Continue progress from mobile to pc and vice versa

[CHARLY123XMI]

Hello everyone!

I recently bought Stardew Valley for my android device and i was wondering if there is a way to continue my progress from my pc game on my phone and then continue playing the same save file back on my pc.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Odin]

There is, but you'll need to manually move the save back and forth. See https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Saves for more info :)

 

[kohlrak]

There is, but you'll need to manually move the save back and forth. See https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Saves for more info :)

Actually, there's some other options than just manually. In particular, an alternative free app called Termux (there could be a few others that do similar things, though) can be used to automate the process. I haven't actually tried it yet (with stardew, but i have it working for other games), but if there's enough demand I'll write a tutorial on it.

 

[Odin]

Actually, there's some other options than just manually.

For sure! That said, I haven't personally used a setup like that, so I can't vouch for how well they work.

 

[Illuminati]

Cross-platform saves would be nice.

 

[SgtPickles]

Cross-platform saves would be nice.

If you're saying this in a broad term that includes consoles, I can tell you that's not gonna be feasible.

Console companies do not allow you to access your save games from outside the game (Switch / Xbox), or are encrypted (PS4). This makes it where the save files can only exists within the console and their cloud system (Switch / Xbox), or is completely unreadable when transferred to another platform (PS4). The reason they do this for a number of reasons, but the top one being security.

P.s. I'm speaking as an individual with experience and insights to game development. Not representing anyone or any organization.

 

[Odin]

Cross-platform saves would be nice.

If you're saying this in a broad term that includes consoles, I can tell you that's not gonna be feasible.

Yeah, cross-platform saves are very tough to implement. I'm pretty sure that would require Stardew to start using user accounts and have server backend which simply may not be feasible with the current dev team's size.

It would be nice to see Stardew take advantage of existing platform features for saves like iCloud so it syncs progress between any iOS devices you have, stuff like that. I know Stardew already does this on Steam.

 

[kohlrak]

Yeah, cross-platform saves are very tough to implement. I'm pretty sure that would require Stardew to start using user accounts and have server backend which simply may not be feasible with the current dev team's size.

It would be nice to see Stardew take advantage of existing platform features for saves like iCloud so it syncs progress between any iOS devices you have, stuff like that. I know Stardew already does this on Steam.

It's not even that. The consoles intentionally lock down saves and such. Getting saves off an xbox is almost impossible. PS4 is encrypted, etc. And these are mandatory "features"of the pltforms. You'd have to get on Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. The saves are actually already compatible for the most part, since that's how unity works.

 

[SgtPickles]

The saves are actually already compatible for the most part, since that's how unity works.

True, but I'm not sure why you mention Unity. Stardew Valley does not use Unity.

 

[kohlrak]

True, but I'm not sure why you mention Unity. Stardew Valley does not use Unity.

Yeah, i just picked up on that last night. The reason is because when you go into stardew valley's files, you pick up on a lot of common formats like ".xnb" and you'll see alot of the same DLL files that you also see with unity games. Unity likes to hide this stuff with "assets" files. Usually when i go look at a game, i just do a quick check to see if it's "managed" or not, then usually assume unity or gamemaker since most people don't make engines anymore. That said, the same thing applies again: except XNA game studio, instead of unity, 'cause the code's still managed (which is how C# works, which is also why Unity uses C#), that is to say, it runs in a virtual machine, not directly on the machine (though most code gets translated on startup in managed languages to the machine they're running on). Most devs use game-maker studio or unity to avoid learning coding, and those who don't will often prefer C# so that programs don't have to worry about machine specific things like C and C++ do (which is weird, 'cause people always use that as an argument on why to use C and C++ and never learn assembly, and even Java has trouble with maintaining cross platform support).

 

[MartyF81]

If you're saying this in a broad term that includes consoles, I can tell you that's not gonna be feasible.

Console companies do not allow you to access your save games from outside the game (Switch / Xbox), or are encrypted (PS4). This makes it where the save files can only exists within the console and their cloud system (Switch / Xbox), or is completely unreadable when transferred to another platform (PS4). The reason they do this for a number of reasons, but the top one being security.

P.s. I'm speaking as an individual with experience and insights to game development. Not representing anyone or any organization.

Nah. Fortnite is able to play same account on Switch/PS/Xbox/PC/MAC, and there are others too. So it is possible.

I think issues would be:

1. Players using Mods or people modifying saves would have to to choose local save only.
2. Players who want to Sync have to give up Modding, and in some fashion "Acknowledge" their save can only be played on systems using the same version of the game.

Their are plenty of games that let uses pick Local Save or Cloud Save.

I am not saying it is "Easy"... I am just saying it is possible.

 

[SgtPickles]

Nah. Fortnite is able to play same account on Switch/PS/Xbox/PC/MAC, and there are others too. So it is possible.

I think issues would be:

1. Players using Mods or people modifying saves would have to to choose local save only.
2. Players who want to Sync have to give up Modding, and in some fashion "Acknowledge" their save can only be played on systems using the same version of the game.

Their are plenty of games that let uses pick Local Save or Cloud Save.

I am not saying it is "Easy"... I am just saying it is possible.

Hence why I said "(not) feasible", not "impossible" . You're talking about developing and deploying servers to handle lots and lots of save files, across multiple APIs, and multiple structures. Let alone the client side of it all. You probably already noticed, but the example you use does not allow save files to even be on the player's PC. And you're right, if that was feasible it would be possible. But that is a massive amount of work and cost.

Yeah, i just picked up on that last night. The reason is because when you go into stardew valley's files, you pick up on a lot of common formats like ".xnb" and you'll see alot of the same DLL files that you also see with unity games. Unity likes to hide this stuff with "assets" files.

Uhh? I don't think XNB file format is all that common. I don't ever recall Unity having any form of ".xnb".

Usually when i go look at a game, i just do a quick check to see if it's "managed" or not, then usually assume unity or gamemaker since most people don't make engines anymore. That said, the same thing applies again: except XNA game studio, instead of unity, 'cause the code's still managed (which is how C# works, which is also why Unity uses C#), that is to say, it runs in a virtual machine, not directly on the machine (though most code gets translated on startup in managed languages to the machine they're running on).

XNA / MonoGame isn't a game engine (this was not stated by you directly but it seems implied) as it cannot run out of the box knowing how to handle physics, particles, all the fun bits. So in a sense you write your own engine, just with the benefits of having the garbage collector and auto memory management of C#, and leaving the critical parts in C/C++ (Looking at you audio).

Most devs use game-maker studio or unity to avoid learning coding, and those who don't will often prefer C# so that programs don't have to worry about machine specific things like C and C++ do.

I'd say you're making a bad assumption here. You still have to know how to code at some degree even with these engines (Especially with Unity, as the implementation of C# differs). Otherwise you'll be duck taping pieces together and will cause a void* array of issues. Most people use Unity as it's quite expensive to write your own engine. If not in paying for software engineers, it'll cost in time. Lots of time. The benefit of writing your own engine is you have complete control and you can have scaleability in your game (Unity lacks this) if you plan on making something to continuously expand.

(which is weird, 'cause people always use that as an argument on why to use C and C++ and never learn assembly, and even Java has trouble with maintaining cross platform support)

Wut? This is all over the place.

 

[Peavers]

Check out https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=space.forloop.stardew.stardew_sync if you want to easily sync/backup to the cloud between all devices.