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Save System Testing Guide

Overview

Save system testing ensures data persistence, integrity, and compatibility across game versions. Save bugs are among the most frustrating for players—data loss destroys trust.

Test Categories

Data Integrity

Test Type	Description	Priority
Round-trip	Save → Load → Verify all data matches	P0
Corruption detection	Tampered/corrupted files handled gracefully	P0
Partial write	Power loss during save doesn't corrupt	P0
Large saves	Performance with max-size save files	P1
Edge values	Min/max values for all saved fields	P1

Version Compatibility

Scenario	Expected Behavior
Current → Current	Full compatibility
Old → New (upgrade)	Migration with data preservation
New → Old (downgrade)	Graceful rejection or limited support
Corrupted version field	Fallback to recovery mode

Test Scenarios

Core Save/Load Tests

SCENARIO: Basic Save Round-Trip
  GIVEN player has 100 health, 50 gold, position (10, 5, 20)
  AND player has inventory: ["sword", "potion", "key"]
  WHEN game is saved
  AND game is reloaded
  THEN player health equals 100
  AND player gold equals 50
  AND player position equals (10, 5, 20)
  AND inventory contains exactly ["sword", "potion", "key"]

SCENARIO: Save During Gameplay
  GIVEN player is in combat
  AND enemy has 50% health remaining
  WHEN autosave triggers
  AND game is reloaded
  THEN combat state is restored
  AND enemy health equals 50%

SCENARIO: Multiple Save Slots
  GIVEN save slot 1 has character "Hero" at level 10
  AND save slot 2 has character "Mage" at level 5
  WHEN switching between slots
  THEN correct character data loads for each slot
  AND no cross-contamination between slots

Edge Cases

SCENARIO: Maximum Inventory Save
  GIVEN player has 999 items in inventory
  WHEN game is saved
  AND game is reloaded
  THEN all 999 items are preserved
  AND save/load completes within 5 seconds

SCENARIO: Unicode Character Names
  GIVEN player name is "プレイヤー名"
  WHEN game is saved
  AND game is reloaded
  THEN player name displays correctly

SCENARIO: Extreme Play Time
  GIVEN play time is 9999:59:59
  WHEN game is saved
  AND game is reloaded
  THEN play time displays correctly
  AND timer continues from saved value

Corruption Recovery

SCENARIO: Corrupted Save Detection
  GIVEN save file has been manually corrupted
  WHEN game attempts to load
  THEN error is detected before loading
  AND user is informed of corruption
  AND game does not crash

SCENARIO: Missing Save File
  GIVEN save file has been deleted externally
  WHEN game attempts to load
  THEN graceful error handling
  AND option to start new game or restore backup

SCENARIO: Interrupted Save (Power Loss)
  GIVEN save operation is interrupted mid-write
  WHEN game restarts
  THEN backup save is detected and offered
  AND no data loss from previous valid save

Platform-Specific Testing

PC (Steam/Epic)

Cloud save sync conflicts
Multiple Steam accounts on same PC
Offline → Online sync
Save location permissions (Program Files issues)

Console (PlayStation/Xbox/Switch)

System-level save management
Storage full scenarios
User switching mid-game
Suspend/resume with unsaved changes
Cloud save quota limits

Mobile

App termination during save
Low storage warnings
iCloud/Google Play sync
Device migration

Automated Test Examples

Unity

[Test]
public void SaveLoad_PlayerStats_PreservesAllValues()
{
    var original = new PlayerData
    {
        Health = 75,
        MaxHealth = 100,
        Gold = 1234567,
        Position = new Vector3(100.5f, 0, -50.25f),
        PlayTime = 36000f // 10 hours
    };

    SaveManager.Save(original, "test_slot");
    var loaded = SaveManager.Load("test_slot");

    Assert.AreEqual(original.Health, loaded.Health);
    Assert.AreEqual(original.Gold, loaded.Gold);
    Assert.AreEqual(original.Position, loaded.Position);
    Assert.AreEqual(original.PlayTime, loaded.PlayTime, 0.01f);
}

[Test]
public void SaveLoad_CorruptedFile_HandlesGracefully()
{
    File.WriteAllText(SaveManager.GetPath("corrupt"), "INVALID DATA");

    Assert.Throws<SaveCorruptedException>(() =>
        SaveManager.Load("corrupt"));

    // Game should not crash
    Assert.IsTrue(SaveManager.IsValidSaveSlot("corrupt") == false);
}

Unreal

bool FSaveSystemTest::RunTest(const FString& Parameters)
{
    // Create test save
    USaveGame* SaveGame = UGameplayStatics::CreateSaveGameObject(
        UMySaveGame::StaticClass());
    UMySaveGame* MySave = Cast<UMySaveGame>(SaveGame);

    MySave->PlayerLevel = 50;
    MySave->Gold = 999999;
    MySave->QuestsCompleted = {"Quest1", "Quest2", "Quest3"};

    // Save
    UGameplayStatics::SaveGameToSlot(MySave, "TestSlot", 0);

    // Load
    USaveGame* Loaded = UGameplayStatics::LoadGameFromSlot("TestSlot", 0);
    UMySaveGame* LoadedSave = Cast<UMySaveGame>(Loaded);

    TestEqual("Level preserved", LoadedSave->PlayerLevel, 50);
    TestEqual("Gold preserved", LoadedSave->Gold, 999999);
    TestEqual("Quests count", LoadedSave->QuestsCompleted.Num(), 3);

    return true;
}

Godot

func test_save_load_round_trip():
    var original = {
        "health": 100,
        "position": Vector3(10, 0, 20),
        "inventory": ["sword", "shield"],
        "quest_flags": {"intro_complete": true, "boss_defeated": false}
    }

    SaveManager.save_game(original, "test_save")
    var loaded = SaveManager.load_game("test_save")

    assert_eq(loaded.health, 100)
    assert_eq(loaded.position, Vector3(10, 0, 20))
    assert_eq(loaded.inventory.size(), 2)
    assert_true(loaded.quest_flags.intro_complete)
    assert_false(loaded.quest_flags.boss_defeated)

func test_corrupted_save_detection():
    var file = FileAccess.open("user://saves/corrupt.sav", FileAccess.WRITE)
    file.store_string("CORRUPTED GARBAGE DATA")
    file.close()

    var result = SaveManager.load_game("corrupt")

    assert_null(result, "Should return null for corrupted save")
    assert_false(SaveManager.is_valid_save("corrupt"))

Migration Testing

Version Upgrade Matrix

From Version	To Version	Test Focus
1.0 → 1.1	Minor update	New fields default correctly
1.x → 2.0	Major update	Schema migration works
Beta → Release	Launch migration	All beta saves convert

Migration Test Template

SCENARIO: Save Migration v1.0 to v2.0
  GIVEN save file from version 1.0
  AND save contains old inventory format (array)
  WHEN game version 2.0 loads the save
  THEN inventory is migrated to new format (dictionary)
  AND all items are preserved
  AND migration is logged
  AND backup of original is created

Performance Benchmarks

Metric	Target	Maximum
Save time (typical)	< 500ms	2s
Save time (large)	< 2s	5s
Load time (typical)	< 1s	3s
Save file size (typical)	< 1MB	10MB
Memory during save	< 50MB overhead	100MB

Best Practices

DO

Use atomic saves (write to temp, then rename)
Keep backup of previous save
Version your save format
Encrypt sensitive data
Test on minimum-spec hardware
Compress large saves

DON'T

Store absolute file paths
Save derived/calculated data
Trust save file contents blindly
Block gameplay during save
Forget to handle storage-full scenarios
Skip testing save migration paths

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Save System Testing Guide

Overview

Test Categories

Data Integrity

Version Compatibility

Test Scenarios

Core Save/Load Tests

Edge Cases

Corruption Recovery

Platform-Specific Testing

PC (Steam/Epic)

Console (PlayStation/Xbox/Switch)

Mobile

Automated Test Examples

Unity

Unreal

Godot

Migration Testing

Version Upgrade Matrix

Migration Test Template

Performance Benchmarks

Best Practices

DO

DON'T

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