Time limit on cloud saves?

[Dr. Octagon]

Do cloud saves have a limit for how long they'll remain in the cloud?

Yesterday, I decided to install and play Dust: Elysian Tail. I hadn't played it since 2016, but I know it had cloud saves at the time and I know my cloud saves were working (I've always uploaded my saves). However, after I installed the game, I saw that my saves from 2016 were gone. Luckily, I still had my old PC hanging around, so I was able to get my old save from it and transfer it to my new PC.

However, I'm still confused as to how my Dust save wasn't in Steam's cloud. I realize 2016 was 6 years ago, but I thought your cloud saves basically lasted forever. And if Steam's cloud save do last forever then I guess something went wrong back in 2016, but I have no idea what it could have been.

[crunchyfrog]

Nah, you likely have either done something like the usual - not on the right account or something.

Because I've come back to Steam after several years away in 2020. All my old saves were right there. They don't delete anything afaik from any account that is still up and running.

So there's likely something else at play here.

[MCMS]

There is no limit.

[Dr. Octagon]

If there's no limit then something funky happened on either the game dev's end or Valve's end because I have never turned off cloud saves. And no, I don't have multiple accounts. This is my only account.

[MCMS]

I see, so there is zero % chance that something "funky" could have happened on your end. It 100% has to be someone else's fault.

[Dr. Octagon]

Originally posted by Wreez:

I see, so there is zero % chance that something "funky" could have happened on your end. It 100% has to be someone else's fault. :spintires_star:

I know you think this is a smart retort, but if I've never turned off cloud saves and this is my only Steam account then what user error could I have done?

[Snapjak]

The other thing to consider is back in 2016 the game may not have had cloud support for saves.

Space allocated to the cloud for games was pretty limited for a loooong time.

[BJWyler]

2016 is only 6 years ago, so it could be the time differential distortion you entered may have interfered with Steam's internal clock and mussed up the saves.

[MCMS]

Originally posted by Dr. Octagon:

Originally posted by Wreez:

I see, so there is zero % chance that something "funky" could have happened on your end. It 100% has to be someone else's fault.

I know you think this is a smart retort, but if I've never turned off cloud saves and this is my only Steam account then what user error could I have done?

There's more than one way a cloud save can be corrupted. It's not only turning off cloud saves. Computers are a little more complicated than that.

In any case, the point is about people that come on here automatically assuming everyone else is at fault and they couldn't have possible done something wrong. Don't even consider the possibility that it could have been an issue on their end, the blame is 100% directed at someone else.

Just like the people that blame games for being trash and not working, it can't possibly be something they've done, when it turns out it was something like them installing the wrong GPU drivers, or having a malfunctioning piece of hardware.

The point here went clearly over your head. I have no clue what happened to the saves, but it's the fact that you boldly state it MUST have been something someone else did (with no proof), because you can't possibly have made a mistake. That's what gets me .

[MCMS]

Originally posted by BJWyler:

2016 is only 6 years ago, so it could be the time differential distortion you entered may have interfered with Steam's internal clock and mussed up the saves.

I agree. I could also be the mandala effect.

[Dr. Octagon]

Originally posted by Snapjak:

The other thing to consider is back in 2016 the game may not have had cloud support for saves.

Space allocated to the cloud for games was pretty limited for a loooong time.

I'm pretty sure the game had cloud save support in 2016 because I found a comment from the dev on the Steam forums from prior years that confirmed cloud save support.

However, I hadn't considered your second comment - space allocation in prior years. I wonder if the space allocation was much smaller back then and maybe I unknowingly exceeded it?

[Dr. Octagon]

Originally posted by Wreez:

Originally posted by Dr. Octagon:

I know you think this is a smart retort, but if I've never turned off cloud saves and this is my only Steam account then what user error could I have done?

There's more than one way a cloud save can be corrupted. It's not only turning off cloud saves. Computers are a little more complicated than that.

In any case, the point is about people that come on here automatically assuming everyone else is at fault and they couldn't have possible done something wrong. Don't even consider the possibility that it could have been an issue on their end, the blame is 100% directed at someone else.

Just like the people that blame games for being trash and not working, it can't possibly be something they've done, when it turns out it was something like them installing the wrong GPU drivers, or having a malfunctioning piece of hardware.

The point here went clearly over your head. I have no clue what happened to the saves, but it's the fact that you boldly state it MUST have been something someone else did (with no proof), because you can't possibly have made a mistake. That's what gets me .

Ah, you're a software engineer. That's why you think software works perfectly and it's likely user error. LOL.

Again, no settings on my side were changed, so it's much more likely that there was an issue with the game or Steam's cloud. That's not me being egotistical, that's me being logical. I know that's a tough pill to swallow for a software engineer.

[Satoru]

There’s no time limit

There is a space limit per game but that’s it

[MCMS]

Technically, you are correct. Software always works perfectly. Computers only do exactly what they are told, nothing more, nothing less. Computers do not make mistakes. Developers make mistakes, engineers make mistakes, computers and software do not.

In any case, your view of this situation is far too shallow. You can only see that a "settings change" could have caused something like this to happen. There are many different things that could have happened on an end user's computer to cause something like this to happen.

There is no point in taking additional time on this, because you still can't even imagine that there could have been a 0.0000001% chance that something could have happened on your end. It is absolutely impossible. Now that we have confirmed you are not at fault, we can move on.

[Dr. Octagon]

Originally posted by Wreez:

Technically, you are correct. Software always works perfectly. Computers only do exactly what they are told, nothing more, nothing less. Computers do not make mistakes. Developers make mistakes, engineers make mistakes, computers and software do not.

In any case, your view of this situation is far too shallow. You can only see that a "settings change" could have caused something like this to happen. There are many different things that could have happened on an end user's computer to cause something like this to happen.

There is no point in taking additional time on this, because you still can't even imagine that there could have been a 0.0000001% chance that something could have happened on your end. It is absolutely impossible. Now that we have confirmed you are not at fault, we can move on.

Well, at least you admit that software engineers make mistakes. Anyone who has used any software from MS Word to a video game knows this. Of course, that makes it all the more perplexing that you still can't wrap your head around the fact that maybe the programmers behind Valve's Cloud or a game dev have made mistakes that cause saves to be lost.

Anyways, you keep saying "many different things", but I'm still waiting for you to list even one thing that could cause this to be user error, outside of changing the settings and not having more than one Steam account, both of which I said weren't possible. While you're at it, you can also explain why you think it's so impossible for one of Valve's cloud programmers or a game dev to make a mistake that could cause saves to disappear.

[IFIYGD]

OP- Steam Cloud has always been a bit unreliable. Server issues can cause saves to be lost. Cloud Storage space for a game may be filled. Your machine powering down due to a power outage or loss of connectivity can cause the save to not be written. This has been a thing with Steam Cloud saves for ages- it happens with many Cloud storage services outside of Steam. To check how much Cloud storage space a game has available/used/remaining, you can check in the game's Properties menu from your library: https://prnt.sc/7tKUI281FkzY That obviously won't tell you anything about what happened to your saves at this point in time, since the numbers are given in real-time only. But you can use it to check how much space the game is allotted and how much your current saves are using.

Your saves were lost for some unknown reason. That's the only definite anyone here can give. Arguing about exactly what happened and why with people who cannot give you a guaranteed definite answer is pointless. Your saves were lost- there are too many possible causes for this to be able to give a single cause as the definite reason. You were able to restore your saves manually. There is no point in blaming any one thing, since there is no way for anyone here to know with 100% confidence where the finger should be pointed.