It seems that many people don't know how to use or make saved games. The best method to learn the basic methods for using a saved game is always to read the documentation of the appropriate emulator. Just in case that documentation leaves something out, however, here are some instructions and pointers.
Any emulator specific information on this page may or may not be accurate for versions of the emulators other than those mentioned. Things change in different versions, and it's possible that some of the information here may have changed as well.
General Tips
There are a few things that are usually true about using a saved game regardless of what emulator is involved. All of these may not be true for every emulator, but it might not hurt to try them.
Any saved game downloaded from VGWS will originally be in a ZIP file when it is downloaded. If a saved game you wish to use is in a ZIP file, you'll have to extract from the ZIP using a program such as WinZIP.
You may also have to rename the saved game file. Many emulators require saved games to have a file name similar to that of the ROM they are used with. For example, if you have a Sega Genesis ROM file named "star.smd," a saved game used with it might be a file named "star.gs0." Many emulators support multiple save slots, resulting in several possible file names for a saved game (for example, star.gs0, star.gs1, star.gs2, ..., star.gs9).
There are generally two types of saved games: save states and game saves. Save states, sometimes called "snapshots" or "freeze-files," save the condition, or state, of the game at a certain point. They can usually be taken at any time in a game. If you want to save before a big boss, but the last save point was five dungeons away, a save state is usually the answer. Game saves are sometimes referred to as S-RAM. They are the saves that are created when saving a game as you normally would when playing the game on it's original system, and which can be loaded from selecting "Continue" at the title menu of a game. These saves are the reason those old cartridges have batteries. Saving a game using a Priest, King, Save Point, Book, or something of the like would create a game save. Most of the saved games carried by VGWS are save states. We do carry some game saves, though (especially in the Playstation saves area).
Cross-Emulator Compatibility
Support for saved game files made with other emulators is a very nice feature appearing in some emulators. For example, the Sega 8-bit emulator Meka can use saved games created with Meka as well as saved games created with Massage, another popular emulator. One can thus easily switch from Massage to Meka if necessary or download a Massage save and load it in Meka.
Perhaps one day, all emulators for a game system might have a common file format for saved games. The table below shows some of the cross-emulator compatibility in present emulators. The emulators also support saves made with that emulator, of course.
| Emulator Name |
Sources of Compatible Saves |
| MEKA |
Massage |
| KGen/KGen98 |
AGES, Genecyst, Gens, Xega, Kega, Genital |
| Gens |
AGES, Genecyst, Xega, Kega, Genital |
| AGES |
Genecyst, Gens, Xega, Kega, Genital |
| Xega |
AGES, Genecyst, Gens, Kega, Genital |
| Kega |
AGES, Genecyst, Gens, Xega, Genital |
| Genital |
AGES, Genecyst, Gens, Kega, Xega |
| SNES9x |
ZSNES |
This table, of course, probably does not include all the cross-emulator compatible emulators out there. If you know of one not listed, feel free to inform Tempest of Shadows of it. For more information about the SNES9x/ZSNES compatiblity, check The Fake God's documentation.
Selecting, Loading, and Saving
Ah, here comes the big stuff: using saved games. There are a few terms that that must be made clear before proceding with this section. "Selecting" refers to choosing a save "slot." Some emulators allow you to have a limited number of saves for each game. Each save is represented by a save slot, and slots are usually selected by pressing a number key (0-9). "Loading" a saved game restores the game to the conditions which were saved, as you might guess. "Saving" a game stores the conditions of the game in a save state file. Game saves, in the context discussed earlier on the page, are usually saved in a file automatically and are not any further discussed here.
In order to be able to load a saved game, you first have to place in a directory where the emulator will look for it. This location varies, depending on the emulator and any customizing that has been done to the setup. Try placing the file the directory that contains the ROMs you'll be using. If you can't load the saved game after putting it there, try other directories.
Selecting, loading, and saving can usually be done with the press of a key or two. The key presses to select, save, and load for some emulators are shown in the table below.
In most cases, the emulator will automatically name the saved game file, but Massage asks the user for a file name. As you can see, many of the emulators in the table have 10 slots (0-9) that can be used at any one time. In NeoRAGEx, slots can be selected using the up and down arrow keys after pressing F11 or F12.
