SNES Save State Test core

[paulbnl]

Hi,

I have been busy working on save states for the SNES core. It is done in a way that is more like how it would be done on real hardware like with an SD2SNES. It overrides the NMI interrupt and runs some code on the SNES to save the state.

Here is your chance to help test the feature. You will need the attached SNES core and then load the savestates.bin file with "Load SS bin" before loading a game. This only needs to be done once. Edit: savestates.bin is now auto loaded as boot1.rom

Also currently the unstable Main is needed otherwise loading the bin file won't work. It can be found at the bottom of this link: Edit: Unstable is not needed anymore since Main release 20241227

Source:
https://github.com/paulb-nl/SNES_MiSTer/tree/ss_wip

2025-2-9 Fix settings loading
2025-2-7 Supports SA1+DSP+Super FX

SNES_ss_20250209.zip

(1.93 MiB) Downloaded 112 times

SNES_ss_20250207.zip

(1.92 MiB) Downloaded 73 times

[gamesfan]

Wow! This is amazing and I tested it on a few games including some MSU ones.
No issues so far!
Thank you so much for your efforts and sharing.

[PikWik]

while i personally dont use save states, this is a very anticipated release and will absolutely be appreciated by my fellow kaizo enthusiasts

fantastic work, Paul

[ItalianGrandma]

Really amazing! I'll definitely try this out soon!

[Wave]

Whoa, never expected this. Nice work!!

Is this expected to merge into mainline eventually?

[amano]

Wow, that came out of the realm of unexpectedness. The always great paubl-nl to the rescue

[Dudu]

What an amazing job! I've always been waiting for this moment! I've tested several games! I haven't had any problems with any of them!

[Neocaron]

I have tested it on a few games and no problem so far, this is awesome! Bravo!

[HuggingIntense]

found one game that doesn't work with ss...Garou Densetsu Special.

[mook8515]

Thank you for the update! But I’m confused I cannot find unstable Main. Is this from the mister-unstable-nightlies github? Is this referring to an unstable build of the SNES core?

EDIT: instructions are posted here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ9H_3AcSC8.
You have to override the "MiSTer" file on root of sd card with the unstable version found on discord.

[lordelan]

Hi,

I have been busy working on save states for the SNES core. It is done in a way that is more like how it would be done on real hardware like with an SD2SNES. It overrides the NMI interrupt and runs some code on the SNES to save the state.

Here is your chance to help test the feature. You will need the attached SNES core and then load the savestates.bin file with "Load SS bin" before loading a game. This only needs to be done once.

Also currently the unstable Main is needed otherwise loading the bin file won't work.

Are you serious? You drop one of the most anticipated features so casually?

This is nothing short of amazing! Thank you so much! Hopefully bugs can be ironed out and this can somehow find its way into the main repo.

[iamTeddyNL]

Hi paul, I want to start off with my sincere appreciation to you and also srg320 for the efforts on the SNES core. It is nothing short of amazing. I will gladly assist in testing. Does this core have any known/intended limitations, eg for special chip support?

[Wabbajack]

Hi paulbnl, I have tested your implementation of savestates and it's working like a charm! Tested on well knows gmes as SMA, SMW, Super Metroid, DKC1/2/3... all is working perfectly and no issue founded

[PixelCherryNinja]

Thanks Paul

If you have a Patreon/KoFi please let me know, so that I can add it to video descriptions.

[lordelan]

Thanks Paul

If you have a Patreon/KoFi please let me know, so that I can add it to video descriptions.

PCN my boy. Are you showing this off in a new video? =)

[PixelCherryNinja]

Thanks Paul

If you have a Patreon/KoFi please let me know, so that I can add it to video descriptions.

PCN my boy. Are you showing this off in a new video? =)

Video just dropped
https://youtu.be/MZ9H_3AcSC8?si=JeyxJNkWKeH3mrav

[Newsdee]

Amazing addition, well done!

[lordelan]

Thanks Paul

If you have a Patreon/KoFi please let me know, so that I can add it to video descriptions.

PCN my boy. Are you showing this off in a new video? =)

Video just dropped
https://youtu.be/MZ9H_3AcSC8?si=JeyxJNkWKeH3mrav

Nice, something to pretend me from working.

[MiSSes]

You are my hero. Keep on keeping on!

[holaplaneta]

This is nothing short of amazing! Thank you!!!! Been waiting for 6 years for this! You made my 2024. Keep up the great work.

[xstahsie]

This is amazing Are there any plans to release this for the Analogue Pocket ?

[Escape-To-88]

Anyone else having issues with this saving and the QMTech clone board? I'm guessing a RAM issue?

[Waifu4Life]

Here is your chance to help test the feature. You will need the attached SNES core and then load the savestates.bin file with "Load SS bin" before loading a game. This only needs to be done once.

Once per session or once per game?

[Retro-Nerd]

As he said. Only once. Not per session or game. Load "savestates.bin" file once and you can save & load the states for all games.

[Follow]

Anyone else having issues with this saving and the QMTech clone board? I'm guessing a RAM issue?

Me, glitches and crash any rom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rLcFAwZoW0

[jandal]

Ive installed and will test. This looks fantastic!

one more general question: how come these kind of things dont appear as PRs or forks on the main mister github? Is it just that OP keeps it private/local until theyre ready to do that?

[gamesfan]

Works really well on most games, I did find that mortal Kombat 2 will not work with save states , saving or restoring doesn’t seem to work. Others have said games with special chips may not work but I was not aware of MK2 being a special chip game.
All others I have tested so far work fine it seems .

Great work!

[SwedishGojira]

It would be interesting to know more bout how this is done. Will it be able to set the chips into the correct states when loading a savestate, since I believe that was what they had trouble with for the flashcarts?

You can read about the method used for SD2SNES here, as I understand it is similar.

[Gymcrash]

Is there a patreon or kofi for you paul? I would like to donate as I had a personal bounty for anyone who solved this!

[Follow]

More test:
https://youtu.be/BOws_FCcxhE

Used same rom Contra (PixelCherryNinja) crash
Donkey Kong 2 glitch/crash
Super Mario World 2 , save "disabled"

I can't say if it's Qmtech's memory, the states of the other cores are working.