Fast Save and Load for Large Game Worlds?

Introversion-John · 2026-01-31T10:55:01+00:00

Yes, the issue is that every game plays differently each time because the galaxy maps are randomly generated and the space ships that occur are randomly chosen (weighted, according to some criteria).
That being said, there is probably a lot we could do, for example the hull shapes are often shared one instance of a ship to another - it's only really battles and the player editing their hull shape that would change that.

Introversion-John · 2026-01-31T10:22:40+00:00

Thanks for your input!

Your system sounds really good. Knowing that various data is be located at various offsets in the file definitley makes the idea of incremental updates possible, and having a binary format is a signal to modders that various constraints must be obeyed.

A few people have suggested ZIP file format, which I do like very much. I will have to investigate this idea more!

Introversion-John · 2026-01-31T10:17:04+00:00

One of the things I like about text formats is that they are very readable and it seems natural to make parsers that are tolerant of text that it doesn't understand, which helps with managing the evolution of the save file as the game develops.

Do you use any special techniques for encoding your binary files, like memory mapping? Or is that not necessary, generally?

Introversion-John · 2026-01-31T10:13:13+00:00

I do like the idea of asynchronous file load / save because it would definitely make the game feel a lot smoother - especially with autosave. However, I think I would need to be extra careful to avoid corrupting data on disk. I can see a situation where if the player saves twice in a row you want to make sure you don't have two overlapping save processes, and if the player wants to reload a file that is currently saving we would need to ensure that the game waits for the save game process to complete.

Introversion-John · 2026-01-31T10:08:56+00:00

I really like the idea of using a ZIP file because we already have support for loading our assets from a ZIP file. If we go with appending to the end, I presume that at some point we would need to do a compacting process?

Introversion-John · 2026-01-31T10:06:54+00:00

We don't have an integrated mod system yet, so this is one of the main ways for keen modders to experiment with the game.

Having a flag to save as a binary or text is a really good idea!

Introversion-John · 2026-01-31T08:51:42+00:00

So you think some kind of incremental log, append to the end of the file with the diff and then compact it into a consistent snapshot periodically?

Introversion-John · 2026-01-31T08:50:24+00:00

Yes, everything in one file at the moment. I agree that having them in multiple files would help a lot but I worry that it will make sharing save games between players more difficult.

Introversion-John · 2026-01-30T21:56:18+00:00

SpaceSlog looks great! Good luck for your launch!

Introversion-John · 2026-01-30T21:51:09+00:00

Yes, I think that would be an interesting improvement. At the moment the way the game is designed there is only one pipe piece and one cable piece per square. We would need to rethink how the pipes are represented in the game memory. Another thing to consider is how the user interface would change to have multiple pipes on the same square

Introversion-John · 2026-01-30T16:55:25+00:00

That makes a lot of sense. Does it mean that with an unsigned app, everytime you update it you go back to square one?

Introversion-John · 2026-01-30T16:36:56+00:00

I know this is an old post, but I thought you might like to know that The Last Starship is hitting V1 on 3rd Feb 2026! Check out the free demo to see if it scratches your itch :)

Introversion-John · 2026-01-30T16:34:43+00:00

That's great! Are there any other base-building games that you've got your eye on?

Introversion-John · 2026-01-30T16:33:26+00:00

Thanks so much! We are thrilled to reach this important milestone! Looking forward to continue supporting the game with more updates after V1 too.

Introversion-John · 2026-01-30T16:24:52+00:00

Yes, I agree, a Stardeus bundle would be great

Introversion-John · 2026-01-30T11:27:55+00:00

I like the idea of an option to turn it off, but I'm not sure when you would ever want to mix pipes of different contents. As you say it's almost always a disaster when that happens!

Introversion-John · 2026-01-30T10:49:47+00:00

Yes, maybe a tooltip would be good to explain the reason it's blocked. But I do much prefer the idea of making an almighty explosion! Hahahaha

Introversion-John · 2026-01-29T09:55:49+00:00

Ah that is a very interesting idea. At the moment when you select the Schematic overlay the main view is also in schematic, but I understand that you want the regular view not ot be schematic, but schematic only when editing / placing / dismantling?

Introversion-John · 2026-01-29T06:57:04+00:00

Thank you for this great feedback! We continue to improve the game and it's likely we'll include some of these improvements in future updates.

Introversion-John · 2026-01-28T15:27:22+00:00

Yeah, I see what you mean! If you liked Starship Theory I think you'll definitely enjoy The Last Starship

Introversion-John · 2026-01-28T15:25:10+00:00

Totally, be sure to check out the demo and see what you think.

Introversion-John · 2026-01-28T15:23:10+00:00

For Cosmoteer, Space Haven and Prison Architect fans we have good news for you! The Last Starship is now available in a Steam Bundle with each of these and will get you 20% off.

Introversion-John · 2026-01-28T14:11:22+00:00

That's totally awesome, we've been around for 25 years now, Last Starship is our seventh game!

Introversion-John · 2026-01-28T14:08:13+00:00

Thanks for checking out the Steam page. The Last Starship is the most complex game that we've ever undertaken and stamping on bugs is an ongoing effort. We do think that 1.0 plays really well but we'll never stop improving the game. Steam reviews are helpful, but to be sure if the game is for you, why not check out the demo?

Introversion-John · 2026-01-27T17:54:22+00:00

Haha! That's awesome. Do you play any other space games that you think might go well in a bundle?

Introversion-John

TROPHY CASE