[2021] Private/Dedicated Servers and New Alpha Wipe Information

First, Private server functions as a host hosting- If you host a game via the private option ingame, Short of sharing the save to your friends when you log out, you'll have to continue hosting for them; And the server will only be active so long as you (or whoever has the save) is logged in. Anyone that has the save can host, though; So you could very much just zip up the save file (and the world file the first time around; but it only needs to be sent once unlike the save file) and send it to your friends and let them host while you're away. Save files can get pretty beefy in a long term game though; so, unless you're game to send upwards of 200mb-1gb+ each time you want to shift hosts, not a great option.

Dedicated server is as you might expect, You can 'Host' the server without actually being logged in, and anyone can connect. However I would recommend against hosting a dedicated server and playing the game itself on the same PC, as both are hardware intensive processes and you'll downgrade the experience in both cases. So it'd be best to host the dedicated server on an unrelated PC from the ones any of you are playing; or to buy server space from a server provider.

Second, Time progresses forward so long as at least one player is connected- And time is universal; If someone progresses to day 15 while you're offline, you'll log into day 15; If you yourself then progress time to day 18 before someone logs in, it'll be day 18 for them too. The game is largely balanced around players' personal progress however, not to the current day- So even if you log in as a level 1 character on a day 100 server, you'll get things tuned to a level 1 character.

Third, The wipe is not actually a 'wipe' as you're thinking; IT's just that saves from A19 will not function in A20. You can opt into A19.4stable via the beta menu to remain on A19.4 and continue your save for the rest of your days if you want.

Edit: bit of extra info

Originally posted by erikh5027: Thank you Shurenai
Just to clarify, we can always play the 19.whatever save AS the A19.whatever save, even after we begin a new journey on A20 when it drops.
Also, I am a little computer illiterate so please excuse me. From your understanding of what 'we' want, is renting a server our best option? Or is there a better alternative? Other than that, this is great information and I really appreciate this.

Correct. Your A19.x save will work even if you update to A20, and then backdate to A19.4 via the beta menu. The A19 save shouldn't even appear in the menu as selectable while updated to A20, so you wouldn't even be able to mistakenly load and corrupt it.

I'd recommend making backups just in case whenever possible just for safeties sake, though.


And yes, From my understanding of your situation, renting a server is probably the best option, if you have no interest in regularly sharing the most recent version of the save around so anyone can host it via the ingame private hosting option. If you have a spare PC that meets the requirements and could run a dedicated server, that would probably work too- But from the sounds of it you don't.

So, given that you want to have the group able to connect at any time without any single person being required to be there as the host, that you don't want to just join a public server, and likely are lacking aspare PC to make your own dedicated server, renting a server is the only remaining good option.

I'm afraid I don't personally know anything about what providers are good though.. I primarily play games with my sister and sometimes a few of our friends, and we own a purpose built server PC for our needs.