Hi, I just installed Patch 1.30 directly over my old installation directory, as told to, and starting up the game, my one save file that I had before is gone.

What do I do?  I'm really psyched to play with the new patch.

I think they changed savegame location in latest version. At least under WinXP. While it was

Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo before, it's now

Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Local Settings\Application Data\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo

hm, that's unexpected, the patch should definitely retain your progress.  what operating system are you on?

I'm using Vista.

hm.  i don't have a vista machine, so i can't test this right now.  but try this:  after installing the patch, finish one level and exit the game.  then search your hard drive for a file called pers2.dat.  your search should find two locations for this file, one is the old one and one is the new.  swap those two and your progress should then be restored.  let me know if this works.

If it's any help, I downloaded the 1.30 version straight off and my pers2.dat is stored in:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo\pers2.dat

So if you find it somewhere else, try moving it there.

I ran into this exact same problem.

Patched to 1.30, lost the savegame.  I am running Vista.

C:\ProgramData\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo\ has a file called pers.dat  (old location?)

C:\Users\gt24\AppData\Local\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo\ has a file called pers2.dat

I tried copying pers.dat to the new directory as pers2.dat (I saved the old file!) and I got a... well... not really restored save.  It though I did a fourth of the levels I did but it did remember my profile name.  (Maybe the old file didn't save the last time I played??)

*** Let's try this again ***

Ok, do a full search of my computer... I found another file at...

C:\Users\gt24\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\ProgramData\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo\ called pers.dat

Let's copy that one over and see what happens...

... Success! ;D ...

I have my fully updated save file loading properly in World of Goo with no loss in opened areas or alike.  This is certainly the latest save file properly restored.

So, in short, I think World of Goo was hiding the save file wherever it wanted to on the hard drive and the patch just made sure it stayed in one place.  To find your save game, search for pers*.dat on your hard drive including non-indexed files.  While you might find many duplicates, only one of them is the real latest save file.

Thought I would share my experiences with everybody else.  :)

thanks gt24!  everyone who's running into this problem, when you move pers.dat, don't forget to rename it to pers2.dat.

Oy..  I'm struggling here.

gt24, I've read your post a few times over, and I've tried lots of different things to try to get my save file back, but I must be missing something.  All the directories you've mentioned, I've found them, and the pers or pers2 file in each of them.

However, can you explain it again more clearly for me?

What directory are you taking the working save file from?

Is it a pers.dat or pers2.dat?

What directory are you moving that file to?

Are you renaming that file?

Are you replacing or deleting any files (ie. from the final directory)?

I'm definitely just one step away from this..

Thanks for your help!

Search the entire hard-drive for pers*.dat

For each one you find, copy it to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo\pers2.dat

After copying one file, run World of Goo, check if that is your saved game.


Repeat until you find your save.

Alright, I got it.  Thanks!

Sorry I was unclear!

I found a file called pers.dat.  That was the save game from the older version of the game.  I am copying that to where pers2.dat is, replacing that file.

The first "pers.dat" I found was an older save game and actually had quite a lot missing.  This is because World of Goo randomly decided to put the save game in two locations, so an older one was around and a newer one was around.

The second "pers.dat" was the location of the newer file.  My problems were resolved when I copied that file overtop of pers2.dat file.

So, what I am saying is this...

Find all files called pers.dat.  Select one of them, copy that one over pers2.dat.  If your save game is missing something then you copied over and out of date file and you need to try the other pers.dat file.  However, if everything seems fine, then you are ok!

*** Update ***

I started World of Goo after restarting my computer... and my save game was gone again.  :(

I went to where pers2.dat was and now I have two files.

In this directory...

C:\Users\gt24\AppData\Local\2DBoy\WorldOfGoo

I have pers.dat and pers2.dat

pers.dat is larger than pers2.dat.  So, I overwrote pers2.dat with pers.dat.  My save game came back.

I wonder if I have to do this every time I restart...  ???

@gt4: if I understand correctly, the pers.dat file is in an old format, no longer used. You should only have a pers2.dat file in the right directory (under your user profile directory); having different versions at different locations is asking for trouble. :)

I restarted today and had no problems...  so I suppose I will update if I run into anything further.

Also, I will keep what you said in mind.  However, it is odd that I could copy an old format save game over the new format save game and have "no problems"... I think.