I probably should have asked this some time ago, since I download a new build once or twice each day. I was just wondering: how is the game intended to be updated? I’ve just been clearing the folder and extracting each new build in its place (and then re-tweaking the options again and again and again).
Is it feasible to:
Extract the new package over the old files, overwriting them? Would there be any chance of crashes or lost features?
Delete everything in the old folder except the save file, then extract? Would this affect the current game any?
A better way to do this would be to copy your save folder into the new build. I think there should be a file somewhere that you could probably copy over to maintain your options from game to game (unless the build changed the options menu, in which case it could cause problems) but I don’t remember what file it is off the top of my head.
Overwrite method:
Copy the following files to a temporary folder.
/data/
options.txt
keymap.txt
autopickup.txt
Extract the new version on top of the old version. When prompted, select “replace all”.
Copy the files you copied back to the new version.
Pros: faster, especially if you’ve explored a large amount of your world.
Cons: doesn’t leave the old version in-tact in case you decide you want to go back.
Transfer method:
Transfer the following files:
/data/
options.txt
keymap.txt
autopickup.txt
If you’ve edited any of the other files, transfer them, too. For instance, I always transfer fontdata.json (previously fontdata.txt) because I play with a custom font spacing for square-ish fonts.
Also transfer the folder:
/save
Pros: neat, complete, and under your control the whole way.
Cons: well-explored worlds can include tens of thousands of files, which means long transfer times.
[quote=“Aluminumfoil, post:3, topic:5846”]Extract the new version on top of the old version. When prompted, select “replace all”.
Copy the files you copied back to the new version.
Pros: faster, especially if you’ve explored a large amount of your world.
Cons: doesn’t leave the old version in-tact in case you decide you want to go back.[/quote]
This one also has the drawback that things could get crazy if we ever decide to rename or delete any files (which is a fairly rare occurrence, but it does happen every once in a while).
I treat each new experimental as its own new entity. Might just be paranoia from days long past (I still cry in a corner from fear every time I have to update video drivers), but I’ve had so many issues trying to install over an old install of things that I’ve learned “start fresh = less problems”.
So I extract to a new folder (I just play off my desktop usually), drag over my save folder if I want to continue a prior game, and copy over the ‘options’ file from the data directory so I don’t have to screw with screen size every time. If you’re using a tile set from the Lab that isn’t packed with the game, you can drag that over too. Like Aluminumfoil pointed out … if you changed anything in keymap or if you use autopickup (I don’t touch either) move those too for sure.
I keep the old version (I’ve actually got a few old versions set aside) to compare changes to, or to test something to see if it is a ‘new’ bug from the newest experimental or if it had been around a while and I just hadn’t run into it yet.