Factorio Forums

For some reason Game Saves and other files are still stored in AppData even though Known folder specifically for saved games have been there since Windows Vista (12 years now!).

Alternatively FOLDERID_Documents + "\my games" is very popular.

p.s. AppData is folder that is hard to backup manually or automatically (definitely not something majority of normal users can do without searching internet)

Bonus: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/0 ... ave-games/

Don't we still compile binaries that can run on a 64-bit Windows XP? Or was that toolchain removed from the build?

Workaround for Windows XP can be made, "%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games" can be used alternatively though sticking to known folders is best way as user might move them around on their own

Thanks for the report however this is working as intended. We store saves and temporary files in %appdata%\Factorio by default when using the installed version of the game. As the name would imply: it's a location for application data.

Saves are not application data, they are user data.

Yes I would like it to be just like any other game, it's saved in a folder in mydocuments. The reason is when you reformat your PC, everything you need to save should be in the users/documents|pictures|etc folders. I actually had to add a special rule to my backup program to backup the factorio appdata folder. That was the only folder in the appdata I needed to back up.

christian wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 03, 2019 2:26 pm

Yes I would like it to be just like any other game, it's saved in a folder in mydocuments. The reason is when you reformat your PC, everything you need to save should be in the users/documents|pictures|etc folders. I actually had to add a special rule to my backup program to backup the factorio appdata folder. That was the only folder in the appdata I needed to back up.

Storing game save data/files in %appdata% is nothing specific to Factorio. I count 3 games in %appdata% for me and 2 in documents\my games.

If you choose to not back up your %appdata% folder then you're simply wrong.

We're not moving the save file folder.

Basically most all steam games use Documents/my games. AppData for me is only used by Minecraft.

Most Steam games either use appdata or their install directory:
AppData/Roaming

• Scrap Mechanic
• Factorio
• Spintires
• Stardew Valley
• The Witness

AppData/Local

• Astroneer
• Contraption Maker
• Prison Architect
• Undertale
• SpaceChem

AppData/LocalLow

• Bridge Constructor
• Bridge Constructor Portal
• Cities in Motion 2
• Raft

Documents/My Games

• Color Assembler
• FTL Faster Than Light
• Goat Simulator
• Infinifactory
• Opus Magnum
• Shenzhen I/O
• Tabletop Simulator
• Terraria
• TIS-100

I'm not going to bother listing games that save in SteamApps or some other location.


However, I'm not really sure this issue is even much of a big deal. If someone wants to manage their saved games directly, there's ofc going to be a steeper learning curve. However, if someone wants to move to a new computer or just make backups, well, Steam already puts Factorio savegames on the cloud, and the .zip version puts the savegames in it's own directory by default (and you need to manually modify a configuration file in order to put them somewhere else).

So no chance for this to be reconsidered before game will reach it's final life cycle?

This also makes it harder for people to find the the files for when they need to be shared or any other reason when they need to be accessed in general.

Make a feature request.