[Mod] Save file manager

[Lugruf]

Good news fellow Rebornians! The times of managing manually the save files for Pokemon Essentials based games have come to an end! Behold the save file managerinator!

Summary:

Basically, this is a program that will perform for you all the storage and management of save files for games based on Pokemon Essentials such as Reborn, Rejuvenation, Insurgence, Omicron, Iberia... It will automatically store them, move them to the proper "Saved games" folder and retrieve them when you save the game.

Setup:

When you download the program, it will look like this.

To add a game, press the "Add game" button and write the name of the game. Note: it is crucial that you write the exact same name as the folder in "Saved games". For example, for Reborn, you must write "Pokemon Reborn". Any other name, such as "Reborn", "Reborn ep 15" or whatever you might write will cause the game to not work properly as it won't be able to find the folder in "Saved games". After creating a folder for a game, you should get this:

New game:

This button will create a new empty save file. Use this to start a new game.

Import:

This will open the window explorer to let you select an existing .rxdata file and save it in the program, so that you can import your previously existing save files and have all your files together in the program. Importing a file with the same name as a previous file will overwrite the previously existing one.

Import executable:

This will let you import the executable (usually Game.exe) for the game. You only need to provide the executable once and the program will store it. Notice that you won't be able to run the game if you do not provide an executable.

Erase executable:

This will erase the existing executable. Use this if you got confused and imported a wrong executable or if you want to update the version. When a new episode of a game comes out, you only need to remove the previously existing executable and provide the one for the new version and you will be good to go.

Remove folder:

This will remove the whole folder and all the files included in it. It has two security checks in case you missclick.

Finally, for each save file you will have the following options:

Play:

This will run the provided executable with this save file. While the game is on, the program will periodically check for changes in the active save file and will retrieve it whenever you save. Don't close this program while a game is running! Finally, you won't be able to play if you haven't provided an executable for this game.

Rename:

Renames the file. The name you give to the file is irrelevant for the performance of the program. A file doesn't need to be called Game.rxdata.

Erase:

Erases the file.

Export:

Export will open a explorer window to let you select a path and will copy this file to the given location. Use this when you need to transport your file in an USB or post it in the forum for example.

Things you shouldn't do:

Don't run the program in a non Windows OS. It is heavily dependant on Windows.h so it shouldn't work in other operating systems.

Don't close the program while a game is running. The program needs to be open in order to check if you save the game and retrieve your save file.

Don't mess around with the program's data folder unless you know what you are doing. I'm not responsible of bugs caused by this.

If you still have doubts of how to set up the program, follow this video. It will provide you the most basic instructions to have the program up and working.

Download the program:

Note: This program will need the Visual C++ Runtime in order to work. In case it isn't already installed in your computer, the installer will do it by default. Just notice that the zip file doesn't include it, so if you are not sure I recommend to use the installer.

Zip

Code

Troubleshooting:

In case the program isn't working as expected, please follow these steps.

1) Reread the whole topic carefully and check if you did something wrong.

2) If you didn't use the installer, check if you have the Visual C++ Runtime installed. If you don't, use the installer.

3) If you used the installer, you might have installed the program in a protected folder. Try running it with admin rights.

4) Something might have gone wrong with the installation or some file may be corrupted. Try deleting the program and reinstalling it.

5) Ask for help. Either PM me or answer to this topic.

Please, if you happen to find a bug, PM me as soon as possible so that I can fix it.

If you have any doubt or feedback, don't hesitate to ask.

Update 10-14-2016:

Solved a bug that would cause the program to not find the folder "C://Users//[username]//Saved Games" if the user had a space character in its name. This bug is solved only in the zipped version for technical reasons, so the link to the installer will be unavailable until it gets updated.

Special thanks to Optimus Septim for his help spotting and fixing the bug.

Update 10-15-2016:

Solved a bug that would cause the program not to perform folder watching and so not to retrieve the save file after saving if the username had a space character.

Solved a bug that would cause the program to stop performing the folder watching if the user changed the computer's clock to a date previous to the start of the game while the game is running.

The installer has been updated to support the last changes and can be downloaded again.

The save file manager is now open source. Anyone can access my repository and read the code if they want.

Update 10-16-2016:

The program can now perform folder watching for more than one game at the same time. It will also control when a game stops running in order to stop watching it.

The program will now stop the player if he or she tries to run the same game twice.

Solved a bug that stopped the "Remove folder" button from working when trying to remove a folder with files in it.

Now both the first and the second popup will disappear when clicking "Yes" or "No" in the second popup of the "Remove folder" button.

[Guest]

Wow, this is really helpful. From the looks of it, lots of work is put into it! Good job! Can't wait to use this soon once I start playing Reborn and Rejuv again.

[DW~]

This looks fun to try out tbh,nice work! This saves time and looks simple to use

[Apadgett]

It seems to not let me add any games, I am trying to add pokemon reborn...

EDIT:: FIX-- run it as administrator

Edited May 25, 2016 by Apadgett

[Cepheus]

looks really nice!

but seriously... why did you cross out the "inator"-part of the name?

Everything is better as an -inator!

[FairFamily]

Well first congratulations on creating this application. It seems really usefull and intuitive.
The first thing I noticed is that it will not work on reborn hardcore since it uses the same folder as reborn but different executables.

I also wonder if it was possible to when you import to start from the folder name you typed in.

For the rest,

fantastic work

[Dragon116]

Well first congratulations on creating this application. It seems really usefull and intuitive.

The first thing I noticed is that it will not work on reborn hardcore since it uses the same folder as reborn but different executables.

I also wonder if it was possible to when you import to start from the folder name you typed in.

For the rest,

fantastic work

I agree. I think a good solution would be to allow save files to have an executable override. Essentailly, the folder will have the default executable (so for pokemon reborn, you might have Pokemon Reborn E15 exe) but then you have the option for each save file to declare a specific executable (so a hardcore run could have Pokemon Reborn E15 hardcore exe as it's override executable).

[Lugruf]

I agree. I think a good solution would be to allow save files to have an executable override. Essentailly, the folder will have the default executable (so for pokemon reborn, you might have Pokemon Reborn E15 exe) but then you have the option for each save file to declare a specific executable (so a hardcore run could have Pokemon Reborn E15 hardcore exe as it's override executable).

That would be annoying, as you would need to import an executable for every file. I would actually prefer to ask Commander (or whoever is in charge of hardcore now) to change the name of the save folder to "Pokemon Reborn Hardcore" or something similar, or even ask Ame to include hardcore into the main game the same way Rejuvenation does.

I might as well think for an elegant solution for the hardcore versions of games, but I won't promise anything by now. I didn't even think about hardcore when I made the program because I haven't played it.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Lugruf

[FairFamily]

Well, my solution to this would be to aliasing. Instead of saying that the game name is the name of the folder, I would allow different game names to map to the same folder. You need however maintain a file of to which folder each games point to (or at leas the exceptions) and find the correct folder in that file everytime you want to access a save file.

[Commander]

That would be annoying, as you would need to import an executable for every file. I would actually prefer to ask Commander (or whoever is in charge of hardcore now) to change the name of the save folder to "Pokemon Reborn Hardcore" or something similar, or even ask Ame to include hardcore into the main game the same way Rejuvenation does.

While the latter would not be too difficult to make and I've given Ame permission to use the files for Hardcore, that later option likely ain't happening and especially now. As for changing the save file folder location, I'm going to say no for episode 15, but I'll change it for the episode 16 version. The reason why I'm not changing it now as I didn't expect Hardcore to really be a big thing and that I knew nothing about RPGmaker going into it. I wanted it to be able to connect to Reborn just in case something was really unbalanced such as the Shelly fight so that people could skip fights. Episode 16 will be in a different save as I don't want those files connecting to the server features.

[Motorteo]

I installed the program with the installer, but when I try to run it crashes...I don't know what to do

[Lugruf]

Please could you be more specific with the problem and try to provide more information? Screenshots and specifications about the computer and os you are running would be useful

Edited May 30, 2016 by Lugruf

[Motorteo]

I'm using windows 7 ultimate...it says that the program has stopped to run but it didn't even showed up....

[Lugruf]

Can you upload a screenshot please?

Sincerely, I have no idea what the problem could be. I've tested the program in both Windows 7 and 10 in several computers and it never gave that sort of problems. I would like to see what error message you get and I would also want you to list me all the files and folders in the program's data folder. Maybe something wasn't copied properly. It could also be that the program is by default installed in the C hard drive, in Program Files, so you need admin rights.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Lugruf

[Motorteo]

For the screenshot it says I can't use this type of file in this community...yes the program is in C hard drive

The files are: data

SavefileManager

unins000.dat

unins000

in the data there is the executables folder

Edited May 30, 2016 by Motorteo

[Lugruf]

I have no idea, I'm sorry. I would tell you to uninstall and install again, that's all I can think.

[Motorteo]

I tried and the result was the same...

[Lugruf]

I'm sorry but there's not much I can do. It's the first time I hear about that problem with my program.

[Caraboo]

This looks fantastic, my gosh! I can manage a bunch of type runs so much better this way... Quick question before I go diving in head first: Will it work with windows 10?

[FairFamily]

I have windows 10 and it works.

[Lugruf]

I have windows 10 too and it works

[Caraboo]

It did work but... I think I erased my poison/flying run...? Do the titles of each save file have to be entirely different? Because one was game1, and the other was just the active game file.

Dang. It was pokemon essentials too so I don't think I could get it fixed.

[Lugruf]

Yes they do. That's a requirement of Windows itself. I mean, there is no way to have two files with the same name in a folder.

Besides, reading the whole instructions is advisable:

Import:
This will open the window explorer to let you select an existing .rxdata file and save it in the program, so that you can import your previously existing save files and have all your files together in the program. Importing a file with the same name as a previous file will overwrite the previously existing one.

Anyway, you should have a backup if you did erase a save file. Reborn keeps backups of your file every time you save since episode 15.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Lugruf

[Caz]

I don't know how I didn't notice this before. This is a neat little program you've chucked together here and it'll be super helpful for a lot of people. Kudos to you, man.

[Lugruf]

I don't know how I didn't notice this before. This is a neat little program you've chucked together here and it'll be super helpful for a lot of people. Kudos to you, man.

Thanks