Age of Wonders 4 Pantheon Restoration Guide

I lost my level 28 Pantheon while investigating a bug.
I got my level 28 Pantheon back.

It appears to be straightforward on the surface. You just need to make a copy of your save game. Contrary to popular belief, the game actually presents you with a challenging obstacle course. This tutorial is a record of my observations of a bug that makes your Pantheon inaccessible and gives the impression that all of your data has been lost when in fact it has not. the levels, domains, and factions. Simply put, you can’t utilize them anymore.

The PC/Steam version of the game, version 1.002.004.78464, was used to create and format this guide.Unknown is whether there is a connection to similar problems reported with PC/GOG.com78464/64499.It is unknown if there is a connection between the observed problems and the PC/Epic Games Store.

I apologize for my poor English; it is not my first language.

The bug of interest comes from reports of players apparently losing their save games. This includes session information, factions, realms and the Pantheon. It was, and still is, unclear exactly what is causing the problem, but during my testing I observed a culprit that reliably triggered the problem.

Cloud Services for Steam

It isn’t specifically the Steam Cloud Services; rather, it is a reaction to both that element and the glitchy start of the game. This generally occurs right after applying a patch. This was especially apparent in the first two weeks after release, during which time two updates were made accessible along with a hotfix version of the game.

There were altogether until May 14, 2023.

10 hotfix branch versions and 3 main branch versions

DLC-containing subbranches are not taken into account.

The Pantheon and all other progression information became unreachable after the glitch’s prerequisites were completed. The malfunction’s nature made it difficult to determine its root cause, and there was no recognized solution. Probably as a result of missing data.

First thing first it is necessary to understand how the save game is stored for Age of Wonders 4. The relevant files for this guide can be found at these locations

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Cloud:https://store.steampowered.com/account/remotestorageapp/?appid=1669000

Local:..SteamuserdataYOURID1669000remote (substitute “YOURID” for your unique Steam ID number).

My Steam folder is on a separate SSD that is just used for gaming. If you installed Steam using the normal settings, you might discover yours on your OS storage disk within

Program Files (x86) in C:

It would appear like this.

The following path: C: Program Files (x86)SteamuserdataYOURID1669000remote

Additionally, Global Settings (such as video choices) and Game Logs (together with the other profile settings listed under the Save Game Location) can be accessed here.

Documents, Logs, and Paradox Interactive4th Age of WondersLogs

Global Settings, Documents, Paradox Interactive, Age of Wonders 4, Configuration

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We’ll concentrate on the Pantheon file because it directly influences whether the game can read the other data. The game won’t be able to access the factions, realms, and other things built on top of that Pantheon if the Pantheon file cannot be read by it. It appears as though the game has lost them or that your save game has been wiped because they are invisible.

Consequently, we concentrate on the FILE file that may be located in

..\Steam\userdata\YOURID\1669000\remote\Empire\UnknownID\

Your Pantheon file is the FILE file you can find there.Only the Godirs are aware of why it appears that way.

The game consistently produces a new Pantheon file under a different UnknownID in the Empire folder whenever the problem manifests itself. As soon as you realize that, you have unmistakable proof that your Pantheon and your game experienced this particular malfunction or problem.

Even though there should only be one, there are two UnknownIDfolders for two Pantheons.

The good news is that a restore is possible unless your Pantheon file has become corrupted.

The bad news is that learning how to do it was a terrifying trip.

The worst case of the bug I have seen so far is when the game gets stuck in a loop. Instead of being able to save properly, it keeps creating additional Pantheon files in newly created UnknownID folders, making a mess of both local and cloud storage.

The true issue is that manually deleting objects from cloud storage is difficult, and the only real solution to stop Steam Cloud Services from re-downloading corrupt files is to turn off Steam Cloud Services for the game.

Consequently, we start by doing that. Age of Wonders 4’s Steam Cloud Services are turned off.

Choose Properties by performing a right-click on the game in your Steam Library.

Remove the checkmark from the Steam Cloud checkbox.

The Pantheon FILE file, which houses your lost progression, is located in the UnknownIDfolder, which you must locate in the following step. Among the many new files, it is probably the one that is the oldest.

Create a duplicate of the Pantheon FILE file that you designated as the original. Make a backup of your entire..SteamuserdataYOURID1669000remote folder if you’d rather be safe than sorry.

Remove all files and folders from the..SteamuserdataYOURID1669000 (remote) folder.

To ensure that the Steam Cloud Service won’t take any action, switch Steam to offline mode. You can examine the..SteamuserdataYOURID1669000 folder once Steam Offline Mode is enabled. It ought to have remained unoccupied.

Launch the game.The welcome message will appear as if this were your first time in Magehaven.

The next thing I did was begin the initiation realm with a unique faction. Making the game recognize a player who is currently active and appropriately build a new Pantheon. A new Pantheon file has already been created at this point, but if I didn’t start a real game session, the Pantheon would expire and take us back to where the problem first appeared.

What appears now is the outcome of my extensive testing. After creating the Pantheon FILE file in the newUnknownIDfolder, we replace it with the Pantheon FILE file from the backup. If we copied the prior folder, which has a different UnknownID, nothing would change. But by simply replacing the new FILE file with the old FILE file and leaving the newUnknownIDfolder alone, it actually accomplishes anything.

That ought to solve the issue.You will get your Pantheon back when you restart the game the following time.

I’ve attempted. As of right now, I am unable to provide you with a fix for those other files because every attempt ended in corruption. Even now, I’m not really sure why the game saves the data in the manner that it does. A simple text file for a faction would be sufficient, as shown in Stellaris, but it seems like there is some form of DRM applied to what you would anticipate. Even yet, I began to question if rebuilding your Pantheon wasn’t just an exploit. But why shouldn’t you be able to preserve your game backups? Why would the game decide to ignore and prevent your save game backups if you make them?

I’m not sure (yet).

Please accept this fix to restore the Pantheon to its current state for the time being.Nothing less nor more, please.Believe me when I say that I found this to be lot simpler than I had anticipated.

I appreciate you reading, and I sincerely hope you never, ever need this knowledge.

This step is not necessary but still of interest since it was part of the bigger challenge to figure out how to do that. The answer might surprise you!

That is difficult to achieve.

You must first turn off Steam Cloud Services for the game.

Afterward, remove the entire save game folder located at SteamuserdataYOURID1669000.

Start the game, and it will create fresh files and start as a new game, resulting in a discrepancy with the cloud storage.

* As an alternative, you could, for instance, edit the existing save game files so that they include different data from what is saved. For instance, you could open a save game in an editor and erase some or all of the material to produce a file that is different in size from what is sent to the cloud.

Delete after quitting Steam

..\Steam\userdata\YOURID\1669000\remotecache.vdf

Launch Steam and turn on the Steam Cloud Services once more to create the desired Steam Cloud Sync Conflict.

Hold onto that Steam Cloud Sync Conflict popup without making a decision just yet!

Delete..SteamuserdataYOURID1669000 once more. the complete save game directory

Then, with no local files, the game’s Steam Cloud Storage becomes equally empty when you instruct the Steam Cloud Sync Conflict pop-up to utilize them as references.

Normally, Steam would detect a mistake at this point and stop that from happening.

That is unless you restart the game’s Steam Cloud Service while it is still running (ALT+Tab, for example).

and then terminate the game’s process via taskmanager to prevent Steam Cloud Services from discovering an issue when you typically end the game.

This will prevent the content of the cloud from being synchronized with the freshly created save game files when you run the game, keeping it empty just like the local save game folder was when you launched.

Was that unclear? It was challenging. But it functions!