Do you miss naming your save files?

[Frindis]

Been watching one of my nephews streaming the old Divine Divinity and must say I miss having the ability to name my own save files. It is so rare nowadays to find a game where you can and I think it is unfortunate. The only good way I can make tips to myself about a location I have been to is if the game allows you to make notes or pinpoints. The whole autosave/chapter option takes away a lot of the charm even if it is nice to have at times when you most likely would have forgotten to save manually. Naming your saves is just one of those things that made you own the game a bit more if that makes sense.

Similar threads:

• https://forums.pcgamer.com/threads/weekend-question-how-many-save-files-do-you-keep-per-game.129773/
• https://forums.pcgamer.com/threads/how-old-is-your-oldest-save-file.129680/
• https://forums.pcgamer.com/threads/how-often-do-you-save-your-game.116745/

 

[Johnway]

Depends on the game and how many people are playing it. if theres no user profiles and multiple people are playing the game at a time, yes its annoying.

if its just me playing a linear game chances are i wouldn't really care unless i wanted to save specific locations etc. i only do that for achievement hunting tbh.

For RTS games i think its an absolute must though. i typically use 3 or 4 saves at most but in RTS games all bets are off and i make multiple ones. Xcom series save game folder is an absolute mess. i have so many that they don't even all load up properly. Then again, the save game system is kinda cack making constantly making new saves.

 

[Brian Boru]

No. One of my current games allows as many named saves as I like, and the other doesn't even acknowledge if it made the one possible manual save—real feast and famine. Those are C&CR and Far Cry 5—I wonder how many on-the-fence sales Ubisoft lose because of their still-poor PC UI?

In C&CR I just name my saves A, B, C so meaningful names aren't a thing for me there. I can't think of any game where I consistently name saves.

 

[Pifanjr]

I don't think I would even notice if a game didn't give me the option to name my save. I almost always use the default and/or a number anyway, so most of my saves were named "New Save". I'm actually quite happy a lot of games save automatically on exit so I don't have to do it manually any more.

 

[Frindis]

For RTS games i think its an absolute must though. i typically use 3 or 4 saves at most but in RTS games all bets are off and i make multiple ones. Xcom series save game folder is an absolute mess. i have so many that they don't even all load up properly. Then again, the save game system is kinda cack making constantly making new saves.

I don't play many RTS games, do they often come with a manual save option? Perhaps it is more of an RTS thing these days?

I'm actually quite happy a lot of games save automatically on exit so I don't have to do it manually any more.

Good point, I can see how that would suck if you forgot it. I guess the best of both worlds would have been a possibility.

 

[Sarafan]

The best thing that comes with naming your save files is that you usually have an option to do an unlimited number of saves. Besides that you can save when you want. A lot of games today use only one slot to save your progress. What if the power goes off during saving or game bugs itself? You can't revert to a previous save in these circumstances.

Another advantage of this system is that you can come back to basically any part of the game if you saved a lot in different slots. You liked some special moment in the game? No problem! You can always come back! Want to take screenshots of particular scene? No problem! You can come back! The single auto save system doesn't offer these possibilities. That's why I miss the freedom that comes with the option of naming and creating your own saves.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I agree with some of the others. The games I play usually let you just keep saving to new save slots. It would suck having to come up with a name every time.

 

[mainer]

I save a lot in the games that I play, so it's helpful for me if I can specify where that save actually is, but it is rare that games give you that option nowadays. Many games will at least label those save slots with the area you're currently in, others just a number which makes it hard to determine where that save file relates to if you want to go back. Sometimes there's a little picture along with the save that will help knowing where that save was taken. There're so many variations on how developers structure their save system, but I do appreciate the ability to name my own saves.

The game I'm currently re-playing, Solasta Crown of the Magister, does allow the player to name his save game slots, but it's definitely the exception with most games today.

Been watching one of my nephews streaming the old Divine Divinity

That's so great! Divine Divinity is still my favorite Larian RPG, and it's nice to see that younger folks are enjoying it (hopefully enjoying it). Graphics are dated in comparison the Divinity OS games, but the massive world and the gameplay (kind of a mix of CRPG & ARPG) are still the best.

 

[Frindis]

@mainer He is most definitely enjoying it. Been doing all the side quests he can come by and hoarding like crazy. He is playing a warrior with a sword/shield and some magic spells, like summoning/flame wall. Soon he will get his first house after the Maria questline, so that will be cool.

 

[Zloth]

Hmmm, this year I have played...

• Death Stranding - does not allow named saves but shows a picture that helps identify
• Final Fantasy 7 Remake - can't name, shows a stock image from the game section you are on. Some sections take quite some time so I would have 5 or 6 saves with the same image.
• Dungeon of Naheulbeuk - named and shows an image
• Mechwarrior 5 - named, no image
• Gal Civ 3 - named, no image
• Dear Esther - who cares? It's only a couple of hours long!
• NieR Replicant - I've forgotten, but it's an old console game so very unlikely to let me name
• Persona 4 - same
• Doom Eternal - I've forgotten
• Phoenix Point - named, no good picture
• X4 Foundations - named, no picture
• Greedfall - rats, I forgot this one, too. I never take screenshots of save game loading screens!
• Age of Wonders: Planetfall - named, no picture
• Subnautica: Below Zero - one save system, so name is irrelevant
• Outer Wilds expansion - one save system, so irrelevant again

6 named, 4 unnamed, 2 forgotten, 3 irrelevant... looking like roughly 50/50 for the games I play.

When I'm not allowed to name, I do often miss it. Not always (e.g. I've never wanted to go back more than about an hour in Death Stranding so I can tell what save I want just by looking at the timestamp) but often times.