Ive been working on a game every day relentlessly for the last couple months.
Over 300 hours.
An update taking 30 seconds wiped all that and all of my backups. GONE!
Why would it delete my backups? On an external drive even?
(To be fair, it was connected but REALLY?)
Ive been a supporter of TGC since the days of 3D game maker and Dark Basic.
Now? Probably not.

You cant do that to people and not expect anger.
So until you can get it where you're not deleting files off of 3 separate drives without
permission...

More than 360 hours is quite some time lost.

@Oobiedoob
Updates will not delete your work.
The are all self contained in / Documents / GameGuruApps folder. ( unless you saved them to the core )
Ideally you should backup your GameGuruApps once in a while because you can never trust Windows never mind Max.

I apologize for the salt.
No matter what happened, I know if it was GGMax that it was not intentional.
But honestly it happened right after patching. If it somehow unfathomably wasn't the patch, Its likely STEAM.
Never understood why Lee wanted to go with STEAM exclusively, but that's probably irrelevant anyways since its
only GGMax files that are gone. And only my project files.

The real kicker is that this isn't the first time all my files and specifically only GGMax files and backups all
disappeared. This is where the salt was born.

There is definitely a serious issue here. in Max.

Oh By the way synchromesh, GGMax updates will absolutely 100% erase your files.
Always backup your work on an external drive.
But don't be stupid like me and leave the backup drive plugged in during an update.
It shouldn't matter, but somehow it does.

MAX updates will only erase/update what's in the MAX installation folder, which is in your Steam installation area (Steam>Steamapps>common>GameGuru MAX). MAX updates will not touch your individual files or projects if you put them in the user area, which is located at - Documents>GameGuruApps>GameGuruMAX>Files.

MAX, by default, creates projects, saves levels, and imports objects into the user area, not the Steam installation area. Updates only affect the Steam installation area. So, as long as you're not placing or saving anything to the Steam installation area, MAX will not delete any of your files.

No they will not ..
Updates do not touch your Documents \ GameGuruApps \ folder. Only the main Steam installation gets updated.
Worst case scenario could be ( but never happened to me ) is that the project menu may get effected in the Story board but the project files, Maps etc will still be there in the GameGuruApps folder for you to load back in.

@ Oobiedoob
You claim that you had to lose backups, should I assume you have the original ones?
If so, can you back up again your files and repeat the steps? but this time records all those steps and posts the video here, of course in the next update; it might help on the GitHub report if needed.

I just loaded the new experimental build ---
I have the same problem..

1. GGmax loads and shows the Demo Games tab ..
2. It Normally loads and shows the My Games tab..
3. I choose the My Games Tab.. it is empty ... nothing is left..

So GGmax has lost the link or setup files to show the My Games tab listings ...
My writable folders are still there but GGmax has lost the plot...

Me too, I think we have a bug. All my previous maps are gone. and yes it is in writeable document folder Didn't happen until todays update.

OK - I went back to the previous good build of GGmax
and loaded up... and all My Games where back...

Then went back to Experimental build...
loaded up and ALL My Games are gone..

Yes Experimental is bugged..

3com WHAT?
Would you like an answer as stupid as that question?
How could I repeat what happened when it was caused by an update?

Doesn't matter now. Ive moved on.
TGC is pretty much off my radar.
If there were any evidence other than a buggy, broken demo of some later levels i worked on,
I would probably contact legal help.

@J_C
Is your GameGuruApps in a custom location ?
a couple reported the the update made a default GameGuruApps folder in their docs and max is pointing to that which is empty as it resets the path to default.
But their custom location is still there ... D\ GameGuruApps for example.
If thats the case for you it just need repointing in settings.

@Oobiedoob

Only the optional Experimental \ Developer build is updated which is at users own risk and can break stuff which is why if your using it then better to not commit to anything serious.

Maybe best if you return to the retail if you want to avoid EXP updates.

@synchromesh
"Maybe best if you return to the retail if you want to avoid EXP updates."

Good advice. I did try disabling EXP build and loading but all I got was the topographical maps,
but missing all the content.
Actually the trees are still there and so are painted ground textures.

So heart broken. https://forum.game-guru.com/images/smilies/cry.gif

Updates happen in GGMax often, so, if GGMax advises me via Steam there is a next update, what I would do is run my video recorder, and reproduce all the steps while recording, If all is going bad again, then I report it to GitHub and provide the video as info for the devs.
Taking into account that all my files were removed, so, I would provide new ones, and try to reproduce the bug.

Or I can give up on the first issue, but this is not my way, Maybe this punches me to suggest the same, but I was wrong with you, sorry, my fault.

Yes the Upside of using the EXP is its updated far more frequently and has a lot more content for testing.
The Downside is its a Developer build and can break things. You must consider the EXP as an unstable test build that can change at any time. It really is a use at your own risk.

Just received an email from Lee, he found the bug and it will be fixed in the next exp build.

Just updated to the new Experimental build ...
All my games are back .. (and with all the models back in the levels)..
Experimental is now working OK
Good work Lee...

J_C Youre so lucky.
I have auto updates on in STEAM as keeping track of over 100 titles would be a chore otherwise.
That being said, as STEAM updated my games and software's, it overwrote where my level data
once resided on my drive. So I got some broken bits and thats all I could recover.

Im glad at least one of us got it back.
Also I would recommend not using GGMAX save as feature to make backups, as once MAX knows
where your backups are, it will delete those too.
I believe thats how it deleted my backups.

For sure it can be frustrating when stuff gets broken for any reason.
I had the same thing happen, but nothing was missing or deleted, todays build sorted it out.

The key is backups and understanding the tool being used - just in case things go wrong (and they will at some point)
If you are serious about any kind of development, you will have regular backups of all important stuff - this is especially true when creating games.

So with MAX make sure you have no custom media in the core - none of your game media, or maps, or scripts, etc, go in the core.

Wherever you have your Custom Writable Folders that is where all your custom media should be. It is also where you game fpm's etc. are located - you need to back the whole lot up regularly.
When in serious dev mode follow the rules of engagement:
1) always work on a copy of the last good fpm - save-as is your ally, mymap1, mymap2 etc.
2) after any session of developing at least back up your maps folder.
3) at least once a week - back it all up.

It is a little bit of work - but when stuff breaks, you can just put it right again from your last backup session.

This kind of approach is essential no matter what development to you are using, but when using software that is in constant development, and sometimes receives multiple updates in a day - it is paramount.

The other thing to remember is that MAX is NOT YET ready for serious game dev - just tinker, test, report, and wait

OldFlak....