Some of the more recent versions of Anodyne have the letter S appended to their version numbers; I have versions 1.514S and 1.522S myself. I assume it stands for "Steam", since even in the standalone builds from itch.io, there are Steam-related files in the game's directory.

Even if the game is not installed through Steam, these files will connect it to the client, enabling the overlay and Steam Cloud. I don't know if this is just a problem for me or a more general thing, but Steam Cloud makes me unable to swap out practice save files in the save directory - even if I disable it, it re-enables itself somehow, and no matter what I do, saves are always loaded from the cloud, making segment practice pretty much impossible.

This is a screenshot of my directory for v. 1.514S. If you delete the steam_appid.txt file, the game's connection to Steam is severed, making it work just like the standalone game (as far as I've seen while I've been trying it). The text file contains this, which I assume just links it to the right point in Steam for their client's features to hook in:

Deleting this file is what I've done in the directory of my v. 1.522S game - so my question is, would removing this specific file to sever Steam connections be considered game modification? In the absolute strictest sense it is modifying the files in the game's directory; however, the file appears to have no connection to anything regarding the game itself or how it functions, serving only to link it in with the Steam client. I would personally allow it, but I thought it best to ask, given that I'd quite like to run on the latest version (Marina Kittaka's old name is in the version I was previously using, and I'd rather have her real/chosen name in my runs. Sorry for the long post. Thanks. :)

P.S. Deleting the other files that mention Steam in the root folder cause the game not to load when its window opens; I don't know why.

not sure if this will help, but here's a guide for deleting your save file despite the steam cloud's best efforts to restore it for Snakebird: https://steamcommunity.com/app/357300/discussions/0/541906989406182527/

That may help you with Anodyne as well, but I don't know if that will be helpful for restoring to a specific save file as opposed to resetting completely.

In case you do want to modify your game for practice, that is definitely allowed. There are no rules for how to practice. The rule is that official runs need to be run without any modification to the game that could conceivably give you an advantage. Without scrutinizing the specific modifications you're considering making, it's impossible to say whether that would be allowed or not. (There is a precedent, for example in the Spelunky community, for cosmetic modifications that are allowed in competitive play.)

Can you have a version of the game that you use for practice, and a different version of the game you use for official runs?

The directions in the link didn't seem to work for me, but you raise a good point about using a different version of the game to practice. Thanks. :)

I can ask the devs if the file I removed has any bearing on gameplay, which is probably the best way to get a clear answer, but I can add that after a bit more playing I still can't see any differences.

edit: I asked the devs (waiting on a response), but thinking about it more, it does seem like a safer bet to use an unmodified version for runs and a Steam-disconnected version for practice. Thanks for the suggestion! (not sure why it didn't occur to me myself tbh...)

edit 2: This is what I heard back from Sean:

So none of the Steam files interfere with any game functionality, apparently, only client features, but make of it what you will. Thanks. :)