Quick question about in-game saving...

[Sessh]

I've never had this problem with previous versions of ZSNES, but I just noticed that if I save using the in-game saving (at an Inn, for example), it doesn't take. I can only load games from states and no saved games appear when I try to load games normally in-game. How do I fix this?

Also an observation. I use the Water A background effect and I noticed that if I disable sound in ZSNES, the animation for Water A slows down a LOT. Personally, I think it looks better when it's slowed down like that, but just a heads up that it does happen. Perhaps it should be slow instead of fast by default?

Thanks in advance.

[Johan_H]

I've never had this problem with previous versions of ZSNES, but I just noticed that if I save using the in-game saving (at an Inn, for example), it doesn't take. I can only load games from states and no saved games appear when I try to load games normally in-game. How do I fix this?

You make sure that the save folder (wherever your .srm-files go) is writeable.

[Sessh]

You make sure that the save folder (wherever your .srm-files go) is writeable.

I don't have a "save" folder. The SRM's have always saved in the ROM folder of the game that is being saved. There is an .SRM file in the folder of the game in question, but it isn't recognized. If I load the game in an earlier version of ZSNES, it finds it.

I have the ZSNES 1.51 folder in a different place than the roms. Would this affect things? I have it in a different place just because it's easier to get to the movie file after recording/dumping. Should I move it into the same folder that the ROM folders are in and replace the older version or would this not matter? If so, could ZSNES have it's own folder among the ROM folders? The old version of ZSNES doesn't have it's own folder where the ROM folders are.

Sorry if I'm asking too many questions.

[Agozer]

Do you have any lines set to 1 under the Saves section in Zsnesw.cfg (other than SRMState=)? Have you defined a save path/ROM path? I'm assuming you are using the Windows version.

[Sessh]

Do you have any lines set to 1 under the Saves section in Zsnesw.cfg (other than SRMState=)? Have you defined a save path/ROM path? I'm assuming you are using the Windows version.

Yes, I am using the Windows version. I haven't changed anything under "Saves" in zsnesw.cfg and I don't think I defined a save path/ROM path. I never had to? If I go to load a ROM, it pulls up the right directory, so I don't have to search to find them. Here is a copy/paste of the "Saves" section of zsnesw.cfg:

; ----
; -- Saves --
; ----

; Number of Rewind States [0..99]
RewindStates=8
; Delay between rewinds [1..99] - (1 = 200ms, 5 = 1s, 10 = 2s)
RewindFrames=15

; Don't Save SRAM (0 = NO, 1 = Yes)
; Only enable this if you don't want to Save SRAM at any given time.
; This option will make Update SRAM in Real-Time useless.
nosaveSRAM=0

; Update SRAM in Real-Time (0 = NO, 1 = Yes)
; This is useful if you fear something will prevent ZSNES from exiting normally.
; It is required to play games that store important values directly to SRAM.
; ZSNES normally updates SRAM on exit.
; If Don't Save SRAM is enabled, this option is useless.
SRAMSave5Sec=0

; Load SRAM w/Savestates (0 = No, 1 = YES)
; Enable this when you want to use the SRM that is stored within the savestate.
; Warning: You will overwrite the existing SRM that you are currently using.
; It is required to properly use states with games storing important values
; directly in SRM.
SRAMState=1

; Select Latest Save State Slot on Game Load (0 = NO, 1 = Yes)
; Enable this if you want to load the last saved savestate quickly
; (via the load savestate button/GUI option) after loading the game.
LatestSave=0

; Auto Increment State Slot First, then Save State (0 = NO, 1 = Yes)
; Enable this if you have a tendency in saving accidentally to an existing
; savestate.
AutoIncSaveSlot=0

; Save in 10 save block (0 = NO, 1 = Yes)
; This may be handy if you want to save within a block (0-9, 10-19, etc.)
AutoIncSaveSlotBlock=0

; Auto State Save/Load (0 = NO, 1 = Yes) - uses a special state
; Enable this if you wish a special state to be saved on a visit to the GUI.
; This state will automatically be loaded when you load a game.
AutoState=0

; Pause Emulation After Loading a Save State (0 = NO, 1 = Yes)
PauseLoad=0
; Pause Emulation After Using Rewind (0 = NO, 1 = Yes)
PauseRewind=0

I haven't changed anything, so that is all default as far as I know.

[Agozer]

If only just for a test run (or shits and giggles, whichever you prefer) Go to Config --> Paths and define a save directory. Put some SRAM files and savestates in there, load some games and see if saving and loading in-game saves/savestates works.

[Sessh]

If only just for a test run (or shits and giggles, whichever you prefer) Go to Config --> Paths and define a save directory. Put some SRAM files and savestates in there, load some games and see if saving and loading in-game saves/savestates works.

Okay, so I messed around with that a little. I tried defining a save directory (I created the folder first) and put the SRM for the game I'm playing in it with no change. There are still no saved games, just three free slots. I went to the inn to save after each thing I've tried to see if it would take and none worked. I've had no problems loading/saving states, but after I specified a save directory, ZSNES was unable to load a state. Blanking out the save game directory in config fixed that. I tried putting ZSNES in the same directory (all files) with the ROMs and running it from there to see if that would change anything, but the keyboard became totally unresponsive when I ran it this way and had to end it's process. I put the old ZSNES files in a temp folder so there would be no interference. I put everything back the way it was and now everything is fine.

It seems the "Save Game" directory might only apply to states and not SRM's. Wonder why the SRM's aren't saving?

[Gonzo]

Ok, I just had a look a the zsnesw.cfg file and there are a hell of a lot more options in there then I remember (I haven't messed around with my config file since zsnes 1.337).

If you go to the "Saves" section of the file (about halfway down the page, below the "Sound" section) there are some options there like;

; Don't Save SRAM (0 = NO, 1 = Yes)

; Update SRAM in Real-Time (0 = NO, 1 = Yes)


I guess you could change the values of some of these options and see if that helps any.


A couple of sections down in there is a "Paths" section where you can set where in game saves, save states and snapshots are saved and loaded. If you want to set up your paths manually, you can do it from there.

*EDIT*
Yeah, I probably should have read your second post.

[Agozer]

It seems the "Save Game" directory might only apply to states and not SRM's.

The save path applies to both, not just states.

Are you typing the path correctly, e.g. C:\PATH\TO\SAVES\, and are you sure that the folder isn't read-only?

[Sessh]

The save path applies to both, not just states.

Are you typing the path correctly, e.g. C:\PATH\TO\SAVES\, and are you sure that the folder isn't read-only?

Yes, I typed the path correctly (and it was a long one). As far as it being read-only, that's not it either. All folders in XP have the "Read-Only" option shaded green, but this is apparently ignored by the system. If I click the box once, it removes the shading. Even if I click apply and OK, the shading is back as soon as I check properties again. If I click twice, once to remove the shading and then an additional time, a check mark appears there which does make it read-only. I haven't had a problem with this until the new ZSNES version, so I doubt this is the problem as I've used XP for many years. Having this box shaded green does not prevent me from moving, deleting, copying, renaming or any other changes being made to files in the folder or the folder itself.

I did a little experimenting though. I went into the ROM directory and moved the existing SRM so there wasn't one in the folder. I then went into the game, saved at an inn, and checked for a new SRM file and indeed there was a new SRM there. However, it is either blank or not being read because there are still three "free" slots if I try to load progress in-game. The only difference is the old SRM appears like this: "7THSAGA.SRM" and the new one appeared like this: "7THSAGA.srm". Doesn't seem like an important difference, but it does prove that ZSNES is at least creating an SRM, but it's either not reading it properly or it's an empty SRM.

[Agozer]

Did you make a "clean install" of ZSNES (i.e. extract ZSNES to a new, pristine folder) or did you simply overwrite the old executable and other files with the new ones when you switched to ZSNES 1.51?

EDIT: Are any of the boxes ticked in Config --> Saves? What happens if you tick Check SRAM+Save and then save in-game?

[Sessh]

Did you make a "clean install" of ZSNES (i.e. extract ZSNES to a new, pristine folder) or did you simply overwrite the old executable and other files with the new ones when you switched to ZSNES 1.51?

EDIT: Are any of the boxes ticked in Config --> Saves? What happens if you tick Check SRAM+Save and then save in-game?

Due to the new recording features in the latest version, I put it into it's own new folder to avoid confusion and to ensure that it worked properly. Nothing was overwritten. The old ZSNES version is where the ROM folders are, but the ZSNES files aren't in a folder. They are just there. The new ZSNES is in a folder and is in a different location than the ROMs.

I tried ticking that box and it had no effect. "Load Savestate w/SRAM" is the only other box checked in the config/saves screen.