Dev Log: The Case of Disappearing Gold Bars & Save File Shenanigans 🔍

Hey survivors! Just tracked down and fixed an interesting bug in the meta-progression system. You know those shiny gold bars dropping from elite enemies that some of you reported weren't actually counting? Let me share what I found during this debug adventure.

The Initial Head-Scratcher

It started with reports of new games starting with exactly 50 gold. Didn't matter how many elite enemies you crushed or gold bars you grabbed - stuck at 50. As a dev, seeing this kind of pattern usually means I'm about to have an interesting day with my debugger and coffee.

Following the Gold Trail

First, I traced the entire gold collection chain:

• Elite spawning ✓
• Gold bar drops ✓
• Collection working ✓
• Save system... oh. OH.

Here's where it got interesting. Remember when the game used experience points for meta upgrades instead of gold bars? Well, turns out the save files were still stuck in that era.

The Technical Mess

Found three issues creating the perfect bug storm:

1. Save files had no version tracking
2. Old experience-based saves were loading without checks
3. System was failing silently instead of showing errors

Think of it like trying to read a Word doc in Notepad - you'll get something, but probably not what you want.

The Fix

Had to implement several things:

• Save file versioning (welcome to modern times!)
• Proper validation that yells when something's wrong
• Migration system for old saves
• Actual error logging instead of silent failures

What This Means For You

• New games start at 0 gold (as they should)
• Elite enemy gold bars actually count now
• Old saves convert properly
• Corrupt saves get reset instead of zombie data

Looking Forward

With the save system now working correctly, I can focus on making those elite enemies even more interesting. And yes, when they drop those gold bars, they'll actually add to your total now.

Keep the bug reports coming - they're super helpful in catching these weird edge cases.

P.S. If you've got old save files, they'll migrate automatically. If something looks off, just delete the save and start fresh - sometimes a clean slate is the best solution!