The level folder and backups
What lies in a level folder, what not to touch by hand and how to make a backup
What is in the folder
A level folder lives in levels inside the game's folder. Where the game's folder is - Installation
| File | What it is |
|---|---|
level.json | the level's content. In the binary format - level.blob |
metadata.json | name, description, authors, tags. In the binary format - metadata.blob |
logo.png or logo.jpg | the cover |
resources | everything the level uses: the track, images, fonts |
Next to levels sits resources with the device-wide libraries: themes, effects, shapes, prefabs.
They are not part of any level. You export into them what you want to reuse and import out of them
A level sent to another person carries everything it needs inside itself. The libraries do not travel with it
What not to touch by hand
Do not rename files in resources. References to them are stored by name, so a renamed file is a missing file
Do not edit level.json in a text editor while the level is open in the game. Saving from the editor overwrites your edits silently
Keep nothing in resources that the level does not use. It travels with the folder
The file format is decided by the extension, not by a field inside. So changing the format in the editor writes a new file and deletes the old one. Otherwise two files would sit on disk, and nothing could say which one is real
Backups and recovery
A complete backup is a copy of the level folder. It holds everything, resources included. Make a copy before every large rework and name it by date
Autosave keeps the level file only. No metadata, track or images.
Each autosave puts a copy in backups/<level id>/ in the game's folder, outside levels. 25 copies are kept. How to restore a copy - Not losing your work › Autosave
A Json level that stopped opening is not lost. The file is text, so you can open it in any text editor and fix it by eye. The game itself does not open a level that fails to load, so the Raw Data tab cannot help here. It shows the model of a level that is already open
A Blob cannot be saved that way. It is binary, and a damaged file is refused whole rather than read in part
What to know before editing in the Raw Data tab - Not losing your work › The Raw tab