The One Thing that Bugs Me about Patches

I have been playing Sins of a Solar Empire for awhile (I picked it up a little after it released at retail) and I have noticed one thing that really gets on my nerves about the game.

That one thing is that when you install an update to Sins such as the recent 1.05 update, previously saved games no longer work. I believe it would be simple enough to allow previously saved games to continue to work even after updating. Most of the RTS or 4X titles I have played allow for previously saved games from a previous version of the game to work in the game after the game has been updated to a newer version.

It's not a big deal, but it can get annoying - I want to update because of bug fixes and gameplay tweaks, but I don't want to not be able to finish a good round of Sins that I was playing.

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the_Monk

Join Date 01/2008

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Well you can "believe" that it would be simple enough to "allow" previous saves to work, however belief does not constitute reality.

Comparing games when the only similarities they may share is on the surface (ie. they're all RTS's) isn't fair either. There is no standard for software developement which means no two pieces of software can every be truly "compared".

I realize it may be frustrating, however please realize that given game-design what you believe to be "easy" could be the exact opposite, and comparing software when there is no coding "standard" is a useless prospect.

Having replied with all of this, please understand none of this was meant to be offensive. Just stating what I see as fact.

the Monk

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Monk has it right I believe...

The save game files you are referring to have chunks of code that load, process and allocate that data to memory. For every older game file 'type' you make backwards compatible, you not only need an additional section to handle those routines, but often if there have been gameplay/data additions there will be missing or incorrect data that would at best cause strange inconsistencies (ei: this LRM has xxx hull.. why does this one have xxx? ad nauseum).

All this additional code you feel is simple to add .. well it's not so much that it's complicated, but you're talking about increasing the executable size of the game and therefore reducing the amount of memory/resources left over to run the game itself. I think it's reasonable to say as a general guideline that most gamers want the most efficient code possible without a lot of 'code bloat', especially those running older systems. Especially here when we are dealing with a real time engine, it's not comparable to what you could get away with in a turn based engine in terms of efficiency.

I understand where you're coming from, but the value of a save game doesn't have the weight I think of a more current game running with current features. Sometimes they make changes that have no effect on the save data, and honestly that's probably where you see games that can load older version save data without problems, not because the devs added in (rarely used I might add as those save games are completed, but then the residual compatibility code remains) code sections to handle them.

Yes, I'm a programmer if you couldn't tell...

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Hey it's not to say I haven't lost awesome games just before my ultimate triumph

Just like Monk said, it's nothing personal really. Just a peek into some possible reasons why these things happen.

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Just do what I do, don't update until you are done with your current game(s). I just today updated to 1.05. If 1.1 and 7 Deadly Sins 2.0 come out before my current game ends (possibility, i think I still have 80 or so planets to conquer), I won't update either until I'm done.

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Sometimes they make changes that have no effect on the save data, and honestly that's probably where you see games that can load older version save data without problems, not because the devs added in (rarely used I might add as those save games are completed, but then the residual compatibility code remains) code sections to handle them.Yes, I'm a programmer if you couldn't tell...

I have seen plenty of titles that do make significant changes (or changes comparable to those changes in the Sins updates) that have allowed the use of old saved files.

I see this more as lazy thinking on the developer's part and not something that could not have been done without wasting system resources or being overly extensive.

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I'm used to the entire 'update killing my saves/replays' thing, since Sins isn't the only one that does use that.

And, it would've been tough if a fresh installer faced a bunch of Advent 'weaklings' only to update to their now buffed versions

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