[NEW UPDATE] Thief Buddy (v2.0) Quicksave Utility [upd. 17 Feb 2023]

VoiceActor on 19/1/2023 at 12:12

17 02 2023 UPDATE: Thief Buddy v2.0 has now been released

All new version - more functions - improved UI - improved operations

(Old versions superseded v1.1, v1.2)

I thought the interface needed modernizing so the UI has been fully re-written using material design styling.

List of Functions:

(Existing) Multiple quick save backups to restore any previous quicksave point ever made in the game
(Existing) Built in AngelLoader support (1.7.0 or above)
(Existing) Save sound options, including user selection

(NEW) *Single* window interface with selectable 'pages'
(NEW) Set the max number of recent saves you want to keep (2 to 50), or turn OFF for keep-all.
(NEW) Dark / Light mode interface options
(NEW) Extra-muted colors control
(NEW) Restore sound option
(NEW) Timed auto-saves are improved
(NEW) Alternative key bind control for auto-saves
(NEW) Operational enhancements for timed saves
(NEW) Built in, updated User Guides
(NEW) A Restorer 'stay on this page' option, to always stay in the live-update Restorer interface. This provides direct alternating between the game and restores.
(NEW) Registry storage of all user-settings, so any further updates maintain your choices.
(NEW) improved file/folder access (idea given by Fen with thanks)

To set up:

(warning: older v1.2 quicksaves will be lost)

1. Uninstall Thief Buddy 1.2 because the new release has a different product code.

2. Download the new "Setup-Thief_Buddy_v2.0.0.2.msi" (ignore download warnings - I just can't afford to pay for digital certificates..)

3. After installing, you can either set your preferred Saves folder and FM folder manually (see User Guide), or just run AngelLoader 1.7.0 or above, and inside AngelLoader Settings, choose the 'Thief Buddy option', then run an FM.

(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1plHN_9b819QfpL0UQX6s2NBM3gb9yYGV) Thief Buddy v2 MSI available here

Notes on the new version:

New 2.0 Settings WILL be remembered in any future versions. Older 1.2 Settings don't transfer into V2

New 2.0 Saves WILL be remembered in any future versions. Older 1.2 Saves don't transfer into V2

I've made a lot of changes in version 2 so I hope you forgive starting your settings over again.

It is suggested you finish any current FM before updating, due to old version saves not being available to the new version.

Screenshots:

Main:

(https://ibb.co/N7CKV63)

Inline Image:

https://i.ibb.co/3kdcrys/1.png

Quick save restorer:

(https://ibb.co/xXkBDYW)

Inline Image:

https://i.ibb.co/vVFTHhp/2.png

Full 'save-shot' to reference:

(https://ibb.co/WGftQQv)

Inline Image:

https://i.ibb.co/bQXJxx5/3.png

Settings options:

(https://ibb.co/5WjrvHf)

Inline Image:

https://i.ibb.co/PZWc4Hf/5.png

Extra muted for those feeling dark:

(https://ibb.co/p4fxLDW)

Inline Image:

https://i.ibb.co/6DHmWhv/6.png

Notes and guidance:

(https://ibb.co/QfcqGBd)

Inline Image:

https://i.ibb.co/HV2MQvd/7.png

Acknowledgements:

There were some timed saves oddities in v1.2 that Hit Deity noticed (thanks Hit) and have since been ironed out:- especially solved is the key simulator interference when Alt-Tabbed out of the game. Also the timer now starts afresh after a manual quicksave is ever made. Finally, readables closing when a timed autosave gets made is corrected. Twist provided lots of ideas and on top, some particularly useful info re binds for the readables issue - now solved with alternative bind options (read the guidance!) To Twist, I guess I finally understood parent and child binds! ;) :laff:

Thanks both Twist and Hit Deity for having had the patience and time to test all my variant pre-updates (eek!), and to Fen for the directory browse recode and all previous help.

Finally, thanks to fortuni and Dahenjo for suggesting a limit to max number of saves - now implemented

Hope the improvements are useful folks.

Best Ones,
VA

[this headline post replaces the original post for the early versions of Thief Buddy, so some follow-on comments are now solved in the new version]

A.Stahl on 19/1/2023 at 15:37

Cool idea. How badly does it nailed to Windows? :) Can it be ported to different OSes?

VoiceActor on 19/1/2023 at 17:27

Quote Posted by A.Stahl

Cool idea. How badly does it nailed to Windows? :) Can it be ported to different OSes?

Defo Windows only - I'm not into modern coding yet but am working towards it as a spare time task.

Kind regards,
VA

fortuni on 19/1/2023 at 17:30

Good idea, I've always wanted a back up quicksave in case I accidentally quicksaved in a bad location, but with the number of quicksaves I make I'm going to need a bigger computer HD.

Can you restrict the number of old quicksave to say 5-10 atm or is that an option you could consider in an update?

VoiceActor on 19/1/2023 at 17:38

Quote Posted by fortuni

Hi fortuni,

50 quicksaves uses only 0.2Gb (200Mb) of space so this won't cause anyone an issue - even on small drive systems e.g. 64Gb SSD :)

I wouldn't worry a jot about it - and after all, when a game is completed, you can just go into your Thief Saves backup folder and delete that particular game backup folder.

If you are still super conscious about space, do the following:

1. Without Thief Buddy running, right click your Thief Saves folder and select Properties.
2. Click on the Advanced button and then tick the box "Compress contents to save disk space"
3. Click on OK
4. Back in the Properties dialog, click on Apply and at the "Confirm Attribute Changes" dialog, choose the second option.

Thief saves will now be compressed to approx one third of the space without affecting Thief Buddy at all next time you run it.

That makes it a TINY 75Mb per 50 saves or approx 1.5Mb per save!! Even a cheap 4Gb USB stick could store 4096 / 1.5 = 2,730 quicksaves :cool:

Kind Regards
VA

downwinder on 20/1/2023 at 01:37

i am so good at thief i never have to quick save since there is way more then enough hard save slots per fan mission :)

but seems cool for the rookie players

Hit Deity on 20/1/2023 at 03:22

Quote Posted by downwinder

i am so good at thief i never have to quick save since there is way more then enough hard save slots per fan mission :)

but seems cool for the rookie players

Lol.. smart arse much? :-D

I use every damn slot multiple times over!! Wish I was that good. :)

Hit Deity on 20/1/2023 at 03:24

Thanks for this, VA. I'm gonna check it out.

This rookie player needs all the help he can get.

FloraPoste on 20/1/2023 at 12:27

Thank you VoiceActor, I've been playing Thief for 20 years and have always lamented the many, many, many times my quicksave turned out to be a disaster. It works beautifully.

Supremcee on 20/1/2023 at 21:45

What a great tool....but I'm hesitating to try it out.....in 20+years of thief I had this problem and only over the last 3 years maybe I forced myself to create hard saves at several points. Now that I'm used to that, you come up with this tool and I fear I'll end up in a limbo between well chosen hard saves and "damn it, alt+s, doesn't matter" - tabbing out of the game would also be an immersion breaker. but that's just me, I honestly think that this is such a great tool and I'm actually wondering why nobody came up with that earlier?! so thank you very much! for a taffers talk episode I think I will at least try it out so we can review it :)