I've had this thought for awhile, and have mentioned it a few times in the PC support section but I thought I would jot down my thoughts in the suggestions section where it's more likely to be seen by developers and influencers even if only slightly.
Terraria's current method of backing up files doesn't help for 90% to 95% of the time that I have assisted users in resolving file corruption. Chances are, if the main world and character files are corrupted then so too is the backup file. While you would think it's common knowledge to backup any important files you don't wish to lose most lamen users don't do this. Furthermore, Windows 10 file history function is not enabled by default and most users don't think to enable it so this method can not be used to restore files.
I suggest that Terraria keep three separate instances of your save data. Rather than using the .bak file, keep a "Backups" folder. Inside the folder are three separate folders "Session A", "Session B", and "Session C". Have the game rotate back up saves between these three folders each time it goes to save your main file. That way if one of the backups is corrupted along with your main file you have two other tries to access a file that has not been corrupted.
Secondly there are 3 issues that can be resolved by changing the default save location from \Documents\My Games\Terraria to either the Steam User Data folder or the local AppData. Obviously they wouldn't and shouldn't change the save location for Terraria, but Relogic should know that their next project should have the save files elsewhere. Having the save data be in a sub-directory of the Documents Library makes it subject to the following problems:
Hopefully that makes sense to others besides just in my own head.
Terraria's current method of backing up files doesn't help for 90% to 95% of the time that I have assisted users in resolving file corruption. Chances are, if the main world and character files are corrupted then so too is the backup file. While you would think it's common knowledge to backup any important files you don't wish to lose most lamen users don't do this. Furthermore, Windows 10 file history function is not enabled by default and most users don't think to enable it so this method can not be used to restore files.
I suggest that Terraria keep three separate instances of your save data. Rather than using the .bak file, keep a "Backups" folder. Inside the folder are three separate folders "Session A", "Session B", and "Session C". Have the game rotate back up saves between these three folders each time it goes to save your main file. That way if one of the backups is corrupted along with your main file you have two other tries to access a file that has not been corrupted.
Secondly there are 3 issues that can be resolved by changing the default save location from \Documents\My Games\Terraria to either the Steam User Data folder or the local AppData. Obviously they wouldn't and shouldn't change the save location for Terraria, but Relogic should know that their next project should have the save files elsewhere. Having the save data be in a sub-directory of the Documents Library makes it subject to the following problems:
- Sync Lock Crashes due to RansomWare protection.
- Sync Lock Crashes due to Anti-Virus protection.
- Save Data Corruption due to Cloud Backup Programs accessing the save file at the same time as Terraria.
Hopefully that makes sense to others besides just in my own head.
