Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

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Green Glasses Girl
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Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#1 Post by Green Glasses Girl »

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I've noticed that when many VN creators make significant progress in their work, their computer dies or they lose the files in some kind of computer accident/error/virus. My sister gave me a suggestion in which is done on a gaming development forum she frequents - a user will occasionally pop into the creator's WIP thread and post an icon/picture with the caption "BACK UP EVERYTHING NOW!" When the creator sees the post, they must back up their work at that moment, and then post after they have done so. My sister added that in some parts of the forum, the reminder will pop up in general discussion threads, prompting any user who sees that reminder to back up their work immediately.

While I understand it is solely up to the creator to take care in backing up their own files, I think many of us forget to do so when we get caught up in our work or busy with life situations. Losing everything can lose that creator's motivation...I've seen four wonderful WIP VNs over the past year where the creators lost all of their work, and then gave up on working on their VN completely. Again, I know it varies on a case-by-case basis, but as a fan of VNs, I really want to see people succeed and finish their work. And it can all be prevented by just a reminder to back up your files every now and then!

So what to do about it?: What I am proposing is if it would be acceptable to have an icon/image of a reminder to back up VN work that could be randomly posted in WIP threads by either a mod or designated user(s). It could be anything: a smiley face, a thumbs-up, or maybe even the LS Mascot holding up a file folder with the reminder "Time to back your work up!" I'm always open to Lord Kitchener.

Final thoughts: If the suggestion seems too superfluous, I understand that too. But I think we can agree that it is heartbreaking to read a blog/WIP thread where the creator announces that their progress was set back after losing 6+ months of work. I hope maybe this will stir some community motivation and save creators' work in the process.

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RESOURCES AND TIPS
- Copy: Free storage up to 15GB.
- Dropbox: Free storage up to 5GB.
- Google Drive: Free storage up to 15GB. If you don't have a Gmail account, you can always create one just for your VN work.
- Crashplan: 30-day free trial. This one has a payment plan, with $4.00 USD/month for 4 years. Recommended for entire computer data back-ups.
- CD-Rs, DVD+Rs, external hard drives, and flash drives: All of these (with the exception of the external hard drive, although there is a 320GB for $40USD) are relatively cheap. I saw 700mb flash drives stocked in the checkout line of a Target store next to the gum and M&Ms. I guess they're selling them like candy now. :lol:
- Remember to back up your work in MORE THAN ONE PLACE. I have my work saved on my laptop, an external hard drive, a flash drive, and Dropbox. You never know when you might lose one, so always have another back-up source!
Last edited by Green Glasses Girl on Sat Jun 07, 2014 5:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Backing up files - VN creators reminder

#2 Post by peapodprincess »

This is a good idea for everyone, not just visual novel creators, so I'm behind this idea 100%.

One of the projects I was following on the WIP sub-forum announced that they're going on a hiatus after losing their stuff recently, and I think that this might prevent such creators from having to go through that certain stress that could cause them to lose interest in their work.

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Re: Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#3 Post by Samu-kun »

Get Dropbox. It backs everything up automatically.

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Re: Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#4 Post by Lishy »

External hard-drive is one of the best investments ever. Not just for VN backups, but whenever you format your computer and wanna back things up, etc...
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Re: Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#5 Post by Tempus »

As you said, everyone is aware of how important backing up work is, but it sometimes takes a reminder to actually do it or set up a solution to automatically take care of it. People are prone to picking up the behaviours of the communities and groups they participate in, so surrounding ourselves with reminders and examples of helpful development habits is a good idea.
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Re: Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#6 Post by PyTom »

I like the idea, but I don't like the idea of cluttering up the forum with this. Some people - including myself - read a large number of forum messages, and seeing the same message posted repeatedly would get annoying.

I did take this as inspiration to make the following change to the Ren'Py launcher:

https://github.com/renpy/renpy/commit/0 ... c3a79f9c07

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Re: Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#7 Post by mugenjohncel »

Samu-kun wrote:Get Dropbox. It backs everything up automatically.
Not advisable in countries where ISP has Bandwidth caps (Example: Philippines - Land of Corrupt everything!)
Lishy wrote:External hard-drive is one of the best investments ever. Not just for VN backups, but whenever you format your computer and wanna back things up, etc..
This!...

"POOF" (Disappears)

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Re: Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#8 Post by Green Glasses Girl »

Tempus wrote:I like the idea, but I don't like the idea of cluttering up the forum with this. Some people - including myself - read a large number of forum messages, and seeing the same message posted repeatedly would get annoying.
That is something I would worry about as well. What if there was a thread that only had a reminder posted once every four months? You would only see it 3 times in a year, and that would be a decent interval of work to be saved.
Tempus wrote:I did take this as inspiration to make the following change to the Ren'Py launcher:

https://github.com/renpy/renpy/commit/0 ... c3a79f9c07

Doing my part.
That is super excellent. :D

External hard drives have officially been Lishy and Uncle Mugen approved! Seriously, everyone, an external hard drive is well worth it. I have a 1TB one which was $80USD when I bought it three years ago (now they run in the $60 range). It was worth it in the end.
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Re: Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#9 Post by thebackup »

Green Glasses Girl wrote:External hard drives have officially been Lishy and Uncle Mugen approved! Seriously, everyone, an external hard drive is well worth it. I have a 1TB one which was $80USD when I bought it three years ago (now they run in the $60 range). It was worth it in the end.
There are 2TB drives in the $80 range, doesn't hurt to spend some more cash. You can never have enough backup space. And it'll last you for years.
Yeah, I bought a 2TB couple years ago in the $80 range, still going strong. It was on sale :D

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Re: Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#10 Post by KiloTango »

Re: How to back up, me and TK both have a copy of the game files, with assets updated via a drop box folder/filesend and us moving by hand, and the actual code being done with a private Git repo (via Source Tree and Bitbucket). Doing the code in a repo has the added bonus of versioning as well as rock solid sync and while it's a bit intimidating to set up if you've never used that stuff before it's so worth it (even more so if multiple people might be working on the code/writing side).

This is on top of me backing up my whole computer as well, and that's on an external HD that does it automatically.

You can't have too many backups. It's worth having something in the cloud in case of theft as well.
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Re: Backing up files - VN creators call to arms!

#11 Post by Lishy »

Huh... I have a 250gb external-HDD which costs me $60..... And you people have a 1TB one for the same price? /ripped off :cry:
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