Making communal save files in GM Studio 1.4/2

[VinnyVideo]

What is the best way to make a save file that multiple GM Studio games can access?

Back in 2012, I started putting a "Stop 'n Swop" system in almost all of my games. This was a save file that multiple games could write to. This way, you could share data between different games. Finishing an objective in one game might unlock a special secret in another game. I never fully implemented cross-game unlockables, but the data is there so I could make it happen. I know @Hello has done some things like this.

My old friend GM 8.0 has served most of my game-making needs for the past decade. While I still prefer GM 8 in a lot of ways, GM 8 is showing its age, and it's harder to run it on my new PC. So I've doing more things in GM Studio 1.4 and GM Studio 2.

GM 8.0 lets you read and write to files pretty much wherever you want. However, newer versions of GM are a lot more restrictive with file access permissions - it's hard to access folders outside of working_directory. Some of the workarounds I've seen are pretty complex, requiring third-party plugins and other things that add layers of complexity.

Is there an easier way to save files in GM Studio 1.4 or GM Studio 2 without having to rely on the working_directory variable?

[Mario]

Don't really know anything about GM but I'm thinking you could probably solve this outside of it. Try having the installer for the game check if the other save file exists and when creating the directory instead of making a new save file just put a symlink to the original one. That way it'll be in the same directory for GM to mess with. I suppose things can get weird depending on how GM saves the file though.

Proud member of the Shadow █████████████

Interested in web development? Check out Super Mario Web Development. Wahoo!

 

""We choose to go to the [Suggestions board] not because it's easy, but because it's hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win."
- John F. Kennedy"
- gothgirlgangblastermaster

[DJ Yoshiman]

I have nothing to contribute to this topic, except that I remember when we had the idea at one point of time of having a general file that could be accessed by Clickteam products, Game Maker, and some other program as well that could be used to unlock stuff or have games communicate with each other.

That would be amazing to have again.

[OssieTheOstrich]

I'd love to see a MFGG fangame (or multiple fangames) with a "Stop N Swap" feature built-in.

List of projects I eventually plan to finish after the indefinite hiatus is over, assuming I don't abruptly cancel them:

Spoiler

Mario's Rather Unusual Trilogy (Mario's slightly unusual Boss Rush (Completed), Mario vs. Some Unusual Foes (In development), Mario's VERY Unusual Final Frontier (In development))
Sonic's Foray into Random/Unusual Zones (spin-off of Unusual Trilogy, in development)
Angry Birds Slingshot Frenzy (In development)
Super Mario Flashback: Really Good Edition (In development)
Super Hilda DX (In only conceptual phase)

Yes, I am aware that I have about 6 or so fangame projects currently in development at the same time. And yes, I am also aware that all of this is very ambitious.

+ List of projects I'm helping out with in some small capacity during my hiatus:

Spoiler

Super Mario Bros Dimensions 2 (as a spriter, only for Mario's sprites)
MFGG Community Fangame Project 3 (as a spriter)
WordGirl ReWired (as a artist)

[VinnyVideo]

@DJ Yoshiman @Ostrich101 I'd love to see more MFGG games use a Stop 'n Swop system, too - whether it's multiple games by the same developer, or games by different developers. @Hello is the only person I know who's fully implemented such a system, although several of my games have the framework in place to share data.

@Mario Usually GM games don't use an installer, so I don't think that would be workable.

Course clear! You got a card.

[Mario]

Even better if GM doesn't come with an installer, you can use a third party one that should be able to do that kind of work in the install process. I'm not sure what tools are out there for that though- I think there's one by ClickTeam actually? At least there was years ago but I'm not sure its still around.

More importantly do you think having that file in each games directory but linked? Here's an article about symlinks in Windows 10- I'm not sure the state of them in Windows but pretty sure some kind of link exists- maybe you can try a hard link (basically have two places in the file system that link to the same exact data) instead if those won't work.

Proud member of the Shadow █████████████

Interested in web development? Check out Super Mario Web Development. Wahoo!

 

""We choose to go to the [Suggestions board] not because it's easy, but because it's hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win."
- John F. Kennedy"
- gothgirlgangblastermaster