Saved data and backups

Everything Lodestar remembers is saved on your own computer, in your game’s config folder. Nothing is stored in the world or on a server.

Where your files live

File	What it holds
config/lodestar-trail/destinations.json	Saved places, Home, the return point, recent places, the journey and your current destination
config/lodestar-trail/exploration/<world>/library.json	Saved journeys and learned portals
config/lodestar-trail/exploration/<world>/history/ and index.bin	Your recorded walks for My outings
config/lodestar-trail/appearances.json	Saved looks, shared by all your worlds
config/lodestar-trail-client.toml	Your settings (Settings)

In the exploration folder, <world> is a folder with a long code for its name. Each world and player has its own.

Lodestar saves straight away whenever you change something. It writes the new file next to the old one first and swaps it in, so a crash while saving leaves the previous file in one piece. Recorded walks are saved every few seconds and when you leave the world.

One list per world and player

Lodestar keeps separate places, history and journeys for each world and for each player:

• In singleplayer, the world is recognised by its save folder. Renaming or moving the folder starts a new, empty list.
• On a server, the world is recognised by the address you join. Joining by a different address or alias, or a LAN game on a new port, starts a separate list.
• Servers that send you between several worlds behind one address (such as a lobby and game modes) share one list, because a client-only mod cannot tell them apart.

Automatic backups

When a new version of Lodestar changes how a file is saved, it can still read the older file. Before it first saves over that older file, it copies it to a backup named after the old version:

• destinations.json.v1.bak to destinations.json.v4.bak for older place files;
• library.json.v1.bak for an older saved journeys file.

A backup is made once and never overwritten. Lodestar does not delete them; you can keep them, or remove them once you are happy everything came across.

When a file is damaged

Lodestar never replaces a damaged file with an empty one. If it cannot read a file, or the file was saved by a newer version of Lodestar, it leaves the file exactly as it is and stops saving to it:

• Places file: Lodestar says “Lodestar could not read destinations.json. The original file is preserved; changes will not be saved until it is repaired and you reconnect.” Lodestar’s screens show “Changes cannot be saved right now. Your saved files are kept as they are.”
• Saved journeys and portals: “Saved journeys cannot be saved right now. The file was kept as it was.”
• History: “Your history could not be read. The file was kept as it was.” Recording stops until the history can be read.
• Saved looks: “Saved looks could not be read. The file was kept as it was.”

You can keep playing and guiding while this happens; your changes just are not saved. To recover:

1. Close the game.
2. Make a copy of the file Lodestar named.
3. Repair it, or replace it with your own backup or a .vN.bak backup. Moving the damaged file out of the folder makes Lodestar start that file afresh.
4. Start the game and rejoin the world.

Make your own backup

Close the game and copy the whole config/lodestar-trail folder somewhere safe. To restore it, close the game and copy it back. Do not run two copies of the game that share one config folder at the same time.