Overview
A new method to backup your files using a cloud storage service, IT’S A SAFE METHOD.I wish it’ll be of any help
Introduction
First, english is not my first language, so my text might contain some errors, sorry for that.
Also, my windows is in portuguese, but that is not a problem, this guide contains screenshots indicating the local where you have to click
NOTE: THIS METHOD IS SAFE, JUST FOLLOW THIS AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO HAVE PROBLEMS.YOU WON’T LOSE ANYTHING FROM THE GAME, NEITHER ACHIEVEMENTS, JUST KEEP CALM AND READ ALL THE GUIDE BEFORE SAYING ANYTHING.
So, I’ll go straight to the explanation, just follow me and praise the sun
Programs you will need:
Dropbox[www.dropbox.com] (or any other cloud storage service)
Dark Souls II Backup Tool[www.nexusmods.com] (THE OLD ONE THAT DOESN’T WORK WITH DS III)
BeCyIconGrabber[www.becyhome.de]
AND YOU’LL NEED ONE LAST THING THAT IS NOT A PROGRAM…
PATIENCE!!!
Considering you already have your cloud storage service program installed and working, lets start.
The Guide
1 – Go to this link and download the Dark Souls II Auto Backup Tool (THE OLD VERSION THAT DOESN’T SUPPORT DS III)
2 – After downloading, right-click on it and select extract the file to its folder, for this guide I am going to use my desktop for everything, but you can use any other directory, as long as you don’t forget to change it when you need to point where are your files.
3 – (OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED)Rename the folder you extract to Dark Souls II Auto Backup.
4 – (OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED) Open up the Dark Souls Auto Backup folder, open the other folder inside called DSABT, select all files in this folder, right-click, cut, go back one folder, and paste them, so when you open the Dark Souls Auto Backup Folder, there isn’t any other subfolder, just the files containing the program
5 – (OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED) Rename the Dark Souls Auto Backup program to anything easier to type, I renamed mine to a
6 – Open settings.ini
7 – Choose how many backups you are going to want to have by changing MaxSaves option, I let mine at one because i think it’s enough (AS MORE FILES, MORE INTERNET NEEDED. I DON’T RECOMMEND EXCEEDING MORE THAN 5 SAVES)
8 – Change the time option, this is the frequency backups are going to be made. As more max saves you have choosen, more time you’ll need. I HIGHLY DON’T RECOMMEND DECREASING IT FROM 5 MINUTES, as the cloud storage may suffer problems because a file is being constantly uploaded. I let mine at 5 minutes.
9 – Save Path. You need to paste the location of your Dark Souls II folder save in the settings.ini file. You can locate your save by doing the following:
Press the Win Key + R
Type %appdata%
Go to DarkSoulsII folder and you’ll see another folder named with a lot of numbers and letters. Open it and click in the explorer bar to get the directory location.
After getting, paste it in the Save Path line in the settings.ini (REMEMBER TO PUT A BACKSLASH IN THE END LIKE THE EXAMPLE)
SavePath = C:UsersYOURUSERNAMEAppDataRoamingDarkSoulsIIYOURSAVEFOLDER)
10 – Backup Path. Choose the path where your backups are going to be saved. We need our saves to be stored in Dropbox, so we need to create a syslink folder. Go to the folder of your respective cloud storage service and create a new folder (I created a folder called Steam Cloud and inside another called Dark Souls II).
11 – Go to windows search, type cmd, right-click on it and select open as administrator.
12 – In the cmd, type the following
mklink /D “C:UsersYOURUSERNAMEDocumentsMy GamesDark Souls II” “C:UsersYOURUSERNAMEDropboxSteam CloudDark Souls II”
The first directory is where a folder is going to be created by the CMD in your pc that is going to be linked with Dropbox, so make sure that in the location there isn’t any other folder with the same name, the second directory needs to be pointing to the folder inside Dropbox you created in the 8th step.
Go back to your settings.ini, and paste the directory of the folder that was created by the CMD in the BackupPath, in my case:
backuppath = C:UsersYOURUSERNAMEDocumentsMy GamesDark Souls II
If everything went correctly, the shortcut created by the CMD should have an arrow in its icon, as if it is a shortcut.After that, the settings are done, in the notepad, go to file and save, let’s continue to the next step.
13 – Open up a blank notepad and type the following commands:
@echo off
cd “C:UsersYOURUSERNAMEDesktopDark Souls II Auto Backup”
start a.exe
cd “C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonDark Souls IIGame”
start DarkSoulsII.exe
exit
(REMEMBER TO CHANGE THE DIRECTORY OF THE FOLLOWING IF YOU SAVED IN A DIFFERENT PLACE)
Go to save as, give it any name but put .bat in the end of it(I gave mine Dark Souls II, so I saved it like Dark Souls II.bat) and save it where you think it’s better, I saved mine in Desktop.
14 – Download BeCy Icon Grabber, the EXE version, extract and open it.
15 – Go to your Dark Souls II directory, click in the Dark Souls II executable, click in any of the two icons that will appear on the right-side of the program, click in save, choose any name, in file type select PNG, in format select 32×32 (32 bits), save it in any location.
16 – Go to your library right-click in Dark Souls II and create shortcut in your desktop (If it bothers you having all these shortcuts and folders in your desktop, relax, we are going to hide all that files after the end of this guide)
17 – Right click in the shortcut, go to properties, and in target, change it to your bat file.
18 – Go to steam, click Add Game, select Add a Non-Steam Game, Browse, and select your shortcut.
19 – Right-click in the shortcut in your steam library, properties, change its name to DARK SOULS™ II.
20 – Also in the same window, click in Select Icon and select the png icon we saved in BeCyIconGrabber.
21 – Return to your steam library, right-click in Dark Souls II (NOT THE SHORTCUT, THE ACTUAL GAME), select set categories, and select hide this game in my library (YOU’LL NEED TO USE THE SHORTCUT TO OPEN THE GAME).
22 – (OPTIONAL) After that, go in your desktop,right-click, go in properties and mark the box Hidden for everything you’d like to hide.
So, you’re done, when you open the game in your steam library you will notice it will open an command prompt window and after it the game, the command prompt window must be open, otherwise, you’re not going to have your backups. When you finish playing, you can close the command prompt after closing the game.This method of syslink works with almost all games, just becareful not to use it in games you may get ban. It is safe for Dark Souls II because with the method in this guide, you’re not sending the save file straight to dropbox, we are sending the backup of the savefile to dropbox, so there is no problem. DON’T TRY TO SEND THE SAVE DIRECTLY FROM THE DARK SOULS II APPDATA FOLDER TO DROPBOX, BECAUSE DARK SOULS II SAVES A LOT, AND IF IT SAVES WHILE UPLOADING ANOTHER SAVE YOU’LL LOST YOUR SAVE. So, use the method in this guide and you’ll not have problems. It doesn’t work with SotFS and Dark Souls III yet, but you can ask to the developer of the auto backup to create a version like the old one, that you don’t have to select a number.His reddit:
Show him this guide so he can understand!
I hope you enjoy!!!