Cannot Save in VBA

[Akito]

The game reports it has saved, when it has not. After booting the game back up, I go to open up a save game, and there is nothing in the save game dialog. What am I doing wrong?

[Cypherswipe]

You might need to play around with the save type settings, the automatic function doesn't always work. It might also be a problem with that particular game. For better help, you'll need to tell us what game/games give you this problem, and any other useful info you can provide.

[Akito]

Ok -
Game - Advance Wars 2
VB - VBA 1.6
Gameboy 'setting' is - automatic

[Forgotten]

Do not use version 1.6, use 1.6a.

[Akito]

Ok, I'll check it out.

Just curious, what kind of works goes into an EMU Forgotten? I've always been impressed with programmers like you guys. Do you reverse engineer?

[NguyenPhuKhoa]

I play FFTA (U) and cant save too! Use save state solve the problem!

[Akito]

The english version of FFTA isn't out yet, is it? I've been waiting for this game ever since I bought a GBA. According to EBgames, it's not, but what's the "U" stand for? I know what the "J" is, and that's all I've been able to find.

[Cypherswipe]

Yes, it is out, but only a few sites have it yet. The letters refer to the coutry in which the version of the game was produced for "U" stands for US, "E" stands for Europe, "J" is Japan, G=Germany, I=Italy, F=France, S=spain, etc. (Most people think that the letters stand for the language and that "J" is Japanese and "E" is English. While this is effectively true, it isn't actually true, and leaves people dumbfounded when they see "U".) Most games are only released in J,E, or U, but occaisionally you get one like Pokemon R/S which instead of having a single multi-lingual edition for europe had a seperate version for each country/language.

[Akito]

Thank you SO MUCH for clearing that up!

[Musashi]

I'm using VBA1.6a and Tactics Ogre don't save the game,

[NguyenPhuKhoa]

I have the rom since several days ago... ummm i mean FFTA (U). Cool game!

[Akito]

I've been looking around. Like I said, eb doesn't have it but I couldn't find it online either.

[Cypherswipe]

Looks like it hasn't been officially released yet. It's release date is 9/8/03~9/9/03, until then you have to pre-order it.
A couple sites you can order it from:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2309853&cat=77171&type=22&dept=2636&path=0%3A2636%3A55359%3A77171%3A63387
http://www.buy.com/ugo/retail/product.asp?sku=50014455

...Or just wait till the 8th or 9th and then check your local stores.


For those of you having the save problems,
IMPORTANT
As the USA Version of FFTA had the same saveproblems as the japanese one, it didnt save properly on card..
You can download a savefix to fix it here! (http://gba-nfo.com/content/gba/patches/Final_Fantasy_Tactics_SAVEFIX_USA_GBA-iND.zip)

MODS: I don't think that link will be a problem since it's just for a patch and not a rom, but you can edit it out if you disagree.

[Forgotten]

It works fine as far as I can tell. The only problem you may have is if the flash size is set to 1M (128K) instead of 512K (64k). You can see this by looking at the size of the .sav file.

You may also have the wrong save type selected.

If the problem continues, use the bug report function to provide details.

[CharlieF]

I had problems saving with FFTA (U) because I had the flash size set to 128k and "automatic." I had assumed "automatic" would override the flash size settings. My bad. Setting the flash size to 64k allows me to save in that game ... and Sword of Mana (J) ... which was giving me the same problem.

P.S.: What games require a 128k setting anyway?

[Cypherswipe]

Pokemon ruby/sapphire for one. I've also seen a few others, but I can't think of them atm.

[kenmasters1983]

use visual boy advance 1.51 it saves ALL my games with out messsing with the settings i got 8 hours loggged on tactics and it saves EVERY time i tell it to...it also save pokemon,,and tactics ogre so go to a 1.51 if your having problems saving.....

[Forgotten]

It is not because of the version of VBA that flash size becomes a problem. VBA will try to use the right size depending on the .sav file regardless of the GUI setting.

This is so that you can get it to work and change back to the setting that works for most cases (automatic, flash size 64k).

[NguyenPhuKhoa]

automatic, flash size 64k and my FFTA (U) cant not save...since it's not a problem but can i ask why and how?

[Cypherswipe]

Are you using VBA 1.6a? If so, try checking or unchecking the enhanced detection option. If that doesn't work or if you're using an old version that doesn't have it, try changing automatic to something specific, and try each specific on till you find one that works.
One other key thing: Make sure to start a new game when trying to get the save system to work. If you load a savestate from when the saving didn't work, the saving will continue to not work no matter what settings you choose. (I had that problem with metabots RPG, tinkering with the save settings allowed me to save properly, but If I loaded the savestate of the messed up game, it still wouldn't save.)


btw FFTA is supposed to be a 128Mbits game with flash savetype. As seen here: http://gba-nfo.com/gba_releases.php?name=Final_Fantasy_Tactics_Advanc e_USA_GBA-EURASIA
http://gba-nfo.com/gba_releases.php Has complete (or nearly complete) info on GBA games, whenever you're having save [problems, I recommend going there and seeing what the proper savetype/size is for the game in question. (They don't carry any roms, so the link should be safe.)

[Forgotten]

The flash size is dependent on the .sav file as well, so if the actual .sav file on the hard disk is 128K, then VBA will change the size to 128K and saving on FFTA will not work.

As for enhanced save detection, that has been removed from version 1.6a and the menu is always grayed.

[wishmaster_xp]

Probably just wishful thinking, but it can't hurt to ask:

So I've been playing a game for sometime now..unable to save in game, due to me incorrectly setting the save size to Flash 128k. So I've been using save states with no problems. But, after reading this thread I see my error, and feel rather silly. Is there anyway I can edit/convert my savestate to Flash 64 mode, so I can save in game?

Been playing this title long enough that starting over would be such a pain.. :(

[Cypherswipe]

Nope. The only way to change the savetype is to start a new game. If you load a savestate, it'll revert to the settings you used when you made the savestate. You're only choices at this point are to either continue using savestates or start over.

[rellikiller]

dis is da first time i have ever posted in my life.....i only want 2 ask one thing..where can i find vba 1.51??? im trying 2 find it but i cant can ne one please help me.....u guys rule