Issue with save files and missing episode data
Hello,
I'm jumping back into TWD because of 500 Days and Season 2, but have noticed a few issues. First, my saves for Season 1 originally came up missing but I was able to retrieve it by copying over the prefs.prop from my Documents folder to steamapps. That's fine, but will I have to do this every single time I save? I heard there was a problem with cloud saving which is contributing to this.
Second, I've also noticed that while it shows all my progress and achievements I've made along the way, Season 1 Episode 1 is showing no stats as if I haven't played it, only giving me a rewind option. I know this isn't a huge deal but it's a little irksome. Is there any way to fix this?
Here's my save data tool info zip. http://www.sendspace.com/file/l66vsi
Thanks!
Comments
Please disable steam cloud for TWD (In Steam, right click TWD and select "properties". Open the tab "updates" and remove the checkbox from "Enable Steam cloud synchronization for TWD).
The prefs.prop must never be in multiple places. That will break your savegames sooner or later. The only correct location is the savegame folder.
So please rename the prefs.prop in
E:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Walking Dead\Pack\default
to prefs.prop.bak to deactivate it.
Should the save slots be missing again, please rename the prefs.prop in
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Telltale Games\The Walking Dead\
to prefs.prop.orig
Then copy the steam prefs.prop.bak to
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Telltale Games\The Walking Dead\
and rename it to prefs.prop to activate it.
Once it works so far, make a backup copy of he savegame folder
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Telltale Games\The Walking Dead\
The missing season 1 stats are a problem, because season 2 won't see them either then. There is a quite complicated experimental workaround you could possibly use to get the season 1 stats without having to replay the entire season.
If you want to try it, please .zip and upload your prefs.prop and all *.save files.
Please upload it as a single .zip file to an instant filehoster and post the download link.
I'll try to guide you through it to make it as easy as possible.
If I disable steam cloud, does that mean I don't get any achievements?
Okay, so I disabled Steam Cloud and backed up the prefs.prop file in the Steam folder and loaded up the game. The resolution reset, and the save files went missing again (starting a game asked me how I wanted my UI to look, etc.). I checked back and now it looks like there are two Telltale Games folders in Documents - one with all my previous saves, and one that looks like it was just made with no save file data in it.
And yes I do want to try the experimental process. Let me know if I should address the previous step first before I zip together all the files. Thanks for the help DjNDB!
You'll still get achievements, steam cloud only syncs the savegame folder.
Yes, please upload the savegames and all prefs.prop files (also the renamed ones from different locations). Then I can determine the next steps.
It's probably best if you also run the support tool again so i can see the current state.
Cool, so I've uploaded both a new scan of the tool as well as all the save file data in separate subfolders. I ran the tool before making any copies of the files.
New scan: http://www.sendspace.com/file/vkvg4i
Save data: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ojzxrq
Let me know if that gives you everything you need to know. Thanks again
The game looks in the wrong place for your savegames, because it is running in compatibility mode.
Please check the properties of the Steam.exe, your Steam icons, and the games .exe files, and disable any compatibility mode settings.
Sometimes compatibility mode is checked, but is grayed out. Then you have to click on "Change settings for all users" at the bottom to disable the checkbox.
Afterwards try if the game works.
If you made absolutely sure, that the method mentioned above didn't work to disable it, you can try disabling it in the registry. Then restart the computer and try running the game again.
That should hopefully let season 1 the game see your savegames. As for the episode 1 stats, I'll take a look at what can be done with your savefiles.
I changed the compatibility settings of the .exe myself because the game crashes if it's disabled. I haven't made any adjustments to the game since I initially beat Season 1 last year; It's an error that's happened sometime between then apparently. Even while I was in my first run of the game, I noticed that the episode 1 data was missing.
If I keep compatibility mode off, is there another fix? Sorry to open another can of worms
Please try if it works without compatibility mode now, if you disable it completely using both methods described above. If it doesn't work you can reenable it and we can go on from there.
Yeah it doesn't work unfortunately. I'll re-enable it
In that case you need to copy the prefs.prop and all .save files to
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Telltale Games\The Walking Dead
For season 1 to find them.
I looked into the experimental workaround. It doesn't work as well as I expected. You would have to replay at least the end of each episode for it to work, and you would not be able to rewind anymore in that set of savefiles.
I was hoping I could trick the game into starting the end of episode 1 without actually rewinding, but it doesn't work that way.
Okay, I copied them over to that users\public folder. Should I leave everything else as is? And does this mean that short of replaying the entirety of season 1 over again, I should just continue on?
I suggest you delete the savegames from
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Telltale Games\The Walking Dead\
Since they are not used in compatibility mode.
Just continuing should be okay. Season 2 might generate different choices for Season 1 Episode 1, but I am not sure how much they will affect the game.
Once you start season 2 we have to see if it hast to run in compatibility mode or not and where it will look for the saves. If it doesn't find them, copying them to
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Telltale Games\The Walking Dead\
should do the trick.
Alright, I've deleted all the other Walking Dead folders except for the one in the Public folder. Game loads up with all the saves. Shame about not being able to recover the information from season 1 episode 1. I'm going to play 400 Days then Season 2, hopefully it works out.
Thanks for the help DjNDB. Should I just disable cloud saving for Telltale Games in general to avoid this situation?
I haven't heard of issues with could saving in other TTG games.