1 hour ago, Jugginator said:Using Appdata is pretty standard for a couple of reasons. Mostly, it's always available on every system and doesn't require knowing the user's name to save there, and is more permanent (uninstallers, windows Refresh, etc. leaves it alone). Also it's hidden, so users that access it generally know what they're doing, and you don't have to worry about "what if the user deleted the Documents folder?". Also, Microsoft discourages programs automatically writing to the Documents folder without asking, although I don't think anyone cares about that lol. Windows will leave Appdata alone if you check the "keep my files" during the Reset/Refresh.
Note you can also use FIle History to backup your save data, although I suggest you don't backup the entire appdata section, unless you have a very big drive for the backup.
Although various games and apps do use appdata, many use documents, which is far easier for users considering appdata is hidden by default. Also, going to %userprofile% isn't any harder than going to %appdata% from a programming standpoint.
I have installed at least a couple hundred games on my current computer and go through occasionally to remove stuff to free space on my small C drive, so I've seen what games store in different places. With those hundreds of games, only a handful place save games in appdata. Most use a folder in documents and a few use the game folder. I haven't looked at a clean install of Windows in a long time, but I think My Games is a default folder under documents. If so, it just makes sense to use that for saves. There are many games that use appdata for other things; they just aren't using it for saves.
If nothing else, I wish all games, including this one, provided an in-game option for where you want to save stuff. Most pre-built computers have small C drives, so saving games there is just not a great option.
I would also add that most backup software automatically backs up documents without having to manually add it, unlike appdata.
6 hours ago, Shame said:After dealing with a slough of computer problems for months... which have thankfully resolved. Dealing with data loss and backups has made me realize how fragile the experience is of playing this game alone or with friends/family because of the saves being stored in appdata. If I had not thought to backup the save files in appdata before I did a Windows Reset then I would have had to start all over again with my saves that I play with others.
Does anyone else feel dread from such uncertainty? Especially with how unpredictable computers can be. Sometimes you just don't see the signs and then it is all over. But if the saves are stored in documents then there isn't as much of an issue as backup programs can use these folders but they can't use appdata because of the nature of what is contained in these folders and how they are used so it just isn't an option for these programs.
I understand that the file size causes limitations in regards to Steam Cloud storage but they can surely still be contained in Documents instead. If anything I just want to know why it was chosen to be Appdata. Maybe I am a little more paranoid than normal after having to deal with all these issues. It has made me back things up more than I ever used to.
Add -UserDataFolder="your path" to your startup parameters in steam. Then move your saves, maps, and mods there.