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Why does Itch.io mess things up without any form of warning/fix?

A topic by justletmeplay1 created May 20, 2023 Views: 1,015 Replies: 5

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So, since some creators here in itch can't seem to be able to upload their games directly through the app itself, or if they rather wish to upload through a third party site. I always kept a folder (named "New folder") where I literally stored ALL my games, both the games downloaded from itch plus the games downloaded from third party sites.

Now, for some unknown reason Itch has released an update (which doesn't even seem to be able to disable updates by default) which removed the folder I had ALL my games stored in. So my entire game collection including any progress with these games is gone. This is absolutely outragous since I've spent so much time advancing through these games.

As you all know most games don't releases their games as full releases but rather as a work in progress, that way you are able to update the game while saving your previous progress. Now everything is wiped and and I'm wondering what literal moron decided to remove the ability to store games in one folder and what the new way of dealing with games is.

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leafoAdmin1 year ago (2 edits)

Where was this “New folder” located? Did you put in the app’s own data folder? There should be no circumstance where the itch.io app is deleting your files outside of its installation location, or libraries that it manages.

I don’t have the code in front of me right now, but I’m assuming that when the app updates itself it cleans out the installation directory to ensure that no remaining files from the previous install cause issues with running the new version. You should not store files in itch’s install directory.

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justletmeplay11 year ago

I apologize, I understand that it's not so easy to understand my problem because I dont really know how to explain it.

So since some of the games I download for various reasons use external download links which you have to download through your browswer (in other words - not related to itch itself in any way) I wanted these games stored in the same location as the games that I DO download using the Itch app. So I created a new folder inside the itch app is located... This folder is where I directed all of my downloads, both from itch, and the external downloads.

When Itch updated somehow I now seem to have two versions of Itch on my computer, one is 25.5.1 and the other is 25.62. During the update it seemed that it caused this folder I created inside my itch app's installation location (of version 25.5.1) to simply vanish, along with the games there. I have now created a new folder in my 25.62 version as a location for games but I have to re-download them, and the ones I had downloaded manually through third parties are gone. I can't make sense of why this folder would be deleted, or even why I have a 25.5.1 folder still located on my computer at all post-update.

I hope I made more sense explaining my issue with this post.

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redonihunter1 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

including any progress with these games is gone

I have troubel understanding what you wrote. Mostly, where is the parent folder of your missing new folder?

Progress in most games is not stored in their game folder. Save games are located elsewhere, depending on the game. This is basically an industry standard for decades now. So I do not know what you mean with progress. Saving different versions of a game?

I recently tried out the itch app and it disturbingly has the default location in windows in appdata. That is a data folder not a executeable folder. Also, it is a hidden folder. I understand that this is probably because they do not need to write to the program folder this way, as it is a restricted folder. And yes, I saw that you can configure the game folder elsewhere in the app.

You sure you did not accidentally drag & drop your new folder elsewhere? Or deleted it, thinking it was a different new folder?

I can recommend using back up software in general. Your hard drives could also fail.

but I’m assuming that when the app updates itself it cleans out the installation directory to ensure that no remaining files from the previous install cause issues with running the new version.

a deinstall/clean should never remove files not installed. rm -rf for this purposes is a nogo. I just tested this with steam. As expected, the folder and file I created in a game folder are still there, after uninstalling a game. And itch app treats itself as an app, does it not.

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justletmeplay11 year ago

Please read my reply to the post aboove yours. The issue seems not to be that my progress is wiped with any games, but rather that the installation folder. To explain further, let's use steam as a great example here since you mentioned it...

You install a game through steam, that game has a location inside steams installation location, where you can find all of the games you downloaded through Steam. This location is usually something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common

Now, if you were to add another folder there, in other words, use the same folder for a game you download through a third party. What will happen when Steam updates, will it automatically force you to re-download all of your installed games you have on steam? No. Will it touch any of the additional folder you have added there? No.

I hope I make more sense now, and I apologize for the confusion since I am not really sure what the hell has happened myself, all I know is that all of my game is gone and that I need to re-install them. I don't mind doing that with the games I can download through Itch app itself, since it saves your progress in %appdata% anyway. But the games that I downloaded through third-party websites are also gone. And I honestly have no idea which games those were at this point.

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redonihunter1 year ago

Now, if you were to add another folder there

... you would be interfering with things that app wants to handle. depending on where exactly you place new files. For one you have to have admin writing privileges there, because program files is a protected folder. I suspect this is the reason that itch miuses that other folder. It is a user folder.

If you place files into the cache dicrectory of steam, i do not know how it would handle it and do not want to find out. if you use the installation directory of a game, i do know that your modifications are safe. with uninstall, added files and folders are kept.

now if you placed your own downloads into a folder that is considered temp by the app and itch app does not keep track of downloads and occasionaly cleans out everything there because it does not keep a manifest ... that might be what has happened.

you should use a link to your download stash and not put your download stash inside a hidden data subfolder that is managed by an app that has nothing to do with your downloads.

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