Pi console ROMs: battery games (Zelda etc) won't save w/o .SAV files?

MortalWombat

Hey guys, apologies if this is a naive question, but hopefully it's an easy one to answer: as we know, most console ROMs are only 1 file, but those w/ a battery-based Save/backup function (i.e. Zelda, the Final Fantasies etc) are usually accompanied by a .sav file.

Um, so I DEFINITELY wanna be copying those preexisting .sav files into the same folders when I copy those ROMs over, right? (Hadn't bothered copying these ones over yet, and wanted to be sure!).

Was mainly curious because I've had some of these console ROMs for years when I played 'em on other emulators (Nestopia etc). I don't expect any games I already have saved on 'em to transfer over-- seems the majority of questions I've seen here about .sav files are about just that-- I just didn't know if the Pi was somehow able to create its OWN .sav file(s)--kinda like if you save something on Word, the app creates a .doc or .docx file--or if you simply cannot backup these games if you don't include these preexisting files.

Going even further, has anyone witnessed any limitations of these .sav files yet when trying to backup games on RetroPie/their MicroSDs?

Mainly ask because in the last few years we've seen some of these battery games show up on console emulators like the NES Classic Edition, as well as some of these bootlegged 100-in-one emulator cartridges for the old consoles themselves. In such cases, I've heard of limited battery function where trying to save ONE game meant potentially wiping out all others (i.e., you couldn't save a game on Zelda without erasing a game on Final Fantasy). Just didn't know if anyone had experienced such limits on RetroPie yet is all.

Hopefully for both questions, it may not matter which version of RetroPie I'm running etc, but I can certainly answer that if need be. Thanks!!

MortalWombat

Sorry, but been over 12 hours since posting, anyone know if it's necessary to put the .sav files for console games on Retropie? Thanks.

Thorr69

@mortalwombat Yes. Of course.

YFZdude

@mortalwombat
You will definitely want to grab the files if you want to keep your battery backup game progress. The save files should be independent to each game you are emulating so long as the roms themselves are separate. The emulator creates battery saves or save states based on the name of the rom file.

I have played through several games with battery saves and none of them interfere with each other because they each are different rom files.

The battery backed save files created by an emulator should continue to work even if you update the emulator. The part I'm not sure about is whether a save made by one emulator would work perfectly if you switched emulators. (Created with Nestopia and then opened by fceumm.)

My impression is that save state files (i.e. not battery backed) are very specific to not only an emulator but possibly even to a version of an emulator. So if you get into the habit of using save states much, it might be advisable to finish the game before updating the emulators.

MortalWombat

@yfzdude @Thorr69 thank you both. Yeah copied all those games over the other eve. I guess I could've tested it by simply not copying the .sav file and trying to save a game after a few seconds (like Zelda right after you first get your sword or another item), just didn't know if Retropie or the MicroSD had somehow negated those files, or if there were any limits to the amount of games you could save.

YFZdude

@mortalwombat said in Pi console ROMs: battery games (Zelda etc) won't save w/o .SAV files?:

...or if there were any limits to the amount of games you could save.

Under normal usage, the limits of saving would sort of look like this:

Battery save: 1 save file per rom (assuming it actually had a battery backup at all); the actual number of 'saved games' will vary based on the actual game. Super Mario World (SNES) for example, allows 3 saved games within the one battery backup on the cartridge. So 1 file would allow 3 game saves in this fashion.

Save States: I believe RetroArch allows you to use 10 save "slots" (0 to 9) to create save states. If you are careful and keep notes on which slots are for what, you could have up to 10 saved game states for various reasons.

Typically when I have played a very difficult game, I would use Slot 0 to save whenever I finished a level and had good health, weapons, etc. as if I performed well. I would switch and use Slot 1 to temporarily save my progress after difficult jumps, mini bosses, etc. and if I take too much damage or lose an important item I reload Slot 0. This makes games like Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania manageable if I don't want to spend 80 hours of my life memorizing and mastering and old game with limited or no continues.