Is it possible to recover a game that was accidentally deleted?
If you accidentally deleted one of the players from the Change Player screen (please see the information below if you uninstalled the entire game), you should be able to recover that player from the backup savegame file, as long as you haven't started a new game in that player slot. The following procedure explains how to recover your game from the backup file.
NOTE: This procedure assumes that you are familiar with manipulating files on your computer. If you are uncomfortable with such tasks, you should seek assistance from an experienced person in order to avoid the possibility of irreparable damage.
- Determine which player slot was deleted: the player at the top is in slot 1, and the player at the bottom of the list is in slot 5.
- Navigate to ~user/Library/Preferences/LDW
- Look for and open the Virtual Villagers - New Believers folder (the actual name may vary, depending upon where you purchased the game). Do not attempt to open the savegame files, to prevent the possibility of corrupting any of them. The savegame files in that folder are named Virtual Villagers - New Believers1.ldw through Virtual Villagers - New Believers5.ldw, and correspond to each of the player slots. The backup savegame files are named Virtual Villagers - New Believers21.ldw through Virtual Villagers - New Believers25.ldw, also corresponding to each of the player slots.
- Verify that the savegame file for the deleted player is no longer present (e.g. if the player in the 3rd slot had been deleted, there should be no file named Virtual Villagers - New Believers3.ldw).
- Rename the backup file to make it the primary savegame file (in this example for the player in the 3rd slot, you would rename Virtual Villagers - New Believers23.ldw to Virtual Villagers - New Believers3.ldw).
- Launch Virtual Villagers: New Believers to verify that the player has been restored. The game may not be as current as the one that was deleted, depending upon how recently the backup file was updated, but you won't lose all progress on the deleted player.
If you deleted (uninstalled) the entire game, you can usually just reinstall it and your savegame files should still be intact. If you no longer have the downloaded file, and you purchased the game directly from LDW, please contact us using our Support Form (select "No" below) and request a new download link for the game. Please provide your name, the title of the game that you purchased, the place and date of your purchase, and your order number. Once we verify your purchase details, we will provide you with a new download link for the game. If you purchased the game from any other game site, and your game uses an activation code, you should be able to download and re-install the trial version from the site where you originally purchased the game. It's very important that you don't download and install the game from a different site, since your activation code will no longer work. The activation codes issued by one game site will not work with any other site's version of the game.
If you wish to back up your savegame file(s) periodically to prevent loss in the future, you can click the link below for a simple backup method.
How to back up Virtual Villagers: New Believers for Macintosh games.