Save limitation idea Thread - MISERY mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Cutting straight to the chase, I wanted to ask if it would be possible to implement some save limiting system, so you could only save in specific points (like bases, maybe fireplaces with friendlies) or at least when outside of combat and nobody is currently trying to kill you.

I know that it might sound quite crazy to some, masochistic even, but I think that quick saving and loading takes a lot of edge from this otherwise brutal mod. I mean, given enough time and patience you could easily systematically kill every merc at the processing plant without much trouble even with the starting gear. Just keep quicksaving after every kill, and they will run out of men eventually. It's almost a very crude time manipulation mechanic where you reverse time to fix mistakes.

Limiting saves would give a whole new layer of realism, it would make every encounter feel a lot more threatening and consequential. It would also make medicine a lot more essential, because now most of the ailments can be (and often are) treated with an Quick-load pill

I know that an obvious solution is to just do that myself (only save at stations, I mean), and I indeed did so for a couple of times (and it was awesome, made quite a story), but it just feels quite silly when you intentionally try to hinder your own progress, especially in such mod.

Pros and Cons I'd say.

Not bad idea but really there are whole range of players installed this mod and the feedback ranged from too easy to impossible. There are ppl out there playing the story line without single death. If player force themselves (or just simply forgot) not to save, sometimes they will have to do nasty battle more than once, and for some of us it's not pleasant.

I'd say it's hard to script such limitation. Players themselves can choose when and where to save so they can play and enjoy the game.

I agree with DesertEagle. You can simply choose only to save when you are safe. IMHO I always hated console style games where you could only save at specific points. Sometimes you get interrupted in mid battle by real life and you would need to save wherever you are. You should not be using quick saves at all. Any save made should be a hard save. You should not load or use an auto save except as last resort. The save stream becomes corrupted and will ruin your play.

Cutting straight to the chase, I wanted to ask if it would be possible to implement some save limiting system, so you could only save in specific points (like bases, maybe fireplaces with friendlies) or at least when outside of combat and nobody is currently trying to kill you.

You can just use self-control and only allow yourself to save in those areas. There's no need to enforce that on every player.

Peronally I like to be able to save anywhere as a safeguard against losing progress from a crash. I also like to save before an area I anticipate being a nightmare, like the Iron Forest, so that if I die I don't have to trek all they way across Zaton again.

but it just feels quite silly when you intentionally try to hinder your own progress, especially in such mod.

I don't see it like that at all. It feels far sillier to me to try to cheese my way through fights by abusing the save game system.

FYI you're intentionally trying to hinder your own progress by asking for save limitations anyway. There's really no difference between "I'll limit saves myself" and "I'll get someone else to limit my saves".

I probably should have clarified, I don't really wan't such system as an integral part to the mod (most of people would most likely hate that). If anything, it could be an optional thing at most (like that daylight radiation thing). But the actual reason I asked is to know whenever that was possible at all through scripting, and, if so, where exactly at the script should I be looking for to make either of the changes:

1. Disable saving while in combat. I'm pretty sure vanilla game had some dynamic music system that would play battle music while you were in combat. Maybe it would be possible to attach something to that in combat state.

2. Autosave when using an active(burning) campfire. I've probably been playing too much Dark Souls.

I have some modding experience (nothing spectacular, though), so I might be able to make the required changes on my own. Would just like to be pointed in the right direction.

There's really no difference between "I'll limit saves myself" and "I'll get someone else to limit my saves".

I'd disagree. The "doing it myself" method is a lot more prone to excuses and compromises when things get really hairy. Also, with this method I can't help but feel like I'm not taking this whole "man made hell" situation seriously (then again, the same can be said about leading half of the mutant population of the Iron Forest to the nearby Merc base, sitting at a nearby rock, opening an MRE and enjoying the show (and the likely consecutive CTD), but oh well). Then again, it's more of a personal opinion on the matter, and I suppose the difference might look very subtle or even non-existent to some, but it matters to me. Because of reasons

There is one reason I would never want to have limited saving and that is crashes. Some parts of the game crash more than others. If you see a chimera, it's time to save. Not because they're super dangerous(they are though) but because they are more likely to crash your game if they start fighting other stalkers.

But yeah, for me it's not about limiting saves, it's about limiting loads. Never reload, not even because of bugs. However in turn you can exploit every cheap move and bug you know. If you play like this you never have an excuse to reload.

As to being able to limit saves I am sure you could. I am not sure it would be worth the time it would take to get it working though.

You do not want anything making autosaves either. They aren't quite as bad as quick saves, but should be deleted ASAP after they are made and even the ones you can't stop because of map changes should only be used as last resort because they too can become corrupted.

Why exactly are they so unstable? Isn't autosave the same thing as a hard save, except called be the game itself?

I don't believe the game is completely stopped when they are made, so it's not necessarily a true image of what was going on by the time it is saved. There is a quick hard save utility which is safe to use. It's labeled for an earlier version but works fine in 2.1.1. Other than people with install or hardware setup problems, I think it is the most common thing that causes players problems.

Serious question;

Is the whole auto/quick save an actual issue that people experience? Or rather a response that was once suggested that people now just following for good measure?

I've completed MISERY twice, and had 6-8 saves that completed most of Jupiter map. I've always used quick/auto saves, with very few hard saves, and I've never experiencing any issues.

It happens, it will happen eventually. It will make you miserable when you find out it happened 2 rotations of all your saves ago. Stuff like dialog options that do not appear after all criteria met, helicopter missions that you complete without it registering, etc. Subtle stuff that eventually halts your progress permanently. I have helped dozens of people who have broken their play thoughs with it.

Personally I like to limit my saves to only at safe havens like skadovsk and not too often. I dont like going out and then coming back 10 minuter later to sell some loot and save. Instead i try to have a stash somewhere and stay out for the whole day and save when i get back. This method makes the game more scary for me since I really dont want to die and start the day over and loose all that I have collected. It makes me more careful and aware of my surroundings and actually consider if its worth going for that body or group of Bandits. Its really an adrenaline boost to get ambushed by mutants or hostile stalkers.

It will be possible to limit saving only in certain safe zones, like those that will protect you from blowout, for example, got some ideas how that could be done.

However, no metter how much we try to make this mod more stable, it will not be perfectly stable and game could crash for various reasons. Like Jasper said, quicksaves can make thing even worse. Lot of times can work just fine and suddenly something can be saved wrong and you can loose hours and hours of playtrough until find uncorrupted save game. If you were smart enough to make some hard savegame points in your playtrough.

Noone knows exectly why quicksaves are more prone to corrupted game, we can only guess, but it was proven numerous times that quicksaves are main reason for corrupted gameplay. When you know that something is going to do bad things to you, why continue to use it, pushing your luck to limit ? And when you finally get corrupted savegame, you will take out also limited free time from various modders to chase ghost bugs that could be easy avoided. That time and effort could be put to better use, developing new features, etc.

Also, I agree, real life often kicks in, so you need to stop play games and save game whereever you are in playtrough, not all of us have much time as we want for playing. I would rather to give anyone ability to deceide on their own how someone wants to play game, where he wants to play game and where not. I for example save game before aproaching known crowded areas at various points on map and saving again when I kill enemies in area. If I die, I repeat whole battle, always in slightly different way. There is moments when after few tryouts it become too frustrating to repeat over and over again same battle, so I save after 3-4 kills, always looking to save when I'm out of enemy sight, in cover.

Someone may abuse save/load game, but, hey, that's their own choice, everyone can play this game how like it most. I would rather not limit anyone to play game only in certain way.

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kcs123 wrote:

Also, I agree, real life often kicks in, so you need to stop play games and save game whereever you are in playtrough, not all of us have much time as we want for playing. I would rather to give anyone ability to deceide on their own how someone wants to play game, where he wants to play game and where not. I for example save game before aproaching known crowded areas at various points on map and saving again when I kill enemies in area. If I die, I repeat whole battle, always in slightly different way. There is moments when after few tryouts it become too frustrating to repeat over and over again same battle, so I save after 3-4 kills, always looking to save when I'm out of enemy sight, in cover.

Someone may abuse save/load game, but, hey, that's their own choice, everyone can play this game how like it most. I would rather not limit anyone to play game only in certain way.

I 100% agree with you but for me atleast saving before entering a crowded area takes away the fear of death cause you'll know you can just load and try again. If I for example decide I am going to the iron forest I make sure I have all the gear I need to survive, I save in skadovsk and then head out and don't save until I complete what I want to achieve. Ofcourse everyone plays differently and it would be wrong to limit the saves as a feature as most people will probably hate it, but when I have made alot of progress and you know there's danger around the corner and you don't know what to do and your heart starts beating. These moments are one of the many many reasons I have put so many hours into the game. It can be frustrating when you die but it's also almost a relief.

I have to agree limiting saves would really aggravate most players. Ironman type play definitely adds an edge to the game, but the games I stopped playing the soonest were arcade type things where you could only save at certain points. I wonder if it would be possible to clear corpses and loose loot from map upon a reload? That would cost you loot you would otherwise have a chance to grab if you have to reload before looting the bodies.

That not a bad idea actually it would make you more careful in a fight in the way that if you save between each 3 kills or something you would loose that loot if you die. I like that its not too hardcore and it brings alot to the game i think.

IF it were possible, it would need to be an option. It still wouldn't be fair to take all the loot away from someone who stops for unrealistic things like sitting at the dinner table, doing homework or any real life stuff ;-) It happens sometimes anyway during pitched battles if they drag out over an hour of in game time.