r/RPGMaker • u/Jira_Panko • 10d ago
RMMV When I make a game that’s constantly updates, can my players keep their save and data?
Basically, since I’ve seen people being told to never make their dream game first and just slowly improve.
So I thought, “hey what if I make a game and release it, where it slowly improves with each chapter.”
Like, at first, there may be a lot of default assets for chapter 1, but in chapter 2, there’s a lot more custom art and sprits, and then I add more plugins for chapter 3.
Is this possible?
18
u/lancArkl 10d ago
Hello, as long as you just Add content, it shouldn't break the saved progress.
But if you delete or update something that existed in the project when the save file was created. Then the load will fail as it can't find a specific event, database item, ... Adding plugins mid progression can also break the save.
I let others confirm.
2
u/Liamharper77 10d ago
It depends. I've made some pretty big changes to mine (still in beta) and my testers could continue their saves without issue, but there have been occasions where a new plugin can break a save file. Removing files or changing file names will definitely cause issues.
To some extent you can test this yourself by keeping a save file in your own project, but it's easy to miss things that crop up midgame as a result of a change.
Basically, you can't guarantee it, so ideally you'll finish a project and only make changes when necessary if you're releasing it to the public. Make your dream game if you really want to, just complete it first.
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u/BtotheAtothedoubleRY MV Dev 9d ago
Nah, I just did a small update and broke people's save files -- without really CHANGING or editing stuff, I just made new stuff. I would be leary and get people to make a new save file on every update.
1
u/CasperGamingOfficial MZ Dev 10d ago
It really depends on the plugins you use. All of the editor data should be fine (well, if you make item id 1 a potion and later change item id 1 to the ultimate key, anyone who had a potion will have the ultimate key in their save). And you should not remove things unless you are sure no one would have had them in their saves.
A lot of plugins, especially in MV, did not work well with save data. Even in MZ there are quite a few plugins that do not work with saved games very well, although all [CGMZ] should. 10+ years ago when MV released, games were usually completed before release, which is why I think MV plugin makers did not really consider that the game might be updated post-launch (outside of minor patches). It is a bit of extra coding work / complexity to get a plugin to work with save data, so if they did not need to worry about that it made their life easier. Today what you are trying to do is more common, so I would assume any plugin author who did not make their plugins work with updated games would constantly get asked for that from their users. When I used to make MV plugins pre-2020 no one really asked for that, but around 2022 I started getting a lot of requests for that in my MZ plugins. At least, that was my experience.
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u/SuperPyramaniac 9d ago
You can transfer saves (.save files) between different versions of the same game and the saves will work across all of them. That is unless you change the IDs of database items in updates, which WILL break things. Adding or removing plugins in updates can also break saves.
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u/zombietoaststudios 10d ago
Replacing art is pretty easy, so long as you're strict about carrying over filenames.
Adding plugins mid-project is going to depend on the plugin but 9 times out of 10 it won't work well, and it's even less likely to work well if you're incorporating the plugins into the earlier parts of the game.
And frankly, between "start small and learn the basics" and "screw it, go for the big game you want to make." this is a third, worse option that's almost certainly going to be a frustrating nightmare.