What's going on with savegames?

[doveman 7]

I'm currently running the dev build.

I went to play Adapt the other day but it seems because I'd played Survive with the stable build, it didn't recognise I'd played it at all. So I used the cheatcode to unlock the campaign and had a go at the first episode of Adapt and failed miserably but there was at least one autosave and one manual save made.

I went to have another go today and it's all locked again but even after unlocking with the cheatcode,, it doesn't show any sign of my savegame from the other day and I've got to start all over again.

I discovered that at some point someone decided to move the A3 folders from My Documents\ArmA3 and My Documents\ArmA3 - Other Profiles to My Documents\ BIS Core Engine and My Documents\BIS Core Engine Other Profiles and if I make a savegame now, it creates it in My Documents\BIS Core Engine Other Profiles\doveman\Saved\A3\Missions_F_EPB\Campaign\missions\B_in.Altis. There's nothing in there from the other day and the only other folder next to it is My Documents\BIS Core Engine Other Profiles\doveman\Saved\A3\Missions_F_EPA\Campaign which only contains campaign.sqc and no savegames.

So where on earth did it create the savegames the other day (all the files in My Documents\Arma 3 - Other Profiles\doveman\Saved\a3\Missions_F_EPA\Campaign are dated 18/12/2013, so it wasn't there) and if the folders keep moving, why doesn't it automatically transfer/import the damn things?

EDIT: I managed to complete the first mission of Adapt but when it goes back to the Campaign screen, everything is locked again and I have to type in the cheatcode again which is annoying and I wish it would just unlock the next mission normally after completing the previous one so I didn't have to do this every time. I created several savegames and they're all in that folder but all the missions show the same Revert or Replay buttons, so if I wanted to load a particular savegame for a mission and replay it from that point, I don't know if I could.

Edited February 1, 2014 by doveman

[doveman 7]

Bump. I'm also not seeing anywhere to load savegames made during the Campaign missions. When I'm back at the Campaign screen and unlock them again, it just shows Revert or Restart.

I read somewhere that even with Unlimited Saves enabled, only the last one can be loaded, which would be rather daft if true so please tell me it's not!

[Lilkiki 10]

I'm afraid to say I have exactly the same issue with savedgames since the last patch :(

[doveman 7]

Also, where does it save a mission when downloading it from a server? I've been testing missions on my clan's server, so it's downloaded a lot but all I can find is a load of empty folders, one for each mission, in Arma 3 - Other profiles/doveman/Saved/mpmissions and they haven't downloaded to the Arma 3 install/mpmissions folder.

[Lilkiki 10]

what is the link between MPMissions and Savegames ? (which are obviously more for solo scenaries & solo campaign?)

[Harzach 2511]

Also, where does it save a mission when downloading it from a server? I've been testing missions on my clan's server, so it's downloaded a lot but all I can find is a load of empty folders, one for each mission, in Arma 3 - Other profiles/doveman/Saved/mpmissions and they haven't downloaded to the Arma 3 install/mpmissions folder.

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Arma 3\MPMissionsCache

[doveman 7]

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Arma 3\MPMissionsCache

Thanks Harzach.

BIS, do you really need to have missions in three different locations (install folder, My Documents and Appdata\Local)? It's a real pain! Regarding savegames, why do you have to create an empty folder for each mpmission I play on a server in Arma 3 - Other profiles/doveman/Saved/mpmissions? It just creates a unnecessary mess.

[spidypiet 17]

Thanks Harzach.

BIS, do you really need to have missions in three different locations (install folder, My Documents and Appdata\Local)? It's a real pain! Regarding savegames, why do you have to create an empty folder for each mpmission I play on a server in Arma 3 - Other profiles/doveman/Saved/mpmissions? It just creates a unnecessary mess.

+1

its a total mess with al those MPMissions MPMissionscache SteammissionsCache SteampreviewCache in my "HiddenFolder" %APP%users/username/appdata/local/arma3

as well missions folders in my documents/arma3 other profiles and in steam/steamapps/common/arma3

[Harzach 2511]

1. Create a new library.

2. Add all mission folders to that library.

3. ???

4. Profit!

[doveman 7]

1. Create a new library.

2. Add all mission folders to that library.

3. ???

4. Profit!

Yeah sure, we shouldn't have to though and it doesn't help us keep stuff filling up our C: partitions if they're on SSD for example. I've already moved My Documents to my HDD for this reason, so it's a bit annoying to find out that ArmA3 is storing MPMissions on my SSD. Surely it would have been better to have all the folders in My Documents\Arma 3 rather than in three places?

Does it even check the install folder MPMissions to see if we already have a mission before downloading it or do we just get unnecessary duplicates downloaded and stored? Then again, I'm not sure what would happen if a server has modified a mission, so that it has the same name as one we already have but slightly different content. Maybe it could do a quick hash to compare them and if it differs, download the mission to a different folder.

[Harzach 2511]

...filling up our C: partitions...

What is the current size of your MPMissionsCache folder?

[doveman 7]

What is the current size of your MPMissionsCache folder?

Only 140MB at the moment but I said "keep stuff from filling up our C: partition" not just ArmA3 and if every programmer decided it was OK to store their files in the same places, it would soon become a problem so it's not good practice.

I created a Library as you suggested earlier with 6 locations but now it's decided to lose them all and only show 1. Maybe there's something borked with my Windows but forcing us to use additional features to manage the missions runs the risk of some users having problems and I'd have to spend time researching and trying to fix Libraries just for ArmA3 as I don't use them for anything else, which wouldn't be necessary if BIS would just keep all the files in one folder. Sure I can move them myself and use Junctions but users shouldn't need to mess around like this to solve problems that don't need to exist in the first place.

[Harzach 2511]

All in one folder is a terrible idea. I suppose it would be nice to be able to define the location of MPMissionsCache, though.

[doveman 7]

All in one folder is a terrible idea. I suppose it would be nice to be able to define the location of MPMissionsCache, though.

Why? I'm not suggesting there shouldn't be subfolders within the main folder, just that we shouldn't have to go hunting all over the place to find stuff.

[Harzach 2511]

"...hunting all over the place"? Ask where to find them, or just search your files, then write it down, create a library, make shortcuts, whatever. You are making it out to be a far bigger issue than it is.

[doveman 7]

"...hunting all over the place"? Ask where to find them, or just search your files, then write it down, create a library, make shortcuts, whatever. You are making it out to be a far bigger issue than it is.

Sure, now I know where they are it's easier (still a pain though, as if they were all in subfolders under one folder, it's a lot easier to search them all at once, without having to use libraries) but for other users who haven't seen this thread they're not going to know. I just don't understand why BIS have chosen to do it this way as it doesn't seem to have any benefits, only disadvantages.