I just installed Avernum 5 and cannot get it to save the game -- not in a save slot, no quicksave, and no autosave. I keep getting a message that says "error 3," and to try another slot. But no slots work. I Googled that error and found one mention on the Spiderweb forums, with a person who said that they had a solution to the problem, but the page that he linked to was dead. I followed the suggestions on the GOG support page -- my UAC was already set to minimum, and running/reinstalling as administrator makes no difference. I did just replay Avernum 4, and checking that installation I noticed that it stored the save game folders in a different locaiton. Those were in the data folder in the main game folder, while 5 creates a folder under My Documents. I tried copying those save folders into the data folder for the Avernum 5 folder, just like 4 did, but that still did not help.

Any ideas?

Where have you got the game installed - is it in Program Files or Program Files (x86)? If so, try un-installing and then reinstalling in something like C:\Games. Also what OS are you running?

Windows 10. It is under the default directory that the GOG installer puts it in -- C:\GOG Games\Avernum 5. Not Program Files or Program Files (x86). I have installed multiple Spiderweb games to the default directory with no problem. In fact, I just replayed Avernum 4, which went to the same GOG Games folder.

I have to run to a meeting right now, but I will try reinstalling it under the regular Games folder when I get back.

Just tried it in the regular Games folder. Same problem. No dice.

O.K., new wrinkle: i just tried reinstalling Avernum 6, which I have played previously in the GOG edition, on the same computer that I am using now, with no change of operating system, and it still has my previous save files saved. However, now when I try to overwrite one of them, it will not let me and gives me that same "Error 3." But, it does let me load those old saves! What the hell?

Do you not have access to your own documents folder?

Sorry that didn't work. This 'Error 3' seems quite a rare bug, it might be an idea to contact Jeff Vogel at support@spiderwebsoftware.com to see if he can remember the solution.

I had scanned their forums looking for solutions, but no dice. One suggestion was that the "Save0", "Save1", etc. folders were not being created during installation and the user had to create them himself, but mine are there. So, email sent. We shall see.

I've always been impressed with Jeff/Spiderweb Software as I've always received an answer to any queries - let's hope they can get this sorted for you. Let us know how it goes.

I did not hear back today yet, but hopefully he gets back to me soon.

I have not heard a word back yet. For giggles, I tried downloading the demo from Spiderweb's website, and its default path was into the x86 directory. So I let it do that, tried it, and same error. In the meanwhile, I have been going out of my way to try to make sure that there is nothing blocking access to that folder, changing settings according to Microsoft's suggestions from people who had issues with My Documents under Windows 10. No dice.

Sometimes it does take him a few days to reply. In the meantime it does look like the problem lies in accessing My Documents. I don't have Win 10 (still using 7) so I don't know the specific ins and outs of allowing permission/admin rights to the folder but have you tried temporarily turning UAC off completely and see if that solves the problem. Maybe the minimum setting is enough to stop the game saving.

I have UAC minimized (which under 10 means completely off) just to prevent problems like this. No luck. I also heard back from Jeff, but unfortunately he did not really have any suggestions other than checking the permissions. But I have been going so overboard with that that now pretty much any user on my system has full permissions, just to hedge my bets against conflicts, and when it creates the save folder I have every possible user with full control access to the folder, just like the attached screen shot. None of it helps.

Looks like I am just plain out of luck, unless someone somewhere has another solution.

One last thing you can try to see if UAC is the culprit (as it appears that using the Control Panel UAC setting only does half the job of turning UAC off) is to change the following registry key;

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

and change the value EnableLUA to 0.

Try that, reboot and then try saving a game. If it works you know that is definitely the problem. Although make sure you set it back to 1 after playing the game to avoid endangering system security. Not sure if you're happy with fiddling with the registry (if not, then don't!) but if you are then this may help. Of course, don't forget to back up your registry first.

An alternative way completely disabling UAC without going into the registry itself can be found here;
https://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-completely-disable-uac-on-windows-10

Good luck, I hope either this will help or someone else has a working answer :)

Not wanting to mess with the registry, I tried the alternative method. No dice. So it is no entirely a UAC problem. Which makes sense, since it now affects Avernum 6 but did not previously, and I have not changed the UAC settings. Maybe something that Windows updated in the interim is causing conflicts. Who knows. I did respond to Jeff that I needed more help than that, but have not heard back again. I think that I am simply SOL, unless someone has a brainstorm for me. Thanks for trying, though!