diff --git a/code/nel/include/nel/misc/path.h b/code/nel/include/nel/misc/path.h
index 52088d67b..98896a216 100644
--- a/code/nel/include/nel/misc/path.h
+++ b/code/nel/include/nel/misc/path.h
@@ -700,6 +700,11 @@ struct CFile
 	*	Call this method to get a temporary output filename. If you have successfully saved your data, delete the old filename and move the new one.
 	*/
 	static void getTemporaryOutputFilename (const std::string &originalFilename, std::string &tempFilename);
+
+	/** Get application directory.
+	* \return directory where applications should write files.
+	*/
+	static std::string getApplicationDirectory(const std::string &appName = "");
 };
 
 } // NLMISC
diff --git a/code/nel/src/misc/path.cpp b/code/nel/src/misc/path.cpp
index e30982056..7ba510aa4 100644
--- a/code/nel/src/misc/path.cpp
+++ b/code/nel/src/misc/path.cpp
@@ -2435,4 +2435,30 @@ void CFile::getTemporaryOutputFilename (const std::string &originalFilename, std
 	while (CFile::isExists(tempFilename));
 }
 
+std::string CFile::getApplicationDirectory(const std::string &appName)
+{
+	static std::string appPath;
+	if (appPath.empty())
+	{
+#ifdef NL_OS_WINDOWS
+		wchar_t buffer[MAX_PATH];
+		SHGetSpecialFolderPathW(NULL, buffer, CSIDL_APPDATA, TRUE);
+		appPath = CPath::standardizePath(ucstring((ucchar*)buffer).toUtf8());
+#else
+		appPath = CPath::standardizePath(getenv("HOME"));
+#endif
+	}
+
+	std::string path = appPath;
+#ifdef NL_OS_WINDOWS
+	if (!appName.empty())
+		path = CPath::standardizePath(path + appName);
+#else
+	if (!appName.empty))
+		path = CPath::standardizePath(path + "." + toLower(appName));
+#endif
+
+	return path;
+}
+
 } // NLMISC
diff --git a/code/ryzom/client/src/client.cpp b/code/ryzom/client/src/client.cpp
index 93a243949..cf0c621b3 100644
--- a/code/ryzom/client/src/client.cpp
+++ b/code/ryzom/client/src/client.cpp
@@ -345,6 +345,14 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	// init the Nel context
 	CApplicationContext *appContext = new CApplicationContext;
 
+#ifdef CHANGE_CURRENT_PATH
+	std::string currentPath = CFile::getApplicationDirectory("Ryzom");
+
+	if (!CFile::isExists(currentPath)) CFile::createDirectory(currentPath);
+
+	CPath::setCurrentPath(currentPath);
+#endif // CHANGE_CURRENT_PATH
+
 	// temporary buffer to store Ryzom full path
 	char filename[1024];
 
@@ -437,31 +445,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	GetModuleFileName(GetModuleHandle(NULL), filename, 1024);
 
-#else
-
-	// TODO for Linux : splashscreen
-
-	if (argc >= 3)
-	{
-		LoginLogin = argv[1];
-		LoginPassword = argv[2];
-		if (!fromString(argv[3], LoginShardId)) LoginShardId = -1;
-	}
-	else if (argc >= 2)
-	{
-		LoginLogin = argv[1];
-		LoginPassword = argv[2];
-		LoginShardId = -1;
-	}
-
-	strcpy(filename, argv[0]);
-
-#endif
-
-	// initialize patch manager and set the ryzom full path, before it's used
-	CPatchManager *pPM = CPatchManager::getInstance();
-	pPM->setRyzomFilename(NLMISC::CFile::getFilename(filename));
-
 	// Delete the .bat file because it s not useful anymore
 	if (NLMISC::CFile::fileExists("updt_nl.bat"))
 		NLMISC::CFile::deleteFile("updt_nl.bat");
@@ -488,6 +471,31 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		}
 	}
 
+#else
+
+	// TODO for Linux : splashscreen
+
+	if (argc >= 3)
+	{
+		LoginLogin = argv[1];
+		LoginPassword = argv[2];
+		if (!fromString(argv[3], LoginShardId)) LoginShardId = -1;
+	}
+	else if (argc >= 2)
+	{
+		LoginLogin = argv[1];
+		LoginPassword = argv[2];
+		LoginShardId = -1;
+	}
+
+	strcpy(filename, argv[0]);
+
+#endif
+
+	// initialize patch manager and set the ryzom full path, before it's used
+	CPatchManager *pPM = CPatchManager::getInstance();
+	pPM->setRyzomFilename(NLMISC::CFile::getFilename(filename));
+
 	/////////////////////////////////
 	// Initialize the application. //
 #ifndef TEST_CRASH_COUNTER
diff --git a/code/ryzom/client/src/init.cpp b/code/ryzom/client/src/init.cpp
index 9f19b4844..ca2dcd9fe 100644
--- a/code/ryzom/client/src/init.cpp
+++ b/code/ryzom/client/src/init.cpp
@@ -728,7 +728,10 @@ void prelogInit()
 		setDefaultEmailParams ("smtp.nevrax.com", "", "ryzombug@nevrax.com");
 
 		// create the save dir.
-		CFile::createDirectory("save");
+		if (!CFile::isExists("data")) CFile::createDirectory("data");
+
+		// create the save dir.
+		if (!CFile::isExists("save")) CFile::createDirectory("save");
 
 #if !FINAL_VERSION
 		// if we're not in final version then start the file access logger to keep track of the files that we read as we play