How can I save/load a game?

When you saved the game, did you click on "Save" or "Done"? The game will only be saved, if you click on the former (or simply press Enter after you typed in the name).

Still, there should be Autosaves. Did you disable them, perhaps?

I clicked on the "Save" button, and Autosaves are enabled.

Okay, that is strange.

Did you install to the default folder? Might be the mapping is hardcoded

@work now so cant check myself

Well, I must admit I cannot remember it for sure if I installed it to the default folder. Despite this I'm pretty sure it was the default folder. When I install something to my PC, I practically never change the default install folder, so 99% sure that is the case with GalCiv 3 as well. If someone can tell me what the default folder is, I will check it.

I purchased the game through Stardock's website and validated it after on Steam. I don't know if this can be of any importance.

The default folder is C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Galactic Civilizations 3. However, I don't think that his matters, because GalCiv 3 saves all settings and savegames under C:\User\User Name\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv3.

Thanks. I checked it, both paths exist. However, the Saves subfolder in C:\....\My Games\GalCiv3 is empty. 

I'm installed to a different folder since I keep my steam games on my D:\ drive doesn't seem to make any difference I can save.

As I look at the pictures you provided I wonder if the problem is that you have not taken any turns yet (your turn counter is 0)? You may also want to go to the options and set the autosave interval to every turn.

None of this should explain why your game is not being saved. It shouldn't matter -- the save game function should work in spite of having not done anything, so I suspect this is a bug.

GC3 always saves games in folder C:\....\My Games\GalCiv3. It is hard coded in GC3 and conforms to a "standard" (all game saves should be in folder "C:\...|My Games|<game name>" started by Microsoft many years ago.

Exactly.

Actually, I already noticed this load/save problem a few days ago when I was actually playing the game and making turns. Today I just started the game and quickly grabbed the relevant screenshots without actually playing the game and taking turns. But as you said, this shouldn't matter, saving doesn't depend on having to take turns, you can save anytime, obviously, so not making turns cannot be the cause of the problem (and the autosave interval is set to every two turns).

What I don't understand is that if this is indeed a bug, then why aren't the others experiencing this as well? As far as I know, nobody else has reported it. What is different?

Posting your debug.err could give a clue.

Sorry, if this sounds stupid, but what is a debug.err? And how can I create this and post it? I must admit I don't know much about this thing.

It's basically a gamelog, detailing all the events during the game, plus some details about your system. The devs can use it to find the cause for some bugs. The file gets created automatically once you start the game, and is located in the My Docs\My Games\GalCiv3 folder. Starting a new game replaces the file.

As for posting it, there are different ways. The most simple one would be opening the file with a text editor and posting the contents here. A probably better one would be to send it as an attachment to support.

Thank you, a very helpful explanation. I will do as you suggested.