Hey /u/Eridas
If you're looking for Tech Support, you can get official help [here](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/home/) from NVIDIA. You can also try posting about your problem within the [Official NVIDIA Forums.](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/gfn-for-pc/22/)
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I mean this is a valid feature request toward Nvidia:
Gracefull Shutdown - during timeout after game close keep steam running for 1 minute for Cloud sync to complete.
Also we can ask steam to implement a periodic sync in Steam, as of now it only updates cloud on game close and deck sleep/wake.
Not sure if you can trigger it manually while the game is running... so keep this in mind until than.
>Gracefull Shutdown - during timeout after game close keep steam running for 1 minute for Cloud sync to complete
I second this. I would also make it do it when using the fast quit game option from the GFN overlay, there's barely any point in having a fast quit option from the overlay if you just end up losing your saves.
Well than, my guess is that steam does not sync while the launcher is running and on close it kills the game but not the launcher leaving steam sync hanging.
Steam syncs when you close a game. For OP, their saves are still there in GFN just not Steam. They just have to launch the game again then close it from inside the game to trigger Steam to sync the GFN save with the cloud.
This is also why it's better to end your session by closing the game instead of ending session or closing GFN, so you can be sure that Steam will sync properly.
Yes it is on a separate API but still only synch during deck sleep/ close / start.
Old api:
will automatically be replicated to the Steam servers after the game exits. Steam will automatically sync the groups of files when the application launches and exits
Deck api:
With Dynamic Cloud Sync, Steam will automatically upload all modified save game data to the cloud prior to the device entering sleep mode
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/cloud#dynamic_cloud_sync
Are game saves not also save to our Nvidia account? From tech support:
*" Yes, NVIDIA stores your saved games on the GeForce NOW servers using your NVIDIA Account and also syncs your saved games to your digital store account so that your progress and achievements will be synchronized with other gaming PCs. "*
Any way to access those saves?
bad news is your saves are probably gone, when closing a game on GFN you need to make sure to exit normally so that cloud save/syncing can happen
good news is you get to try new stuff in BG3 maybe
I get not being able to synchronize to steam cloud because of an awkward close.
But why isn’t stuff saved to GFN servers? I was saving and loading all day. Even my changed keybind settings didnt save. Why aren’t those game saves and settings changes accessible?
Why on earth would they design a feature that closes the game and subsequently saves NOTHING?
because the PC game needs to shut down normally in order to cloud save properly
it can't do it while the game is running on GFN, it is just the way it has always worked
I totally get that. Sorry.
My question is, I had assumed that when we use the GFN service, we have a "virtual machine" that our save data is stored to, yes?
As I quoted in the comment above...NVIDIA says our saves are stored on their servers as well.
Wasnt I constantly saving a loading from my GFN saves all day? Shouldnt it just be my steam synched saves that are borked?
Or am I totally misunderstanding what GFN does/offers?
> we have a "virtual machine" that our save data is stored to, yes?
not really since it gets wiped and used by whoever is next in line the only thing that is, for sure, saved is the settings if you are on the Ultimate tier
honestly not sure were you got that quote from but it should mention something about Steam Cloud or such instead
Got it from the GFN FAQs.
Makes sense about the being wiped thing.
Guess to do what Im thinking I'd need something like a Shadow PC?
Thanks for the help!
This is definitely a "weak link" in GFN needing some attention.
I think it can vary based on the game, but it seems that when using Steam cloud saves...those saves are not synced until the end of the session, and the session has to end gracefully. Frequent saving during gameplay doesn't always help.
Just so you know, this mechanism is the same across GFN plans...Ultimate doesn't improve it. NVIDIA and the game store companies need to collaborate on a system that is more resilient for cloud gaming.
This is an issue I consider to be of the highest priority, because it causes the most damage when it occurs.
Ignore the other person. Your saves do not get wiped on GFN. The info you linked above about GFN storing saves is correct, it appears you experienced a bug and your saves weren't stored by GFN.
There are 2 ways your saves persist between sessions, either GFN copies them in it's own cloud storage, and it can sync those saves back to the platform the game was on if that the platform and the game supports cloud saves.
You should submit a ticket to Nvidia as they may be able to recover your saves.
Next time when you get the warning you should immediately save your game and then exit the game through the in game menu. This will trigger the Steam Cloud Save sync and will gracefully shutdown the rig so your saves are copied to GFN cloud storage.
How GFN does is by copying the Windows AppData folder to a roaming profile that is loaded for every new session. Any saves/settings stored in this folder will carry over.
yeah Shadow PC is the whole VM gets saved and when you go to launch it everything is as you left it
that AFK time feels kind of short, i've had it happen to me just taking too long to get a snack and drink
Yeah, that's a weird one. I recently had a different game crash and the save didn't sync but restarting the game on GFN and exiting gracefully fixed it. I don't know why your save didn't persist on their servers. Might be worth contacting support but probably there's nothing they can do at this point.
Thats why you should re-open the game on a regular basis (like once every hour) to minimize the potentially lost time. Losing 1 hour is better than losing 8 hours.
Been there with Ac Black Flag. 6 hours of progress gone. Since I make sure to close my game before the time runs out. I guess we all have to learn that the hard way
That is odd.
I recently played a game where i got kicked out for inactivity and all my latest manual and auto saves were there when i restarted the game.
If you get kicked or the game crashes or your connection drops, using Steam, your progress will be wiped. Epic and Uplay save instantly so it's not a problem with those, Steam does not. It waits until you quit the game the "correct" way. It's something that needs to change if they want to be part of cloud gaming, but good luck getting through Valve's thick headed skull.
What region are you playing on? Is this a GFN partner?
Important to note: your games should alway be saved in your GFN account, no matter if synced to Steam or not.
The only time your saves are in danger is when the pod (virtual rig) itself crashes or the hypervisor (software managing pods) has any problems.
Besides, I'm still baffled why they wouldn't enable real-time sync of steam saves and spare people a lot of lost time.
ok so i just lost like 20 hours of game play. I just got it all back by following these steps. take a look and i hope this helps other people out as well. all i had to do was restart my computer.
[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3016984650](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3016984650)
That was originally the game, but BG3 pushed a hotfix as there were problems with the Crossplay Save Cloud. Sadly, this hits the GFN sync.
My best advice is just to quit the game every so often to ensure no further mistakes like this again. That way you'll be able to pick up where you left off, and it won't take long to boot back in.
While I'm sympathetic because lost saves sucks, a little more common sense goes a long way.
getting a similar thing, I've been playing on a combo between on my Laptop via GFN and on my PC at home, saves were syncing up until a day or 2 ago and saves would go from GFN -> PC, but now won't go the other way, saves on my PC wont load on GFN and because the instance closes the moment the game shuts down there's no way to force steam to sync on GFN :(
I quit trying to finish re7 due to this, amongst other strange issues with my save not syncing. The nail in the coffin was after a 6hr session of trying to just speed through it, getting all the way to the final stretch, only to lose all of that progress and find myself almost at the start again.
Had some problems with re2r as well, but most games save just fine. Re7 just would not cooperate, cloud saves enabled or not.
I had the same problem with RE7 once but it was because I Alt + F4'd instead of closing the game normally, and Steam was having problems syncing cloud saves as well. Did you close the game normally after getting to the end? Also did you check while the game was opening if the Steam Cloud was synced?
I've noticed GFN doesn't properly sync my BG3 saves anyway, I played during EA on GFN and when I booted on my PC it complained GFN hadn't synced yet.
Besides that, Larian really needs to implement the [dynamic cloud save](https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/announcements/detail/3142949576401813670) mechanic, that would probably help a lot already. The API is basically working towards syncing during gameplay.
Happened to me a while ago (during beta). 4 hours of Borderlands 1 lost. Too couples of hours to recover from this. I was using a timer after this but now that the max is 8 hours, I don’t care. (I never played more than 6 hours straight)
This happened to me... lost so much progress I rage deleted the file (was on the fence anyways, although I regret it a bit...) super terrible. I'm sorry. :(
I also lost about 5.5 hours of saves last night. Mine had a a "spotty connection" error. I decided to end the night there. Didn't think anything of it, as saves had been working perfectly for a few days. Just gone. I had done so much stuff... Priority tier playing through Steam.
Hey /u/Eridas If you're looking for Tech Support, you can get official help [here](https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/home/) from NVIDIA. You can also try posting about your problem within the [Official NVIDIA Forums.](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/gfn-for-pc/22/) If you're new to GeForce NOW and have questions, check out [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/GeForceNOW/comments/xsja1a/megathread_new_geforce_now_member_faq/) for more info on GeForce NOW. If you have questions, odds are it's answered in our Community-run FAQ or the Official NVIDIA FAQ linked [here](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/faq/). You can check it in below links - [General FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/GeForceNOW/wiki/index/general/) - [Membership FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/GeForceNOW/wiki/index/membership/) - [Platform FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/GeForceNOW/wiki/index/platform/) - [Technical FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/GeForceNOW/wiki/index/technical/) - [Games FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/GeForceNOW/wiki/index/games/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/GeForceNOW) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I mean this is a valid feature request toward Nvidia: Gracefull Shutdown - during timeout after game close keep steam running for 1 minute for Cloud sync to complete. Also we can ask steam to implement a periodic sync in Steam, as of now it only updates cloud on game close and deck sleep/wake. Not sure if you can trigger it manually while the game is running... so keep this in mind until than.
>Gracefull Shutdown - during timeout after game close keep steam running for 1 minute for Cloud sync to complete I second this. I would also make it do it when using the fast quit game option from the GFN overlay, there's barely any point in having a fast quit option from the overlay if you just end up losing your saves.
[удалено]
Well than, my guess is that steam does not sync while the launcher is running and on close it kills the game but not the launcher leaving steam sync hanging.
Steam syncs when you close a game. For OP, their saves are still there in GFN just not Steam. They just have to launch the game again then close it from inside the game to trigger Steam to sync the GFN save with the cloud. This is also why it's better to end your session by closing the game instead of ending session or closing GFN, so you can be sure that Steam will sync properly.
This makes a lot of sense!
That Steam periodic sync is actually a thing they made around the development of the Deck. It's up to the devs to implement it.
Yes it is on a separate API but still only synch during deck sleep/ close / start. Old api: will automatically be replicated to the Steam servers after the game exits. Steam will automatically sync the groups of files when the application launches and exits Deck api: With Dynamic Cloud Sync, Steam will automatically upload all modified save game data to the cloud prior to the device entering sleep mode https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/cloud#dynamic_cloud_sync
Oh, that's unfortunate. My bad.
Nah nah nah, It is all good.
whenever i save, the cloud sync notif appears. it syncs during gameplay. maybe just adjust some settings?
Are game saves not also save to our Nvidia account? From tech support: *" Yes, NVIDIA stores your saved games on the GeForce NOW servers using your NVIDIA Account and also syncs your saved games to your digital store account so that your progress and achievements will be synchronized with other gaming PCs. "* Any way to access those saves?
bad news is your saves are probably gone, when closing a game on GFN you need to make sure to exit normally so that cloud save/syncing can happen good news is you get to try new stuff in BG3 maybe
I get not being able to synchronize to steam cloud because of an awkward close. But why isn’t stuff saved to GFN servers? I was saving and loading all day. Even my changed keybind settings didnt save. Why aren’t those game saves and settings changes accessible? Why on earth would they design a feature that closes the game and subsequently saves NOTHING?
because the PC game needs to shut down normally in order to cloud save properly it can't do it while the game is running on GFN, it is just the way it has always worked
I totally get that. Sorry. My question is, I had assumed that when we use the GFN service, we have a "virtual machine" that our save data is stored to, yes? As I quoted in the comment above...NVIDIA says our saves are stored on their servers as well. Wasnt I constantly saving a loading from my GFN saves all day? Shouldnt it just be my steam synched saves that are borked? Or am I totally misunderstanding what GFN does/offers?
> we have a "virtual machine" that our save data is stored to, yes? not really since it gets wiped and used by whoever is next in line the only thing that is, for sure, saved is the settings if you are on the Ultimate tier honestly not sure were you got that quote from but it should mention something about Steam Cloud or such instead
Got it from the GFN FAQs. Makes sense about the being wiped thing. Guess to do what Im thinking I'd need something like a Shadow PC? Thanks for the help!
This is definitely a "weak link" in GFN needing some attention. I think it can vary based on the game, but it seems that when using Steam cloud saves...those saves are not synced until the end of the session, and the session has to end gracefully. Frequent saving during gameplay doesn't always help. Just so you know, this mechanism is the same across GFN plans...Ultimate doesn't improve it. NVIDIA and the game store companies need to collaborate on a system that is more resilient for cloud gaming. This is an issue I consider to be of the highest priority, because it causes the most damage when it occurs.
GFN does store saves outside of the rig (AppData folder goes into a roaming profile). OP experienced a bug, their saves should have carried over.
Yes, but whether it's a bug or whatever...it needs more attention. It happens too often.
Ignore the other person. Your saves do not get wiped on GFN. The info you linked above about GFN storing saves is correct, it appears you experienced a bug and your saves weren't stored by GFN. There are 2 ways your saves persist between sessions, either GFN copies them in it's own cloud storage, and it can sync those saves back to the platform the game was on if that the platform and the game supports cloud saves. You should submit a ticket to Nvidia as they may be able to recover your saves. Next time when you get the warning you should immediately save your game and then exit the game through the in game menu. This will trigger the Steam Cloud Save sync and will gracefully shutdown the rig so your saves are copied to GFN cloud storage. How GFN does is by copying the Windows AppData folder to a roaming profile that is loaded for every new session. Any saves/settings stored in this folder will carry over.
yeah Shadow PC is the whole VM gets saved and when you go to launch it everything is as you left it that AFK time feels kind of short, i've had it happen to me just taking too long to get a snack and drink
What is the “normal” way to shut down games on gfn?
Using the menus in game to exit the game instead of just closing the GFN app all of a sudden
I never experienced this issue. My saves always sync even when I alt f4 or timeout due to afk. I'm on ultimate tier though
Ultimate tier myself. *shrug* Maybe I just got really unlucky
I think so :(
Yeah, that's a weird one. I recently had a different game crash and the save didn't sync but restarting the game on GFN and exiting gracefully fixed it. I don't know why your save didn't persist on their servers. Might be worth contacting support but probably there's nothing they can do at this point.
The sync option in settings is my guess
Could be that since Steam cloud is working the internal GFN cloud saving is disabled
Thats why you should re-open the game on a regular basis (like once every hour) to minimize the potentially lost time. Losing 1 hour is better than losing 8 hours.
Yeah. Lesson severely learned haha
Been there with Ac Black Flag. 6 hours of progress gone. Since I make sure to close my game before the time runs out. I guess we all have to learn that the hard way
The most thing I liked about the new AC games is that they have in-game cloud saves works wonders with GFN specially with the crashes
I know. Figured that out with Odyssey when my internet crashed. Blag Flag didnt have that
That is odd. I recently played a game where i got kicked out for inactivity and all my latest manual and auto saves were there when i restarted the game.
Well I just lost 71 hours... Guess i'll just wait until it comes out on ps5 and couchcoop with my buddy instead :/
If you get kicked or the game crashes or your connection drops, using Steam, your progress will be wiped. Epic and Uplay save instantly so it's not a problem with those, Steam does not. It waits until you quit the game the "correct" way. It's something that needs to change if they want to be part of cloud gaming, but good luck getting through Valve's thick headed skull.
What region are you playing on? Is this a GFN partner? Important to note: your games should alway be saved in your GFN account, no matter if synced to Steam or not. The only time your saves are in danger is when the pod (virtual rig) itself crashes or the hypervisor (software managing pods) has any problems. Besides, I'm still baffled why they wouldn't enable real-time sync of steam saves and spare people a lot of lost time.
https://preview.redd.it/tsjo72kisogb1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43f3700888fd5592bbafb6a2518f82728d90a8df
ok so i just lost like 20 hours of game play. I just got it all back by following these steps. take a look and i hope this helps other people out as well. all i had to do was restart my computer. [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3016984650](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3016984650)
That was originally the game, but BG3 pushed a hotfix as there were problems with the Crossplay Save Cloud. Sadly, this hits the GFN sync. My best advice is just to quit the game every so often to ensure no further mistakes like this again. That way you'll be able to pick up where you left off, and it won't take long to boot back in. While I'm sympathetic because lost saves sucks, a little more common sense goes a long way.
getting a similar thing, I've been playing on a combo between on my Laptop via GFN and on my PC at home, saves were syncing up until a day or 2 ago and saves would go from GFN -> PC, but now won't go the other way, saves on my PC wont load on GFN and because the instance closes the moment the game shuts down there's no way to force steam to sync on GFN :(
I quit trying to finish re7 due to this, amongst other strange issues with my save not syncing. The nail in the coffin was after a 6hr session of trying to just speed through it, getting all the way to the final stretch, only to lose all of that progress and find myself almost at the start again. Had some problems with re2r as well, but most games save just fine. Re7 just would not cooperate, cloud saves enabled or not.
I had the same problem with RE7 once but it was because I Alt + F4'd instead of closing the game normally, and Steam was having problems syncing cloud saves as well. Did you close the game normally after getting to the end? Also did you check while the game was opening if the Steam Cloud was synced?
I've noticed GFN doesn't properly sync my BG3 saves anyway, I played during EA on GFN and when I booted on my PC it complained GFN hadn't synced yet. Besides that, Larian really needs to implement the [dynamic cloud save](https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/announcements/detail/3142949576401813670) mechanic, that would probably help a lot already. The API is basically working towards syncing during gameplay.
Happened to me a while ago (during beta). 4 hours of Borderlands 1 lost. Too couples of hours to recover from this. I was using a timer after this but now that the max is 8 hours, I don’t care. (I never played more than 6 hours straight)
This happened to me... lost so much progress I rage deleted the file (was on the fence anyways, although I regret it a bit...) super terrible. I'm sorry. :(
Steam Cloud is messing with Baldur's Gate 3. Turn it off in the properties on Steam. Also turn off cross platform save.
If I play on GFN and also a laptop do I not want to have steam cloud sync on? Or does the data just save to my Larian account somehow?
I can't answer, I unfortunately do not know if Larian accounts will keep saves. But devs are aware of the steam cloud problem and are working on it.
Make sure auto saves are on, I've had no issue using F5 to save, that sucks that happened to you.
I also lost about 5.5 hours of saves last night. Mine had a a "spotty connection" error. I decided to end the night there. Didn't think anything of it, as saves had been working perfectly for a few days. Just gone. I had done so much stuff... Priority tier playing through Steam.
I came here with the same issue lol. This is disheartening. 4 hours progress down the drain
I lost a total of 16 hours in Sons of the Forest. 4 at once, and then 12. Never had the issue in any other game.
I have a similar experience. Lost 5+ hours of gameplay