Saving games and some other questions

[congo (OP)]

HI
fantastic game  really is . i have found lately if one gets rid of graphics images in games they get better. a lot better ,thye are more detailed detailed. anyway thanks for the game.
how do you save it  so that  you could   reload  a file  and  go back to a early  time. i make huge mistakes and must beable to go back.
i have read the result of searching  saving. And followed that,this is what i did.
copied  that small  size 76kbs steve  file in aurora programe folderAND BUT IT IN ENOUGHER FOLDER, then . later i close the game down  restart . Now here I HAVE TREID DIFFERENT WAYS  pasteing  this file back in the aurora folded  at different times but it never works. the date  stays the same as when i close the game down.
so how is it done . thanks

 how  do i get different sciencetists to do research with. i have 3 different topics i can research and no new sciencetists with different knowlegde come along .

[Erik L]

If you save the stevefire.mdb file to a different location, that is your "saved game". To reload, you copy it back into your game directory. The in-game date will be the same as when you copied the mdb file. So if the game date is Jan 15, 2310, you will be on Jan 15, 2310 when you "reload".

For more scientists, build more Military Academies.

[Yonder]

When you paste the old 'save' in you have to change its name as well. The program looks for a 'Stevefire.db' (not sure that's the right extension exactly), so if you keep a bunch of copies of them you'll probably have 'Stevefire - Copy.db', 'Stevefire - Copy(2).db', etc. (Although the automatic naming configuration of copies varies by OS).

So what you need to do is change the current database from 'Stevefire.db' to something else, then bring in the file you want to load and name it to that original name.

Also note that you don't actually need to keep these databases in other folders, because the game will only manipulate the Stevefire.db, anything with a different name is safe. Also note that 'reloading to repair a mistake' is only one reason to keep save files, the most popular reason is to be able to revert to an earlier save if some sort of bug destroys your game. However I am happy to say that that is rarely an issue any more, the game is immeasurably more stable these days than it was two years ago.

[congo (OP)]

well i hope to god i can do any of that.  i am sure i have done want Erik Luken said .  as for  YONDER    well that looks difficult .  i will try .  yes well  i mean  bugs  as well  i didnt know the game is stabler . 

mm i am just wondering  about this mdb file.   is that the  75 mb one.  i will have to look and see
thanks

i just load the game to seperate laptop to fiddle around  with  because i dont want to have to lose about 8 hours  work  that i  have put in  lost.
i was copying the wrong file stevefire. ldb  no wonder its not worked,now i have copied the mdb  it has worked.
thank god i feel  safe in investing my time, it  strange but happens  much time is spent on  games and if they go wrong then its   crap feeling.
what can happen is i spend loads of time finding how to find jump points building ships that dont work,
then i may  come across  some aliens  that attack  . well i would be  crapped  cos i   dont have any good  fighting ships ,only  crapy  ones that  have one  missle rocket and a  rail gun  . weather these even work is debatable. so the aliens take over.  Game over. and i may of spent   25 hours . am i goner go  back and start all over again  no. i want to just  slip back to a time where i can build some  better fighting ships . because i have learnt  how to do this with  all the extra  time mucking about.
thanks

[Yonder]

It's probably best for you not to get super invested in your first few go rounds, as you mentioned it can take a long time to fully understand how all of the game mechanics work together. If an alien race does show up and destroy you you'll still learn a lot from it, and be in a better position to get further in the next game.