Author: Jonathan

Hey folks!

Thanks for the feedback and reports from the Beta branch. We’ve made some tweaks to the Beta that, barring any issues, should move to public very soon. The focus of this patch is to iterate on our file path changes and give folks the option to keep the old paths if they experience Windows permission issues.

Changelog

Below are all changes since beta build 0.991.50.2125:

• The cache is now created in your %LOCALAPPDATA% folder, rather than %APPDATA%. The old cache location can be safely deleted
• Wireframe in the nebula editor now works outside of debug mode
• Fixed a start failure in SteamVR mode
• Thumbnails for Locations now correctly transfer on first launch
  • More specifically, when SE moves places-user.cfg from the Steam install to %USERPROFILE%, it will also move the described thumbnails
• Replaced ‘folders.cfg’ with two file path configs: paths-def.cfg for the new file paths and paths-port.cfg for the old ones. (See below for a deep dive on what this means)
• Added a new launch argument, ‘-paths=’ (See below)
• Reverted the fix for oblate planet densities, as it was causing issues with custom planet masses. This may be revisited later.

Portable Mode/Custom File Paths

When the Beta launched, select users experienced a “failed to create log file” error, where the program couldn’t create all the files it needed and failed to start. We have determined this is likely a write permissions issue due to custom/restrictive security settings in Windows. To account for these situations (as well as some general feedback), we’ve added a new failsafe to start in 'portable mode'.

• SpaceEngine now has two sets of 'folders' configs, called paths-def.cfg and paths-port.cfg.
  • The paths-def config is the new default file path config used by SE, writing the cache to %LOCALAPPDATA% and user data to %USERPROFILE%
  • The paths-port config holds the old filepaths that kept everything in the install folder, identical to previous versions of SpaceEngine
• When SE launches, it will always try to write according to paths-def first. If it encounters issues at any point in the launch process (fails to create a folder/file), it will abort the process. It will then request to re-launch itself using paths-port.cfg
  • If you have a strong preference for the old file format (or limited space in your default user location), you can opt to use paths-port.cfg first by inserting the following argument into your Steam launch options: -paths=paths-port.cfg
    • Access this by right-clicking SpaceEngine in your Steam library, clicking 'Properties' and entering the argument in the text field under 'Selected Launch Option' (See image below)
    • If you already have save/config data moved to the default user location, it will not migrate back on its own. You will need to visit %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Cosmographic\SpaceEngine and move your config/save files back to your Steam install’s config folder (you can open a Support ticket if you need help; we will be happy to assist!)
    • For advanced users, you can make your own file path config by copying either config file, giving it a new name, and using the above launch argument with that new file name in place of ‘paths-port.cfg’
      • While you can edit either default config directly, it is not recommended, as they may be overwritten or returned to default when updating
      • By using a custom file path config, there is a risk of errors and instability. Only do this if you are confident in working with Windows OS file paths.