Windows I think GMS2 just deleted 9 hours worth of non stop code...

[Stoozey]

I haven't slept just to work on something, it's been over 9+ hours and I finally got everything working.
I ran it, and I got the popup to save/reload something because it went wrong. I just pressed reload.
The obj is now gone, literally nowhere to be found. I've just spent a good 30 mins looking around every folder that GM saves to, to see if I could find some sort of temp file, but nothing. I swear to god I actually want to smash my computer right now. Is this seriously something that happens in GMS2??? If so, there really needs to be some sort of temp/backup system added. IF there IS, please can someone help me out, I'm going to lose my mind if this seriously just happened.

┳━┳
(ヘ･_･)ヘ┳━┳
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻
(ノ｀⌒´)ノ ┫：・’.：：・┻┻：・’.：：・
drftuygihijko5fr7t6gyh7uji8kolp i am dying for help

 

[Cameron]

You may have learned a valuable life lesson today, so all is not lost.
You should look into how to use a git repository.
Once you do it's as simple as typing two lines of code:

git add .
git commit -m "description of work completed"

and it will file away the work that you completed.
It's basically a method of backing up work done and it can also be useful in storing work in a remote branch (on a different hard drive or server) and also in working with other programmers so that you can work on the same project.
Like most things, there is a learning curve that comes with it but it will prevent losing 9 hours of work like what you just went through so in that sense the time invested in learning it will pay for itself.
To use it locally, download and study git. You can use it in a terminal. There are also online "hubs" such as "Github" and "Bitbucket" that you can use in conjunction with git to store your repositories remotely. Bitbucket is free for both public and private repositories. I believe Github costs money for a private repository but they may have changed that since I last used them.

 

[breakmt]

You may have learned a valuable life lesson today, so all is not lost.
You should look into how to use a git repository.
Once you do it's as simple as typing two lines of code:

git add .
git commit -m "description of work completed"

and it will file away the work that you completed.
It's basically a method of backing up work done and it can also be useful in storing work in a remote branch (on a different hard drive or server) and also in working with other programmers so that you can work on the same project.
Like most things, there is a learning curve that comes with it but it will prevent losing 9 hours of work like what you just went through so in that sense the time invested in learning it will pay for itself.
To use it locally, download and study git. You can use it in a terminal. There are also online "hubs" such as "Github" and "Bitbucket" that you can use in conjunction with git to store your repositories remotely. Bitbucket is free for both public and private repositories. I believe Github costs money for a private repository but they may have changed that since I last used them.

Git is ok. But what the hell? GM shouldn't reset your work, this is not expected behavior, this is critical bug which causes data loss.
Lesson is learned... I guess one part of this lesson is that you should not trust to GameMaker?

To be honest I don't know if there are any backup system in GMS2. But it was in GMS1.
If it is not implemented in GMS2 I hope developers will add this as soon as possible...

 

[Nocturne]

I suspect everything is still there and just missing from the project... first step is to backup the directory and everything in it as it is, and then look for all the .yy files (and .gml files if it is code) in the project directory. You can then (in GMS) use "add existing" to piece it all back together.

 

[GrandFree]

Constantly backup your GMS project folder. I always do this, I don't trust GM's backup system as I've lost projects before in the past.

It has yet to happen to me in GMS2 but I'm not taking any chances.

 

[Aviox]

Were you editing project files outside of GMS?
The only time I've seen that popup was if a file got edited and GMS caught that something changed.

I agree that both some version of source control might have saved you, AND what you experienced shouldn't happen...

 

[Sn3akyP1xel]

Agree with GrandFree. If it's something you're pouring your time into, back the whole thing up it shouldn't take up too much space.

I backup after each successful implimentation of code, then dump to an archive just in case i need to roll back to a previous version.
I feel your pain though. I have lost hours of work many times simply because i get carried away while working on stuff.

 

[Toque]

I don't trust ANY software. I incremental save constantly. I back up with time machine constantly and full back up every week with super duper. Three separate drives.

I learnt early with 3.5 inch floppies that failed constantly. I had to back up in triplicate because I had 2 floppies fail at the same time. Never three though......

I hope you can recover your work.

 

[Jabbers]

I usually work on my game in sessions of 2 or 3 hours and then I make a ZIP copy of my project and store it on two separate drives. I'll also backup if I solve a major bug or complete a significant body of code.

I hope you can piece your project back together using Nocturne's advice.

 

[Stoozey]

Thanks for all of this info. I did learn a good lesson, and also much from all of these replies. I now have a dedicated USB for all my backups, and I do it regularly. Has shown useful. <3

 

[rIKmAN]

Thanks for all of this info. I did learn a good lesson, and also much from all of these replies. I now have a dedicated USB for all my backups, and I do it regularly. Has shown useful. <3

USB drives can be unreliable too - moreso than hard drives in my experience.
I would recommend creating a DropBox, OneDrive, Google Drive etc account (or all 3) and also copying the backups there.

I'd never trust my code to just a USB drive, it's just asking for trouble.

Even better - start using Source Control (use external tools, not the built in GMS2 Source Control)

 

[FrostyCat]

I would recommend creating a DropBox, OneDrive, Google Drive etc account (or all 3) and also copying the backups there.

Important clarification: Automatic file-sync services like Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive are for BACKUPS ONLY. GMS 2 is known to fight with these over file access if you attempt to store the main working copy on them.

 

[rIKmAN]

Important clarification: Automatic file-sync services like Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive are for BACKUPS ONLY. GMS 2 is known to fight with these over file access if you attempt to store the main working copy on them.

I figured saying "also copying the backups there" was clear enough, but yes - never use DropBox / OneDrive / Google Drive as your "live" project directory as it will cause all sorts of issues as you mentioned.