Saving Games In WinUAE

[sonninnos]

Directory filesystem is just a directory that is mounted as a harddisk in WinUAE. It won't be simple to configure with an external launcher though..

I've made my own emulator launcher abstractor which upon launch via EmulationStation goes like this:
- ES scans a directory full of ".whd" files (the extension does not matter, it can be anything, as long as ES scans it), which only contain the name of the wanted directory and is named such, like "Syndicate.whd" has just "Syndicate" inside as plain text
- That plain text will be written to a file called "whdboot" inside a path that is mounted as a directory filesystem
- Amiga is launched with just the default config resembling an exact A1200 I have IRL
- Startup-sequence will examine if the "whdboot" is found, and if so, reads the innards, chdirs to that directory and executes a predefined script, which includes "whdload whatever.slave preload etc."

And in WinUAE I have a boot.hdf mounted as DH0:, game directory as DH1: and a temp directory as DH2:

Sure there are hoops. But there is no clear cut way even with single HDF's without renaming and editing stuff inside the Amiga. This way I get the best of both worlds: Either start a config like I would start a real Amiga, or I can launch a game directly.

And of course if game specific savestates are also wanted (and why would they not), that needs to be defined as a parameter to WinUAE also. Too bad if a savestate path is defined, WinUAE will autoload it directly. An option for that would be great.

[Ceason87]

Originally Posted by sonninnos

Directory filesystem is just a directory that is mounted as a harddisk in WinUAE. It won't be simple to configure with an external launcher though..

I've made my own emulator launcher abstractor which upon launch via EmulationStation goes like this:
- ES scans a directory full of ".whd" files (the extension does not matter, it can be anything, as long as ES scans it), which only contain the name of the wanted directory and is named such, like "Syndicate.whd" has just "Syndicate" inside as plain text
- That plain text will be written to a file called "whdboot" inside a path that is mounted as a directory filesystem
- Amiga is launched with just the default config resembling an exact A1200 I have IRL
- Startup-sequence will examine if the "whdboot" is found, and if so, reads the innards, chdirs to that directory and executes a predefined script, which includes "whdload whatever.slave preload etc."

And in WinUAE I have a boot.hdf mounted as DH0:, game directory as DH1: and a temp directory as DH2:

Sure there are hoops. But there is no clear cut way even with single HDF's without renaming and editing stuff inside the Amiga. This way I get the best of both worlds: Either start a config like I would start a real Amiga, or I can launch a game directly.

And of course if game specific savestates are also wanted (and why would they not), that needs to be defined as a parameter to WinUAE also. Too bad if a savestate path is defined, WinUAE will autoload it directly. An option for that would be great.

looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me then thanks so much for all the help. I'll let you know how I get on

[solarmon]

@sonninnos

Sounds similar to what I was working on:

https://github.com/solarmon/WHDLoad-Game-Launcher

[solarmon]

@Ceason87

I'm not familiar with the Hyperspin setup, but with WHDLoad you can specify directory/path location for saves.

See SaveDir and SavePath options:

http://whdload.de/docs/en/opt.html#SaveDir

[Ceason87]

Originally Posted by solarmon

@Ceason87

I'm not familiar with the Hyperspin setup, but with WHDLoad you can specify directory/path location for saves.

See SaveDir and SavePath options:

http://whdload.de/docs/en/opt.html#SaveDir

Thanks this really helped a lot

[Ceason87]

Problem Resolved Many Thanks To Everyone Who Helped.


What worked for me is listed below incase anyone else ever suffers this issue.


1. Locate your WHDLoad.prefs file in WHD\S directory within your WinUAE folder.


2. Open WHDLoad.prefs with Notepad.


3. Change ;NoWriteCache to NoWriteCache


4. Change ;SavePath=SYS:WHDSaves to SavePath=S:WHDSaves


5. Create a folder called WHDSaves in WHD\S directory (same folder that contains WHDLoad.prefs)


That's it games now automatically save to this location instead of the game file even when running from .zip files


P.S. You may experience the screen flickering / freezing for a few seconds when saving / loading games but it's nothing to worry about.

[solarmon]

Glad you got it working!

Note, the save directory can be anywhere, it doesn't need to be in the same directory as WHDLoad.prefs. It just needs to be reachable and writeable.

[Ceason87]

Originally Posted by solarmon

Glad you got it working!

Note, the save directory can be anywhere, it doesn't need to be in the same directory as WHDLoad.prefs. It just needs to be reachable and writeable.

I just couldn't be bothered trying to figure out another location i will change if to a better location eventually just thought i would put an easy location that i know works in my explanation aswell.

Thanks for all the help though it's really appreciated as i would still be trying to rack my brains to figure it out without everyone's help.

[sonninnos]

Originally Posted by solarmon

@sonninnos

Sounds similar to what I was working on:

https://github.com/solarmon/WHDLoad-Game-Launcher

Nice one! That's a pretty comprehensive solution. I've been using this blunt but adequate instrument of mine for many years now.

Originally Posted by solarmon

@Ceason87

I'm not familiar with the Hyperspin setup, but with WHDLoad you can specify directory/path location for saves.

See SaveDir and SavePath options:

http://whdload.de/docs/en/opt.html#SaveDir

This is indeed a great feature/find I've never even thought of using/needing let alone remembered existing. The ability to use archives properly is very handy to have.

Originally Posted by Ceason87

Thanks for all the help though it's really appreciated as i would still be trying to rack my brains to figure it out without everyone's help.

I'll have a small drink to success then, cheers!

[Ceason87]

Have a drink for me aswell as i don't drink.

Thanks again to everyone who helped it's really appreciated and i couldn't have done it without you help.

Hopefully i'll be able to return the favour should you need help in the future