detects the game installed from the other account and only provides an option to "play", not install again to a separate location/steamlibrary. It doesnt work.

View->Settings->Downloads->Steam Library Folders
(Edit: Right click a folder and click 'Remove from library fodler')
Here you can add and remove libraries.

To understand your issue correctly:
-You have 3 Folders (1 where steam is installed to, one for User_A, and one for User_B)
-You install StS to User_A's folder
-You change accounts, remove User_A's library if needed
-You install to User_B's folder or you copy StS to User_B's folder and add it to the steam library folders

That dosen't work?

[Zu]

Originally posted by Spawnling:

[Stuff]
That doesn't work?

It shouldn't now that it's clear that not all Steam settings depend on which account booted up alongside it, which makes sense to be fair.

Maaaybe the separate library trick works if you also use separate OS profiles and tell it not to share that one indie game you just installed, but at this point you might as well play on the same account and build trust, whoever you are. :p

[Spawnling]

Originally posted by Zu:

It shouldn't now that it's clear that not all Steam settings depend on which account booted up alongside it, which makes sense to be fair.

Thanks for clarifying. I was wondering if I didn't understand the issue (steam not seperating correctly different libraries between different users) correctly.