Where your files live
Everything Creator writes, and where. Your maps go wherever you save them; everything else has a fixed home, and FILE > Show Map Folder opens the one your current map is in.
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Your maps | Wherever you saved them. The first Ctrl+S writes <name>.saved.map beside the map you opened; from then on that file is your map (first in RECENT MAPS, and later saves update it). FILE > Save Map As picks another name or folder. A new or generated map has no file yet, so its first Ctrl+S asks where to save it, starting in Documents\Creator\Maps. |
| Copies for Crucible Local Server | output\creator\ inside the Crucible launcher’s folder (unless you chose another place for the launcher, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Crucible\output\creator\), written when you choose FILE > Test in Crucible Local Server…: a copy of the saved map, with its sidecar and its server settings file when it has them. Testing the same map again replaces its copy. See Test in Crucible Local Server. |
| Queue folders | Documents\Creator\Maps\<queue name>\: the maps a queue of generations kept, a picture of each, and queue.json, the queue’s record. One folder per queue. |
| New-map scratch file | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\Creator\scratch\, the blank starting island for a new map. |
| Sidecar data | A file beside your .map, holding the app-only layers (trigger volumes, custom-prefab data). Keep it with the map when you move or share it. |
| Reference file places (where the reference models of your prefab packs are on this PC) | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\Creator\references.json, one small file. A reference kept in the pack’s own folder is found without it. |
| Private copy of Rust’s files (optional; Rust’s art, copied from your install) | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\Creator\content\<buildid>\, about 50 GB each. Nothing is here unless you make one in Preferences > CONTENT |
| Prefab lists of Rust builds (what each Rust build Creator opened has, to show what an update changed) | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\Creator\catalog\, one small text file per build; Creator keeps the four newest of each Steam branch |
| Autosaves (rotating safety copies) | <persistent data>\Autosave\autosave_N.map, 5 slots every 5 minutes by default, both configurable in Preferences > GENERAL |
| Crash copies (unsaved work saved on the way down) | <persistent data>\Autosave\emergency_<date>-<time>.map, beside the autosaves and never rotated over. |
Screenshots (the F12 viewport shot) | Pictures\Creator |
Diagnostic runs (the F9 harness) | Desktop\CreatorDiag\run-<stamp>\, holding report.txt, the PNGs and the player log |
| Support bundles | Desktop\Creator-support-<date>-<time>.zip |
| Validation reports (the Map Validator) | Desktop\CreatorDiag\validate\<map>.validation.txt and .json, where SAVE REPORT puts them unless you choose another folder |
| Logs | HELP > Open logs folder opens it. |
| Quit record (how far each window got while closing) | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\Creator\quit-trail\; Creator clears old ones itself |
| Generation timing records (how long each step of a generation took) | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\Creator\genprofile\; Creator clears old ones itself |
A save is refused, with a message saying why, while a map is still loading or generating; save again once it finishes.
Where the program itself is
Section titled “Where the program itself is”The Crucible launcher installs Creator inside its own folder, in apps\creator\. Unless you chose
another place for the launcher, that is %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Crucible\apps\creator\. An update
replaces what is in it, so keep nothing of your own there.
Upgrading from 0.1.7
Section titled “Upgrading from 0.1.7”Until 0.1.8, some of these folders and the program file had “Rust” in their names. The first time 0.1.8 starts it renames the folders it can, and there is nothing for you to do.
| Before 0.1.8 | From 0.1.8 | What happens |
|---|---|---|
%LOCALAPPDATA%\RustCreator | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rook\Creator | Renamed on the first start. Nothing is copied, so a private copy of Rust’s files is not made again, you are not asked to accept the agreement again, and your recipes, presets and sockets come with it. |
Pictures\Rust Creator | Pictures\Creator | Renamed on the first start. Your earlier screenshots keep their file names; new ones are named creator-<date>-<time>.png. |
Desktop\RustCreatorDiag | Desktop\CreatorDiag | Not moved. New diagnostic runs and reports go to the new folder. The old one holds what earlier versions wrote, and it is yours to keep or delete. |
RustCreator.exe | Creator.exe | The program file has a new name. A shortcut you made to RustCreator.exe yourself stops working: start Creator from the launcher, or make the shortcut again. A taskbar pin you made while Creator was running starts it through the launcher and keeps working. |
Two things worth knowing:
- If another program has a file in the old folder open when Creator starts, the rename waits. That run uses the old folder, all of it, and the next start tries again.
- If you run 0.1.7 again after 0.1.8, 0.1.7 makes
%LOCALAPPDATA%\RustCreatoragain and starts with it empty, so it asks you to accept the agreement and to sync your content again. The next time 0.1.8 starts, it moves across only what its own folder does not already have. Whatever is still in the old folder after that belongs to 0.1.7 alone, and you can delete it once you no longer run 0.1.7.
Moving a map to another PC, or to a server
Section titled “Moving a map to another PC, or to a server”Take the .map and its sidecar file. The map is the standard Rust file, and it also carries
Creator’s data, which
the server extension reads on the server. The sidecar holds
the editor-side layers beside it. A map without its sidecar still loads and still plays; you just
lose the parts of your working state that lived in the sidecar, so keep the two together.