Difference between revisions of "Glossary:Game data"
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Marioysikax (talk | contribs) (Undo revision 224382 by RaTcHeT302 (talk) ..it is explained? Both here and article mouse hover. Copy/paste or write %LOCALAPPDATA%\tech.... to start menu, windows explorer or ctrl+r run dialog.) |
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{{ii}}For Windows XP the <code>{{p|localappdata}}</code> files are stored in <code>{{p|userprofile}}\Local Settings\Application Data</code>. | {{ii}}For Windows XP the <code>{{p|localappdata}}</code> files are stored in <code>{{p|userprofile}}\Local Settings\Application Data</code>. | ||
{{ii}} Note that the AppData folder is hidden by default. Enable show hidden files and folders in your windows folder configuration to view it. | {{ii}} Note that the AppData folder is hidden by default. Enable show hidden files and folders in your windows folder configuration to view it. | ||
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===Public=== | ===Public=== |
Revision as of 13:42, 4 February 2016
Installation folder
The game's installation folder is where the game's files are stored, displayed as <path-to-game>
. Save files are sometimes stored here as well but many newer games will put them in a different location.
Windows
- For non-Steam games right click the shortcut and choose Open file location.
- For Steam games right-click the game in the Steam library and choose Properties, then go to the Local files tab and click Browse local files.
- Changes to
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%
and%WINDIR%
are redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later when the process is elevated (a User Account Control prompt is shown on launch); Steam and many MMOGs change folder permissions to save directly into the installation folder.
OS X
- For non-Steam games open Finder and click Applications on the side. Some games will be in folders.
- For Steam games right-click the game in the Steam library and choose Properties, then go to the Local files tab and click Browse local files.
Linux
- For Steam games right-click the game in the Steam library and choose Properties, then go to the Local files tab and click Browse local files.
Client folder
Steam
The Steam folder contains data for games using Steam integration; it uses the following locations by default:
- 64-bit Windows:
%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Steam
- 32-bit Windows:
%PROGRAMFILES%\Steam
- OS X:
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/
- Linux:
~/.steam/steam/
Game data is saved within a folder called steamapps found within the Steam directory.
Uplay
The Uplay folder contains data for games using Uplay integration; it uses the following locations by default:
- 64-bit Windows:
%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher
- 32-bit Windows:
%PROGRAMFILES%\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher
Origin
The Origin Client folder contains data for games using Origin integration; it uses the following locations by default:
- 64-bit Windows:
%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Origin
- 32-bit Windows:
%PROGRAMFILES%\Origin
Windows data paths
- Documentation on how to incorporate these paths into any wiki articles can be found here.
User profile
-
%USERPROFILE%
points to the current user's profile folder. Which is usually"C:\Users\(Username)"
- Some games use a path based on
%USERNAME%
; this method does not redirect when the user folder locations have been customised.
Appdata
-
%APPDATA%
and%LOCALAPPDATA%
contain application settings for the current user profile. - On Windows Vista or later,
%APPDATA%
- which most games use points to"C:\Users\(Username)\AppData\Roaming"
, while%LOCALAPPDATA%
points to"C:\Users\(Username)\AppData\Local"
. C= Drive windows is installed on, which can vary on some weird configurations. - Some games use
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow
, this location does not have a short environmental variable so must be specified in this longer form. For Windows XP use%APPDATA%
. - For Windows XP the
%LOCALAPPDATA%
files are stored in%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data
. - Note that the AppData folder is hidden by default. Enable show hidden files and folders in your windows folder configuration to view it.
Public
-
%PUBLIC%
points to the Public user profile folder shared between all users.
ProgramData
-
%PROGRAMDATA%
contains program data shared between all users, for Windows XP use%ALLUSERSPROFILE%
.
Windows registry
- Open the Registry Editor:
- Vista and later: open the Start screen/Start menu, type
regedit
, press ↵ Enter. - Windows XP: press ⊞ Win+R, type
regedit
, press ↵ Enter.
- Vista and later: open the Start screen/Start menu, type
- Go to bills/awsome.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
- Programs writing to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
without elevation are redirected toHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE
on Windows Vista and later. - Elevated 32-bit programs writing to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
are redirected to aWow6432Node
folder there; omitWow6432Node
if you are using a 32-bit version of Windows. - Non-elevated programs writing to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
are redirected toHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\
; omitWow6432Node
if you are using a 32-bit version of Windows.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
- Note that 32-bit programs writing to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
are NOT redirected to aWow6432Node
folder unlike local machine writes. They are stored in the same location, as programs per user edits are assumed to always be compatible between architectures. Per machine edits are too, 99.99% of the time, the restriction was mostly a poor choice by microsoft.
Linux paths
- The correct place on Linux to store save data and configuration files are specified by the XDG base directory specification.
XDG paths
- Most distributions do not set a default option for these environmental variables.
- Games using
$XDG_DATA_HOME
should default to$HOME/.local/share
for the save path. - Games using
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME
should default to$HOME/.config
for the configuration path.
Note: a game using the fall-back paths doesn't guarantee it is following the XDG specification. For example, Game Maker and Unity 4 titles do not actually use the relevant environmental variables, despite using the correct fall-back path.
Home
-
$HOME
refers to the user's home folder, for example/home/user
.