CD Projekt Red have told players to complete Cyberpunk 2077 quickly and to avoid crafting too many items, to avoid their save file being corrupted from growing too big.
Users on Reddit and CD Projekt Red’s forums found their save files were corrupting, and theorized it was related to crafting. One of the forum’s moderators- SigilFey- responded to the user’s concerns [1, 2, 3, 4].
Among useful advice such as not loading the save files before making a back-up, users were not satisfied with the lack of communication on when the issue would be fixed. User testing revealed when the game’s save file size reached 8mb or more, the file would become corrupted. The file size would increase as players collected and crafted items, as well as progressing the game’s plot.
One user (TheKimDotCom) stated Fey’s advice was poor and did not solve the issue. “This is a game breaking bug that anyone who plays more than 80 hours will encounter (even sooner if the user is crafting a lot) […] This requires an URGENT bug fix because every day more players are running into this issue. Eventually every single player who loves this game (like I do) will get to an 8MB save file.”
SigilFey’s response could be described by some as curt.
“Then, there’s no need for you to follow it [the advice]. Go ahead, and keep on loading saved games as you will. If the bug is occurring during the loading process, as opposed to the saving process, then you’ll eventually corrupt all of your saved games and have absolutely no backups to return to, ensuring all of your progress is lost. That is entirely your choice.
Secondly, this is not official CDPR Tech Support. This is a community board where players can come to check on known issues or try to troubleshoot problems on their own.”
The moderator directed TheKimDotCom to CD Projekt Red’s technical support portal once again.
Replying to other users, SigilFey explained that due to creating and removing items from the player inventory, the ItemID may grow so large the engine no longer recognizes it as an item. This number could ten conflict with how the inventory system works, or the save & load system. The loading a game also causes further issues with the ItemID.
SigilFey then recommended a temporary solution for players. Minimize the number of saves and loads, avoid crafting too many items in one go, complete the game in under 30-50 hours, and to make new characters rather than continuing to play the game with one character.
“The workaround for now?
Don’t do it. Play the game until the end, then start a new game. Don’t continue saving and reloading the same character for too long. Don’t craft thousands of items at once.
Is that ideal? No. And hopefully it can be worked out in the future. Although…maybe not. No game that CDPR has ever created has ever been designed for ongoing, unlimited play. (NG+ was added into TW3 after its release; it was never intended. It was extremely difficult to get working without major issues, is capped at level 100, still gets wildly weird at higher levels, and there is no NG++. It can only be done once per playthrough.) CDPR designs their games with a finite structure: with a beginning, a middle, and an end. They are not meant to be played on and on like Dark Souls, GTA, or an MMO. They’re meant to be restarted from the beginning with a new character and played differently. Love it or loathe it, that’s the design.
So, for right now, the best step is not to put the game in this sort of situation. It’s the nature of the machine. Or, more classically:
Patient: ‘Doctor! Doctor! It really hurts when I do this!’
Doctor: ‘Then, don’t do that.’Now, the treatment can begin.”
[…]
“Yes. Obviously there’s an issue [with save files being corrupted before users can complete the game]. What I’m saying is: it’s something like this.
E.g. if the game was designed to be completed in 30-50 hours, and players don’t complete the game, same difference. They play for 80+ hours, and/or also use skills that were never designed for endless grinding 10,000 times — you may trigger something the engine isn’t ready for.
So, we have two options:
1.) Avoid that issue, if we can, and try to figure out what’s causing it. There’s probably a way to work around or fix it, but it will likely take time.
2.) Repeatedly do the same things again and again and wind up with a whole folder full of corrupted saves that are not going to help anyone.
Everyone is welcome to choose either option…but either way the problem is still going to be there.
Now, if I were able to psychically know what’s in the developers’ heads, or use transcendent powers to look into the future for the ultimate resolution, I would happily do so and post the fix here. As it stands, I’m only a mortal. So, instead, I’ll use my experience with a similar issue from the past, suggest what may work here, too, and hopefully save people some frustration.
If people are dissatisfied with that, they’re welcome to ignore it. Got no idea what’s happening for sure. Only what it sounds like.”
Users on the forum were annoyed at the response, and infuriated with how the moderator had responded. While the moderator is not part of the development team, their advice was later implemented on GOG’s troubleshooting page for the game. As such, it would seem this advice passed through the “chain of command” one way or another.
“Unfortunately the save is damaged and can’t be recovered.
Please use an older save file to continue playing and try to keep a lower amount of items and crafting materials.
If you have used the item duplication glitch, please load a save file not affected by it.
The save file size limit might be increased in one of the future patches, but the corrupted files will remain that way.”
Users on the aforementioned and another Reddit thread mocked and despaired at the advice given, and seeming lack of urgency. One user posted a guide on how to find your save files on PC and consoles. In earlier news, a Reddit user also discovered a PC config file for the game was improperly programmed, and provided a fix.
As previously reported, the game’s numerous delays and leaked footage were not the end of the woes for CD Projekt Red. One reviewer suffered a major epileptic seizure, and accused the developer on basing the Braindance headset off a medical device designed to intentionally induce seizures.
Despite high praise from initial reviews, the Metacritic user score was far less. Currently the Metascore for the PC version of the game is 86, with a user score of 7.1 (out of 10). Meanwhile, the game’s PlayStation 4 and Xbox One user scores are 3.3 and 4.5 respectively (with Metascores of 55 and 54 respectively).
It should be noted that those who have not played the game may also be submitting user reviews, as Metacritic does not verify if a user has completed or played a game. In February for example a user of Reset Era orchestrated the review bombing of AI: The Somnium Files.
Metacritic placed a 36 hour grace period on user reviews for video games in July of this year. Metacritic would later insist this decision was not motivated by reactions to any particular game. That year also say low user review scores for Warcraft III: Reforged, and The Last of Us Part II.
Users complained of Cyberpunk 2077‘s numerous glitches and bugs, along with poor optimization and the console version having inferior graphics. Even critic reviews that praised the game also discussed those issues. Since then a hotfix has been released, but CD Projekt Red stock value dropped by 29% in a week.
CD Projekt Red apologized for not showing Cyberpunk 2077 running on last-gen consoles (though they did show the game running on PlayStation 4 Pro), and for the unstable launch of the game. As such they offered full refunds. However, one investor has begun a class action lawsuit.
A Q&A investor call reportedly had CD Projekt Red denying they had any special agreements for refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles, and that they were working on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game “until the very last minute.”
Both Sony and Microsoft stated they would offer full refunds for the game. Sony would remove the game from the PlayStation Store, but there were “no talks” of Microsoft removing it from theirs.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on Windows PC (via Epic Games, GOG, and Steam), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. The game is also coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2021, and players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One respectively will be able to upgrade to the next-gen for free.
In case you missed it, you can find our review here.
Image: Steam
