Sims 4 overwriting saved game files at random

[MapleSimmer]

I've been having this problem since the new save structure and the ability to restore back ups has come out (I chose save as, select the file to save over and it saves over random other saves). I have a lot of different saves for different challenges/let's plays/etc. Usually what will work is that I choose 'save as' then select the file I want to save over and then I retype the name, however this doesn't always work.  I seldom use 'save' unless I've saved as a new file name and then I may use save.  However, when it doesn't work, I start looking at the names of the files (vs the families depicted) and then if the name for the save doesn't match the family depicted I go in and recover any saves that seem to match when I remember last playing. Or I just randomly look and try to find saves in the recover option that match the date. I've mostly been able to find my 'lost' saves that way, but not always.

As for information, I do occasionally use MCC (only mod ever in my game and no cc ever), but I currently don't have it and hadn't added it to my game when this feature was initially released and I started having problems then but didn't know where to report it.  I do have a lot of saves so my saves file is large; I recently tried deleting a bunch of older saves after backing them up elsewhere but then I found I couldn't restore from back up for most of my recent saves which then meant I couldn't find saves I needed when I had the problem noted above.  So I now have most of my saves back in my saves folder (apart from a bunch I removed after backing up during summer of 2016).  I'm on Windows 10, my game is fully updated and I have all the packs.  I regularly clear my game cache (almost every time before I play) and I repair my game regularly and do the occasional factory reset of my game (just did one due to another issue). 

Thanks and regards,
Jennifer

[crinrict]

Hi @Lunajaguar

did they not save at all or did they save over the ones you were playing before ?

[Lunajaguar]

It seems like the attempt to "save as" did a regular "save" and overwrote the previous save, but I'm not sure that happened every time.  

[crinrict]

@Lunajaguar

merged your post with existing thread then

[Lunajaguar]

Their problem doesn't look like mine though.  I don't do the "save over" thing at all.  I don't know anything about a "new structure" either, can someone explain? Where did my question go?

[crinrict]

You said save as is overwriting the the current save instead of creating a new one ? That's this issue.

QA is working on this (see answers from @SimQARobo and I don't think there's currently a solution to those that it's happening to.

Your post is on the page before this one.

[TheSteelRodent]

The entire save system is bugged af atm. It is completely random which files it overwrites and which it keeps - it is pure luck whether the game decides to save your current game under the correct name or whether it overwrites a random different save. Your current game IS saved, but most likely under the wrong filename and any number of your previous saves will be replaced by the current game and gradually be purged from the harddrive as the backups numerate.

- If you load a previously saved game and use the "Save" option, the game will sometimes save under the correct filename only the first time, but all subsequent saves will overwrite a different (wrong) random savefile.

- If you create a "New game" and click "Save", the game fails to ask for a filename and overwrites a random older save.

- If you load a previous save, do anything, click "Save as", type in the new filename, and then exit immediately to the main menu, it is random whether the new file is created or whether it overwrites a previous save.

Because of this I constantly have to load, save, and restore backups in order to avoid data loss.

This is with all expansions/stuff/etc, zero mods, zero CC, latest patch, and after some testing I can confirm that it makes no difference whether it runs on Windows 7 or 10. Whether it's SSD or platter drive also makes no difference.

The real problem looks to stem from using "slot" filenames with DB indexed counters instead of using the save names we provide (we had 255 character file names in 1993, what's wrong with using them in 2017?)

[JasonVega2]

Sadly, this is still an issue. I have not played Sims 4 since July. I have been terrified of having this issue on my new computer. Unfortunately, I do. I played for a few hours and then went to save. I chose the "save" option. I double-checked the file save, and sure enough - it overwrote Slot_00000002.save when it should have created a new game save as Slot_00000252.save.

I keep so many incremental saves as a habit from Sims 3. These are *extremely* complicated games - and I don't want to lose my beloved Sims if something glitches out and become unrecoverable.

I agree with @TheSteelRodent. I think it would solve the problem if we at least had the *option* to manage our own saves by allowing us to use our own naming convention in the saves.

[crinrict]

I thought the issue was save as ? Why should save create a new save ?

Never had any issues myself so I'm really puzzled why this affects some people and not others.

[JasonVega2]

It *is* "save as". Sorry, typo.