patch 1.04 all save games gone

[JOG]

1.04 I have done just that- if "My Documents" is unreachable, the game tries to save in the App directory. This may require users to give it permission to do so.

Instead of testing for a folder that is actually named "My Documents" you could test if the folder returned by GetSpecialFolderLocation actually exists. If it exists save in this folder, else test if you may access the application folder, if not tell the user what's up and let him decide whether to create a latin-"My documents" folder or give Eschalon admin rights.

And of course you could give all other users the option to save to the app-directory as well, using a commandline parameter for instance.

[BasiliskWrangler]

1.04 I have done just that- if "My Documents" is unreachable, the game tries to save in the App directory. This may require users to give it permission to do so.

Instead of testing for a folder named "My Documents" you could test if the folder returned by GetSpecialFolderLocation actually exists. If it exists save in this folder, else test if you may access the application folder, if not tell the user what's up and let him decide whether to create a latin-"My documents" foder or give Eschalon admin rights.

And of course you could give all other users the option to save to the app-directory as well, using a commandline parameter for instance.

Well, that's the problem. SHGetSpecialFolderLocation always exists. I can always get a positive return on that query, so that is not the problem. The problem is when there is garbage in the path as you seen in that sample program, then the game crashes like in 1.0-1.03. The only thing I can do is ask "does GetSpecialFolderLocation return My Documents" and then make an attempt to save there. If I can't confirm a clear path to "My Documents" then I default to AppDir().

[JOG]

Well, that's the problem. SHGetSpecialFolderLocation always exists. I can always get a positive return on that query, so that is not the problem. The problem is when there is garbage in the path as you seen in that sample program, then the game crashes like in 1.0-1.03.

But there must be an IO-error-check function in Blitz Basic. Every language has one, even plain-old int 21 returns an error when you try to open a folder that doesn't exist.

SHGetSpecialFolderLocation returns an OK when there actually is a "My documents" folder, it doesn't care whether your programming language can handle unicode or not.

But once you have that path in your "array of chars"-string it is crippled when there are chars > 255, when you now try to open that path with IO-checks active, you should be able to see whether the folder exists or not, just like you do with the Eschalon Savegames folder a bit farther down.

[Necromis]

Honestly the easiest thing is to allow us to decide where to save to on the save screen. Forget all the Vista Compliance due to admin rights. Let the Vista User give B1 that right. Your game is compliant, Vista is just too restrictive. I would rather save to the game folder rather than my docs any day.

[BasiliskWrangler]

JOG: Yep, I might have found something. Hang on...

[JOG]

Honestly the easiest thing is to allow us to decide where to save to on the save screen. Forget all the Vista Compliance due to admin rights. Let the Vista User give B1 that right. Your game is compliant, Vista is just too restrictive. I would rather save to the game folder rather than my docs any day.

Me as well, but many users don't care where saves are but don't want to play with admin rights. Vista just enforces what may (should) also be the case with XP and even NT.

[BasiliskWrangler]

Try this .exe again on all your setups, JOG....

http://basiliskgames.com/misc/docs.exe

[JOG]

Try this .exe again on all your setups, JOG....

http://basiliskgames.com/misc/docs.exe

E:\Savegames
Found a usable Directory

C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Test\Eigene Dateien
Found a usable Directory

C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Попытка\Eigene Dateien\
Could not find a standard My Doc path.

Seems to works

[BasiliskWrangler]

Okay, then I am going to sneak this into the 1.04 update...

[BasiliskWrangler]

JOG, I updated the 1.04 patch. Try downloading it from the Book I page.

[JOG]

Okay, then I am going to sneak this into the 1.04 update...

Great...

uhm...

ahem...

...after all that flip-flopping, any chance to give us latin-users the option to put the savegames into the app-folder too (perhaps as a commandline-parameter? Because despite me playing Vista's advocate, I'm actually one of those who prefer to have their savegames within the installation folder.)

JOG, I updated the 1.04 patch. Try downloading it from the Book I page.

C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Попытка\Eigene Dateien\
Savegames are stored to the installation folder:
E:\Games\Eschalon Book I\Eschalon Book 1 Saved Games

C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Test\Eigene Dateien\
Savegames are in
C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Test\Eigene Dateien\Eschalon Book 1 Saved Games

E:\Savegames
Can access old savegames in
E:\Savegames\Eschalon Book 1 Saved Games

Works fine

As for giving your users an option... In 1.05 perhaps?

[JOG]

BTW:

when I move the game-folder from "E:\Games\Eschalon Book I" to "E:\Games\Test\Eschalon Book I" it still works fine, but when I move it to E:\Games\Попытка\Eschalon Book I" I don't even get the splash-screen, mouse cursor turns into an hourglass for a second and that's it. The "Program Files" folder gets localized too, so you may want to put a warning in the readme that the game's installation path must be in latin letters.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I'll see what I can do in 1.05. Thanks for your help on these issues, JOG.

[Rumtruffle]

Vista Home Premium 32bit

UAC turned off. Has been for ages on this machine ever since Bioshock was released.

No more savegames.

I expect they are on my machine somewhere, but it isnt an admin rights issue at all. UAC being off proves that.
And its a fully english (UK) version of Vista.

[BasiliskWrangler]

Rumtruffle: Yes, your saved games are fine, the game is just looking in a new location. You can either:

Try downloading the 1.04 patch again, see if the fixes I applied help the game find your saved slots.

-or-

Look in the game's installation directory and your Documents directory. Most certainty, one of those places has your old saved games (the slot folders will be filled with files), and the other location has your new saved games (the slot folders will be empty). You can copy your saved game directory from it's old location to the new. Backup you saves first!