Save games, chunk resets after reverting to previous alpha version

[Dark Wun]

Just about to start a new v1.2 world with a friend. We last played version A21.1. Before we begin, we wanted to revert our 7d2d install to A21.1 to have a quick peek at our horde base/defenses to rehash our building strategies, so I reverted the host PC to A21.1 and tried to load our previous save game to do that.

To my surprise, all chunks across the world were totally reset, all built structures and modifications to POIs and outside of POIs were reset. I had chunk resets set to 'disabled'. Needless to say, I couldn't see how we built our horde base.

I'd like to understand what happened, so as to learn and avoid this next time, as the game is still somewhat alpha and I'm likely going to want to do this again. Bonus if someone knows a fix and I can actually have the peek at my horde base like I wanted to. I have an unmodified version of the save backed up to an independent location, that's not in the usual save game places, and tried loading a copy of it with the same result, so it must have to do with the core game files.

Can anyone comment?

 

[Beelzybub]

My guess is that you tried to load the save while you had V1.2 installed, which broke the save.

 

[Dark Wun]

My guess is that you tried to load the save while you had V1.2 installed, which broke the save.

Hmmm I'm 100% certain I did not do this.  I tried to emphasize above that I even copied over a copy of the save that was stored in a directory that the game installation was not aware of (think 2nd hard drive) and then loaded it , only to find the same global chunk reset. There's no way my save file interacted with the V1.2 installation at all.

 

[Beelzybub]

I did not do this.

Ok. For your backup copy, do you have the save folder, the GeneratedWorld folder, or both?

 

[Dark Wun]

I only have the save folder saved to the independent location. So yes, I did not make a copy of anything in the GeneratedWorld folder. So if the V1.2 installation interacts with the world gen folder, I had no protection against that. Would that do it?

 

[Riamus]

I only have the save folder saved to the independent location. So yes, I did not make a copy of anything in the GeneratedWorld folder. So if the V1.2 installation interacts with the world gen folder, I had no protection against that. Would that do it?

If you started any game on that same map in 1.2 (including a new game), then yes... that will likely affect your map.  If you want to back up your save, it's a good idea to also have a backup of the world.  If you have multiple saves for a single map, you can keep just one backup of the world along with all your saves.  It is just a good idea to have that world backup as well.

 

[Dark Wun]

If you started any game on that same map in 1.2 (including a new game), then yes... that will likely affect your map. 

This is interesting. Sounds like when I autoupdated to v1.2, it applied patches to all the worlds in the GeneratedWorld folder. I didn't realize the world referencing worked like this; I wouldn't think the generated world folder would be altered by a saved game. As you pointed out , you can start a new game and use the same Generated World for another save. I totally thought world information would be married to (and stored in) the save folder itself.

Oh well, looks like I won't be getting to peek at the world in my old save, though it's good to know so I can avoid this next time.

 

[Riamus]

This is interesting. Sounds like when I autoupdated to v1.2, it applied patches to all the worlds in the GeneratedWorld folder. I didn't realize the world referencing worked like this; I wouldn't think the generated world folder would be altered by a saved game. As you pointed out , you can start a new game and use the same Generated World for another save. I totally thought world information would be married to (and stored in) the save folder itself.

Oh well, looks like I won't be getting to peek at the world in my old save, though it's good to know so I can avoid this next time.

Well.... It shouldn't change anything unless you try to start a game with a map from another version.  Even then, I am not positive it does any update to the map to make it work in the new version, but it would make sense.  At least as much as it can (it won't update POI that need to be fixed for a new version).

Even if it did update, it is unusual for it to reset everything.  It is possible you didn't copy your region files when you backed up your save.  That is a more likely scenario, I think.

 

[Dark Wun]

Early 2024 (when A21.2 was still fresh), I backed up my save by navigating to:

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\7DaysToDie\Saves\WorldName

-then copied the folder corresponding to the save game name in my installation at the time. I made a copy to another drive, away from anything Steam would interact with.

-this week, I updated to v1.2 to start a new game but then wanted to view my A21.2 save one more time

-thinking the old save was viable, and that I could freely swap versions, I then reverted to A21.2 to find all the chunk resets.

-I never backed anything up in the GeneratedWorlds folder

  It is possible you didn't copy your region files when you backed up your save.

Pretty sure the region files are contained in the save folder I described above, so they were copied as well.

 

[Beelzybub]

I wouldn't think the generated world folder would be altered by a saved game.

You're right, Generated Worlds are not altered by a save game. They can be altered though if for example, you create a new generated world in 1.2 using the same seed as an extant world.  Then the existing world would be overwritten with the new world. If that's what happened to your world, you can regenerate the world in A21, and then your save should work. Also your output log might be helpful in seeing why this isn't working for you. It is possible to run an A21 world no problem so something isn't right. you can use pastebin.com to post your A21 output log and link here for us to see.

 

[Dark Wun]

They can be altered though if for example, you create a new generated world in 1.2 using the same seed as an extant world.  Then the existing world would be overwritten with the new world. If that's what happened to your world, 

Alright. I'm 100% positive I did not recreate the world in 1.2. I simply just didn't touch the GeneratedWorlds folder as I went up and down the versions. I had no intention of creating a world with that seed again and just assumed that if i wanted to revisit the world in that save, i could simply revert back to A21.1 where the world/save were created.

 Also your output log might be helpful in seeing why this isn't working for you.

I'll see what I can do here. I've since changed my setup, I'm creating and hosting worlds on a 2nd PC (dedicated server). The PC that the title issue happened on is now just a client, connecting to the dedi server. I currently have a game/world I'm playing on the client PC. How sure are you reverting to A21.1 , then back to 1.2 won't affect the save information on the client PC? I'd like to resume my current game after this test. I think all savegame (chunk data, modifications to the world in the save, new structures, etc.) information is now stored on the dedi , correct? I'm trying to think worst case here, are there any files related to progress stored on the client PC?

 

[Beelzybub]

How sure are you reverting to A21.1 , then back to 1.2 won't affect the save information on the client PC?

100%