So steam is nice and all...

... being able to store your games and log onto them is pretty handy as opposed to juggling DVD's, and the backup feature means it's pretty easy to 'sync' games across multiple computers...

... but what about the save-games?

I thought about this recently and was wondering if there was an easy (or even Steam-sanctioned) way to sync saved games for all the Steam-purchased apps. Anything?

 

I'm pretty sure that's one of the main features of STEAM cloud, but only supported games will use the remote game save feature. ie. Newer/unreleased Valve games.

 

I didn't even know about that... thanks. So it's not out yet?

Steam Cloud... a bit of prescient genius naming there

 

Only a handful of games support the "Steam Cloud" feature where your save files are stored on their servers for you to access anywhere, just like your games! It would be nice if more titles can implement this neat feature.

 

Which do support it?

 

You can usually root out the save directories for non supported games in your Steam directory or in your My Documents directory, depending on the game.

It's more fiddly than I'd like though.

 

I know that Braid does.

 

You can add Torchlight, Serious Sam HD, Trine, Quantz, Bionic Commando, and America's Army 3 to that list.

 

I always thought there should be a single place for saved games to be stored locally on your PC. Having to hunt for them any time you want to back them up is a PITA. I remember I posted a thread about that a while ago and got reamed that it wasn't a big deal. It's a huge deal to be able to back up your saved game files.

I hope the Steam Cloud does take off and all games there use it. Would be great.

 

This a perfect example of why symbolic links are handy. Especially since some games are very picky about where you save the games

 

Didnt know cloud thing was up an running yet, is there a list that shows supported devices?

 

What do you mean supported devices? If Steam runs on your computer, then your devices are supported. Steam Cloud is a software thing. I guess all you really need is an internet connection.

I know Left 4 Dead/L4D2 use Steam Cloud, but not for save games; it's there to maintain your controls and settings between machines. Team Fortress 2's inventory system also uses Steam Cloud.

MW2 has Steam Cloud support, but only halfway; the Cloud preserves your multiplayer rank and unlocks between computers, but not single player campaign or Special Ops progress. Allegedly they intend to add this later on.

Keep in mind that even games that don't yet have full Steam Cloud save functionality have local save files on your computer that you can transfer manually.

 

Yea but it's just a pain to have to find those save game files, since every game stores them in a different location. It would be nice if Steam had one directory where it would store all the save-game files so it would be easy to backup and transfer to another computer. Having to research each game to find the save-game files is no fun.

 

it would be even nicer if steam stored them on the cloud instead of a local directory.

(it could temporarily store them locally, of course, but sync to the cloud)

 

Agreed. I was just saying that a (the?) logical first step would be to have one directory where they're stored locally. That would make syncing to the cloud much easier for Steam.

 

Yeah, come to think of it, I don't know why they can't just have new additions to the catalog record their save directory, and then universally sync saves.

 

before torchlight had steam support (added like a week or two ago) I used (still use) dropbox and set up direct links to have it auto update and save to the digital dropbox and have it auto update on other computers. If you want instruction I can help, but works best for games that have save games in different folders than settings. But yeah all the games listed in the thread support cloud as far as I know.

 

the problem with the steam cloud is that if you dont have internet access then you dont have access to your save games

 

Is it completely in the cloud, or does it synchronize to the disk? If it's purely in the cloud, they're just asking for trouble.

 

No, I don't believe this is true. It saves to cloud but the cloud is synced from somewhere on your HDD. It's not pure cloud.

 

but the saves are in the cloud so you cant access them when in offline mode i believe

 

that is not true. Torchlight synchs gamesaves with the steamcloud, and its also available in offline mode.

 

thats good to know. last time i tried i didnt appear to sync and i had to start from scratch. wierd.

 

This has become the defacto standard now with most games storing user-based data (saves, config, etc) in /home/<gamename> (i.e. "My Documents"). Personally I strongly dislike this practice - "My Documents" is a sacred space that I don't enjoy having littered (there should be a specifiable option somewhere). I've always preferred storing these in the same place I installed the game and don't mind hunting as I run my filesystem like a tight ship. But I can definitely see the appeal of Steam Cloud as it solves both problems. Sadly at the moment I find it more cumbersome than useful (I enjoy hand-editing my config files for maximum benefit ), but I agree, I can see it eventually catching on.

 

Yeah. I'm fine if they just commonize the saved game location locally, period. My Documents DOES get too cluttered, I only want the folders I create to appear in there. Granted it's no longer "MY" Documents, and it's now "Libraries". But whatever. Create a whole dedicated folder somewhere called "Saved Games" and put a sub folder for every game there. Simple.

 

I don't know, I see storing user data in Program Files as not proper for a multi-user system. Since you seem familiar with UNIX/POSIX, that would be like storing a person's Gnome desktop settings in /etc. Like dotfiles in a user's home directory in UNIX, Windows has a proper place for such things: in the user's folder above My Documents. I say they should be in \Documents and Settings\User\Application Data

 

save games are in a few places for me. I only have one game that saves in My DOcuments, and that's Bioware - so Dragon Age origins..then I have %appdata% but then most everything else is in the steam folder.. well since all my games are from steam so that helps.