Installed this game a couple months ago after buying it online from GOG. Game ran fine and I finished it. Since then I've been able to reload saved games to "walk around"since it's such a good looking game. Anyway,as of the other day,my saved games crash to desktop when loading (the loads never finish). If I start a new game,and save,a new saved game re-loads just fine. I don't want to have to replay the game;just want my former saved games to work when reloading. PC is up to date (5-yr old Dell XPS P-4,running Win Xp Sp 3;defragged etc) and works fine otherwise with other older/newer games.Solutions...are there any? I posted on GOG forum and emailed their support;no answers yet.

Did you uninstall and reinstall the game since making those saves? If so, how did you back up the saves?

That happens to me a lot when I've uninstalled and reinstalled a game, and not just from GOG or another online retailer. It happens with games I have on disk. I'd also be interested in why the saved games aren't recognized, despite the fact that they're sitting (still) right where the game initially put them.

Gil.

There is a sav folder in the games folder,so backing them up is not a problem. I havent gone through the trouble of uninstalling and reinstalling the game yet.And Jen: no;I hadnt uninstalled and re-installed the game. Nothing had changed with the game since I last reloaded a saved game (say,last week). All of a sudden the saves just stopped working.
Just wondering if this is a common problem with the older (GOG) games on newer PCs. My Zork-GOG game hasnt had this problem.

Some games have a file that keeps track of saves in addition to the saves themselves. People don't realize this other file exists when they back up saves, so they actually only have part of the save. In newer games, the file may not even be in the same folder as the other saves.

One way around this that sometimes works is to create a new save, then use Windows Explorer to browse to the save folder, rename your backed up save to be the name of the new save, and replace the freshly made save with the renamed save.


It might be a problem with a Microsoft security fix.

Thank you for the tips.I'll try the Explorer tip to see if that works.Sometimes it's not worth all this trouble for a ...gasp...game!

Not to be one, but why, then, are you asked if you want to keep the saved games when you uninstall? Common sense should tell whoever makes the game that you're going to need that other file, too.

Just saying,

Gil.

Not all games need it, and some games will keep the other file and any configuration files along with the saves. Did RealMyst ask if you wanted to keep your saves? I played it too long ago to remember for sure, but I think it was published before developers started giving you that option.

If you know of a game that asks if you want to keep your saves, and then the saves don't work after you reinstall, what's the name of the game?

I attached my saved games in an email to GOG support (they responded somewhat quickly). We'll see what happens.

Sorry, Jenny, I just saw this. The only one that springs to mind right now is Society of the Serpent Moon but it's definitely happened with others.

Gil.

The Last Half of Darkness series is made by an individual who will answer emails -- not a huge company that doesn't care. You should email the developer and tell him about the problem so he can check it out.

I followed GOg's instructions...uninstalled the game, re-installed it (GOG makes it SO easy to do this!)and now the saved games (which I had backed-up) work fine! I add GOG to my list of good compaines to deal with:
Interact and...GOG!

What did you do differently this time?
The information might help someone else who's having the same problem with RealMyst saves.

I actually didnt do a thing...I had never uninstalled (or re-installed) the game,but the saves just stopped working for who knows WHAT reason. GOG helper Ethaan suggested uninstalling /reinstalling (and backing up my saves,which I always do,anyway). I had no idea how easy that was to do (thanks to my GOG account,the games I've paid for or own are still in a que,so I can easily er-install at any time.)
Once I did that,and carried my backed up saves to the game's SAV folder, the old saves worked just fine. Frikkin' microsoft updates,I'm sure was the problem.

Very strange.
Thanks for letting us know.