Saving game progress on the Sega Saturn

[lordnikon]

I own a Saturn, and have for a few years now. I don't have a ram cart for it yet, and the internal battery has been drained since I first got it.

How does saving games on the Saturn work? Do only certain games support saving? Out of the saturn games I own i never see a menu on it prompting to save.

[Masked Avenger]

Saves are automatic with most Saturn games. But you need a new battery to get that internal clock and save memory operational. As it is, the Saturn will forget everything you done and saved after you turn it off.

Perhaps if you listed your games, I could give you more info. If you have tons of games, just list the ones you play the most.

[Doom Gaze]

Unfortunately, it's inevitable that the Saturn loses everything once every two or three years. It's a side effect o that battery, which eventually always runs out.

I don't know about the reliability of the Sega Memory Cart, which is near impossible to find. The third party ones are supposedly dubious, though I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted by the 4-in-one Action Replay.

[Masked Avenger]

Unfortunately, it's inevitable that the Saturn loses everything once every two or three years. It's a side effect o that battery, which eventually always runs out.

I don't know about the reliability of the Sega Memory Cart, which is near impossible to find. The third party ones are supposedly dubious, though I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted by the 4-in-one Action Replay.

The cart is reliable. What is not reliable is the cheap cart connector in the Saturn which tends to get worn out quickly. If you got a cart, it's best to leave it there and never touch it again.

[Nez]

Unfortunately, it's inevitable that the Saturn loses everything once every two or three years. It's a side effect o that battery, which eventually always runs out.

I don't know about the reliability of the Sega Memory Cart, which is near impossible to find. The third party ones are supposedly dubious, though I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted by the 4-in-one Action Replay.

The cart is reliable. What is not reliable is the cheap cart connector in the Saturn which tends to get worn out quickly. If you got a cart, it's best to leave it there and never touch it again.

But that then loosens up the metal connectors.

The battery lasts 2-3 years if your lucky, mine lasted a little more then a year.

[roushimsx]

IIRC if you leave the system plugged in then it won't dump the save memory/clock settings and the battery will last longer, but you need to have a UPS or some such to be safe.

...but yea, CR2032s are cheap (I just picked up a bunch for my VMUs because I'm tired of the damned beeping).

those official Sega backup carts are nice (I'd love to find one in the wild sometime), but if you have to go with a third party...eh...go for it. While it will loosen up those pins, you probably won't be removing the cart (ever), so it shouldn't be much of an issue from a playability standpoint.

[lordnikon]

The games I want to save are:

GunGriffon
GunGriffon II
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei

The rest of my saturn games are arcade games. So I don't really need to save them. Plus for the shmups I record my highscores in a spreadsheet file anyways.

But the above 3 games, I would like to play through and atleast save my progress. I don't need it "perminantly" saved. Just enough so I can play and pick up again where I started the next day.

Will replacing the internal battery help me achieve this? If so, that would be great.

[roushimsx]

Will replacing the internal battery help me achieve this? If so, that would be great.

Yea, it's ninja easy to do, too. Just open the back hatch, pop the old one out and the new one in.

You might want to see if another collector locally has a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga so you can just go ahead and unlock Pandra's Box without having to play for a set amount of time. It's fun to just play with the options and fart around sometimes :)

edit - Do you even save in Gungriffon? It's been a while since I've played it; I thought that you just selected which mission you wanted to play from the get-go.

[smork]

The Sega backup carts are hard to find? I see them all the freakin time -- own two myself.

Anyway, replacing the CR2032 is the way to go, and super easy. I did it in about 10 minutes, and that includes running to the store for the battery.

[RegSNES]

I just started playing my Saturn for the first time this past week and I was wondering the same thing: how to save games on this system. Though for games like Virtua Fighter Remix/Kids and Daytona USA, I guess game saves aren't really needed. Guess I need to find that RAM cart.

[Zadoc]

I just started playing my Saturn for the first time this past week and I was wondering the same thing: how to save games on this system. Though for games like Virtua Fighter Remix/Kids and Daytona USA, I guess game saves aren't really needed. Guess I need to find that RAM cart.

Dude... just replace the battery.

[XYXZYZ]

I have a Japanese Sega RAM cart... which the guy included for free with the Dungeons & Dragons collection I scored for a mere $60.00 moments after the auction was posted 8-)

It does a nice job saving all my pathetic Batsugun scores. :(

[alec006]

Replacing the battery is very easy,mines lasted a year so far and i have alot of CR2032s in stock so im prepaired.

[Zilla]

This may sound dumb but if the battery is dead and you reset the time and date each time you play to the right time and date will it save to the memory cart correctly or does a new battery always have to be there to keep up the saves. I know everyone said use a new battery but I am not a big fan of popping open my consoles because with my luck I'll just break something.

[Steven]

lol... true story... I played Saturn severely over the years, but have yet to even get a battery (since I played non-RPG games, mostly played arcade titles)

I've had my Saturn since 1999...

[Malon_Forever]

I have a question to kind of add on to this. Anyway, can you save in Bug! or Panzer Dragoon (the first one). I have a good battery with other saves on it, and a 4-in-1 Ram Cart, but I was just wondering if you can save in these games. It seems like you can't but just double checking.

[Masked Avenger]

This may sound dumb but if the battery is dead and you reset the time and date each time you play to the right time and date will it save to the memory cart correctly or does a new battery always have to be there to keep up the saves. I know everyone said use a new battery but I am not a big fan of popping open my consoles because with my luck I'll just break something.

New battery needs to be there.

BTW, you don't need to get the screwdiver to change the battery. There's a little in the back of the console, maybe 3 x 2 inch. That's where the battery is located.


I have a question to kind of add on to this. Anyway, can you save in Bug! or Panzer Dragoon (the first one). I have a good battery with other saves on it, and a 4-in-1 Ram Cart, but I was just wondering if you can save in these games. It seems like you can't but just double checking.

My memory is fuzzy, but I think you can save your progress in Bug! Panzer Dragoon doesn't save your progress (the game is relatively short), but it will remember your other settings, I think.

[Xizer]

I like how in used Saturns I always find the batteries completely unused with that little tape thing not pulled out. Did nobody read their instruction manual or open up their Saturn and have a look around back in the days? LOL

That's the first thing I do with every new system I get. I open up all the ports, then open the whole system up and have a look around.

[shadowkn55]

The 4-in-1 carts like the Action Replay Plus don't allow for direct save like the Sega RAM cart. It can be used to 'archive' old saves if your internal ram gets full. Your best bet is to replace your internal battery and get the Sega RAM cart. The only problem with the RAM is that if you play imports, you'll need to swap in the RAM cart after you use the converter.

[Malon_Forever]

I have a question to kind of add on to this. Anyway, can you save in Bug! or Panzer Dragoon (the first one). I have a good battery with other saves on it, and a 4-in-1 Ram Cart, but I was just wondering if you can save in these games. It seems like you can't but just double checking.

My memory is fuzzy, but I think you can save your progress in Bug! Panzer Dragoon doesn't save your progress (the game is relatively short), but it will remember your other settings, I think.

I was just thinking, if you didn't have a lot of room left on the internal memory, would it prevent saving? I'll move all my memory to my 4-in-1 cart to see. Thanks.

[Masked Avenger]

I have a question to kind of add on to this. Anyway, can you save in Bug! or Panzer Dragoon (the first one). I have a good battery with other saves on it, and a 4-in-1 Ram Cart, but I was just wondering if you can save in these games. It seems like you can't but just double checking.

My memory is fuzzy, but I think you can save your progress in Bug! Panzer Dragoon doesn't save your progress (the game is relatively short), but it will remember your other settings, I think.

I was just thinking, if you didn't have a lot of room left on the internal memory, would it prevent saving? I'll move all my memory to my 4-in-1 cart to see. Thanks.

Yes, it would prevent saving. A few games takes enormous amount of saving space, but typically, the internal of the Saturn can hold around 15-20 game saves.

[j_factor]

The games I want to save are:

GunGriffon

The manual (am I the only person who reads these things?) states: "Missions cleared, Options settings and high scores are automatically saved to your Sega Saturn RAM. To avoid the possibility of corrupting this data, always return to the Gungriffron Title screen before turning off your Sega Saturn."

You will have to have a working battery. The game doesn't support directly saving to the Sega cart, but you can transfer your save file back and forth to any cart if need be. Just make sure you transfer it back to system memory when you play the game again, or it will create a new save file.


GunGriffon II

I don't own this game, and it's been years since I've played it, but I think it's the same as the first.


Panzer Dragoon II Zwei

This game saves, but not automatically. Saving is required for the "player data" section in the options menu, as well as the "pandora's box" (which opens when you beat the game). To save, select "save end" from the game over screen. I think it's also in the pause screen, but I can't remember for sure. When you save, you can come back later and continue from the start of the last level you were in.

[Malon_Forever]

I have a question to kind of add on to this. Anyway, can you save in Bug! or Panzer Dragoon (the first one). I have a good battery with other saves on it, and a 4-in-1 Ram Cart, but I was just wondering if you can save in these games. It seems like you can't but just double checking.

My memory is fuzzy, but I think you can save your progress in Bug! Panzer Dragoon doesn't save your progress (the game is relatively short), but it will remember your other settings, I think.

I was just thinking, if you didn't have a lot of room left on the internal memory, would it prevent saving? I'll move all my memory to my 4-in-1 cart to see. Thanks.

Yes, it would prevent saving. A few games takes enormous amount of saving space, but typically, the internal of the Saturn can hold around 15-20 game saves.

Thanks!

[Masked Avenger]

Don't mention it! But stop polluting star systems, Malon.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Malon

;)

[Malon_Forever]

Don't mention it! But stop polluting star systems, Malon.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Malon

;)

Ha! My screen name is from Zelda. Malon from Lon Lon Ranch.

http://forums.nesfiles.com/images/avatars/136373153428169185beb1.gif

[lordnikon]

Ok i just replaced the battery, and GunGriffon II and Panzer Dragoon 2 Zwei saved fine.

I heard some in the thread state that the battery lasts about a few years if your lucky. Is this for a saturn that is used regularly? or one that sits on a collectors shelf? I play my saturn on a pretty regular basis. Will it last a year atleast?

[roushimsx]

I heard some in the thread state that the battery lasts about a few years if your lucky. Is this for a saturn that is used regularly? or one that sits on a collectors shelf? I play my saturn on a pretty regular basis. Will it last a year atleast?

the biggest problem I've had was when I had my Saturn unplugged for long periods of time. Batteries died like crazy for some reason, go figure :)

If you leave it plugged in, you'll be fine.