ValveSoftware
Proton Hotfix purges game saves
Proton Version: Hotfix Games: Any game that requires Proton to function Operating System: Linux Mint 22.1
Preface: I tested this with every Proton version. This bug only occurs in Proton Hotfix, and it has been ongoing since I had the same experience a few months ago.
The Issue: Any game that requires Proton to function will have its save purged by Proton prefix corruption. The save can be restored by copying its files from the corrupted prefix and placing them in the newly generated one, but this solution is not easily suitable with Steam Cloud, as the cloud will instantly sync the files from the newly created prefix (which contains no save data) causing the save to get removed from the cloud.
The issue occurs because the Steam cloud initially creates a prefix directory which only contains your original save file. This prefix will be considered corrupted for some reason, causing Proton to regenerate a new one without copying over the save files. (it will copy the original prefix into a corrupted-pfx folder) In return, this will cause the Steam Cloud to automatically sync, deleting your saves from the cloud.
Example screenshot of a prefix directory after its been corrupted:
I've had this issue on multiple installations and across entirely different PCs.
I also noticed that on the Versions Wiki, it warns at the very bottom that bleeding edge versions "can eat your prefixes". Not sure if that problem is related to mine or not.
I've also found that prefix configuration files are not generated at all for Proton Hotfix prefixes when the game is first installed. (files such as config_info, pfx.lock, tracked_files, etc.)
Hello @o7q, it should be noted that Proton Hotfix is an irregular build of Proton. If there isn't a very specific and recent fix on it for the game you're testing, you shouldn't be using that build anywhere. It's around so that Proton devs can push out a game-specific fix before checking if that's safe to interact with anything other than the intended target game. Once there's time for the most basic sanity checks and refinement, those changes end up in Proton Experimental anyway.
I see, that's pretty much what I thought. I'm very new to Linux and Proton. Proton experimental appears to work perfectly though, I was unable to recreate the bug with that or any other version. I appreciate the quick response. It's just strange that Hotfix is the default on Steam when it has these issues.
Thank you for the quick response!!
There isn't a default Proton version. You should review which compatibility tool you want in Steam's global settings.
Well by default, I mean the default selected option, which happens to be Hotfix at the top. For an unsuspecting user (like I was). I assumed that because it was selected by default, it was the default option. So I assumed I should've been using it.