So I had my project open when the 5.4.4 update popped up. Boom! ALL my roads disappeared from my map. I got a spline with one point, one segment, and no mesh. Also, for a while now, UE crashes when I close it.
I was hoping 5.4.4 would fix it, and not only it didn’t, it also took my roads away. I have to say, having something like all roads in a project disappear because a new update popped up is the greatest surprise Unreal ever presented me with…
Is there a way to have a simple backup system (not the usual one)? My saved folder only had an autosave of my level from ten days ago, none of the saves I did myself (because crashing when shutting down much?), and it ALSO has the roads missing. This isn’t nice…
It’s certainly unusual for the engine to do that. It would usually ask you to reimport them by clicking on a “fix” button on the alert window it pops up when similar things happen. I really understand how you feel loosing progress, to prevent such things happening in the future, you can use version control or back up the project manually. (I didn’t get what you mean by “not the usual one” so let me tell you all the different things you can do)
You can select a version control provider such as Git, Perforce, Subversion etc. but sometimes such things happen that even reverting back to older versions won’t fix the corrupted files. So while using version control, you might want to have different branches even if you’re a single developer.
You can store your project on a remote device though that will cost money. Even if your project isn’t big, you’ll want to constantly upload your progress and each of those cost money. You will even exceed the free limit of any provider so quickly.
You can store a back up of your project on your own device or on a safe drive manually, all you need to do is copying everything except the .sln file, the .vs folder and the Source folder, pasting them in your copy directory, open up the .uproject file, create a new C++ class, go back to your directory, go to the newly generated Source folder and replace the Public and Private folders with the ones in your original project. I learned this way of copying C++ projects myself, but I later learned that there were already a built-in way to package projects you can just clone the project via Epic Store if you’re only using blueprints.
But of course manual backup isn’t very practical and the thought of doing that every time you want to save progress even if it’s just right clicking on your blueprint project doesn’t sound appealing so the best way is to use version control & cloud storage together, version control with some precautions will also do if you don’t want to deal with those cloud services. These are the ways you can handle your project’s backup, hope it helps!
By “usual” I indeed meant version control which is too complicated and so far I never found two “how to’s” saying the same thing. Its way of use is all over the place. However, that would also not matter much as the saved level from ten days ago still had the roads missing and the spline reset. It looks as if the tool was tampered with so much that it reset itself. No “fix” buttons or anything appeared.
One moment I play the game in the editor, the roads are there, next the roads are missing. I shut UE off (crashes of course), and I see 5.4.4 is up. I always had weird things happening when updates occurred, but nothing this big.
That’s really annoying. I also experienced similar things. Because of these unexpected things, it’s understandable that you’re looking for different ways to backup your projects. Though the actual backup with no 3rd party app involved, which is the manual one I mentioned is an extra safety precaution that I take, a version control is a must have in every project even if it’s small. If you have time, you can tell me the parts that confuse you about version control. I’m comfortable with Git and know a little bit of Perforce. What were you using?
It has been a while since I tried it and got me disappointed, all I remember is I just got away from it as I was afraid of damage to my project. Although I still don’t believe it would have saved me here as the saved file from ten days ago still doesn’t have roads, I will give it a go and contact you with my questions. Thanks for being willing to help.
you can just clone the project via Epic Store if you’re only using blueprints.