What is the safest way to play single player?

Conan Exiles General Discussion Players Helping Players
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hi,so last year I played on ps5 and losing tens of hours of progress after 1 logout. thralls and my base dissapeared and my level reverted back a bit. Apparently this is a known bugs in single player offline mode, especially on ps4/ps5. Yeah, I know there are some of u guys that lose thousands of hours of progress, but this is devastating enough for me that I quit the game.at last now I could forget about it and want to start a new. I just want to play single player, and dont want to fight with other people. and I dont want to rent server either as I only play single player and it’s too expensive to just play by myself.

so, What’s the best way to play it ?is the ps5 single player now safe from this bug ?

or should I buy steam version ? it’s ok if it’s needed. is steam version single player safe from this bug ?

should I buy steam version and then hosted a server at my pc (it’s free right) ? I could do that too if it’s needed and it’s really safe from this bug.

or this bug just could happened everywhere and there’s nothing we could do to prevent it ?

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There were hints that the PS5 version is going to look like an upgrade, and that it really is about the PS6’s press release. I knew RTX is safe, so that was on the table. I have seen a few solutions for that much but (they are) not likely to give up too easily for authors.

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Don’t overbuild.

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Sorry to hear you’ve had stability problems, but that does seem to be common with PS from what I’ve heard from friends that play on that platform. The most common advice I have seen is that on Playstation it is better to not play on singleplayer and instead go for a server, as that tends to be more stable (but obviously there are other disadvantages). @Croms_Faithful as a long-term singleplayer PS user may have some useful tips. Alternatively @stelagel or @sestus2009 might have some good advice regarding server play on PS.

If you are willing to start over on PC as you suggest, singleplayer works much better. (You would not need to set up a server, though that is also an option - there is a thread maintained by the guy that provides the Dedicated Server tool on this forum). In thousands of hours, I have never lost any progress in the way that you describe. I have occasionally lost a minute or two of progress to a crash (caused by mod use), but the PC version allows easy access to backup saves made automatically every minute or two (and stores something like 40 of them), so rolling back is trivial.

Other advantages PC has include access to mods (which consoles are not able to have), which can greatly expand your options and the longevity of game enjoyment (though the guys I linked to above are proof that you can have thousands of hours of enjoyment with the vanilla PS version as well). Obviously mods come with greater stability risks if you do choose to use them - there is always a chance that a modder may cease support for a favourite mod and then Funcom updates might render that mod unstable (and there is often a brief period after a major game update where modders have to scramble to get their mod updated to the latest version) - but there is no requirement to use them at all.

There is also CodeMage’s BUGLE (Butt Ugly Game LAuncher Engine) which can replace the Funcom launcher and allows various advantages - much more control over long-term save backups (so you never lose more than the latest session even if something catastrophic were to happen, which it never has to me - and allow free swapping between different save worlds), ability to maintain and easily swap in different modlists for different save games, auto-checking for mod mismatches etc. (It also has a bunch of features for server play, but I know less about those.)

Any further questions relating to PC use, please feel free to ask. And if you do decide to stick with PS, hopefully the other guys will have some useful advice.

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Single player PC has also one more plus side. You can make a copy paste copy of your save game to make your own back up. This makes also possible to have multiple different games/characters.

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Before everything else i want to thank you for taking the time and apply this precious feedback. When age of Sorcery update arrived i had to delete years of gaming and @Croms_Faithful our favourite Asura brother waited for months until he managed to enter his single player session again, months!

That’s my experience about single player on playstation after age of Sorcery update…

Suggestions!

You do understand the risk of starting a new character on single player, you cannot be sure which bug will hit you and how long this will take until it gets fixed (maybe never) .

So i would suggest you to take the risk and go online anyway. Pve official servers are not so social, people hardly talk to eachother. Then private servers are not forever and the parameters are never ever vanilla. However the plurality of the players are adults. Sooner or later you’ll met someone who worth to play with and have fun , because this game is way better when you play it with friends.

So allow me to be your first Conan exiles teammate. Choose an official server of your region and let me know. I will jump in your server and try to boost you a bit until you step on your own feet and then i will leave you alone.

@sestus2009 on the other hand has Wyrms bane pvec and Kate land pve Siptah. I am pretty sure that our big brother will welcome you very happily in his servers and help you wherever you wish.

So these are my suggestions fellow exile.

I am really sorry for your disappointment and thanks a million for your precious feedback :sign_of_the_horns:

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Play on PC. The game is much, much better on PC due to mods.

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What’s the problem when it comes to pc . A decent graphic card costs more than 3 playstation consoles and not everyone knows how to build a gaming pc alone. So if i decide to build and buy a gaming pc i will be lucky if it will cost me something less than 2k Euro. Then again i love my double bed, my controller and my wide tv set. If i decide to do this on pc it will cost me again extra. So not everyone can afford this amount for his her own hobby. And even if i can afford it , i have 2 children on university and College and their needs occupying my budget right now , which by the way it’s more important from anything else.

But let’s go back to our console here, PlayStation. Was Witcher 3 smaller game than Conan exiles?

Is Elder Scrolls online smaller than Conan exiles?

When these games have been created and on which engine?

The fact that Conan exiles is better online experience than Ark , or 7d2d, or whatever else survival open world game (except Minecraft of course)doesn’t give any excuse on game breaking performance and bugs .

These things must be fixed no matter the console and pc suffers the same and more , all we haveto do is read the pc bug section here .

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Absolutely. PC certainly has plenty of problems with the bugs that affect all of us, and can definitely be a more expensive option (at least if you don’t also factor in the cost of that widescreen TV and the bed :wink: ). The only reason I (and others) brought it up initially was because the original poster questioned whether he should use his PC, suggesting that he already has one. That’s why in all the years we have known each other I have never suggested that you or any of the others should switch. There are benefits to PC that suit me, but would not suit you :slight_smile: (though I know you would enjoy mods if they were an option). PCs are even more expensive now than a couple of years ago - graphics cards have sky-rocketted in price - I’m not sure I’ll ever replace the one I’m currently using; I’m just glad I bought it while the market was at a much lower price.

It is also worth noting for the original poster that if he was to switch to PC, he would have to buy a new copy of the game (and any DLCs or bazaar purchases as well), and (in case there is any misunderstanding) setting up a server on PC would not allow his PS to connect to it, he would need to play on PC as well.

Singleplayer on PC has the advantages we listed earlier (not least the far greater stability of save files than consoles suffer from) and the point you have often made about PS not being good at singleplayer because the one machine has to be both server and client - which PC does more successfully. But PS has the advantages of being cheaper, and would mean that the OP does not need to get a new copy and start over - he just might be better off giving in and trying server play instead, because for PS (as you have told me many times over the years) that is the better option.

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Hi @fire888 and welcome back to the community! I am affraid I cannot advise you as to wether to stick with your PS version or buy a PC version. As one, there are many variables surrounding your personal circumstance and preferred playstyle which I do not posess knowledge of. And two, I may not be able to offer an unbiased and impartial recommendation.

What I can do however, is make some polite and hopefully helpful suggestions for if you wish to persevere playing on you Playstation. Forgive me if some of these are rudimentarty questions and no brainers, but I need to know a little more about your circumstances in order to better provide assistance.

1.) Have you made yourself Admin yet in your game?

If no, Pause the game (Start/3 lines button) then go to ‘Settings’. From here go to ‘Server Settings’ and into ‘General’ > and click on the box titled ‘Make Me Admin’. From here go back and into ‘Survival’ > and ensure that the box for ‘Drop Equipment On Death’ is unchecked. Next, go out again and into ‘Pet And Hunger’ > and ensure that the ‘Use Minion Poulation Limit’ is also unchecked. Finally, go back out and into ‘Abandonment’ > and ensure that ‘Disable Building Abandonment’ and ‘Disable Thrall Decay’ are both checked. As a result of the prior anything which you build will never decay.

Lost followers can also be recovered using the Admin Panel, and lost structures can be rebuilt rather swiftly using Creative Mode. :warning: However a caution, if you have yet to use either of these please let me know before you do! There are a small number of items withing which can be VERY problematic for you game file.

2.) Have you been saving manually before you log out of the game?

Conan Exiles does save automatically, but it is not on a second by second basis. Though I lack the precise chronological number values, it seems to take place every several minutes. Instead ALWAYS make sure you do a manual save before logging off. To do this go up to any Bed or Bedroll you have placed down and press □ button. It should then come up with ‘spawnpoint updated’ in the upper right confirming the action.

3.) Do you play on ps4 or ps5?

Unlike Xbox the playstation did not receive an optimization update, so its performance is certainly not trouble free.

I personally recommend to other members when playing Conan Exiles, that they periodically back up their save data to either a USB, to Cloud Storage, or even both. That way if there are ever any technical issues or incidents such as this, you have the option to revert to an older save should you need to. The backup frequency is up to you, but I believe every week or two is good practice.

@fire888 I will await your response then advise accordingly thereafter. Again I just need some additional information before I can provide more specific taylored advice.

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thx very much for the answers guys. sorry that I just got here to answer again, as I was asleep and it’s now morning, and I just finished taking care of kids.
just remember that I didnt post my old post here. so here it’s if u want to know :

@DanQuixote so single player on pc doesnt have the problem of base/thrall dissapearing ? nice. I’ll just play it on pc then. Will have to buy it first, but it’s ok.
I usually play game vanilla, and avoid mods if I can, except if it’s really2 needed.
and I like to play game at standard setting and not custom, again, IF I could help it.

sonta : ic. yeah, the pain of ps5, I couldnt make a backup save.

@stelagel yeah, like I said. From my old threads, I know some of u guys losing more of ur time, and my losing maybe more like miniscule to u guys. But as a working father that has to steal some me time to play games, it feels alot for me, as I dont really have time to replay it again and again and again.

thx for the offer, but I dont like playing online, as my experiences were bad. I like to take my time to learn things, and I do learn it slowly.
if playing online with people, my experience :

  • in palworld, I tried to join my friend’s server, and play together as a clan. it really ruin my experience. I still learn to make clubs, and logout. the next day I login, and ppl has been buzzing around with guns, and with bosses as rides. of course if I want, I could use guns and bosses too that they stored in chests. this has skipped my learning of the game too much.

  • some ppl like to troll, so I might login and find my base destroyed, or ruin, or something.

  • some ppl might decide to hog resources, or attack me out of nowhere, which of course I wouldnt win as my game time is not as much.

so yeah, because I need to play at my own pace, I want to play in peace. I dont want bad ppl to ruin my gameplay, and even my own allies (like in palworld above) might ruin the experience even without evil will.
Like I said in my old threads, I gather the materials myself, and build all of it myself, and I took joy and satisfaction in it. I dont want to use admin or creative mode to make the gathering/build easier. I just want to play it standard as the game designed ot be. (I wouldnt use the bazaar either as it’s cosmetic only. but the dlc is sure).
thats why offline single player is important to me

@Croms_Faithful

  1. no, I havent. And I dont want to use it if not really2 needed. I just want to play standard game as I describe it above. though if it’s really2 needed, I’m ok to learn and use it.

  2. yes. But in my old game, I never logout. I just save it on bed, and assume it’s right. 1 of the advantage of ps5, is that I always use rest after playing, and just continue the game when I have time (and I use remote play), so I dont need to deal with first scene loading. But this turns out to be the disaster. The game was played for weeks without ever logout/quit the game, when at last, the bugs decided to hit, and that’s when I decided to try to logout the game (go to menu, even try to restart the game). And for better or worse (should be worse), seems like the online save backup sync kicked in, so my save both offline and online just the same.

  3. ps5

well, if the offline single player on pc is safe, I’d just buy it on pc. I dont want to deal with that bugs anymore ever. It’s not fun to log in and found that my base were reverse back to weeks before, and my thralls gone missing, and my level and equipment reverted back. And no, it’s not because the game was not saved, because the reverse of the base and the thralls didnt match with the level and equipment too. This sure is a bug. U can read it in my old thread.

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PS5 Keep your build pieces to 2000 or less and your decorations to 500 or less in single player and you should be okay. Don’t place a bazillion torches either. You can use the large carpet as a build check, if it takes a little while to render the carpet pattern, remove a few items.

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No worries on the time to reply - real life always comes first :slight_smile: Threads stay open for 7 days without activity, so you can always come back to it when you have time (and if it does get closed, you can always start a new one and tag in a couple of people if you want to draw our attention to it).

Looking at your previous post, I can see why you would be frustrated. People sometimes forget that not everyone has the time (or inclination) to spend hundreds/thousands of hours grinding the same things, and it’s easy to forget how much harder some things were as a beginner - you should always be free to learn at your own pace (sure, there are guides out there that can be followed to learn how to become more ‘efficient’ - but that falls into the same trap as the Palworld example you gave of not being free to advance at your own pace).

The good news is, I’ve never had a problem with base or thralls disappearing on PC singleplayer and I’ve not seen anyone else report it either in all the years I’ve been playing. Doesn’t mean it couldn’t ever happen (this game can be weird…), but the risk should be very small. And, as I mentioned, rolling back saves is a trivial task on PC - by default the saves folder would show up in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Conan Exiles\ConanSandbox\Saved - once up and running you’ll find game.db (or just ‘game’, depending on whether file extensions are showing or not) in there, plus multiple ‘game_backup_1.db’ (or whatever number) and all you would need to do is rename whichever of those you want to go back to as ‘game.db’. Likewise, ultra easy to backup - just copy ‘game.db’ to another folder (eg on your desktop), and maybe add a note to the name so you know which it was - then you’ll be able to restore to that point any time you might wish. But none of that should actually ever be needed, as you shouldn’t run into any problems requiring a rollback (like I said, I’ve only ever crashed due to mod issues, and then it’s never wiped out more than a minute or two of progress - usually when it’s happened I’ve wound up about 50 yards back from where I was when it crashed, and my followers are still at the point where the crash occured).

The added bonus on PC being that base size is far less of a limit than on PS. If you build really big, you might eventually notice a bit of slowdown - but it’d need to be really big to affect a modern PC. I’ve no idea how many build pieces or decorations I had running in my last playthough, but I had three large, heavily decorated bases, plus another three or four outposts and wasn’t even noticing a problem. You should be safe for a good long while.

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nice. I’ll just play on pc then.

thx very much for ur answer and ur understanding.

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Absolutely. Don’t get me wrong, please: Many play on console for one reason or another. The game is sold and marketed for consoles. Thus, Funcom should provide good support (and mod support imho) for consoles, too. They get the money, they have to do the work.

I understood the TE to be open to both. And then, I’d always advise playing on PC, because Funcom apparently doesn’t give console players the same love.

To use a hopefully totally uncontroversial political analogy: No country should discriminate people based on ethnicity, religion and so on. Still, one wouldn’t necessarily advise to emigrate to certain countries with certain ethnicities, religions and so, because we all know they do.

World ain’t perfect, and we should strive to improve that. In the mean time, one has to live with the realities.

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Do you have time to do a new topic about this? Or is there someplace to find out these items? (and reasons why they are a problem)

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Greetings to you @sonta and thankyou for reachimg out. In all likelihood I am not the best member to answer all of your troubleshooting questions pertaining to the Admin Panel, as I have only explored a fairly limited number of its many facets, and therefore posess only a piecemeal knowledge myself. You can refer to Conan Exiles Wiki page.

I will PM you the little I know. Otherwise, perhaps @Tephra may be able to better educate than me?

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I’m not sure what you are referring to. Do you mean like using the admin panel to increase your carry weight cannot be undone?

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@fire888 you can turn on admin and not use any of perks that comes with it and go about your business how ever you will need to turn on every time you login unless offline is different. Good luck Exile. :+1:

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sorry. I dont get it. why do I need to turn on admin if I dont want to use any of the perks that comes with it ?

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