1 click of the save button = 2 saves possible?

[leotheEliteMajor117]

Hellooo I'm back again. My curiosity has leveled and it has come that I want to know if it's possible for a mod that can modify how many saves you want made with a simple slider on the MCM.

 

For example, I would want to have 2 saves, there I go to MCM, click on the mod, click the slider and I would choose the amount of 2 saves everytime I save my game, and boom! 2 saves made when I clicked the save button!

 

Really, I want a mod like that, it saves me time just getting a 2nd save in case the 1st save doesnt work, also I got a rig that cannot handle enbs and any textures above 2K(it barely handles 4K textures for world retexture but can handle any armor/weapons mod with 4K textures). Sometimes the game hangs when I open the pause menu but it works fine after that. Nonetheless, I want a mod that gives me 2 or more saves every click of the save button but only one question: Is it possible?

Edited October 12, 2019 by LabroLEO

[dubiousintent]

Theoretically a script could do that (because there are mods to replace the built-in save feature). But think a bit more about what you are asking for. A second save made at the same time as the first is going to have the same problems as the first because they are effectively the same file. (No game time will have elapsed.) The usual "normal save" routine creates a "new" file and leaves the previous one alone. (This is not true for a "quick save" which overwrites the same file over and over. A mod like "Clean Quick Saves" overcomes this design by creating new files each time.) Just use the previous save file instead. If you are concerned about how much play time you may lose, then use a mod like "CASM" which lets you determine how often it automatically saves (or not). There are other similar mods. Bear in mind that saving is "writing to disk" which is the slowest thing the game does. The more frequently you save, the more often you will be waiting for play to resume.

 

The existing mod most like what you want appears to be "Auto Incremental Save". It defaults to 3 increments every 20 seconds, but can be configured.

 

There is also a "save cap" limit of 1000 saves that the game can display in the menu windows. This is based upon the physical files present and not the filename number. There can be more than that many saves, but you can't access more than the first 1K (by date) in the game menu. You can delete older or less important saves to stay under that 1K displayed "save cap".

 

-Dubious-

[leotheEliteMajor117]

Theoretically a script could do that (because there are mods to replace the built-in save feature).ÃÂ But think a bit more about what you are asking for.ÃÂ A second save made at the same time as the first is going to have the same problems as the first because they are effectively the same file.ÃÂ (No game time will have elapsed.)ÃÂ The usual "normal save" routine creates a "new" file and leaves the previous one alone.ÃÂ (This is not true for a "quick save" which overwrites the same file over and over. A mod like "Clean Quick Saves" overcomes this design by creating new files each time.)ÃÂ Just use the previous save file instead.ÃÂ If you are concerned about how much play time you may lose, then use a mod like "CASM" which lets you determine how often it automatically saves (or not).ÃÂ There are other similar mods.ÃÂ Bear in mind that saving is "writing to disk" which is the slowest thing the game does.ÃÂ The more frequently you save, the more often you will be waiting for play to resume.

ÃÂ

The existing mod most like what you want appears to be "Auto Incremental Save".ÃÂ It defaults to 3 increments every 20 seconds, but can be configured.

ÃÂ

There is also a "save cap" limit of 1000 saves that the game can display in the menu windows.ÃÂ This is based upon the physical files present and not the filename number.ÃÂ There can be more than that many saves, but you can't access more than the first 1K (by date) in the game menu.ÃÂ You can delete older or less important saves to stay under that 1K displayed "save cap".

ÃÂ

-Dubious-

Hmm, thanks for the warning, I know casm is a good mod save but I experienced some hangs when it auto-saves because when my rig renders a location where there is a lot of people, items, and clutter placed, actually I don't remember experiencing that problem so I may need more details.

 

Never knew the same save file would have the same problem, what if the 2nd save file had a delay after I pressed the save button? Would that work though? I like to know more about it.

Edited October 13, 2019 by LabroLEO

[dubiousintent]

The save is a dump of the "state of game records" in memory considered important by the developers. Unless something "in the game" changes affecting those "important records", the state of the information doesn't change. Many things are "not important". Quest stages, conditions tested for dialog topics, and items picked up and placed in a container (for example), are. Merely letting some time lapse does not mean anything significant has changed. (This is why a "quick save" file works if you haven't moved around, but maybe not so well from session to session. It saves fewer records, because the state of memory is expected to be essentially the same. The expectation is you are going to "quick" save and then reload the same file while in the same session with the same memory state.)

 

Problems during a game session tend to persist and exacerbate. Exiting the game to the desktop and restarting it sometimes will clear away a problem because the memory has been cleared and reset. Saving the game may cause it to persist beyond the current session. Problems never "get better" with time.

 

Are you really sure you had a "hang" with CASM while auto-saving and not merely that it was taking longer than you expected? "Writing to disk" is the slowest thing the game does. When you suspect a "hang", <Alt+Tab> out and open the Windows Task Manager to the "Processes" tab, locate the game executable and watch the "CPU Time" column. If it isn't accumulating somewhat steadily, then the process is "hung" because it can't figure out it's next instruction. If it keeps racking up time but takes much more than is reasonable (say 5 minutes), then it has gotten into an "endless loop".

 

I would suggest your efforts are better directed towards eliminating CTDs and improving performance. As a starting point, read the 'Solutions to Performance problems' section of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" article.

-Dubious-

[leotheEliteMajor117]

The save is a dump of the "state of game records" in memory considered important by the developers. Unless something "in the game" changes affecting those "important records", the state of the information doesn't change. Many things are "not important". Quest stages, conditions tested for dialog topics, and items picked up and placed in a container (for example), are. Merely letting some time lapse does not mean anything significant has changed. (This is why a "quick save" file works if you haven't moved around, but maybe not so well from session to session. It saves fewer records, because the state of memory is expected to be essentially the same. The expectation is you are going to "quick" save and then reload the same file while in the same session with the same memory state.)

Â

Problems during a game session tend to persist and exacerbate. Exiting the game to the desktop and restarting it sometimes will clear away a problem because the memory has been cleared and reset. Saving the game may cause it to persist beyond the current session. Problems never "get better" with time.

Â

Are you really sure you had a "hang" with CASM while auto-saving and not merely that it was taking longer than you expected? "Writing to disk" is the slowest thing the game does. When you suspect a "hang", <Alt+Tab> out and open the Windows Task Manager to the "Processes" tab, locate the game executable and watch the "CPU Time" column. If it isn't accumulating somewhat steadily, then the process is "hung" because it can't figure out it's next instruction. If it keeps racking up time but takes much more than is reasonable (say 5 minutes), then it has gotten into an "endless loop".

Â

I would suggest your efforts are better directed towards eliminating CTDs and improving performance. As a starting point, read the 'Solutions to Performance problems' section of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" article.

Â

-Dubious-

Well thanks for some explaining. Maybe my mod question is possible but it can take a lot of work to make it to properly function like how I want it to..

[lStewieAl]

This is why a "quick save" file works if you haven't moved around, but maybe not so well from session to session. It saves fewer records, because the state of memory is expected to be essentially the same. The expectation is you are going to "quick" save and then reload the same file while in the same session with the same memory state.

I’m not sure where this idea came from but it is false. Quick saves are identical to those created by autosaves and the save menu. The only difference is the name (which is what the game uses to determine whether ‘Quicksave’ should be shown in the save menu).

[dubiousintent]

I'm willing to defer to your greater experience with the game's innards, but in the interest of not spreading further misconceptions please confirm you have examined the code or saved files yourself to determine this? And may I quote you in the wiki when I update it?

 

-Dubious-

[lStewieAl]

I'm willing to defer to your greater experience with the game's innards, but in the interest of not spreading further misconceptions please confirm you have examined the code or saved files yourself to determine this? And may I quote you in the wiki when I update it?

 

-Dubious-

I have examined the code:

All saves are are created exactly the same, except saves with "autosave" at the start of their name can be created while in a (non-VATS) menu.

Edited October 18, 2019 by lStewieAl

[dubiousintent]

Thank you for the confirmation. Appended to the "Save-game files" section of the the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article.

 

-Dubious-