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

Twist on 4/2/2023 at 19:51

So for my blank screenshot issue, it was as I suspected. Nvidia's Shadowplay was interfering with Thief's screen dump function. It might be similar to what takeiteasy was describing, but with Shadowplay being the culprit rather than Steam (like Hit Deity, my Thief installs are outside of Steam, anyways).

Interesting fix, though: I didn't have a screenshot key bound in user.bnd since I use Shadowplay instead. But by binding a single key to screen_dump within user.bnd -- a key different from the PrintScrn key I use for Shadowplay -- Thief Buddy's screenshot capability started working fine. It's like I needed to give my Thief configurations specific direction for screenshotting for Thief Buddy to work right.

While fussing around with this, however, I think I came upon another quirk in Thief Buddy. When you click on the "Delete Backups" button, it doesn't just delete the individual backups; it deletes that whole directory of quick save backups.

The problem with this is that if you're in the middle of playing and you clear your backups, Thief Buddy stops working because it no longer has a directory to which to save those backups. So once you hit the Delete Backups button, you need to exit entirely out of both Thief Buddy and TG/TMA and restart them for Thief Buddy to start working again.

Two possible solutions:

1) Change the wording on the warning that pops up when you click on the Delete Backups button to let the user know they need to restart if they want to keep using Thief Buddy after clearing backups, AND change the Activated! button back to Activate. Right now, even though it won't work without that directory present, the button still says "Activated!"

Or

2) Delete the individual files within the directory rather than the whole directory. I'm guessing there's a reason you didn't do this originally, so this option might be prohibitive for reasons I wouldn't know.

Also, the issue Hit Deity describes sounds pretty significant. In Autohotkey, you can add a simple check to make sure a specific window or application is active before your custom binds are set or your scripts will run. I'm hoping the key press simulator VoiceActor is using for Thief Buddy will allow for a similar logical switch.

(Although that doesn't address closing the readables...)

Hit Deity on 4/2/2023 at 20:01

I have a feeling it's because TB is just feeding the .bnd file choice into the keyboard buffer for its functions. Same thing happens with QuickSave while it's running. It's passing the Alt-s option (for QuickSave) and it shows up in other programs that are running at the time, like firefox (Alt-s means pull up the History tab).

Twist on 4/2/2023 at 21:32

Yeah, I'm hoping he can just do something like, IF Thief is the active window, send those into the keyboard buffer, ELSE don't. That's what you can do with looping scripts running in Autohotkey, anyways.

That doesn't address the issue with readables, though. That issue could be trickier to work around.

VoiceActor on 4/2/2023 at 22:47

Quote Posted by Hit Deity

I take it you must both be running the timed save option because that will send an Alt-S every x mins at the time TB is running yes, whether in or out of a Thief game. This is because it *has* to be an external function to be able to affect Thief while playing (it is either this or I have to hook into Thief itself - far too dodgy a task!) I use the On-demand option because it will only back up a save when you quicksave manually. And no background input simulator process is then running. If you have to use timed saves, then close TB fully when coming sideways out of a running game, do what you need to do on FF or emails etc, then just restart and reActivate TB before going back into Thief.

I will think more about this however - as per what has focus etc to see if this can be made better.

Quote:

... it doesn't just delete the individual backups; it deletes that whole directory of quick save backups.

Yes, it has always been meant to clear a directory in full at the end of a finished game, not as a half-way clean up as such. An interesting usage I'd not thought of eek!

Thanks for the discussions on these quirks - it's never gonna be perfect this early on so getting it nicely honed is what it's all about :)

Thanks
VA

Hit Deity on 4/2/2023 at 23:48

Quote Posted by VoiceActor

I use the On-demand option because it will only back up a save when you quicksave manually. And no background input simulator process is then running. If you have to use timed saves, then close TB fully when coming sideways out of a running game, do what you need to do on FF or emails etc, then just restart and reActivate TB before going back into Thief.

that's an easy enough solution for me.. gonna try it

Twist on 20/2/2023 at 18:51

I noticed VoiceActor (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152049) updated the first post in this thread with information on the latest release, but didn't bump the thread. So here ya go!

You all should really check out (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152049) the new features and improvements. VoiceActor worked hard on this release and he pretty much improved the already-useful first version in every way. Most if not all the requests or concerns expressed in this thread have been addressed and more. (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152049) Check it out!

I can't imagine playing Thief without it now. Whether you're shameless savescummer or you wish saving would just stay out of the way, there are settings in there for you.

VoiceActor on 20/2/2023 at 21:40

Quote Posted by Twist

Ah bless you Twist!! Yup... forgot lol :laff:

fortuni on 20/2/2023 at 23:27

I'd be interested to discover if those who use Thief Buddy stop hard saving once they are fully comfortable with TB , only to discover they can't reload from a very much earlier time in the mission because TB has over written their previous quick saves.

I've set TB up for use with FMSel (I don't use Angel Loader) and quickly disabled the sound as it starting annoying me, but guess I won't use it regularly as it's an extra bit of set installing my FM folder and Thief install into TB every time I start a new mission that I know I probably will forget about doing quite quickly, but it's a neat bit of kit, so big thank you VoiceActor for a great addition to the ever growing Thief mod collection.

Hit Deity on 21/2/2023 at 02:20

I haven't stopped completely with the hard saves yet, but I have it set to a Max of 10 and that has been plenty for me.

Plibb on 21/2/2023 at 13:23

I've got mine to only keep the last 3 saves, I'm a chronic quick-saving scumlord so it's handy in a pinch. I still pop a hard-save when I reach a 'landmark' or do something that feels significant, such a great quality of life addition, thanks again for taking the time to make this!