1) Any changes in the save files will invalidate the save file.
2) In this version of the game, you cannot use other people's save files to play.
you can no longer share saves, because the saves have been encrypted. Enjoy that wonderful idea
It doesn't appear to be explicit by this game's dev - it's base Ren'py engine functionality starting from 8.1.x, for "security reasons" (see below), and Ren'py version changed from 8.0.3 to 8.1.1 in this latest game version. Again I don't think the version upgrade was explicitly intended by the dev to mess with save loading; they likely upgraded for other reasons.
Saves use Python pickle format which can be abused maliciously (and I've seen exploit proof-of-concepts being posted online), so apparently the Ren'py developers have deprecated sharing saves altogether; see also:
-
You must be registered to see the links
-
You must be registered to see the links
This has been reported here too:
It appears that as of Ren'Py 8.1 there is an addition to the code called Save Security Token. The token checks to see if the save file being used originated from the same computer as the token written upon game start. It asks if the user trusts the save file YES/NO. It also checks for editing of the save file and will not load a save if it was edited with either Ren'Py Save Editor or saveeditonline.com. One can still use unren to enable the console and alter variables. I am hoping someone will be able to find away around the new code to enable the use of this and other save editors again.
Like the person above says, when loading unaltered foreign saves, you'll get a warning that the save has been created in another device, and a yes/no prompt to continue loading. You have to explicitly answer yes for each new device from which you want to load saves.
That said, you CAN share saves, as long as they're unaltered externally (from outside the game, like in save editors). Messing with the console and then saving is OK though.
False alarm for the most part.
