[TWD] Game save corrupted, request for game save generator

[phozee]

So just like half the threads on here...I am having issues with corrupted game saves. My game crashed during the load screen immediately after saving Ben in the clocktower in episode 4, and the next time I tried to start my game, I got 'WalkingDead101.exe has stopped responding', tried again and I got in but my game resolution was reset and none of my saves were recognized. I see about 45 save files in my Documents folder, but they're of no use to me. Tried copying files and changing timestamps, reverting to restore points, messing with prefs.prop - nothing I have tried has had any sort of success.

I have invested 17 hours so far in my game and have no interest either playing through again or generating random decisions. At this point it's either a) this somehow gets fixed, I continue on my merry way enjoying the game and I continue to be a loyal customer, or b) I forget about the time I wasted and hold on to my money in the future.

I'm asking you, devs of Telltale, to either give us an ETA on a fix for this, or give us some kind of basic tool to generate a save file with the decisions we want. I feel like I'm not asking for anything more here than basic customer support for a product that is clearly not fully functional. I want what I paid for, nothing more, and I can say with certainty that based on the customer support I've seen so far (with all issues regarding this game) that I will not be purchasing any more Telltale games if nothing is done about this.

[fadeoutagain2784]

Originally Posted by phozee

So just like half the threads on here...I am having issues with corrupted game saves. My game crashed during the load screen immediately after saving Ben in the clocktower in episode 4, and the next time I tried to start my game, I got 'WalkingDead101.exe has stopped responding', tried again and I got in but my game resolution was reset and none of my saves were recognized. I see about 45 save files in my Documents folder, but they're of no use to me. Tried copying files and changing timestamps, reverting to restore points, messing with prefs.prop - nothing I have tried has had any sort of success.

I have invested 17 hours so far in my game and have no interest either playing through again or generating random decisions. At this point it's either a) this somehow gets fixed, I continue on my merry way enjoying the game and I continue to be a loyal customer, or b) I forget about the time I wasted and hold on to my money in the future.

I'm asking you, devs of Telltale, to either give us an ETA on a fix for this, or give us some kind of basic tool to generate a save file with the decisions we want. I feel like I'm not asking for anything more here than basic customer support for a product that is clearly not fully functional. I want what I paid for, nothing more, and I can say with certainty that based on the customer support I've seen so far (with all issues regarding this game) that I will not be purchasing any more Telltale games if nothing is done about this.

Well said, phozee.

TellTale, please throw us a bone!

[MattP]

Unfortunately your prefs file can be corrupted if the game crashes. You can try right clicking on your prefs file and selecting the option to revert to a previous version. If this does not work, then your saves are most likely unrecoverable.

You can also try doing a search on your computer for an additional prefs.prop file. You should only have one copy of this file in your save game directory (Documents\Telltale Games\The Walking Dead). If you find another copy elsewhere, this needs to be removed. Usually this duplicate file can be found in either a Gamedata folder adjacent to your save directory, or in your installation folder. If you remove this file, but still experience the issue, then it's possible the duplicate file is being recognized instead of the prefs in your save directory. Please take the duplicate file and move it into your save folder (which will overwrite the existing file). You may want to back-up both of these files before attempting this process, just in case.

[phozee]

I appreciate the reply, but that seems like a cut and paste response that I've seen in other threads, and shows that you read only the title of this thread and not the content.
Checking other threads shows me that you just posted a copy-paste response without actually reading the first post. Seeing as how you guys don't seem to like spending time reading or responding to these, I'll make this as short and clear as possible:

I have already tried tinkering with the prefs and save files. I only have one of them in my My Documents folder, not in the game directory folder. Tried recovering, there are no previous versions to revert to. Tried copying it to the game directory folder as someone in a Steam thread suggested but that didn't work.

I urge you to actually read not only my original post, but the rest of the threads on this forum. You're going to definitely lose a good deal of customers for not even trying to resolve this (and many other) issues.

Basic customer support is something every company should provide, and you guys are failing hard right now.

[fadeoutagain2784]

And what if I can't even launch the game anymore?? What if it crashes EVERY time. Please, Matt - can you at least give me the impression that you guys know about my issue and are trying to resolve it? It'd be nice not to feel like I'm being ignored entirely.

[SpleenballPro]

Originally Posted by MattP

Unfortunately your prefs file can be corrupted if the game crashes. You can try right clicking on your prefs file and selecting the option to revert to a previous version. If this does not work, then your saves are most likely unrecoverable.

You can also try doing a search on your computer for an additional prefs.prop file. You should only have one copy of this file in your save game directory (Documents\Telltale Games\The Walking Dead). If you find another copy elsewhere, this needs to be removed. Usually this duplicate file can be found in either a Gamedata folder adjacent to your save directory, or in your installation folder. If you remove this file, but still experience the issue, then it's possible the duplicate file is being recognized instead of the prefs in your save directory. Please take the duplicate file and move it into your save folder (which will overwrite the existing file). You may want to back-up both of these files before attempting this process, just in case.

I have a question for you. Why are the Tell Tale responses so sporadic? Why are there not posts of an ETA or at least a confirmation of issues with this? How come the customers at large are being ignored? If I call your offices will I be able to get a refund?

[sid6581]

Originally Posted by phozee

Checking other threads shows me that you just posted a copy-paste response without actually reading the first post.

If it wouldn't be so sad it would be actually hilarious. I mean they are basically admitting that their game corrupts savegames. So they DO know about this issue but their advice boils down to "Find another prefs.prop on your computer - there is none? Bad luck, have fun playing again and yes we know that you can't skip conversations or cutscenes".

Just for comparison how other companies handle this who listen to their customers: Hitman Absolution also got problems with savegame corruption upon release. They needed one week to provide a patch which addresses these issues. Going through this forum I see problems with savegames dating two months ago and they still didn't get around to fixing this.

[phozee]

Telltale: is it possible to make a tool for generating saves + prefs.prop? Could this be a web app (I am a web developer, I will build the front end FOR you for God's sake...)? Something literally as simple as a bunch of radio buttons to choose an option for each conversation in the game that affects the story.

[madbeard]

I have posted separately before and check back now and then to see if telltale will actually support us? I have a corrupted/lost Pref.prop file but I have tons of save files.......

TellTale can you not restore from one of these save files? otherwise what is the point of them?

I feel the same as Phozee, I do not want to start again or use generic answers to the decision I have made.

There are countless threads like this where is the offical sticky and answer in the faqs?

The unique selling point you make in your games is that the decisions we make count and carry forward. You must make this more robust and must offer some basic support other than the randomness on this forum currently. The damage to your customer base will be damaged beyond repair.

[phozee]

Shameless bump >_<

[QMOW]

Having played into episode two twice now because of lost saves, I feel your pain Phozee, but I think at 17 hours of game time, you have me beat. This is a great idea though. It's troubling to me that the guy from the Telltale team completely ignored your suggestion. I mean it's bad enough that we all paid money for a product we clearly cannot use despite several attempts at user submitted workarounds.

[Fistfulofmetal]

Here's my story:

I had the save game issue back when Episode 5 came out. I tried numerous fixes and nothing worked. Eventually I decided I would just replay the entire game during my vacation (which I am on right now).

Today I finished Episode 3. I closed the game and wanted to go back and verify that my save game still existed. Apparently this game syncs to the STEAM cloud (something I've never seen it do). I must have launched the game too fast and received an error. Now I've seen this error before and it's never given me an issue. It basically is saying it hasn't finished syncing. I've canceled this error and been fine in other games. This time when I loaded up the game all my progress from today is gone. It only shows my having played to Episode 1.

My save files exist in the My Documents folder. The prefs.prop file only exists in the My Documents folder. I've deleted any ones I've found in other directories. I've tried to turn cloud sync on and off for this game.

Nothing works.

It's incredibly insulting that I have to worry that a video game in 2012 will not read my save file. It's the most basic feature in a video game and something all of them MUST get right. Worse yet, we've received pitiful support from Telltale. No information on a fix, no information on why this is happening. Nothing. Just a number of workarounds that other users have discovered.

This game was once in the running for my GOTY but not anymore. Going forward I will no longer be purchasing anything from this company and I'll warn everyone I speak with how pathetic the QA and Customer Support has been. You have no one else to blame but yourselves.

[Greyline108]

I'm curious, has anybody sent Telltale an email? I sent one yesterday. No response yet, but I'm willing to give them another day or two to get back to me. I do agree, the worry of losing your progress for no obvious reason is just terrible.

[phozee]

I know I'll probably never get a response from a dev. But bump anyway.

[JordyLicht]

Originally Posted by Greyline108

I'm curious, has anybody sent Telltale an email? I sent one yesterday. No response yet, but I'm willing to give them another day or two to get back to me. I do agree, the worry of losing your progress for no obvious reason is just terrible.

I was browsing through my sent mails and my first mail to TTG support was July 3th. I got a response 3 days later with a standard mail saying that they are aware 'a number of Mac users' are having problems with downloading episode 2 (yes, this was when only episode 1 and 2 were released).
Never heard anything after that, and I just tried downloading episode 2 every week since then. It took me about 6 to 7 weeks until I was able to download episode 2.

Next support mail went out of the door October 11th when I again wasn't able to download episode 3 (and 4). Never got a response to that mail though.

I sent a mail to a local consumer protection agency on the 11th as well, asking for advice on how to get a refund. No response...

'Fortunately' I had a HD crash so I had to format my entire Mac HD. When I was done reinstalling everything I was able to download and install all the episodes just fine.
But then the savegame issues started... Had to start over twice and started backupping my saves AND my prefs.prop file everytime I played the game. I didn't send an email about this problem though, because it was obvious that they were 'dealing with it', when reading the boards.

So, yeah, the first mail to support was over 6 months ago and there still seem to be users with trouble downloading the newer episodes.

Without sounding too arrogant, I'm lucky that I am of the people whose problems got (magically) fixed and was able to play, enjoy and finish the game.