How do I save my Dead Island game on PS3?

Question

Apparently the developers forgot to include a save command in the ps3 version, and as a result the game saves only when it feels like it.

This results in lots of potential for lost data (indeed the Internet is rife with stories of people losing hours of play and multiple levels).

Is there any method known behind what triggers the game to save? The red biohazard symbol seems linked, but I've had partial data loss following apparent saves (going by the red biohazard symbol) with some quest pickups (and exp and drops) saved, but others lost.

As an additional question, Can you save your in game location anywhere besides the quest hubs (I found myself at the life guard station after my last session, even though it had been over an hour of play time since I had been there last)?

Bonus points if someone can answer and provide information about whether a patch to fix this is planned.

Answer 1

There's no other way of saving the game, other than the bugged auto saving.

They are definitely going to fix it, but when is unknown at this time. Here's a quote I found on the fan forums, however I do not know how reliable this source is:

I called Tech support they said the patch that will fix the save issues should be here either Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Also, someone has reported that they fixed the problem. The steps he did was:

1. Go into Game Data Utility
2. Select the Dead Island file (It should be 31Mb)
3. Remove the file
4. Run Dead Island
5. When shown the update screen, cancel it. (It should log you out of PSN until you install it)
6. Play the game offline for five minutes. (Repair your weapons or something)
7. Turn off your PS3 (I recommend the touch button on the front of the PS3, and THEN flick the switch at the back)
8. Turn on your PS3 again
9. Run Dead Island
10. Allow the patch to install

NOTE: I don't have Dead Island on the PS3 so there's no way I can test that this actually works. So if someone should test it and report back if it fixes it or not.

Answer 2

I found this at:

http://zoknowsgaming.com/2011/09/12/quick-fix-dead-island-patch-issue-ps3/

Sounds like it's true and this works. This is what it says:

---

"If your like me and have been having issues with the autosave feature on Dead Island since the last patch, you may find this little trick useful. After losing eight hours of gameplay Sunday and trying to figure out if there was any way around this, I decided to erase the game utility data for Dead Island, and then just play offline so I wouldn’t have to download that hideous patch again. Not only did erasing the game utility data fix my save issue, when I launched the game it did not ask me to reinstall the patch again even though I was online and signed in.

If you do not know how to do this it’s pretty easy. Just go to your XMB, scroll over to the game menu, then scroll up to the game utility data folder. Once you do that, go in and find the Dead Island utility data, hit triangle and then select delete. Please do not erase your save files… be careful and make sure you’re in the utility folder and not your save data folder. You’ll know for sure it worked, if when your playing the lower left hand side of your screen says game saved instead of checkpoint. If it’s still saying checkpoint, something isn’t right. I hope this works for you as it did for me, so you can get back to crushing zombie skulls."

Answer 3

Saving on the PS3 is simple.
Simply walk up to someone (Side Quest NPC) and accept their quest. A message will appear on the left saying that the game has saved. Whenever a red icon (toxic danger?) appears and flashes in the top right of the screen, your game is saving. Turning the console off while this is flashing may result in loss of game progress or may even corrupt your save.
Saving may also occur through finding a specific event item (Such as one of the colored/coloured skulls or by getting past a main quest event. Although I haven't yet verified it, it is said that whenever you join or are joined cooperatively, the game saves.

Answer 4

Here's a quick fix. Go to the Game tab on ps3 and go to Game Data Ultility and press dead island and look for a file that says save index file or something (im confirming it because i've found a site that says that have many users confirming that works)