Saved progress info location?
by Michael Dreimiller · in Marble Blast · 01/03/2010 (4:12 pm) · 8 replies
I just got a new iMac for my sons. I used Migration Assistant to move their user account from the old eMac to the new iMac. I then discovered that the version of Marble Blast Gold that we had (1.4.1 I think) need to be updated. I finally figured out where I could download the latest version from. However, after installing it on the new iMac it doesn't reflect the levels that they had completed on the old eMac.
So, I figure the issue is one of the following:
1) Migration Assistant didn't copy over the file that Marble Blast Gold stores their progress in. This seems unlikely, since the entire user account was copied over. The only possibility is that Marble Blast Gold saves that information in a file that lives outside of the user account, perhaps in a file inside of the Marble Blast Gold application itself.
OR
2) The version of Marble Blast Gold that I download and installed doesn't recognize the files from the old version. This also seems unlikely.
Does anyone know what file(s) I need to copy from the old eMac to the new iMac so that Marble Blast Gold on the new iMac recognizes the levels that they've already completed?
So, I figure the issue is one of the following:
1) Migration Assistant didn't copy over the file that Marble Blast Gold stores their progress in. This seems unlikely, since the entire user account was copied over. The only possibility is that Marble Blast Gold saves that information in a file that lives outside of the user account, perhaps in a file inside of the Marble Blast Gold application itself.
OR
2) The version of Marble Blast Gold that I download and installed doesn't recognize the files from the old version. This also seems unlikely.
Does anyone know what file(s) I need to copy from the old eMac to the new iMac so that Marble Blast Gold on the new iMac recognizes the levels that they've already completed?
#2
Is it possible that the prefs.cs file location was changed in the newer version of Marble Blast? The main screen of the old version on the old eMac shows 1.4.1 and then new version that I downloaded yesterday shows 1.5.3 on the main screen (but the disk image name refers to 1.6u).
01/03/2010 (9:40 pm)
On the new iMac I found this folder user/library/marbleblast/marble/client and inside of it was a prefs.cs file, but on the old eMac there is no user/library/marbleblast/marble/client folder and thus no prefs.cs file.Is it possible that the prefs.cs file location was changed in the newer version of Marble Blast? The main screen of the old version on the old eMac shows 1.4.1 and then new version that I downloaded yesterday shows 1.5.3 on the main screen (but the disk image name refers to 1.6u).
#3
01/03/2010 (9:42 pm)
I should add that if I launch Marble Blast on the old eMac it does in fact still show the levels that have been completed, so apparently the missing user/library/marbleblast/marble/client folder isn't due to it accidentally being deleted. The prefs.cs file appears to still be accessible by the game but it's not the the location that the current version of the game stores it in. 
#4
01/03/2010 (10:05 pm)
They may have changed how the game reads/saves files since then. Try looking in the actual MarbleBlast Gold.app/marble/client, the file prefs.cs. If you open it with textedit and it shows all the times you know that's the one. If so just copy that over to the library location on the newer mac.
#5
I then copied that file over to the new iMac and placed it in the "~user/library/marbleblast/marble/client" folder. I right-clicked on it and opened it in TextEdit and confirmed that I was looking at the right version of that file. I then quit TextEdit and launched Marble Blast Gold on the new iMac. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to be reading the information in the "prefs.cs" file since none of the levels showed that they had been completed.
After quitting Marble Blast Gold on the new iMac I re-opened the "prefs.cs" file on the iMac and it had reverted back to what appears to be a default version of that file. I thought perhaps the permissions were incorrect on it so I changed them to all Everyone to Read & Write (it had been Read only). However, re-launching Marble Blast Gold still showed none of the levels completed and after quitting and opening the "prefs.cs" file it was back to the default version.
Argh.
01/06/2010 (6:52 pm)
I opened up the Marble Blast Gold app on the old eMac by right-clicking and selecting "Show Package Contents". I then opened the "marble/client" folder and found a "prefs.cs" file. I right-clicked on it and chose "Open With...Other" and then chose TextEdit in the Applications folders. You guessed correctly. I could see all of the levels that they had completed successfully.I then copied that file over to the new iMac and placed it in the "~user/library/marbleblast/marble/client" folder. I right-clicked on it and opened it in TextEdit and confirmed that I was looking at the right version of that file. I then quit TextEdit and launched Marble Blast Gold on the new iMac. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to be reading the information in the "prefs.cs" file since none of the levels showed that they had been completed.
After quitting Marble Blast Gold on the new iMac I re-opened the "prefs.cs" file on the iMac and it had reverted back to what appears to be a default version of that file. I thought perhaps the permissions were incorrect on it so I changed them to all Everyone to Read & Write (it had been Read only). However, re-launching Marble Blast Gold still showed none of the levels completed and after quitting and opening the "prefs.cs" file it was back to the default version.
Argh.
#6
I did quite a bit of searching this forum and I don't see any reference to my situation which seems odd. I wonder if there was an upgrade that I skipped over that handled the transfer of the preferences in the old version automatically.
01/06/2010 (8:45 pm)
Success! I started from scratch. I trashed the copy of Marble Blast Gold on the new iMac, trashed the Marble Blast folder in "~user/library/marbleblast/marble/client", launched Marble Blast Gold and let it recreate the Library folder, then I copied over the prefs.cs and prefs.cs.dso over from the old eMac and voila!I did quite a bit of searching this forum and I don't see any reference to my situation which seems odd. I wonder if there was an upgrade that I skipped over that handled the transfer of the preferences in the old version automatically.
#7
Shameless promotion: check out Marble Blast Platinum (at philsempire.com). It is a community-built mod to Marble Blast Gold, including over 120 new levels and new features like teleports and checkpoints. Be warned tho, the levels are much harder than those in MBG ;)
http://philsempire.com/?view=mbp&mbpview=about
01/06/2010 (8:57 pm)
That's weird, usually the game will compile a new prefs.cs on launch. Glad you fixed your problem though!Shameless promotion: check out Marble Blast Platinum (at philsempire.com). It is a community-built mod to Marble Blast Gold, including over 120 new levels and new features like teleports and checkpoints. Be warned tho, the levels are much harder than those in MBG ;)
http://philsempire.com/?view=mbp&mbpview=about
#8
I did run across the Marble Blast Platinum version while looking for the latest Marble Blast Gold version. Now that I have Gold working I'll check out Platinum.
Thanks again for your help.
01/06/2010 (9:17 pm)
I just repeated the process using my other son's old eMac and new iMac and it went flawlessly the first try.I did run across the Marble Blast Platinum version while looking for the latest Marble Blast Gold version. Now that I have Gold working I'll check out Platinum.
Thanks again for your help.
Perishingflames