Saving
Learning paths through this topic
Players reload again and again until a failed lockpick or persuasion finally works
A skill check with a dice roll is meaningless if the player can reload and roll again. Here is a way to remember failures in the save, to allow another try only when the hero has actually grown, and to keep the roll itself out of the save.
Gold turns into odd decimals after trading, and shared loot loses coins
Sell something at a discount, split a reward among friends, and the purse shows a long string of digits or a coin goes missing. Here is how to keep all money as whole numbers so the saved total is exact, and who gets the odd coin.
A grid inventory loads with overlapping items after an item or bag changed size
Items that fill several squares of the bag are saved with their positions. When an update makes a sword longer or the bag smaller, they overlap or fall outside. Here is how to keep what still fits where it was and place the rest, without losing anything silently.
After a map change the hero loads inside a wall or on an island they cannot leave
You move a wall or rebuild a room, and players who saved right there load into solid stone or into a pocket that is cut off from the rest. Here is how to find the nearest place that is both free and connected to the level, and why nearest alone is not enough.
A hero's name with a colon, an emoji or a reserved word makes saving fail
Players type anything as a name, and if the name becomes the file name, some names cannot be saved on some computers, or two heroes overwrite each other. Here is how to turn any name into a safe, unique file name without breaking the name shown in the game.
Two different items share one identity after loading and act as one
Every sword the player owns needs its own number so the game can tell them apart. After a load, new items can get a number that is already taken, and picking one up or equipping it changes the other. Here is how to keep the counter honest.
The adventure journal and combat log keep growing until the save takes seconds to write
Every kill, every conversation and every pickup is written down, and after fifty hours the save is full of old lines nobody reads. Here is how to keep the recent entries in full, fold older ones into running totals, and never lose the entries that matter for the story.
Health is cut down on loading because the gear that raised it was not back yet
The hero saved at full health, and after loading is already hurt, or a spell loses its target. Parts of the game were restored in the wrong order, so one part looked at another that did not exist yet. Here is how to put the order in writing and check it.
Maximum health grows a little every time the game is saved and loaded
The hero wears a ring that adds strength, and after a few sessions the numbers are far too high. The save kept a figure that already contained the ring, and the game added the ring again. Here is what to save instead so totals never creep.
Slain monsters come back at once, or bosses return when they should stay dead
Some enemies must stay dead for good, others should return after a while, and none should pop back while you stand in the room. Here is a small record that decides this at the right moment and why checking the clock when you walk in beats checking every day.
A second playthrough with kept gear lets old quest items and flags leak into the new story
Starting again with some of the old hero sounds easy, until a key from the first story opens a door that should still be locked. Here is which parts of the old save to keep, which to turn into souvenirs and which to throw away.
A quest added in an update never appears for players who already passed that point
New content that waits for a trigger only works for players who have not walked past it yet. Everyone with an older save misses it or gets it at the wrong time in the story. Here is how to work out, on every load, what an old save may start now.