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If multiple files were in the ZIP, then I'd right-click the ZIP file and Run With... > ZDoom. With all of my IWADs in one spot and the IWAD picker dialogue always coming up, this hasn't failed (until the moment a certain order is specifically required, then I unzip and set up a shortcut).


Now, here's the funny part. When I ran before setting a default save directory, I could resume these saves from this temp location. Most puzzling, so that's probably why the searches weren't finding anything whatsoever (but ZDoom could).

[quote="Project Dark Fox"]Windows Explorer. I open the ZIP and double-click the WAD file from within the ZIP file. ZDoom opens it without any qualms.[/quote]
[quote]...a little warning would certainly be nice. Somehow. I dunno.[/quote]
This is a case of the OS being "too" helpful, methinks. And it's damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't as far as how they could have coded it to "fix" such "mistakes".

As you can tell by my unabashed overuse of quotations, I don't think Windows or ZDoom is doing anything wrong here.

For convenience, Explorer displays the ZIP file like any other folder, without bothering you with the messy details like how it's actually only reading the contents and then extracting the files to a temporary folder on demand. Since the file you ran had ZDoom associated with it, it then ran ZDoom passing the temporary file in as an argument. And as is standard practice when running arbitrary files through the executable associated with them, it uses the current (temporary) folder as the working directory. ZDoom is coded to put saves in the working directory by default. Put all that in a nice big kettle and stir well, and you have your current conundrum.

There's a deeper problem here, though. What if the file you ran relied on other files within the ZIP? For example, if it was a batch file that ran ZDoom with two WADs and a DEH patch included in the ZIP, it wouldn't get very far. You really should just extract the contents of the ZIP and then run it from its permanent resting place on your hard drive. What you're doing is like trying to run a game directly off the CD without bothering to install it first. Chaos will naturally ensue.

[quote="HotWax"][quote="Project Dark Fox"]Pray tell, when I open a zip file...[/quote]
Clarify. Are you running a WAD directly out of its zip file? In that case, only [i]WinZip[/i] (or whatever application you're using to view the ZIP file) knows.[/quote]
Windows Explorer. I open the ZIP and double-click the WAD file from within the ZIP file. ZDoom opens it without any qualms.

[quote]Also you should not be doing that. :P[/quote]
..... Thanks. I think. If a bit late. :P After pistol-starting a couple maps in [i]Whispers of Satan[/i]... well, I suppose that wasn't too bad.

Anywho, setting a default path manually has definitely "fixed" everything (now all the saves go into one spot, just the way it should have been IMO), but a little warning would certainly be nice. Somehow. I dunno.

Thanks for trying to help, everyone. :)

@echo off
echo Current working directory is %CD%
pause

[quote="Project Dark Fox"]Which is what I'm trying to understand, WHERE is the current directory when I open a ZIP in the godsdamn Desktop.[/quote]

Put something like this in a batch file, put it in the same dir as zdoom, and drag a wad or other file onto it, it will tell you what the working directory is...

[code]@echo off
echo Current working directory is %CD%
pause
[/code]

[quote="Project Dark Fox"]Pray tell, when I open a zip file...[/quote]
Clarify. Are you running a WAD directly out of its zip file? In that case, only [i]WinZip[/i] (or whatever application you're using to view the ZIP file) knows.

Also you should not be doing that. :P

I just opened a zip on my desktop (Action Doom), and double-clicked the .wad to run... Saved the game, and the save file showed up on my Desktop. This is all in Vista. My save_dir cvar is blank.

The .zip file's contents are temporarily unzipped to a subfolder under C:\Users\[i]username[/i]\AppData\Local\Temp. The subfolder is supposed to be deleted when you close the .zip file, though, so that won't help you find savegames if they're saved there for some reason.

Well, I certainly didn't expect anything to be fixed (just maybe possibly addressed). But in either case, it still pisses me off. I've since changed my [i]save_dir[/i] to where zdoom.exe is run.

Only Windows knows.

Which is what I'm trying to understand, WHERE is the current directory when I open a ZIP in the godsdamn Desktop.

No problem here. Please note that an empty save_dir means the current working directory, not the one the EXE is in. Apparently you started ZDoom from somewhere else.

Documents and Settings is just called "Users" on Vista. PITA to keep typing out, so that's a change I was more than welcome to accept... :P

That's why I said Documents and settings... unless that's another thing Vista pointlessly changed.

I ran a search for save0.zds on my computer. Nothing from October 2009 is showing up [i]at all.[/i]

And nothing in /Users or /Users/Project Dark Fox came up anyway.

Look in your user folder (read: user folder, eg '[i]C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\[/i]'). They sometimes wind up there for some absurd reason.

Pray tell, when I open a zip file, why does it sometimes save into the godsdamn root of my Windows directory?

[i]]save_dir[/i]
[b][i]"save_dir" is ""[/i][/b]

Running Windows Vista. When running under XP, it simply saved to where ZDoom is running (in this case, C:\Doom\Doom2).

EDIT: While ZDoom says the files are there, Explorer doesn't. I'm trying to find the save for a different bug that so occurred (the lighting issue).