Save files are corrupted

[pagefault404]

There is some talk of Item ID's being exhausted. I have my doubts but it's a possiblity. (I think we'd see more consistent bloat between saves if it consistently re-assigns ids to our inventory items)

The itemID exhaustion issue was only brought up to point out that the REDengine has an issue with holding on to itemIDs in players inventory even if the player got rid of the items. In the past, for The Witcher 3, this caused players to eventually exhaust their available itemIDs.

This is not what's happening here. It's my belief that itemIDs are still being held on to, but, because you encounter so many different variants of different items in the game, the game is trying to keep track of all these itemIds and, on top of the other activities it keeps track of, it's creating save file bloat.

The only time I would suspect that someone hit that Uint16 limit was if their save went belly up before they hit 8192KB, and they were the kind of person to mass craft everything, potentially even spawning in items using exploits and dupes. I say POSSIBLY because we can't discount that this is possible using normal methods, but, it's also possible by duping and exploits.

At this point we know very little about this overall, and we only have suspicions to work off of.

 

[Rhyzur]

Didn't they say that you could complete the game and not even work on the main quest? Maybe that's what they meant? Instead of playing through the story, in keeping with the theme, you have a few weeks, tops, your file instead corrupts itself, and you die. Game over, man. Game over.

 

[Acksios]

This seems like horrible advice if you find out the only save left, is a broken save. Great for our information to know when it breaks on xbox. But not worth throwing away all your saves (can you backup saves on xbox?)

Post automatically merged: Dec 21, 2020

I wrote before what you can do. Tried to like link to it. Not sure if this'll work.

Anyway, a quick [tldr]
Don't craft anything, will prevent this from hitting you fast.
Playing the game doing things, the random events, everything really, adds to the bloat, slowly creeping.
So if you want to avoid this. Don't play.
If you want to mitigate it. Don't craft, disassemble, and keep inv as empty as you can. (stash too) sell components, as they're part of your inventory.

How likely is this: if you're playing without using crafting it's most likely possible to play the entire game 100% and do the story quests. and you'd probably not hit it. If you faff about and just enjoy the world on the other hand. We don't know yet, but probably you'll hit a limit eventually.

As for who it affects. Everyone.
Us crafters, and those duplicating/crafting, just hit it first since crafting/duplicating is a big offender of the savegame bloat. But it happens passively too.
PC users can easily keep track of their sav.dat filesizes (located in users/<username>/saved games/CD Projekt Red/Cyberpunk 2077 (or something like that))
Playstation users can't see how close they are.
Xbox users need to remove other saves to leave 1 and see the size of that one (not a bright idea if it's corrupted in my opinion)

Starting from 5.5MB (ish) you start getting a black screen before the game starts to load. Stars off not lasting long but the closer you get to the file limit, the longer it lasts. It lasts up to 2 minutes. (what I've noticed)
As of 1.05 instead of receiving a message that your save is corrupted, it just infinitely hangs on the black screen. (lovely that)

There is some talk of Item ID's being exhausted. I have my doubts but it's a possiblity. (I think we'd see more consistent bloat between saves if it consistently re-assigns ids to our inventory items)

Thanks for resharing this! One exra question on this: If I shoot some enemies at a hideout. What is the best I do? Leave all the junk in the containers and on the bodies of the enemies (and guns on the floor)? Or do I loot them and sell/disassemble them?

 

[Gen_Liu]

Just pitching in to say I've hit the 8MB limit, and I did not craft a bunch of weapons, managed to do it solely by crafting consumables (grenades and healing items)

So be aware that although weapons accelerate the bloat significantly, consumables will get you too.

That's very important information to know, thanks a lot.

OK, ok, ok, so what now?:

1.- What can we do to prevent this?
2.- Realistically how likely is for someone to achieve the 8mb threshold?
3.- Does this happen only to those who used duplication exploits or this can happen to anyone who just plays the game organically or "as intended"?.

I currently have 31 hours accumulated in the game and my save is 3.62mb. No exploits and the main quest is far from done. Actually I'm very poor in the game and I want to buy a new car and clothes, so I'm grinding NCPD bounties and Gigs. I haven't crafted anything because I didn't knew you could craft stuff. I'm really taking my time with this game, I'm exploring and doing Side Jobs. I actually don't like hoarding items, I sell or dismantle guns I don't want and improve the ones I like, I have a pistol, two snipers and one rifle, because I'm role playing as a hitman, a very poor hitman actually xD

I'm afraid of continue playing because I want to take my time, but I don't understand if progressing organically and slow through the game could still corrupt my save file and it's just people who are using exploits the ones getting faster to the point where we all will eventually get if we continue playing.

Thanks.

As far as my understanding of the problem goes, there's no way to prevent the issue to this day but keeping crafting/picking up items make things worst.

Technically, your savefile keep growing constantly as you play the game (no matter what) so, on paper everyone is bound to reach the 8mb mark. However, it seems like it would take a very long time before you reach this critical limit unless you're crafting a lot and pick up a lot of items, so, my advice would be to just keep those activity to the minimum and you should be fine (again, I can't guarantee it since there's different opinions going across the topic but it seems like this is the leading theory, if you will).

If it can come as a relief, I have a similar amount of game time on my file and I'm personally at 3.29mb, so, we're in the same situation.

 

[IAmMrSoda]

I know it's been mentioned in the post earlier, but, Microsoft console users can delete all but their manual save to see the file size of their save. The Xbox consoles, for some reason, by default report the total file sizes for all files and wont let you drill down to the individual files unless you remove all other files.

That is exactly correct. As a One X player I can confirm this. Its why lately I have made a manual save before logging off and deleting all other auto and manual saves but the one I had just made. Helps me track my file size.

That said, and I'll post it here once the person replies, a fellow One X user on Reddit says he has only 4 save files and that they add up to 75mb total in his save data directory on his One X. Meaning these saves are averaging about 18mb per file. I asked him to show proof to help determine if consoles are affected.

If true this would be a big thing as far as figuring a more focused reason why the bug occurs.

 

[EnnyRose]

That is exactly correct. As a One X player I can confirm this. Its why lately I have made a manual save before logging off and deleting all other auto and manual saves but the one I had just made. Helps me track my file size.

That said, and I'll post it here once the person replies, a fellow One X user on Reddit says he has only 4 save files and that they add up to 75mb total in his save data directory on his One X. Meaning these saves are averaging about 18mb per file. I asked him to show proof to help determine if consoles are affected.

If true this would be a big thing as far as figuring a more focused reason why the bug occurs.

If Xbox allocates space like Playstation saves, or adds more OS data to the save. You may not be able to see the actual size the save is taking.
To be clear: on PC we have multiple files in our save folder, a metadata.9.json file containing some general details about the save (likely used in the preview) a screenshot (for the preview) and a sav.dat file. This sav.dat file contains all the save data, and that's the one that dies when it hits 8.192KB (or 8MB)
I'm not sure what the structure is on Consoles, but playstation players at the very least are looking at allocated space, not actual used space

 

[nervo82]

just an idea regarding the sudden growth of file size while you where playing, crafting or not.

could it be related to the bug that robots and drones that drop common items can't be looted? because they never go away, even after a week their bodies are still waiting to be looted and that forced permanence in the game world could add weight to the savegame

 

[EnnyRose]

just an idea regarding the sudden growth of file size while you where playing, crafting or not.

could it be related to the bug that robots and drones that drop common items can't be looted? because they never go away, even after a week their bodies is still waiting to be looted and that forced permanence in the game world could add weight to the savegame

That sounds like a bug that needs to be fixed eventually, and won't help save games, but unless you're fighting the terminator apocalypse it doesn't seem like it'd add enough bloat to be an issue (i've encountered about 5 robots so far)
Also, if you press and hold the loot button, you loot all, and will also loot the items you're not usually able to loot. This bug is related to the talent that gives robots extra components to drop, but it bugs out since for some reason looting a robot once makes it unlootable.

 

[pagefault404]

just an idea regarding the sudden growth of file size while you where playing, crafting or not.

could it be related to the bug that robots and drones that drop common items can't be looted? because they never go away, even after a week their bodies are still waiting to be looted and that forced permanence in the game world could add weight to the savegame

At this point, we can't discount that anything the game holds on to doesn't add to save file size. This would be a good example of data not being purged by a garbage collection process. I remember someone mentioning that in their saves, they have entire areas of dead enemies that they defeated hours prior, yet the bodies, and their subsequent loot, remained in the game world, which means they remain in memory. This could cause bloat when the memory is written to file.

 

[IAmMrSoda]

If Xbox allocates space like Playstation saves, or adds more OS data to the save. You may not be able to see the actual size the save is taking.
To be clear: on PC we have multiple files in our save folder, a metadata.9.json file containing some general details about the save (likely used in the preview) a screenshot (for the preview) and a sav.dat file. This sav.dat file contains all the save data, and that's the one that dies when it hits 8.192KB (or 8MB)
I'm not sure what the structure is on Consoles, but playstation players at the very least are looking at allocated space, not actual used space

On Xbox it works like this:

We click manage game and it brings up 3 boxes stacked vertical. Top box shows the size of the game. Middle box shows any updates pending snd their size.

Bottom box is the save data box. This box shows the collective total of all save files. Deleting all saves except for one is the only way to see a single file's size. To explain:

So say I have 4 saves. Save A and Save B are both 4mb, Save C is 3.5mb and Save D is 5mb. The save data box will show 16.5mb, the total of those 4 saves added together. Now if I delete A, B, and C, all that is left is D which is 5mb. Now if I go check the save data box with only D left, it will now say 5mb. Reflecting the total of the only file there. Make more sense? I hope lol.

Now the user on Reddit is saying his save data box says 75mb and that he only has 4 total saves. Meaning he has 4 individual files of 18mb.

 

[EnnyRose]

On Xbox it works like this:

We click manage game and it brings up 3 boxes stacked vertical. Top box shows the size of the game. Middle box shows any updates pending snd their size.

Bottom box is the save data box. This box shows the collective total of all save files. Deleting all saves except for one is the only way to see a single file's size. To explain:

So say I have 4 saves. Save A and Save B are both 4mb, Save C is 3.5mb and Save D is 5mb. The save data box will show 16.5mb, the total of those 4 saves added together. Now if I delete A, B, and C, all that is left is D which is 5mb. Now if I go check the save data box with only D left, it will now say 5mb. Reflecting the total of the only file there. Make more sense? I hope lol.

Now the user on Reddit is saying his save data box says 75mb and that he only has 4 total saves. Meaning he has 4 individual files of 18mb.

Without seeing the actual files, we can't be certain it's the sav.dat (or the xbox equivalent) or if it's that + more stuff

 

[pagefault404]

Yeah, Cyberpunk saves greater than 18MB are a bit dubious. Not saying he's lying, but, maybe the Xbox handles the saves differently than PC, much like the Playstation does.

Can you see what the individual files are, or are you restricted to just a summary?

 

[IAmMrSoda]

Without seeing the actual files, we can't be certain it's the sav.dat (or the xbox equivalent) or if it's that + more stuff

All I can say is my current game has one save at 5mb, which matches my save data box. If I make a second manual save it jumps to 10mb. Delete that new save, back to 5mb again. So I think on Xbox thats truthfully a fairly accurate reading on the save file.

Though I suppose the way an Xbox puts a save file together and writes it vs how a PC or Playstation puts theirs together and writes them could be different, maybe even significantly. Sorta explains why a save can't be cross platform usually lol.

But still. Why, in theory, could a bug like this affect only one platform and not others? Reminds me of the PS3 Skyrim bug where PS3 saves tanked at a certain size, but PC and 360 were totally fine.

EDIT: This save has fluctuated from about 4mb up to 5mb as I've played. So its not been a static number.

 

[IAmMrSoda]

Yeah, Cyberpunk saves greater than 18MB are a bit dubious. Not saying he's lying, but, maybe the Xbox handles the saves differently than PC, much like the Playstation does.

That's why I asked him to show pictures of both his save data box and his 4 files under Load Game. Until him I hadn't seen anyone bring up files over 8mb unless it was PS users bringing up their allotment or Xbox bring up their save data box's total of multiple saves.

EDIT: He was wrong. Its 18.4mb across 4 files for an average of 4.8mb a file.

 

[StBalderdash]

Not sure if it will help anyone, just adding my little bit.
I'm a bit over 60 hours, not doing much of the main story, most of the time the NCPD activities and farming enemies for exp and loot. I have almost never crafted new items, 99% was just me upgrading stuff I found. Unfortunately I also HOARD materials like a dumbass (years of Skyrim bad habits) so I had over 15 000 of the white ones.

And my save is 4.273 MB

So most of my bloat is by hoarding mats and collecting every single thing that wasn't nailed down, as opposed to crafting. (simply in this case)

 

[EnnyRose]

Not sure if it will help anyone, just adding my little bit.
I'm a bit over 60 hours, not doing much of the main story, most of the time the NCPD activities and farming enemies for exp and loot. I have almost never crafted new items, 99% was just me upgrading stuff I found. Unfortunately I also HOARD materials like a dumbass (years of Skyrim bad habits) so I had over 15 000 of the white ones.

And my save is 4.273 MB

So most of my bloat is by hoarding mats and collecting every single thing that wasn't nailed down, as opposed to crafting. (simply in this case)

For perspective, I've pretty much done the same, except I also craft, a metric ton.
My saves hit the corruption limit. So that's almost double the size. You should be good for a while.

 

[Safaraix]

I had 30K white green rare epic mats, my save was 5.8 mb (black screen too)
I sold nearly everything, down to 10K each, my save is now 6.125 mb...

 

[vegetaalex66]

Question: I think I've read something about everytime you exceed the all time highest of a stack it causes even more bloating. So does it make a difference if I for example sell half of my components before picking up new ones, compared to just picking them up with my current amount? Or did I remember that incorrectly?

 

[pagefault404]

Not sure if it will help anyone, just adding my little bit.
I'm a bit over 60 hours, not doing much of the main story, most of the time the NCPD activities and farming enemies for exp and loot. I have almost never crafted new items, 99% was just me upgrading stuff I found. Unfortunately I also HOARD materials like a dumbass (years of Skyrim bad habits) so I had over 15 000 of the white ones.

And my save is 4.273 MB

So most of my bloat is by hoarding mats and collecting every single thing that wasn't nailed down, as opposed to crafting. (simply in this case)

ANY data that we can collect is helpful, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

 

[Crowell-horn]

70+ hours, around 6,45 MB here.

We have crafting specs in the game, but the game was not planned to be played by crafters ?

This shall be a joke.

I can live with all the bugs, but being unable to play and enjoy the game, that I can't do.

Either this bug is fixed or this game will be dead in no time.