Failed to Restore the Game From a Previous Save

[dave1122]

So been playing survival mode on epic since Dec, and have had this game breaking message on and off which essentially stops you in your tracks.  Luckily I backup my save files periodically so I can sometimes go back to a point where the error will not occur.  

Doing a search on the fourms doesnt really return any recent results, the most recent is 2018 and on xbox/ps4 and wintermute.  

So I figured Id start a new game when the dlc dropped.. even did a file consistency check beforehand and now Im day 35 or so in and boom.. same error. I mean what gives.

Anyone else ever see this or know how to deal with it?  I want to enjoy this game but this makes it really hard.

Some troubleshooting I was able to do on a previous game and saves was if I placed a rock pile too close to the entrance of the anglers cabin it would cause the error, so I can 'cause' it to happen.. but this isnt the only thing that causes it to show this error.. like just exploring one of the three trailers in ML has the bug too.

[UpUpAway95]

Since the update on the Xbox Series X, I have had instances where the game refused to launch an existing save file and a couple of instances where it would not let me get past the "name sandbox" screen when creating a new file.  Not sure if this is in any way the same as the problem you've experienced.  In my case, the workaround was to exit the game, quit it entirely while on the Xbox homepage, and the restart the game.  I figure it is some sort of compatibility issue with the Xbox Series X's "quick resume" feature since quitting the game completely using the "manage game" menu from the homepage cancels the quick resume.  Just a guess though... I sent HL a report yesterday.

[Shi-an]

I had this exact issue pop up when entering Angler's Den, but only sporadically.

I ended up reporting it, starting a new save, and as you mentioned making backups.

 

I don't remember if I had a rock cache next to Angler's Den in that save. Funnily enough I have 4 rock caches near Angler's in my current run and no error.

[Admin]

On 4/1/2023 at 3:13 PM, dave1122 said:

So been playing survival mode on epic since Dec, and have had this game breaking message on and off which essentially stops you in your tracks.  Luckily I backup my save files periodically so I can sometimes go back to a point where the error will not occur.  

Doing a search on the fourms doesnt really return any recent results, the most recent is 2018 and on xbox/ps4 and wintermute.  

So I figured Id start a new game when the dlc dropped.. even did a file consistency check beforehand and now Im day 35 or so in and boom.. same error. I mean what gives.

Anyone else ever see this or know how to deal with it?  I want to enjoy this game but this makes it really hard.

Some troubleshooting I was able to do on a previous game and saves was if I placed a rock pile too close to the entrance of the anglers cabin it would cause the error, so I can 'cause' it to happen.. but this isnt the only thing that causes it to show this error.. like just exploring one of the three trailers in ML has the bug too.

Have you filed a ticket on this issue? We would be happy to investigate this further via the Support Portal: http://hinterlandgames.com/support

[Mahonee]

He says in his text that he sent a report.  I did as well on Sunday (no response since the automated one).  There’s plenty of Xbox users having the same issues. Is this being addressed?  

[dave1122]

Yes, Anglers Den is the most recent one that caused me to write this post, no response back from support on the issue but I have more info FWIW.

Im on PC with the Epic launcher, I will try turning off my cloud sync to see if that will help.

Ive noticed that the issue seems to happen most frequently with those rectangular utility trailers and seems to be triggered by placing objects near by them but not always required. 

Most recently I was at the utility trailer in Desolation point at the processing plant.  I placed my rock cache a few feet from the door and the issue occurs.  I also tend to place my sleeping bag just outside and sleep for 1 hour so I can create a save incase Ive done a lot of work only to have the error occur and roll me back.  It would seem that my placement of the sleeping bag can cause/fix the error where you might have a 1 on 10 chance to enter the trailer without the error.  So it would seem to have something to do with world items causing some error or memory overflow for these small interiors.  If I do the same thing for large interiors there never seems to be an issue.

[AdamvR]

I'm also having the same issue in Angler's Den (only there so far).
I'm playing on Steam/PC. The only thing, it does not completely break the game, but when I (try to) enter Angler's, it sporadically shows this message, and then I have to go to main menu, and CAN resume the game, but it throws me back to the last save (!) (which is a bit better than killing me entirely..., but far from ideal)
This is a new bug to me, I never had encountered it before in my years with TLD.
Any others encountering it?

Does it make sense to still report it to support - as some say they did already. (my most recent 2 reports also got no response apart from
the automatic one, so I am hesitating sending new ones - there are also some other weird, previously unseen behavior, but not wanting to mess up this topic with them)

I do have a rock cache near the entrance, but I think I did see this error, even before building it. Will try moving it a bit further away, but that is a workaround (even if works) not a solution...
Thanks for your response!

Also, many mention to back up the saves - I used to do that, but it no longer works(!): There used to be a save file in ...\Users\...\AppData\Local\Hinterland\TheLongDark, which could be backed up, and restored (copied back overwriting the files in this folder) in case some game-breaking bug/getting stuck where i should not, etc... It is no longer there: the only file there recently changed is "steam_autocloud.vdf", which does nothing if backed up and/or copied back. I think this has something to do with the change in December rewriting how the saves work, and I do appreciate making it impossible to cheat with backing up saves (...), but it was also meant to save us from such game-breaking bugs - which no longer works.
So how do you back up your saves lately?
 

UPDATE: tried removing the stone cache from outside Angler's, and for a few times I could enter the house without an issue, so hoped that it was gone. Then again had the same problem, although no cache nearby anymore So this did not solve it for me...

Before that I tried experimenting how far I should place it, and thought to have found the issue: normally when you build a rock cache, its icon appears on the map. If you try to build it around Angler's, there is no icon on the map! (there is an icon for the one I have on the rabbit plateau near climber's cave above). They still might be related, but removing the cache did not solve it (only temporarily, so it might still be simply chance).

UPDATE2: any switching off cloud syncing did not help either. It is getting unplayable at this point:(

Edited April 12, 2023 by AdamvR

[dave1122]

When I first started the thread I had about 2 months of experiencing this bug and my experience at that time was that it seemed to be game breaking in that when I received the error went back to main menu and tried to resume and enter the building again it seemed to always cause the error.  If I had all my supplies in that building then this was indeed tragic.  Since then I have found that changing world assets, ie nearby rock cache or placing/removing nearby sleeping bag might allow me in the space about 5% of the time.  So not entirely game breaking anymore but still very frustrating and time consuming.

As mentioned I am on Epic Launcher/PC, I do backup my saves as mentioned from the other user's post above and my cloud saves are turned off.

I have seen this error occur even when entering a new map area, ie the transition point between blackrock and pleasant valley.  In a past playthrough I entered from pleasant valley collecting a few things on my way to the utility trailer, after looting a couple cars nearby I would encountered the bug when I tried to re-enter the trailer even with not world items placed in this map, ie rock cached/sleeping bag.  So the bug seems to be somehow tied to assets.  On that playthrough I restored a file from back when i was in pleasant valley and when I re-entered the transition map area the assets in the area were all different like it was re-seeded.  I was under the impression that on a new game all world assets are assigned and decay starts.  But seeing the assets in the transition map change tells me that either each map gets seeded once you enter it for the first time and that perhaps there is an issue with this seeding process as I had no problems with that trailer after I had gone back to the pleasant valley previous save and the transition map was re-seeded.

So I am making due now and able to keep playing but its a major PIA, as I usually save by placing a sleeping bag just outside of these high risk areas that throw the error but have been attacked a number of times now by animals.

[AdamvR]

I thank three are quite a few weird, never before seen bugs since the split in December and/or some unity update introducing them. 
I’m pretty sure Hinterland is working on them.
I’m having a hunch they are somehow related: as @dave1122 explained this ‘cannot restore save’ error might be related to the known issue of ‘sometimes regions reset’, or the ‘walking away and back rearranging  sticks on the ground’ is likely related to the ‘recently stored items reappearing in backpack’ issue. 
I’m hoping once one of the root causes is identified, many of them would get resolved ‘automatically’.

In the meantime I believe it makes sense to keep mentioning and discussing these, as our combined experience might actually help the root cause(s) to be more easily pinpointed - provided that those working on the fix are checking these forums;-).

for now, I’ve decided to take everything out of Angler’s on one of the rare occasions it let me in… declared it ‘cursed’ until further notice and moved to other areas…

I hope I won’t be running into it elsewhere 

 

[UpUpAway95]

2 hours ago, AdamvR said:

I thank three are quite a few weird, never before seen bugs since the split in December and/or some unity update introducing them. 
I’m pretty sure Hinterland is working on them.
I’m having a hunch they are somehow related: as @dave1122 explained this ‘cannot restore save’ error might be related to the known issue of ‘sometimes regions reset’, or the ‘walking away and back rearranging  sticks on the ground’ is likely related to the ‘recently stored items reappearing in backpack’ issue. 
I’m hoping once one of the root causes is identified, many of them would get resolved ‘automatically’.

In the meantime I believe it makes sense to keep mentioning and discussing these, as our combined experience might actually help the root cause(s) to be more easily pinpointed - provided that those working on the fix are checking these forums;-).

for now, I’ve decided to take everything out of Angler’s on one of the rare occasions it let me in… declared it ‘cursed’ until further notice and moved to other areas…

I hope I won’t be running into it elsewhere 

 

I haven't been locked out of any spaces yet, but I am noticing that sticks are disappearing even as I'm going to pick them up.  I have also notice that containers that I know I've searched and were empty sometimes contain items on a subsequent visit to that location (I'm not sure if it is isolated to indoor locations or not).  An old bug of which this might be a variant, was that wounded/bleeding animals would despawn (or reset) if the player went indoors to, say, get out of a blizzard.  I tested this in one of my runs recently by wounding a deer, following it for a little bit to confirm a blood trail, and then breaking off to go inside and sleep and a blizzard did start just before I went indoors.  The deer was still alive when I went inside, but was dead fairly close by when I emerged more than 12 hours later (so that bug didn't trigger at least on that occasion.)  Of course, more tests are needed.

[AdamvR]

Thanks @UpUpAway95!

The fact that the bleeding animals reset when you go inside not being it might help actually. (Although I think bears may have become nearly immortal, i shot one in the a with the rifle, then broke an arrow on it and then found three more in it once I finally found its carcass…, neither of the 5 shots finishing it…) back to point: I kinda have a hunch of this can all related to how the game stores those things that are random originally, but once we interact with/even just see them their status should be ‘saved’.

Yet, it somehow gets rerandomized,  and that causes all sorts of trouble everywhere. Eg the status of the insides of Angler’s is sometimes rerandomized but a checksum or sg fails, so it cannot load its previous status, and fails. Weird, how sometimes I still can enter…, so the rerandomized status might not be permanent… 

but I see no code, so just debugging in the air from what info we have at this point. 😉 

[dave1122]

18 hours ago, UpUpAway95 said:

I haven't been locked out of any spaces yet, but I am noticing that sticks are disappearing even as I'm going to pick them up.  I have also notice that containers that I know I've searched and were empty sometimes contain items on a subsequent visit to that location (I'm not sure if it is isolated to indoor locations or not).  An old bug of which this might be a variant, was that wounded/bleeding animals would despawn (or reset) if the player went indoors to, say, get out of a blizzard.  I tested this in one of my runs recently by wounding a deer, following it for a little bit to confirm a blood trail, and then breaking off to go inside and sleep and a blizzard did start just before I went indoors.  The deer was still alive when I went inside, but was dead fairly close by when I emerged more than 12 hours later (so that bug didn't trigger at least on that occasion.)  Of course, more tests are needed.

I think Ive seen this as well, I will sometimes head into an interior immediately after a wolf engagement to drop some items off so I can better chase it and to also save the game incase the wolf runs all the way across the map and I lose track of it.  Before going inside I can see footprints (this is another issue I will get into) and some blood trail.  I go inside, drop a few things then immediately come out and no more footprints or blood trail.  So its like a reset happens or something.  As for the animal footprints the disappearance of these seem to be based on distance traveled instead of by duration from first impression.  So a injured wolf running at full speed tends to have his footprints start to disappear quite rapidly even if there is no blizzard or winds at the time which doesnt seem right to me.

[UpUpAway95]

Just now, dave1122 said:

I think Ive seen this as well, I will sometimes head into an interior immediately after a wolf engagement to drop some items off so I can better chase it and to also save the game incase the wolf runs all the way across the map and I lose track of it.  Before going inside I can see footprints (this is another issue I will get into) and some blood trail.  I go inside, drop a few things then immediately come out and no more footprints or blood trail.  So its like a reset happens or something.  As for the animal footprints the disappearance of these seem to be based on distance traveled instead of by duration from first impression.  So a injured wolf running at full speed tends to have his footprints start to disappear quite rapidly even if there is no blizzard or winds at the time which doesnt seem right to me.

The short duration that many blood trails last has been a concern to players as long as I can remember.  HL have made many adjustments to it.  Sometimes the trail will reappear at a distance from where the previous trail disappears.  Some times this "reallignment" occurs when the bleeding animal changes course or when the animal goes over a rock outcrop (that is, sometime the blood trail doesn't precisely follow the animal's path, but shifts over several feet and roughly "parallels" it.  As well, it sometimes disappears for a bit when another animal of the same type crosses the path of the wounded one.  I've spent a lot of time following wounded animals in game trying to make real sense of it... largely to no avail.  A long while ago, it did capture a video of a bleeding bear actually climbing a tree... causing the blood trail to disappear at the base of the tree and then reappear a few feet away from the other side of it (that video was posted somewhere on this website back then).

Animals resetting during storms is mostly confirm-able by using the kill counter in the journal (noting that it goes up by one at some point during the blizzard).  If it doesn't, a reset has occurred.  I also confirmed that my deer this time around had not reset because I ultimately found the carcass after the blizzard had passed.

 

[AdamvR]

I just recalled something I found odd when started playing again a couple weeks back, but then did not pay much attention to it and forgot. It might actually be related: once I searched a container or corpse, my cursor over it still said search instead of empty. If I moved the cursor away and back, or waited a bit more, it did turn to ‘empty’. This has been instantaneous in the past. (and my pc is the same)

This ‘taking a while’ indicates to me that something (different than before) is happening when updating the information in the back end if this is a searched container or not. Could that be multi threading…? Ie, one thread is updating it, but the others do not yet know about it yet until it is finished? If so, these activities might need to be reserved to the main thread, even if that’s slower, or manage this in another way.

 

multi threading conflicts could also explain why sometimes it works to enter Angler’s and others it fails.

Edited April 18, 2023 by AdamvR

[Admin]

Thank you for the ongoing discussion. We are investigating this issue and we will follow up should we have additional questions. 

[Jalos]

I confronted with this bug 3.rd times on the same run.

First: (v 2.21):FM Prepper Cache : still can't enter 

Second: v2.23:  TWM Trans cave between two engines:  solved by destroy / rebuild rock cache

Third:   v2.24 now at  HRV Tales Bunker : I still try to reenter.  

 

I started support  ticket on the first two, but not got one word back except the automatic reply

 

 

 

 

[AdamvR]

That does not sound very nice @Jalos...
I've started a new run after the latest update, and have not encountered the error yet (in 200 days or so).
I have not tried my run from before the update, but now I'm a bit afraid to...
I've also avoided some of the things that I suspected as being triggers for this avalanche, like building stone caches or opening the cache in the boat next to Angler's. So not sure if it is related.

Support used to be more responsive before, I agree..., all my tickets since the DLC started are "Open"...
Hope they'd be able to catch up with those as well, I'm sure HTL is working hard on resolving issues/developing the new content for the Dec release...

[Jalos]

On 11/20/2023 at 4:55 PM, Jalos said:

Third:   v2.24 now at  HRV Tales Bunker : I still try to reenter.  

 

Just for recording:  I waited for 2.25, and it solved my Tales Bunker enter/loading problem in HRV.