Crusader Kings II

Crusader Kings II

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How to Savescum and Backup Old Saves in Ironman
By ☧Belisarius☧ 穿得好的人
I've googled this before and haven't found any particular useful method. Ironman does only have one save file, so it might seem impossible to back up old saves, but I have figured out one system. I'm not 100% sure this hasn't been mentioned somewhere before, but hopefully it'll still be useful to anyone. This method is especially useful if playing ironman and going for achievements. The ability to save after a series of good events, makes this highly useful if you don't want to restart from the beginning.
   
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Have you ever had a game fail because of one battle or something similar?
Usually, if you're whole Ironman run hinged on a cheek-clenching war, you'd feel like this if ironman randomized BS screwed you over.
And then you'd have to restart the whole run from the very beginning.
Well, you don't have to deal with that anymore.
How to Get Away with Breaking the System
First of of all, you'll need to make a desktop folder. Right click on the desktop, select "new folder" and title it something.

Next, you'll need to make a folder inside that new, empty folder to categorize your save files. You can't rename the files because the game recognizes them as corrupted once that happens. Instead, you'll need to make separate folders to distinguish between save games at certain points in time.
Next, you'll need to actually find your save files for CK2. The path directory is as follows:

You'll need to find your specific ironman save file within the paradox save folder and then copy/paste them into the categorized folders you have.

Be careful to keep one copied save file in one folder. Don't try to paste the copied file in the same folder as another because you might accidentally overwrite the other file if you're not paying attention and lose some important save.
Here is an example of how I have organized one ironman game's saves:
What to do When You Need to Reload an Old Save
This is the pretty easy part. Now that you have a stockpile of old save files of your ironman saves, all you need to do is exit the game, open the paradox save file folder, find your current save file and delete it. Then you need to open your savescum folder and find the specific file save file for that run and copy/paste it back into the Paradox save file folder. When you reopen the game launcher, that save file will be recognized as the last save file played and you can click it to immediately continue your game. This also takes significantly less time to get back in game than just launching the game and then finding that save file. This way, you can save your progress and get back in game within 1 minute and a half once you get proficient at it. Enjoy your stress free achievement runs now kids!
Dab on Difficult Achievements
9 Comments
[FOAD]Iron 15 May, 2022 @ 1:04pm 
I guess 'Save scumming' is something that console newbies say?
☾Clanzzy yzznalC☽ 12 Jun, 2020 @ 9:48am 
Savescummers ew :steamsad:
Fenric 2 Jun, 2020 @ 6:45am 
It works in june 2020.
Very good information.
ImperialForce9 29 May, 2020 @ 7:25pm 
How bout Linux?
flyingfish505 29 May, 2020 @ 11:02am 
This might save my life. I got my ironman run ruined by a double rebellion and the game automatically surrendering for me when I couldn't fight both at the same time.
Princess Esper 29 Apr, 2020 @ 1:31pm 
in eu4 you can rename the save files, so long as you rename it back into the original name when transfering back into the save folder.

basicly say you have a ironman save called empire, you want to back that save file up so you paste it in a new folder and rename it into kingdom, then you want to use the backup now called kingdom, you delete the current empire file in the save files, then paste the backup kingdom file into the save file, then you rename the file back into empire and it should work.

altough i cant guarantee this works with ck2, as i have never felt the need to do it in ck2, losing a war in ck2 just means a peace treaty, some loss of prestige or piety and a bit of money, while in eu4 losing a war could cost you all your land, manpower and money for decades to come, anyway i dont see any reason why this method wont work in ck2 to.
RAPID_DEGRADATION 29 Feb, 2020 @ 1:28am 
Its much easier to use task manager
Jodie_Miller 24 Apr, 2019 @ 12:34pm 
F.Ch86 brings up a valid point.
F.C. 21 Apr, 2019 @ 5:54am 
Or just use winrar and convert the saves to rar files, dont even need seperate folders. Whenever you want to restart from a previous save just unpack the rar and load up the game.