Should I re install after every update? If so, can I keep my saves somehow?

[Prudent Viper]

As above. Is it recommended to do this, or will it make no difference? I'm noticing that my games are considerably more buggy than that of others. What's more, these aren't new bugs. I've had these problems since I started playing, which, along with the nature of the bugs, leads me to suspect that the problem is on my end, and that my files are corrupted somehow.

I'd like to reinstall. However, I am in the middle of a very promising playthrough. Can I just backup my most recent save somewhere, and insert it into the fresh Xenonauts? Or will that bring it's problems with it?

Thank you for any help!

[Commissar Pancakes]

Depends on which versions you're upgrading from. If it's something like v20 to v21, then the two builds probably won't accept a save transfer, just on the account of how much has changed.

If it's between experimental builds, I think saves transfer automatically (though I may be wrong since I haven't played in a month).

[Gauddlike]

They can sometimes load up earlier saves in later versions but it is possible that bugs will appear that are only due to incompatibilities between the versions.

It is more likely that if your save is an old one that new versions will ignore it completely.

It depends on what version you are currently using and what version you are going to install.

If you were playing on the stable branch then it is not updated very often so people have more time to test.

That might explain why you don't have the same bugs others are reporting if they are using the experimental version.

Run the game and look in the top corner of the launcher for your current version number and compare it with the steam stable version.

If it is the same then you will be able to continue your save when you reinstall.

[erutan]

You also might be better off trying a save from the geoscape than from ground combat (less variables that might be changed) - but since the game is in development there isn't a real upgrade path.

[Lt_Parsons]

If you want to keep playing experimental with your saves, you can just disable automatic game updates in Steam. That way you can update only when you had finished your currently saved playtrough, or just if you know that there no new savebreaking issues.

Steam cannot do rollbacks though - if you updated, then you updated.

[Gauddlike]

Personally I just copy the Xenonauts game folder to a new location so that I can continue to use that version for as long as I want and still get the latest update to play with if I want.

That might work for the OP.

[Prudent Viper]

No, you misunderstand me. Apologies.

I'm on the latest (stable build). I'm only reinstalling because I think some of my data may be corrupted. Some maps aren't loading properly, and Alien Base missions don't load at all.

I'm wondering if my save files will be unusable because of these bugs forever, or if I reinstall and carry them over everything will be fixed.

Thanks for your time!

[TehRoach]

I don't know how relevant this is, but it might help hopefully

I am playing V21 stable and a couple of days ago managed to fk up my copy some how,

I believe that it was something that I had done because the game was working fine,

till I started to mess around with the files under ./Steam/SteamApps/Common/Xenonauts lol

The game would often just crash out at the main NewGame LoadGame options screen and if it made it that far would always crash on a load saved game.

anyway if you are running V21 stable I believe that you will be fairly safe to proceed

on the Xenonauts Launcher there is a button 'Save Location'

I didn't bother, but it maybe safer to backup all these files

Find the game ID

there may be an easier way to do this, but I Create a desktop Icon for Xenonauts then check out its properties URL: steam://rungameid/??????, in place of the ?????? will be your answer

Delete any file/folder with the number ?????? in it, under ./Steam/appcache and sub folders

Uninstall Xenonauts in the steam library window

then delete ./Steam/SteamApps/Common/Xenonauts and all sub files and folders

Restart PC, just as a precaution

Reinstall Xenonauts in Steam

You will have to reconfig all your key changes and graphics settings

Click the 'Save Location' button and point it to your old save games

You should now be able to play your old V21 saves on a completely fresh install.

as this worked fine for me

WARNING: if you are not running the V21 Stable, I can't grantee success.

Edited April 30, 2014 by TehRoach

[Gauddlike]

Some data will be stored in the save, especially if you are in a ground mission.

Make sure you save from the geoscape before trying this to give yourself a better chance of having a working save when you get back to it.

[Prudent Viper]

Thanks for the advice.

I've just tried two fresh installs. Neither have fixed the problem with my save files. I'm going through a few new games now, fast forwarding through months till a Base shows up, to see if they're ok.

There's no quicker way to do this, right?

If data corruption is not the problem, what could be it?

Hardware? Everything else, bar Alien Base and one Crash Site map works fine.

[Prudent Viper]

Yep, the problem persists even on a new save. I'm still stuck on the alien base loading screen. I'm sure this is a problem on my end, which is why I haven't posted a bug report.

If I alt tab out, and back in again, this appears briefly:

[TehRoach]

What hardware are you playing it on?

Have you got all the latest drivers?

I have a save game that is V21 stable just before I attack the first Base, I could email or Dropbox it to you if that might help

[Prudent Viper]

They're not great, but it exceeds the requirements for Xenonauts I believe

1.9 GHz Dual Core Processor

2GB RAM

32 bit operating system

I have the embarrassingly archaic ATI Radeon X1200 Graphics card . (Which is four generations old... Four years ago!) According to AMD's auto detect thing, it's fully updated.

Unless I'm reading this wrong, it's 830 mb graphics card, while Xenonauts only requires 256

That could help a lot TehRoach, I'll send you my email address via Pm.

[Gauddlike]

Save files can be attached to forum posts now.

[Prudent Viper]

Fixed!

I went back and followed Roach's advice again, this time to the letter. Apparently, when you uninstall Xenonauts, it removes everything bar the Assets folder. The Assets folder, is what contains the maps. Once that was deleted manually, a new one was created upon installation. Even my old saves are working fine.

Thanks guys!