Saving problem

[IceQB]

Hi
Can you look at my saving code and say where is error, because my files are not saving numbers in file?

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function love.update(dt)
var = {}
	var.score = seconds
	var.highscore = 0
	
	file = love.filesystem.newFile('scores.lua')
	file:write("var.highscore = ", var.highscore)
	file:close()
	dofile("scores.lua") 

if var.score > var.highscore then
var.highscore = seconds
end

When i restarting game highscore = 0
and second question, i must make file scores.lua, and prepare it?
(Do I need to write in scores.lua

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var.highscore = 

?)

[micha]

What your code does, is writing the var.highscore and then reading it again. That is why you always get highscore = 0.

Here are two of possible improvements:

• Do not put this code into love.update. Instead only load the old high score on start up (love.load) and only save it, when a game is over
• Instead of "dofile" better use love.filesystem.load

And for your other question: You have basically two options for saving and loading data. Either save data in Lua-language. Then loading is very easy, because you can just run the code. Writing is a bit more difficult. And also some people say that this method is unsafe. Or you save the data in an own format, that you make up. Then you have to write an additional loading function. In this case you could also very simply just save the plain highscore value without any extra code. You'd then use love.filesystem.read instead of load.

[Robin]

And also some people say that this method is unsafe.

It's not.

Anyone who has that much access to the filesystem is already "in", so you don't need to worry about security here --- unless you download your highscore table from the internet.

[Hexenhammer]

Hi
Can you look at my saving code and say where is error, because my files are not saving numbers in file?

Code: Select all

function love.update(dt)
var = {}
	var.score = seconds
	var.highscore = 0
	
	file = love.filesystem.newFile('scores.lua')
	file:write("var.highscore = ", var.highscore)
	file:close()
	dofile("scores.lua") 

if var.score > var.highscore then
var.highscore = seconds
end

There is a lot of fundamental misunderstanding there. First you certainly do not want to write a new highscore to disk every time the current score becomes higher than the current high score. No game I know does that, it is an insane disk wrecking and performance degradation exercise. You only update the highscore at fixed points e.g. after a game is completed or maybe when the user opens the high score list.

Here is a simple example for you. It saves the highscore whenever the game is closed (i.e. close the game window) and restores the saved highscore when the game is restarted.

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score     = 0
highscore = 0


function love.load()

  -- Load highscore
  savedData = love.filesystem.load("highscore.lua")
  if savedData then savedData() end

end

-- Just to show that it is working
function love.draw()

  love.graphics.print("Score: " .. score, 10, 10)
  love.graphics.print("Highscore: " .. highscore, 10, 60)

end

-- Just a quick way to change score for testing
function love.mousepressed()

  score = score + 1

end

function love.quit()

  -- Save highscore
  if score > highscore then

    file = love.filesystem.newFile("highscore.lua", "w")
    file:write("highscore = " .. score)
    file:close()

  end

end

By the way, this issue comes up so often that I think it would be a good idea to include a super-simple key/value database (basically just a glorified table) in LÖVE. So that the answer to "How do I save the highscore becomes"

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love.db.set("Highscore", highscore)

Bascially the idea is that love.db refers to a table which is automatically created, saved, and loaded. To make it clear the table is game specific. I.e. love.db.* would refer to a different table for every game, and it would be saved in the game's save directory.

[IceQB]

If I correctly understand action of filesystem.newFile, it must make new file so if i for test write

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file = love.filesystem.newFile("data.txt")

Love dont make any txt file, and the same is happening while saving score.

Edit: I imrove code but effect is the same.

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var = {}
	var.score = 0
	var.highscore = 0

 function love.load()
love.filesystem.load("highscore.lua")
end
  function love.update(dt)
	var.score = seconds
if var.score > var.highscore then
var.highscore = seconds
end
end

function love.draw()
local statistics = ("highscore%d"):format(var.highscore)
    gfx.print(statistics, 100, 0 )
	
				local statistics = ("score%d"):format(var.score)
    gfx.print(statistics, 100, 10 )
end

function love.quit()
  if var.score > var.highscore then
    file = love.filesystem.newFile("highscore.lua", "w")
    file:write("var.highscore = " .. score)
    file:close()
  end
end

[Robin]

By the way, this issue comes up so often that I think it would be a good idea to include a super-simple key/value database (basically just a glorified table) in LÖVE.

Why not make a proposal for that: https://bitbucket.org/rude/love/issues

[Hexenhammer]

If I correctly understand action of filesystem.newFile, it must make new file so if i for test write

Learning to program step 1: Learn English. Sorry, but your English is so bad that I can barely understand what you are trying to say. And of course that means that you probably cannot really understand our answers either. You could try finding a programming forum where people use your native language, however, sooner or later you will need English.

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var = {}
	var.score = 0
	var.highscore = 0

No bug here.

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 function love.load()
love.filesystem.load("highscore.lua")
end

You have to load AND run the Lua file, you only load it.

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  function love.update(dt)
	var.score = seconds

What "seconds"? You have never defined a variable called "seconds" and thus seconds is "nil" i.e. this line actually deletes "var.score"!

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if var.score > var.highscore then

And thus it crashes here. "var.score" no longer exists. And the whole approach is wrong anyway. Only update the highscore before you save it.

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function love.draw()
local statistics = ("highscore%d"):format(var.highscore)
    gfx.print(statistics, 100, 0 )
	
				local statistics = ("score%d"):format(var.score)
    gfx.print(statistics, 100, 10 )
end

"gfx" is another undefined variable.


Here is the whole thing fixed. It still doesn't do anything sensible, though. Using "dt" as a score value makes no sense.

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var = {}
var.score = 0
var.highscore = 0
gfx = love.graphics

function love.load()
  savedData = love.filesystem.load("highscore.lua")
  if savedData then savedData() end
end


function love.update(dt)
  var.score = dt * 1000
end

function love.draw()

  local statistics = ("highscore%d"):format(var.highscore)

  gfx.print(statistics, 100, 0 )

  local statistics = ("score%d"):format(var.score)
  gfx.print(statistics, 100, 10 )

end

function love.quit()
  if var.score > var.highscore then
    file = love.filesystem.newFile("highscore.lua", "w")
    file:write("var.highscore = " .. var.score)
    file:close()
  end
end

[Helvecta]

Instead of "dofile" better use love.filesystem.load

Learned something new today, thanks for that tidbit Micha!