I made an online tool that converts save files to emulator formats

[EuanF]

The tool supports all the common formats for NES/SNES/GBA/N64/TG-16/SMS/Genesis/Neo Geo/PS1 saves found on sites like GameFAQs.

You can check it out at https://savefileconverter.com/

I found that saves on those sites are often in largely-unhelpful legacy formats like DexDrive or Wii Virtual Console. This site will convert those files into "regular" saves that can be directly loaded by an emulator. Many flash carts can also use files in this same format, and they can also be written to real carts/memory cards.

There's also a couple of firsts here: TG-16 saves in Wii VC format couldn't be loaded by any save converter that I'm aware of, and JanErikGunner on github recently figured out the format and this is the only implementation I'm aware of. Also, eeprom saves within an N64 dexdrive/controller pak file used to require editing in a hex editor to be usable in an emulator and this tool will output a file that requires no editing.

I also included a list of places I've found to download save files, which I've found useful when searching for a particular game.

Now you can unlock all the cheats in GoldenEye 64, unlock all the extra levels in Yoshi's Island on SNES, or unlock the 4 swords palace in Link to the Past on GBA.

Everything is open source and the code can be found at https://github.com/euan-forrester/save-file-converter

Have I missed any formats? Anything else I should add?

 

[sudeki300]

this looks like a cool tool, i have a GBA flashcard save that wont work with any emulators on my android phone. might have to give this a whirl. i'll let you know how i get on.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Have I missed any formats? Anything else I should add?

NDS? There are a few different formats used by different flashcarts and yet another different format used by Action Replay. There is already this site which covers NDS but it'd be nice to have everything in one: https://www.shunyweb.info/convert.php

 

[EuanF]

this looks like a cool tool, i have a GBA flashcard save that wont work with any emulators on my android phone. might have to give this a whirl. i'll let you know how i get on.

Yeah it seems that some GBA flash carts have a special format that's different from the "regular" emulator format. If you're interested, I'd love to get an example from you of the same game saved on that flash cart and an emulator, along with the name of the flash cart & the game.

I can't promise anything anytime soon, but eventually I'd like to improve the Troubleshooting tool on this site to be able to automatically recognize and strip (or re-add) the header added by these flash carts.

NDS? There are a few different formats used by different flashcarts and yet another different format used by Action Replay. There is already this site which covers NDS but it'd be nice to have everything in one: https://www.shunyweb.info/convert.php

Yeah I have a link to that one and a few others here: https://savefileconverter.com/#/other-converters

Right now I'm mostly interesting in making available the legacy save files on sites like gamefaqs, but I agree it would be nice one day to have everything in one place!

 

[Necron]

Pretty neat! especially the PS1.
Any chances for PS2 support?

 

[EuanF]

Pretty neat! especially the PS1.
Any chances for PS2 support?

Thanks!

Yeah, PS2 support is on the horizon for sure, especially since it's a popular console and the current tool (MyMC) is a bit old.

Currently I'm working on making it easier to decrypt PSP saves, so I don't have any sort of timeline but it's probably next on the list after that!

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Yeah it seems that some GBA flash carts have a special format that's different from the "regular" emulator format. If you're interested, I'd love to get an example from you of the same game saved on that flash cart and an emulator, along with the name of the flash cart & the game.

I can't promise anything anytime soon, but eventually I'd like to improve the Troubleshooting tool on this site to be able to automatically recognize and strip (or re-add) the header added by these flash carts.



Yeah I have a link to that one and a few others here: https://savefileconverter.com/#/other-converters

Right now I'm mostly interesting in making available the legacy save files on sites like gamefaqs, but I agree it would be nice one day to have everything in one place!

Is it possible to convert between 64K and 128K flash GBA saves? Depending on your emulator and how it's configured your saves could be either, and if you change the setting later or switch to a different emulator that uses a different size it breaks your existing saves.

 

[EuanF]

Is it possible to convert between 64K and 128K flash GBA saves? Depending on your emulator and how it's configured your saves could be either, and if you change the setting later or switch to a different emulator that uses a different size it breaks your existing saves.

Hm, interesting usecase, and yeah GBA save sizes are a pain for sure.

Yeah, you can use a workaround on the site by converting it to Gameshark and then back again. You can select the size when you make the conversion.

I'll have to file this one away for further thought: making a whole screen just for this seems like overkill, but it's an interesting usecase.

 

[Shadow#1]

It be nice if it was a Java or other non internet format

 

[EuanF]

It be nice if it was a Java or other non internet format

Is your concern being able to use it without an Internet connection? Everything on the site works in offline mode, and there's no server backend.

 

[SkyPioneer]

Very cool project!

 

[TonyNESgri]

.sav (Daedalus X64 for 3DS) please

 

[EuanF]

That's an N64 emulator running on 3DS? If it doesn't load raw save files, then I'd recommend petitioning the devs of that emulator to allow loading of raw saves, then using this tool to convert the saves you're interested in into their raw format.

 

[ActC00l]

I'm going to use this great tool for Super Mario Kart and some other games.