Corrupted save after losing power

[IsaacTheKhajiit]

My house lost power while I was playing Rimworld.   Today when I try to load the save I was playing, I can't. There are 3 red question marks where the game version should be and clicking "load" on the save does absolutely nothing.

It was permadeath mode so I can't go to an earlier save. Is there anything I can do?

[Canute]

At first you should do a file integry check of your volume. If you use Windows, right click at the volume under tools you find it.
After a PC got shutdown without warning some files could be corrupted.

Then you should reinstall Rimworld itself.
Since there are 3 red ? at the game version, there is something wrong.
And maybe the config files or the whole config folder.
Look at point 5. from this thread to find it.
https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=513.0

But if that all not help, the safegame itself might got corrupted too.
But then there is nothing we can do, lost data isn't recoverable.
And since it is a permadeath you don't have a backup.

[Calahan]

Checking RimWorld's file integrity through Steam should repair the game files (if needed). And Canute's above advice about running a disk check on your drives should sort out any file system issues (computers usually don't like sudden and instant shutdowns).

As for your save game, I'm afraid that could well be lost. All depends whether or not the save file was being written to when you lost power. If it wasn't then in theory the save should be fine and the errors you are getting are not related to the state of the save file itself, although obviously you will have lost all your progress from when you last saved.

If it was in the middle of writing then your save is almost certainly lost because the game wasn't able to write all the data to the save file, and there's no way to recover this lost data (a small and select number of issues can be fixed by editing the save file data with a text editor, but you can't edit the data if the data simply doesn't exist).

And once again unfortunate incidents such as this make me scratch my head in bewilderment as to why anyone would ever play perma-death. It's a reward 0%:100% risk based decision, since there are no benefits to be had from playing perma-death only risk, so you are taking on a huge risk for literally nothing. And perma-death + using mods is even riskier again and is just asking to lose your save file.

[IsaacTheKhajiit]

And once again unfortunate incidents such as this make me scratch my head in bewilderment as to why anyone would ever play perma-death. It's a reward 0%:100% risk based decision, since there are no benefits to be had from playing perma-death only risk, so you are taking on a huge risk for literally nothing. And perma-death + using mods is even riskier again and is just asking to lose your save file.

I don't understand people who feel the need to chime in with their unrelated opinions on a support thread.  Nothing you said was helpful or told me anything the previous poster didn't already say.

I play permadeath because it's fun for me and the entire point of a video game is to have fun.  Lots of people like that extra challenge.  That's why it's an option.  Losing power while I was playing is a fluke that never happened before in 300 hours of playtime and is unlikely to happen again. 

The only thing your comment accomplished was being dickish to someone who is already bummed out.

[Calahan]

Many people post their support issues here, and a number of them do so because they'd specifically like a reply from the forum staff regarding their issue, and not just replies from "some random people on the internet". And even though at the end of the day the forum staff themselves are just "random people on the internet", for the person seeking help the fact that they are forum staff enables them to put greater trust in their answers. So a member of forum staff posting to confirm (or reiterate) an answer that someone else has already provided is a common place on any game's official support forum. And which is an important aspect for some people when seeking help, and irrespective of whether or not it's important to you.

So even if you found my confirmation of Canute's answer unhelpful, other people who have been in your positon in the past, and will be again in the future, do find staff confirmation of answers helpful. And it should not be considered unexpected for forum staff to do this in relation to those seeking help with their problems on a game's official support forum. Not least because that is what often distinguishes official support forums/channels from other places the game is discussed, and where help and support can just as likely be sought (but just not official support).


And I'm happy for you that this was the first time you lost a perma-death save in several hundred hours. But don't mistake good fortune for good judgement. You could sit in a lion enclosure for a week and survive without a scratch. Doesn't mean it was a good idea though. Neither does the favourable outcome change the inherent risk involved, nor the 100% one sided risk:reward ratio connected to it. You just got lucky. Simple as that. And if you've dealt with the same number of "Help I've lost my perma-death save" posts that I have, then you might have more realisation regarding just how lucky you have been. Or have been until now.

Playing RimWorld is fun. Perma-death doesn't affect the storyteller, or map/resource generation, or the pawn/animal AI, or anything. Perma-death literally does nothing to the game, it does not enhance the game, and it certainly doesn't add to the fun. And besides, if you want the perma-death playing experience then that can easily be obtained by playing a normal game with auto save enabled, and only manually loading and saving when you start and end a playing session respectively. So the perma-death experience at a greatly reduced risk.

And I said perma-death does nothing, but actually it does do something. Which is to create pointless extra work for the forum staff (and those who generously help us) due to people creating "Help I've lost my perma-death save game." threads like yours, and asking what they can do to recover their one and only save file. With the answer usually being "nothing unfortunately", but what you can do is avoid losing your save again in the future by not playing perma-death. And I will continue to offer this advice, and explain the needless risks being taken by playing perma-death, every time such threads appear. Because it is undertaking a needless risk in exchange for no benefits.


But everyone has to make their own decisions, I can only offer my advice. If people decide to continue playing perma-death after being made aware of the needless risk involved then I can only wish them well and that Lady Luck views their decision favourably going forward.