Are we talking about a local save file or a save file from a hosted website?

Originally posted by 123:

Are we talking about a local save file or a save file from a hosted website?

A local save file

You would look for a file called GameUserSettings.ini in the folder you "saved" it in.
Inside this file you would then look for this settings: ActiveMods= followed by a bunch of numbers separated by commas.
Those numbers are your MOD numbers.
ActiveMods= are located under the subheading: [ServerSettings]

When you find this, we can talk about how to look up the mods by the numbers.

Originally posted by 123:

You would look for a file called GameUserSettings.ini in the folder you "saved" it in.
Inside this file you would then look for this settings: ActiveMods= followed by a bunch of numbers separated by commas.
Those numbers are your MOD numbers.
ActiveMods= are located under the subheading: [ServerSettings]

When you find this, we can talk about how to look up the mods by the numbers.

Ok so I did not save the GameUserSettings.ini for the save files and I only did the .bak, .ark, etcetera
I followed this tutorial: https://youtu.be/Fjies5PU0_U

The guy is dangerous because:

1. He does not tell you that there are specific names that ARK follows. He may not know or just ignored this fact. Or I missed the memo where he mentions this.

2. You CANNOT move any folder to any location you may want. The Windows OS is very specific about where users can and cannot access files and folders. This is why the Windows OS is hidden from users, unless you know how to un-hide them and YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE Doing.

I DO NOT recommend users un-hiding the Operating System Files. Easiest path to crashing your system, and making IT UNRECOVERABLE. This is one of those "FA and FO" moments you will regret. Don't think I haven't.

3. When he tells you that you can move the main ARK folder; After you move it, STEAM WILL download and reinstall ARK, including any and all mods you are subscribed to. Now you have some real fun sorting that out. Me? I would have about 2GB of data reinstalled on my data drive. I have 5 SSD data drives, so I think I have enough to deal with already.

The guy means well and has some very good points. However, he need to go back and rework his file path choices.

I have some more to write on this topic, but I need to take a break.

Originally posted by 123:

The guy is dangerous because:

1. He does not tell you that there are specific names that ARK follows. He may not know or just ignored this fact. Or I missed the memo where he mentions this.

2. You CANNOT move any folder to any location you may want. The Windows OS is very specific about where users can and cannot access files and folders. This is why the Windows OS is hidden from users, unless you know how to un-hide them and YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE Doing.

I DO NOT recommend users un-hiding the Operating System Files. Easiest path to crashing your system, and making IT UNRECOVERABLE. This is one of those "FA and FO" moments you will regret. Don't think I haven't.

3. When he tells you that you can move the main ARK folder; After you move it, STEAM WILL download and reinstall ARK, including any and all mods you are subscribed to. Now you have some real fun sorting that out. Me? I would have about 2GB of data reinstalled on my data drive. I have 5 SSD data drives, so I think I have enough to deal with already.

The guy means well and has some very good points. However, he need to go back and rework his file path choices.

I have some more to write on this topic, but I need to take a break.

Damn I didn't know this...
But thanks for telling me this and also take your time on helping me with finding out what mods are used in the save files. I am honestly fine with waiting for like a whole year to know the answer

Maybe if your lucky, the file called: LocalPlayer.arkprofile or LocalPlayer.profilebak will have the data, but it will have to be extracted using a program that reads the file in hexadecimal. Most ARK files are in written in binary, making it hard to read.

What he failed to add to the files he listed was the files in the folder:
steam\steamapps\common\ARK\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor
These files are the rest of what is needed to make a proper backup.

Compat.ini
DeviceProfiles.ini
Engine.ini
Game.ini
GameUserSettings.ini
Input.ini
Lightmass.ini
Scalability.ini

The most important 2 being: Game.ini and GameUserSettings.ini

So let's get back on track.
You need to find this file: LocalPlayer.arkprofile in one of your backups,
Copy it and paste it to a folder that you create and name test_folder.
Then we can figure out what to do from there.

Side note: No one ever made a backup system for the local games on ARK because of how poorly written the game is on top of how poorly it's file system is organized.

Originally posted by 123:

Maybe if your lucky, the file called: LocalPlayer.arkprofile or LocalPlayer.profilebak will have the data, but it will have to be extracted using a program that reads the file in hexadecimal. Most ARK files are in written in binary, making it hard to read.

What he failed to add to the files he listed was the files in the folder:
steam\steamapps\common\ARK\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor
These files are the rest of what is needed to make a proper backup.

Compat.ini
DeviceProfiles.ini
Engine.ini
Game.ini
GameUserSettings.ini
Input.ini
Lightmass.ini
Scalability.ini

The most important 2 being: Game.ini and GameUserSettings.ini

So let's get back on track.
You need to find this file: LocalPlayer.arkprofile in one of your backups,
Copy it and paste it to a folder that you create and name test_folder.
Then we can figure out what to do from there.

Side note: No one ever made a backup system for the local games on ARK because of how poorly written the game is on top of how poorly it's file system is organized.

Alright, I put the file inside the test folder and I used HxD to find out what is inside the file.
What is next?

Now you use the search function and this string: "/Game/Mods/" (remove quotes), and this should list every mod in this file, one at a time.

Originally posted by 123:

Now you use the search function and this string: "/Game/Mods/" (remove quotes), and this should list every mod in this file, one at a time.

Okay I found the mods, the /Game/Mods/ was at the top of the file so it was easy to find even without using search.
Thank you so much for your help!