Make Steam create a local backup of save file prior to overwriting it from Steam Cloud

[Gussver]

Some developers haven't implemented cloud saves correctly and I have had broken Steam Cloud implementation wipe my saves in two games.

It sucks big time to lose all your progress and it would be good if Steam did more to prevent this from happening. It's bound to be a bigger problem now, due to Steam Deck leading more people to play a game across multiple devices.

If a local backup is created of a save prior to the save being overwritten from Steam Cloud, then you'd at least be able to recover your save manually.

[[N]ebsun]

Yep - and a way to view and manage cloud saves / settings..
I somehow can't overwrite the cloud settings unless I overwrite my local settings first then make changes.. it should prompt to overwrite.

[BJWyler]

I don't think this is practical for Steam to implement. First, nit all games keep saves in the same place on PC. Some games have saves that may rely on information in other files in other locations. Plus for people with a large game collection, that could eat up drive space rapidly.

If it's happening with specific games, simply make a manual backup. I've never encountered this particular issue you are talking about, but there are several games where I copy the save game information to a dedicated spot on my drive, after a play sesseion. For a couple, I keep the last two or three copies.

[Gussver]

Originally posted by BJWyler:

I don't think this is practical for Steam to implement. First, nit all games keep saves in the same place on PC. Some games have saves that may rely on information in other files in other locations. Plus for people with a large game collection, that could eat up drive space rapidly.

I'm specifically referring to Steam creating backups of the files Steam Cloud is trying to overwrite. The location of the file is known in that scenario. This doesn't seem to me like it would be all that complicated, but I don't know the ins and outs of Steam Cloud.

Regarding file size: it would be sufficient to keep backup of the last 1-3 saves. It could also be an opt-in feature.

Originally posted by BJWyler:

If it's happening with specific games, simply make a manual backup. I've never encountered this particular issue you are talking about, but there are several games where I copy the save game information to a dedicated spot on my drive, after a play sesseion. For a couple, I keep the last two or three copies.

I know I could make copies of my saves, sync the saves w/ Google Drive or turn the save folder into a git repo, but I don't feel like I should have to go through that hassle. Also, if I haven't done so preemptively, it will be too late.

[Gwarsbane]

It would be nice if Steam had a single location to store copies of all the save files. But since they don't and I doubt they ever will, you should try a program called...

Gamesave Manager. It will make a backup copy of every game save file on your system. Put it into one folder and you can compress it into one file yourself and upload it to where ever you want for backup.

You can find more info about it here
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/GameSaveManager

[BloodShed]

You could always download old cloud saves here
https://store.steampowered.com/account/remotestorage

[Gussver]

Originally posted by Gwarsbane:

I
Gamesave Manager. It will make a backup copy of every game save file on your system. Put it into one folder and you can compress it into one file yourself and upload it to where ever you want for backup.

You can find more info about it here
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/GameSaveManager

Thank you for the tip. Going forward, I will probably have to look into something like this, for whenever I intend to play a game on multiple devices. I will have to find a Linux-equivalent as well, as I'm also using a Steam Deck.

Originally posted by BloodShed:

You could always download old cloud saves here
https://store.steampowered.com/account/remotestorage

No dice in this case, sadly. The problem is that Steam Cloud wasn't set up correctly by the devs for this game, so the only files Steam Cloud contains is that of an empty save file... Also, only some games will have a save history on Steam Cloud. It's dependent on the dev.

[Fleischlaus]

you have to write a little script that checks the save date and asks which one you want to upload or download shouldn't be that hard for valve