Mid-Campaign Saves Explained

Why This Topic Dominates Early Access Feedback

Paper Cult confirmed Tears of Metal surpassed 100,000 Steam copies sold shortly after Early Access launch, and the studio simultaneously named mid-campaign (mid-run) saves and multiplayer desync fixes as top engineering priorities. Campaigns spanning three Acts can run long — stepping away currently means abandoning a seeded map rather than resuming later.

Confusion is common because patch 0.9.57408 shipped a save recovery system that sounds similar. Save recovery restores corrupted meta / Village / unlock data. It does not create Act-map checkpoints. This page separates the two systems and explains what you can do today on live build 0.10.57598.

Save Recovery (Shipped) vs Mid-Run Saves (In Progress)

Save recovery (0.9+) helps when a meta save corrupts — Village upgrades, Charm unlocks, commander levels, and account-bound progress that persist between full campaign attempts. Use it when Castle Records or settlement data looks wrong after a crash; see Castle Records & Save Recovery.

Mid-campaign saves would let you exit mid-Act and resume the same roguelike route, Emblem draft, Threat state, and map position later. Paper Cult states this feature must coexist with meta progression without breaking balance, so it needs extra testing — no public release window yet. Track official status on Updates and Latest Patch Notes.

• Save recovery — meta / Village corruption repair (live since 0.9.57408)
• Mid-campaign saves — resume the same Act map later (roadmap priority, not shipped)
• Cloud saves — platform sync of your save file, not mid-run checkpoints
• Co-op host leave — still ends or resets shared campaign state; wait for mid-run tooling

Practical Workarounds Until Mid-Run Saves Ship

Plan session length before Deploy. Aim for Act boss gates as natural stop points — finishing Gilles, the Banshee, or Harold closes a chapter even if you cannot freeze the map mid-node. Prefer shorter Threat routes when you know you only have 45–60 minutes.

Protect meta progress: return to the Village after major milestones so Statue and gold gains bank before a forced quit. Keep clients on 0.10.57598 so commander Level 6/MAX persistence and army dismiss fixes remain active. Co-op groups should agree on stop rules before Act 2 elites — host disconnects still punish unfinished maps.

Do not confuse Xbox cloud saves or Steam Cloud with mid-run checkpoints. Those systems sync files; they do not invent Act resume points Paper Cult has not shipped.

Roadmap Context After the 100K Milestone

Prima Games and other outlets summarized Paper Cult's Steam post: 100K sales, mid-campaign saves, and desync work as priorities, with smaller stability patches continuing meanwhile. Hotfix 0.10 already addressed Drift Correction control locks, Charm display, and unit dismiss — quality-of-life while larger save work continues.

When mid-run saves land, this wiki will update boss guides, co-op etiquette, and Village pacing advice. Until then, treat every Deploy as a commitment to finish or accept a wipe, and invest Village upgrades so failed runs still advance the account.