So I only have 3 saved games to load when I load up the game, but when I look at my save file in documents, there are something like 80 in there! How do I know which ones are safe to remove?
I really wish we could get a better, or clearer way of recognizing the game files in the file folder!
I want to clean it up to make it run better for the new EP, but I am afraid to delete anything in there for fear of messing up my games. I have been playing one save for a very long time.
Does anyone have a guide or tutorial available on how to remove these files safely without ruining the most recent save?
7
Comments
Seems kind of unfortunate if not.
I just wish they were named as they are in the game! I have no idea which slot. ver belongs to what. It is confusing.
``````````````````````````````````
Documents > Electronic Arts > Sims 4 > Saves
Within that folder, you will see a long list of files with names like Slot_000000012.save or Slot_000000012.save.ver1. You will notice that each file number has up to six versions. The one with the .save file extension is the primary version of that save point--the one that would load if you launched the game and continued from where you left off (or used Load Game in the main menu to choose an older save point). The other instances of the file represent older points within that saved game, where the game automatically preserved your progress incrementally. The higher the version number, the older the file (.ver4 is the oldest save point within the series).
If you find that your game is corrupted as of the latest load, you can easily revert to any older version of that same save point, potentially losing no more than a few Sim hours of progress. Start by identifying the save point you want to use:
Is it definitely the latest game you've been playing, or do you want to go back by a few days?
If your folder view is set to show details, you will see your files displayed with date and time information, making it easy to choose the newest set of save points.
If you want to go back further in an older save, you can match it to your save points in-game via the Load Game menu.
The in-game save points show date and time information, so you can match them against the set of files in your Saves folder.
Important: After you have matched your save points in-game to your set of save files, be sure to close the game. Never alter game files while the game is running.
Once you have chosen the save point you want to return to, select the primary version of it (the one with the .save file extension) and move it to another folder location for safe-keeping (you could instead choose to rename or delete it if you prefer). Now you will have a set of files that all have the file extensions marking them as older versions of that save point. You can choose any one of those to make primary, depending how far back you want to go.
To revert the smallest amount of time and progress, choose the file with .save.ver0.
To revert the most time and progress within this save, choose the file with .save.ver4.
In order to make the file you choose become the new primary save point, simply right-click the file and choose Rename. Delete the part of the file name after .save and hit Enter.
Example: Slot_000000012.save.ver4 should now be Slot_000000012.save
Now, launch The Sims 4, and choose Load Game. Select the save point you want to open, and the game will load the file you renamed as the primary for that save point.
Then in the saves folder i filtered the files by most recent date, all the save files that were amended that same day where the ones I saved and just removed the rest.
To be on the safe side though, just cut the files from the folder and place them in another folder on your desk top, then load up your game to make sure none of your current saves had disappeared
As you can see, I have these big files all from today ( and there are two more down further with different slot numbers and the same time)
How can I possibly know which is safe to delete?
I would really like to be able to manage my files better but can't because I don't know what any of it means.
I hope the sim gurus can do something to make it easier. @SimGuruDrake can you pass this along to the relevant dev?
This isn't such a big deal for me right now, because I keep all of my important families and sims in my Gallery. Before I decided to try this, I made sure my GT family was freshly uploaded into the gallery as well... so I didn't lose anything super important to me... the only thing I lost was the bakery I had started... which is actually a plus for me. LOL For future maintenance, though, I definitely need to do some reading up on this so I don't make the same numb mistakes again. >.<
Sorry you lost your games! his is exactly what I fear. I will go through everything and update my library and gallery with sims and lots before I do anything. Thank you for the excellent idea.
I didn't particularly care what happened, so I didn't bother with any backups outside of my gallery. Once they implement a good fix for culling, though, my legacy saves will become very important to me again... so I do need to learn how to do this properly without wiping it all. My mistake was I was going by the date and time and only saved the first file extension... I think I was supposed to keep the various versions for that date as well maybe?
I start a new game and save it as GT Setup at 2:45 pm. Sims 4 names that file "Slot_00000007.save". Half an hour later, at 3:15 pm, I save again. Now I'll have two files: "Slot_00000007.save" which is my new save, and "Slot_00000007.save.var0", which is my earlier version from 2:45 pm but which Windows will tell me is a 3:15 pm file anyway because that's when it renamed it.
If you don't think you'll need any of those earlier versions of your saves, go ahead and delete them. They're only useful if you want to rename any of them to end just .save and then access that earlier state of your save in-game.
I have everything but Spooky Stuff and my saves aren't that big! Those are really big saves. Lots of collectibles and lots of gardening, maybe? We've seen bloated saves like that cause major gameplay lag and crashes, though. Just not enough of them to figure out what's bloating them
Hope this helps Feel free to ask for further explanation, or even screenshots (although you'd have to wait until tomorrow before I can make those, it's almost bed-time here )
Just to confirm some of the information mentioned above:
Hope that helps!
SGMS
It never changes it always looks like this. Should it?