Local file & folder saves in Chrome

I decided to try Microsoft Edge (the new one based on Chromium), and it seems like the saving problems do not happen on Edge. I do have the issue with random grey boxes appearing, but the actual local folder saves is basically instant and I've had no errors in the past 3 hours - they were happening on Chrome & nwjs every 10 or 15 minutes. I made sure to update both browsers and check again, and so far Edge saves fine and Chrome/nwjs have consistent issues.

I recieve the exact same error in the browser version and the exact same longer Save period, the only difference is that I can't open the project at all from the nw.js version. I though the longer save period and the error happening were "normal" for the browser version, as up until now I've always used the desktop one and only because I can't load my folder project did I move to the browser one - where, incidentaly, I can't load my project on every attempt (1 of 5 ~).

I just tried severely trimming down my project, removed some 3000 + images (frames) worth of objects and the issues seem to have dissapeared. So project size is obviously related.

I have exactly the same problem. I'm trying to open a large project, and I can't. I updated everything, but it doesn't open either with the desktop app or the browser version. It just freeze.

Which is very annoying because I didn't keep a single file save -_-

Ouikka If you have a folder project, you can zip it, rename .zip file to .c3p and try opening it. See this comment.

I just did. With the single file, I'm able to open it with the browser version of Construct.

The desktop one still freeze but hey, at least I can open my project. Thanks!

Despite Edge not giving me any issues yesterday, this morning it also gives me the 'Unable to save project' error. So I guess all browsers and nwjs have this same current issue.

Ouikka TheWindmiller did either of you officially report this as a bug anywhere?

No, just in this topic and another one I created. I didn't report it as I can't reproduce the issue in a clean small project, and as far as I recall they will not accept large projects in bug reports. So, as I see it, I have no other option than to ring the bell in this forum concerning this issue in particular.

Anyone? What should I do to bring more attention to this issue?

Has anyone had an issue where the option to save and open local project folders disappears from the menu? I haven't been able to replicate it consistently, but it has happened to myself and many of my students over the course of the last week.

We are able to fix it by deleting cookies and logging back into Construct 3 but it's very frustrating and has caused a lot of issues in class already. I'd file a bug report but again, I haven't figured out how to reproduce it.

We're using Chrome.

It's an experimental feature and will be subject to such quirks and issues. I would not advise using experimental pre-release features in a classroom environment. We made it opt-in to try to avoid people relying on it because we know it will be a rocky road. Something to bear in mind for future.

In this case because of Google's origin trials system, occasionally we have to renew a trial token and it means you have to clear your cache and reload Construct to get the new token and get the feature back. Or you can just use the latest beta release (but I wouldn't recommend that in a classroom environment either for the same reason, it's still pre-release quality).

Please note: the feature will become unavailable in Chrome 85 after Wednesday September 30th. It will be available again in Chrome 86+, due for release next week.

The underlying feature in Chrome for file system access was previously in an experimental state, and the experiment is ending on September 30th, making the feature unavailable in Chrome 85. The reason the experiment is ending is because it is now enabled by default and available to all websites in Chrome 86+, which is scheduled for release on October 6th. This means there's an approximately one week gap in between where the feature will be disabled in the latest Chrome release.

The one-week gap is actually an intentional part of the way Chrome handles experimental features. It is designed to ensure websites using the feature rely on detecting the availability of the feature rather than a specific browser, since relying on browser detection has been a long-standing compatibility problem for the web. (Construct of course already relies on feature detection, which it uses to decide whether or not to show the save options - which is why you may see them disappear.)

As I've previously noted, experimental features are subject to change at any time. (I've also updated the editor for future releases to more clearly state that experimental features are subject to change at any time). If you need to use the feature during the intervening week I would advise to use Chrome Beta, which is already on version 86 and therefore has the feature enabled. Alternatively you can temporarily go back to using the other save options like Cloud Save. Once everyone is on Chrome 86+ in a few weeks, the feature will have fully graduated to a widespread stable release, so there should be no further such interruptions to the availability of local file/folder save options in future.

Thanks - was about to pull my hair out!

The option still does not appear when I use the beta of Chrome v86. Could this be an issue with the feature detection? Hopefully everything will work properly when the stable version goes live later today.

Oh man, so I only just learned from looking at the "what's new in Chrome 86" release notes that they quietly completely changed the file system APIs starting in Chrome 86. This means r218 will not detect that the feature is available and so won't show the local file/folder save options.

This was a really nasty way to find out they've made breaking changes and really throws a spanner in the works! In the past they've at least given a few releases notice with deprecation warnings to give us time to upgrade... looks like they've just skipped that this time.

We're going to have to make a range of changes to Construct to update our code for all the changes they made to the API. I also would be reluctant to ship significant changes directly to the stable channel, since they won't have been thoroughly tested. I think the best thing to do here is to fix it for the next beta release and see how that goes before deciding if we backport anything to the stable release.

So in short I'm afraid this will further delay the feature being reactivated again.