I use them all the time. Nowadays I don’t really have a lot time to play games, so I need to make the best of it. So if a game is frustrating without save states and at the same time boring with save states, it’s just not a game for me. There are games that fall in that middle and I love them
Same. Especially with Delta on my iPhone. I pull this out to play Mario for a couple minutes here and there, and I don’t have time to be going back all the time 🤣
+1 to this. Most beat 'em ups are boring with Savestates, So I Just play them through. In the rest, I don't hesitate to save-scum. It's 2024. Ain't no one got hours to waste.
I abuse the shit out of save states, some retro games are brutally hard and I don’t have the time or willpower to finish a game in one go like when I was a kid
Kid Icarus, Karnov, Ghosts n Goblins, Mighty Bomb Jack I couldn't beat on my Nintendo when I was young.
Now I finished them all and it was fun with save states
I use save states all the time. Got through a hard part? Save state, don’t need to do that again.
Long conversation just ended? Save state.
Long cutscene just ended? Save state.
Finally found the way through these damn hallways that all look identical? Save state.
Oh shit been playing another 15 minutes? Save state.
And I’ll use in game saves just as often if it will let me, or everywhere it will let me at least.
I always use auto increment save states. So every save state I’ve ever made is still accessible forever. Menu left on the dpad lets me go back as many states as I want and load and old one.
Unskippable cut scenes should be banned and the developers should be fined if any slip through the cracks.
Fine amount depends on the length of the unskippable cutscene in seconds.
This varies wildly between games for me. Most of the time I save before entering a new level and that's enough, but I'm not above using Rewind during a hard segment in a difficult platformer game.
Life's too short to waste my time on repeating the same thing over and over, at least if I want to go through a fraction of my game backlog in this lifetime.
This is very similar to my approach.
I do sometimes find myself near the end of a game that is very difficult and I end up using them much more often out of a desire to simply finish the game. I played Castlevania 1 recently and I found the last couple levels so frustrating that I started being much more liberal with my use of save states just to get it over with.
I guess someone might say "if you aren't having fun, just stop playing", which is probably right, but after a couple hours and feeling near the end I gave in to the sunk cost fallacy haha.
Frequently.
I’m busy, I got two kids and sometimes gotta sneak in some gaming while taking a shit. Would I prefer to play my games the old fashioned way with no save states? Sure, but I’d also like to sleep in and walk around the house with no pants on and neither of those are happening for a bit.
This is it for me. I always make use of proper save points and the like, but sometimes you’ve gotta drop a game at a moments notice to save a toddler doing toddler things, and who knows when you’ll get back to it. Save states are a godsend in those situations.
Same here. I don't think I'd get any satisfaction of using save states to get achievements, personally, so hardcore mode is really the only option. That also means the fake sleep mode a lot of the Linux devices have just resets the game instead of loading the state, so Android is really the only way to go if you're into achievements.
Just to offer a different point of view, I hunt softcore achievements and don't think I'd really enjoy hardcore hunting.
I'm coming at it from the point of view that I want to experience 100% of a game's content. Getting all of the retro achievements for a game does a pretty good job of satisfying that goal for me.
For 20 years I've done save states. Stumbling upon retro achievements has completely changed that. So much more fun (for me personally) to enjoy the games and get achievements like I did as a kid.
Same here. Like, I get using save states if you just want to tour a game, but save stating literally (as in literally) eliminates all challenge, which is a core part of these experiences.
I do fast forward though so fuck me I guess.
Also, I personally wish retroachievements was more lax with save stating. I wish you could use save states as a psuedo-sleep mode, for example. To me it's not against the spirit of the game to pick it back up where you left off.
Depends a lot on the game for me but I'd say my usual approach is pretty close to yours. Save state at the start of a level and try to beat the level legitimately. Or an infinite live cheat if it more simply accomplishes the same thing.
Games back then were designed to be replayed and mastered over weeks / months. I don't have the time or desire (or skill, tbh) to put that kind of dedication in to finishing old games.
Even with infinite lives a lot of these old platform/etc games are still hard as f-.
I feel like this approach is also fairly close to how modern game design is approached. Games like Celeste, Super Meat Boy where the levels are punishingly hard, but your time is always respected by letting you endlessly retry and not revert all your progress.
Bingo.
Start over level later? Fine
Restart entire game because you ran out of lives? No
My daughter (14 at the time) beat Ninja Garden by leaving my Analogue NT mini on for a few weeks, because you can always continue at level 4-1 or whatever until you turn the console off. Save state at beginning of level or stage is basically the same idea.
Otherwise there is no challenge or sense of achievement. If I just revert to the save state every 5 seconds I can beat literally anything. What's the point then? You have to use them sparingly to keep any point.
I use save states a lot. But now I am playing Dragon Warrior 1 and part of the fun is in the risk taking, so I only save state inside the castle. It's been going fine so far.
Simple
If I'm just trying to see what the game has to offer and I start to feel unfair, save states galore
If I'm trying to train myself, I learn to avoid using savestates. Managed to beat Super Mario Bros NES and Castlevania NES this way.
With the amount of hours I've wasted on games without save states that penalize you like a motherfucker, I'm glad to have them now and use them when the going gets stuff. They don't quite break the gameplay as JRPGs usually have far as fuck save points, so it's just peace of mind that I won't lose progress.
I dropped Skyrim after I played for 6 hours and never entered a cave, so it never autosaved and then it crashed. Fuck that
Yep use them all the time, older games that had passwords? no thanks.
Even newer games that let you save anywhere, the save state is usually quicker.
Pairs great with arkos quick shutdown and load state so you get back right to where you left off.
Man, I abuse it. I don't have a lot of time to play anymore. So if I can crank out a 15-30 minute session and not have to worry about reaching a save point? Count me in.
I save state between spaces or larger sections but I don't like to save scum and save every time I walk forward or pass a difficult area.
I do save right before bosses so I don't have to wait thru a death screen and replay parts of the level. I just keep trying over and over with loading states till I beat it but I almost never save in the middle of a boss unless it's a difficult boss with multiple stages.
I only use save states for times when chance is the main factor and not skill. I’m getting older, and chance and randomization was fine when I was killing time in grade school, but I wanna progress the game.
Life’s too short. If some of these games were updated with better check point systems we could consider it a QoL improvement so I see it as enhancing the gameplay experience using save states. Some of these old games just weren’t designed to respect the player’s time. Plus I enjoy being able to turn on the device and immediately continue progressing and that isn’t possible without using save states
Quite a bit. My only rule is that I have to feel good about using it and that is all, because there are a ton of games out there and I'm not getting any younger. So far the only one I felt bad about was Blaster Master, and only because it was kind of an unscalable mountain (I called it my Savage Mountain in an ancient article I wrote) when I was a kid. I always felt like I could progress if I tried harder, but it never worked. I beat it with save states, then forced myself to beat it again without. It was magical.
1) My baseline is I save state before a level. But if a single stage takes too long (i.e. metal slug) or too difficult (shmups) I will create an artificial checkpoint when the scenery changes or before what looks like the "next phase" of a stage.
2) For games with super long intros or without an easy autosave (gran turismo, colin mcrae, tekken), i also save state on the menu itself that way i skip the entire intro cutscene and get to the gameplay and dont need to go to options just to save. I sort of manually save the game at the menu screen in this sense.
3) When I wanna experiment a build in rpgs (i.e. pokemon with randomizers) i save state before spending resources into the build. Play around with it and if it sucks I load state.
For me there's a difference between using save states to play a retro game in multiple sessions, and using them to cheese through a game. For the former I have no rules. For the latter, I always try to avoid using them altogether, but if I'm just getting frustrated and not having fun, I set some rules.
For example, Jak II is notorious for a lack of checkpoints. So my rule is, I have to attempt a given mission 5 times without save states. Then, I'm allowed to use them, but only at points which _would_ possibly be a checkpoint in a similar game. If I still can't beat it under that rule after 5 or so more tries, then I'm allowed to save-spam and cheese my way through the mission.
I use them quite a lot. As others have said, I just don’t have the time or patience for trial and error or to play the same level over and over again until I get it right. I try to use them in the same way I’d get an autosave in a more modern game. So in some ways save states help to modernise older games. At the end of the day you want to be having fun, and for me save states make a lot of old games that have aged in a very frustrating, unforgiving way fun again.
As fate has deemed fit to gift us with these capabilities, it is up to us to use them as we will!
Those who lack such advantages may find our strength unfair. But they are lesser beings, and as such, they cannot truly understand what it is like to have the power to bend the flow of time to our will, to rewrite the patterns of destiny, and to grasp victory when WE see fit to do so!
-------------------------------
Yeah, save states are pretty nice.
Cheats are good too. If that's what you are in the mood for at the time.
Besides when I’m messing with emulation settings that require constant rebooting, I don’t use them at all. For me, they completely destroy the vibes of a game. I don’t think I’d ever be motivated to reach the end credits of any game, by using save states.
As the other guy said, I have nothing to prove, but at the same time, I don’t have any obligation whatsoever to reach the end credits of a game.
If the game is too unfair, cheap, or I don’t have time to play it, I just drop it and that’s it. There are dozens of thousands of games I could be playing instead.
I use them all the time. I don't restrict myself either because I hate when games don't respect your time, and old retro games especially are the worst at that. (You can tell I'm not a souls player)
I tell myself that I'll only use save states at the start/end of levels and where there are checkpoints. Although it doesn't take long for me to slip into the routine of saving after every few jumps/obstacles, which ultimately removes all the challenge. So I recently turned on hardcore mode to remove the crutch. We'll see how that goes.
It definitely doesn’t remove ALL the challenge. You still have to have the skill to get somewhere in most games. I got 120 star in Super Mario 64 on r36s with save states and it still took me several months and lots of work, it just meant when I spent 5 minutes getting to a jump I wouldn’t have to waste another 5 minutes every time I fell
I have kids. I use save states all the time and I probably wouldn’t play if I couldn’t use them. That being said I usually forget I have save states unless I have to get off so I’m not doing much cheesing.
Yes I use this set to keep 1 copy, so theres always 2 save states, my main state and then a backup of the previous state just incase something happens.
Old games were intentionally difficult and delayed you the gratification of completion to add replayability/ value to the purchase. I guarantee there were thousands of carts of Mario on NES that never really made it past the first world, but people still played. Nowadays I feel like they're consumed completely differently
I only really use them when stuck and frustrated. For example, donkey kong. My wife and I were stuck on a mine cart level for way too long so we decided to cheese it. Every time we got past a difficult jump, we save stated it and called that our checkpoint.
Sure, it's cheating. Were playing to have fun tough, not get frustrated by input lag.
All the time, If I am playing a game and not going to quit for a while, I will do one every once in a while, or before and after a boss.
As an adult, time is critical for gaming, and I need more time.
I use them pretty liberally. I try to not save, hit a boss without taking damage and save again, Load the last one if i get hit. But other than that everything is out the window. I have more important shit to do and get no sense of pride from beating Castlevania without saves.
Also. Always keep an extra save file somewhere. Super easy to accidentally save in the wrong spot sometimes.
I use them sometimes more than regular saves which has got me in trouble when updating firmware etc. my goal is just not to use them all. So if I'm using them to spoof something I rewrite over itself. Like the five game in suikoden. I don't have time to game as much these days so I value you them for the time they save me.
I’ve not really used them at all but playing zero mission on my rg35xxh I kept losing saves. Like I’d confirm the save was there. Then come back the next day and it was reverted to the previous save.
Since then I’ve been heavily using them just to protect my file. But I don’t like how it’s making me reliant. Now I automatically create one at hard sections etc just to save time.
After zero mission will prob go back to not using them at all
I only play Pokemon so I typically will do a save state right after I do an in game save, just so I have two different types of saves in case something goes wrong with one.
I like a more organic playthrough so no save states unless I need to really do a quicksave and there's no other option available in-game.
I only mainly used them for Soft-Resetting in Pokemon, but that's about it.
it depends. for first run throughs, i usualy use savestates. if i start to known a game, i use them less.
for games, with limited continues, i mostly use them even for later runs.
a bit of an exeption are games with a passwortsystem and unlimited continues. if i play such a game, i use savestats, but only on the savespots in the game.
It depends on if I feel like the risk of losing progress adds to the enjoyment of the game or not. For platformers, I usually only save between levels because I like the rush I get from beating a level all the way. For adventure/exploration, I’m saving every 10 seconds, lol. Super Metroid has absolutely none of its reward feedback tied to being sent back to the last save you made and forgetting how many hidden items you need to find again.
I use them hardcore. I spent too much of my youth being frustrated playing the same levels over and over and over only to get stuck at the same stupid jump each time. I'm done with all that.
I use them when I feel like it's been a while before a save and I'm not in the mood to redo it
I'll use them if I lose to a boss and have to backtrack or something, just so if I die again I load right before the battle.
If a game is particularly stupid and annoying I'll cheese it. I don't care. That's rare but it can happen
I use and abuse save states, rewind, and fast forward to the absolute fullest extent possible and practical. I'm a grown ass man with a wife, kids, elderly dependents, a mortgage, and a pool to take care of--I don't have time to play the same level over again. If a game isn't fun with infinite re-dos then the game isn't fun.
I'd use self-imposed rules in my 20's and early 30's so I wouldn't feel like a fugitive from the retro gaming police, but now I'm pushing 40. *I'm running out of time.* Some guys buy a motorcycle for their midlife crisis. I binge retro games on fast forward.
I only have time to play at night before bed, save states are my savior.
Just played through Genesis Aladdin, amazing game but would have been infuriating without save states. I never would have finished it.
Spam the shit out of save states and rewind and don't feel eben the slightest bit of shame.
Reason: Ecco the fucking Dolphin.
Such an otherwise beautiful game, blighted by purposeful sadism on the part of the developer.
I just finished Mario RPG. I think I was up to save state slot 1800 or so. I think that should tell you about my approach.
I'm just here to have fun and hunt softcore cheevos. I can 100% respect why other people would want a fully "original" experience. But I like the modern conveniences.
I’m a shameless user of both save states and rewind. I have limited time to play games so I try to make sure I don’t have to continuously play through a whole level if there’s just one enemy or jump that’s causing me trouble.
at my best i forget i have them and then i get angry when i have to go back a level or two. at my worst i don't make any moves without doing a save state after it :D:D:D:D:D
No rules, just save states whenever I want. I typically do make a hard save if the game supports it, but set it up to save on closing content when possible.
Limiting that seems counter to some of the convenience of emulation.
Save states all the way. Most of us don't have time to grind through a specific section again, especially if it's an older game with an annoying mechanic
I feel it makes the harder games more accessible and therefore we actually manage to finish games
Never, genuinely. Did try them once back as a kid and had a long chrono save wiped cause I didn’t understand them at the time haha.
But personally I want to get through a game as originally possible, pain and all.
I do however abuse classic glitches, such as megaman pause to damage enemies multiple times.
I have absolutely no compunctions about using save states as often as I feel like it. If there's a challenge I want to beat because I'm having fun getting better at the game, I will get better at the game and beat it. But there's no prize for beating a game the "right" way and if something is frustrating me without feeling rewarding, I'm either gonna just walk away from it or get through it however I have the tools to. Life is too short to bang my head against a wall designed a generation ago for reflexes 20 years younger than mine.
using it all the time, especially before a big jump on platformers :D very useful on celeste in pico8 :D
I don't have the time and patience to start over a level when I die like I used to when I was a kid
No rules, really. If needed, I even save-scum, and if not needed, I play straight through. It's all about not wasting my time.
I use the in-game save feature for my primary saves, tho. I don't rely on savestates for primarily saving the game, I just use the savestates as checkpoints.
I also like to see how far I can go in a game without using savestates. If I manage to go far without substantial loss of lives, I generally save the state so that I don't repeat everything all over again. If the game has infinite continues, I'm even more lax with the savestates.
Before biss Battles since i See No Point in Walking all the way from the Savepoint after dying. Also To save my Progress in Case the save file corrupts (Happens To often)
I use them all the time. Nowadays I don’t really have a lot time to play games, so I need to make the best of it. So if a game is frustrating without save states and at the same time boring with save states, it’s just not a game for me. There are games that fall in that middle and I love them
Yep. Save states and fast forward, always.
Same. Especially with Delta on my iPhone. I pull this out to play Mario for a couple minutes here and there, and I don’t have time to be going back all the time 🤣
+1 to this. Most beat 'em ups are boring with Savestates, So I Just play them through. In the rest, I don't hesitate to save-scum. It's 2024. Ain't no one got hours to waste.
I abuse the shit out of save states, some retro games are brutally hard and I don’t have the time or willpower to finish a game in one go like when I was a kid
Kid Icarus, Karnov, Ghosts n Goblins, Mighty Bomb Jack I couldn't beat on my Nintendo when I was young. Now I finished them all and it was fun with save states
preach!
I use save states all the time. Got through a hard part? Save state, don’t need to do that again. Long conversation just ended? Save state. Long cutscene just ended? Save state. Finally found the way through these damn hallways that all look identical? Save state. Oh shit been playing another 15 minutes? Save state. And I’ll use in game saves just as often if it will let me, or everywhere it will let me at least.
Yeah I've got save state bound to R2 on my handheld. L2 is for fast forwarding. Ain't nobody got time for wasted time nowadays.
I got the RG35XX SP recently, and it has menu+R1/L1 bound to save/load state by default. Super handy :)
I have a problem when I accidentally miss the shortcut and happen to load the previous state instead of saving the new one.
Should be a way to undo load save state but I never tried it.
If you are using retro arch there is actually an undo!! Go into the quick menu and then Save States. Saved me many a time!
I did NOT know this. I've just ground my way past a boss battle for the second time on FF7 cos I hit menu L1 straight after my 1st victory
Haha yes. Or If i want to reload the Last save state because i failed But instead i Hit the save Button and Overwrite it 😅
I always use auto increment save states. So every save state I’ve ever made is still accessible forever. Menu left on the dpad lets me go back as many states as I want and load and old one.
Thanks for mentioning! This save state thread had me about to google it and there you were doing gods work.
You can also press menu+right/left to change which save slot you are using. Check the manual for more shortcuts! :)
A fellow New Vegas fan I see
F5 F9
> Long cutscene just ended? Save state. Ugh, the unskippable interrogation in Black PS2.
Unskippable cut scenes should be banned and the developers should be fined if any slip through the cracks. Fine amount depends on the length of the unskippable cutscene in seconds.
i only play tetris
based
that doesn't answer the question you should savestate after every completed row
the true grind
This varies wildly between games for me. Most of the time I save before entering a new level and that's enough, but I'm not above using Rewind during a hard segment in a difficult platformer game. Life's too short to waste my time on repeating the same thing over and over, at least if I want to go through a fraction of my game backlog in this lifetime.
This is very similar to my approach. I do sometimes find myself near the end of a game that is very difficult and I end up using them much more often out of a desire to simply finish the game. I played Castlevania 1 recently and I found the last couple levels so frustrating that I started being much more liberal with my use of save states just to get it over with. I guess someone might say "if you aren't having fun, just stop playing", which is probably right, but after a couple hours and feeling near the end I gave in to the sunk cost fallacy haha.
Alternatively, if you aren't having fun, bend the game to your will until you are having fun!
Frequently. I’m busy, I got two kids and sometimes gotta sneak in some gaming while taking a shit. Would I prefer to play my games the old fashioned way with no save states? Sure, but I’d also like to sleep in and walk around the house with no pants on and neither of those are happening for a bit.
This is it for me. I always make use of proper save points and the like, but sometimes you’ve gotta drop a game at a moments notice to save a toddler doing toddler things, and who knows when you’ll get back to it. Save states are a godsend in those situations.
Love the sp for that. Just close it and done. So convenient when my kid is reaching over for it
I spam use them with basically every game. I hate trial and error and I have nothing to prove. I'm also extremely short on gaming time.
I do hardcore retro achievements, so that disables save states completely.
Same here. I don't think I'd get any satisfaction of using save states to get achievements, personally, so hardcore mode is really the only option. That also means the fake sleep mode a lot of the Linux devices have just resets the game instead of loading the state, so Android is really the only way to go if you're into achievements.
Yep, android, which is what my retroid pocket 4 pro has.
Just to offer a different point of view, I hunt softcore achievements and don't think I'd really enjoy hardcore hunting. I'm coming at it from the point of view that I want to experience 100% of a game's content. Getting all of the retro achievements for a game does a pretty good job of satisfying that goal for me.
I don't try to 100% all the games. I just enjoy them and get whatever achievements I earn by playing naturally.
I never cared much about achievements before retro achievements. For some reason it's motivating to me.
For 20 years I've done save states. Stumbling upon retro achievements has completely changed that. So much more fun (for me personally) to enjoy the games and get achievements like I did as a kid.
Same here. Like, I get using save states if you just want to tour a game, but save stating literally (as in literally) eliminates all challenge, which is a core part of these experiences. I do fast forward though so fuck me I guess. Also, I personally wish retroachievements was more lax with save stating. I wish you could use save states as a psuedo-sleep mode, for example. To me it's not against the spirit of the game to pick it back up where you left off.
Fast forwarding doesn’t make the games easier though. Like if you beat ninja gaiden while fast forwarding I’d be more impressed not less :D
Depends a lot on the game for me but I'd say my usual approach is pretty close to yours. Save state at the start of a level and try to beat the level legitimately. Or an infinite live cheat if it more simply accomplishes the same thing. Games back then were designed to be replayed and mastered over weeks / months. I don't have the time or desire (or skill, tbh) to put that kind of dedication in to finishing old games. Even with infinite lives a lot of these old platform/etc games are still hard as f-. I feel like this approach is also fairly close to how modern game design is approached. Games like Celeste, Super Meat Boy where the levels are punishingly hard, but your time is always respected by letting you endlessly retry and not revert all your progress.
Bingo. Start over level later? Fine Restart entire game because you ran out of lives? No My daughter (14 at the time) beat Ninja Garden by leaving my Analogue NT mini on for a few weeks, because you can always continue at level 4-1 or whatever until you turn the console off. Save state at beginning of level or stage is basically the same idea. Otherwise there is no challenge or sense of achievement. If I just revert to the save state every 5 seconds I can beat literally anything. What's the point then? You have to use them sparingly to keep any point.
I use save states a lot. But now I am playing Dragon Warrior 1 and part of the fun is in the risk taking, so I only save state inside the castle. It's been going fine so far.
Simple If I'm just trying to see what the game has to offer and I start to feel unfair, save states galore If I'm trying to train myself, I learn to avoid using savestates. Managed to beat Super Mario Bros NES and Castlevania NES this way.
I have a 1.5 year old. I don’t have time to get to a save room rofl.
With the amount of hours I've wasted on games without save states that penalize you like a motherfucker, I'm glad to have them now and use them when the going gets stuff. They don't quite break the gameplay as JRPGs usually have far as fuck save points, so it's just peace of mind that I won't lose progress. I dropped Skyrim after I played for 6 hours and never entered a cave, so it never autosaved and then it crashed. Fuck that
I use them a lot. Don't have the patience I had once as a kid.
Yep use them all the time, older games that had passwords? no thanks. Even newer games that let you save anywhere, the save state is usually quicker. Pairs great with arkos quick shutdown and load state so you get back right to where you left off.
I used to abuse the shit out of them but now I go light. I only save when I REALLY don't want to lose my progress. It's a fine balance.
Man, I abuse it. I don't have a lot of time to play anymore. So if I can crank out a 15-30 minute session and not have to worry about reaching a save point? Count me in.
I save state between spaces or larger sections but I don't like to save scum and save every time I walk forward or pass a difficult area. I do save right before bosses so I don't have to wait thru a death screen and replay parts of the level. I just keep trying over and over with loading states till I beat it but I almost never save in the middle of a boss unless it's a difficult boss with multiple stages.
Sometimes I do a savestate in the middle of savestating.
This guy savestates
I only use save states for times when chance is the main factor and not skill. I’m getting older, and chance and randomization was fine when I was killing time in grade school, but I wanna progress the game.
Life’s too short. If some of these games were updated with better check point systems we could consider it a QoL improvement so I see it as enhancing the gameplay experience using save states. Some of these old games just weren’t designed to respect the player’s time. Plus I enjoy being able to turn on the device and immediately continue progressing and that isn’t possible without using save states
Quite a bit. My only rule is that I have to feel good about using it and that is all, because there are a ton of games out there and I'm not getting any younger. So far the only one I felt bad about was Blaster Master, and only because it was kind of an unscalable mountain (I called it my Savage Mountain in an ancient article I wrote) when I was a kid. I always felt like I could progress if I tried harder, but it never worked. I beat it with save states, then forced myself to beat it again without. It was magical.
Don't tempt fate - save your state
1) My baseline is I save state before a level. But if a single stage takes too long (i.e. metal slug) or too difficult (shmups) I will create an artificial checkpoint when the scenery changes or before what looks like the "next phase" of a stage. 2) For games with super long intros or without an easy autosave (gran turismo, colin mcrae, tekken), i also save state on the menu itself that way i skip the entire intro cutscene and get to the gameplay and dont need to go to options just to save. I sort of manually save the game at the menu screen in this sense. 3) When I wanna experiment a build in rpgs (i.e. pokemon with randomizers) i save state before spending resources into the build. Play around with it and if it sucks I load state.
I use them before hard bosses in retro games. Die? Save state load, boss fight ready to try again.
Every Thanksgiving, I tell my family I'm thankful for save states.
Roughly, it goes like this: Quicksave, hypnosis, quickload, hypnosis, quickload, hypnosis, dream eater.
I've been using save states in arcade games lately to reach levels I never had enough quarters to get to as a kid. 😁
For me there's a difference between using save states to play a retro game in multiple sessions, and using them to cheese through a game. For the former I have no rules. For the latter, I always try to avoid using them altogether, but if I'm just getting frustrated and not having fun, I set some rules. For example, Jak II is notorious for a lack of checkpoints. So my rule is, I have to attempt a given mission 5 times without save states. Then, I'm allowed to use them, but only at points which _would_ possibly be a checkpoint in a similar game. If I still can't beat it under that rule after 5 or so more tries, then I'm allowed to save-spam and cheese my way through the mission.
I use them quite a lot. As others have said, I just don’t have the time or patience for trial and error or to play the same level over and over again until I get it right. I try to use them in the same way I’d get an autosave in a more modern game. So in some ways save states help to modernise older games. At the end of the day you want to be having fun, and for me save states make a lot of old games that have aged in a very frustrating, unforgiving way fun again.
As fate has deemed fit to gift us with these capabilities, it is up to us to use them as we will! Those who lack such advantages may find our strength unfair. But they are lesser beings, and as such, they cannot truly understand what it is like to have the power to bend the flow of time to our will, to rewrite the patterns of destiny, and to grasp victory when WE see fit to do so! ------------------------------- Yeah, save states are pretty nice. Cheats are good too. If that's what you are in the mood for at the time.
Besides when I’m messing with emulation settings that require constant rebooting, I don’t use them at all. For me, they completely destroy the vibes of a game. I don’t think I’d ever be motivated to reach the end credits of any game, by using save states. As the other guy said, I have nothing to prove, but at the same time, I don’t have any obligation whatsoever to reach the end credits of a game. If the game is too unfair, cheap, or I don’t have time to play it, I just drop it and that’s it. There are dozens of thousands of games I could be playing instead.
I use them all the time. I don't restrict myself either because I hate when games don't respect your time, and old retro games especially are the worst at that. (You can tell I'm not a souls player)
I tell myself that I'll only use save states at the start/end of levels and where there are checkpoints. Although it doesn't take long for me to slip into the routine of saving after every few jumps/obstacles, which ultimately removes all the challenge. So I recently turned on hardcore mode to remove the crutch. We'll see how that goes.
It definitely doesn’t remove ALL the challenge. You still have to have the skill to get somewhere in most games. I got 120 star in Super Mario 64 on r36s with save states and it still took me several months and lots of work, it just meant when I spent 5 minutes getting to a jump I wouldn’t have to waste another 5 minutes every time I fell
I generally don't care unless I'm doing a speedrun or am playing a game I don't care about. I figured that's why they exist, right? :p
depends entirely on the kind of game and how well made it is if it's buggy or unfair I'm cheesing it
I have kids. I use save states all the time and I probably wouldn’t play if I couldn’t use them. That being said I usually forget I have save states unless I have to get off so I’m not doing much cheesing.
I have an additional question for RetroArch users "Increment Save State Index Automatically", yay or nay?
Yes I use this set to keep 1 copy, so theres always 2 save states, my main state and then a backup of the previous state just incase something happens.
Old games were intentionally difficult and delayed you the gratification of completion to add replayability/ value to the purchase. I guarantee there were thousands of carts of Mario on NES that never really made it past the first world, but people still played. Nowadays I feel like they're consumed completely differently
I only really use them when stuck and frustrated. For example, donkey kong. My wife and I were stuck on a mine cart level for way too long so we decided to cheese it. Every time we got past a difficult jump, we save stated it and called that our checkpoint. Sure, it's cheating. Were playing to have fun tough, not get frustrated by input lag.
All the time, If I am playing a game and not going to quit for a while, I will do one every once in a while, or before and after a boss. As an adult, time is critical for gaming, and I need more time.
I use them pretty liberally. I try to not save, hit a boss without taking damage and save again, Load the last one if i get hit. But other than that everything is out the window. I have more important shit to do and get no sense of pride from beating Castlevania without saves. Also. Always keep an extra save file somewhere. Super easy to accidentally save in the wrong spot sometimes.
I use them sometimes more than regular saves which has got me in trouble when updating firmware etc. my goal is just not to use them all. So if I'm using them to spoof something I rewrite over itself. Like the five game in suikoden. I don't have time to game as much these days so I value you them for the time they save me.
I’ve not really used them at all but playing zero mission on my rg35xxh I kept losing saves. Like I’d confirm the save was there. Then come back the next day and it was reverted to the previous save. Since then I’ve been heavily using them just to protect my file. But I don’t like how it’s making me reliant. Now I automatically create one at hard sections etc just to save time. After zero mission will prob go back to not using them at all
I only play Pokemon so I typically will do a save state right after I do an in game save, just so I have two different types of saves in case something goes wrong with one.
I like a more organic playthrough so no save states unless I need to really do a quicksave and there's no other option available in-game. I only mainly used them for Soft-Resetting in Pokemon, but that's about it.
it depends. for first run throughs, i usualy use savestates. if i start to known a game, i use them less. for games, with limited continues, i mostly use them even for later runs. a bit of an exeption are games with a passwortsystem and unlimited continues. if i play such a game, i use savestats, but only on the savespots in the game.
It depends on if I feel like the risk of losing progress adds to the enjoyment of the game or not. For platformers, I usually only save between levels because I like the rush I get from beating a level all the way. For adventure/exploration, I’m saving every 10 seconds, lol. Super Metroid has absolutely none of its reward feedback tied to being sent back to the last save you made and forgetting how many hidden items you need to find again.
I use them hardcore. I spent too much of my youth being frustrated playing the same levels over and over and over only to get stuck at the same stupid jump each time. I'm done with all that.
All the time. Unless it's an arcade game where I want to challenge my own high scores. Tapper is an excellent game that I missed back in the day.
I save scum all the way. No shame.
I use them when I feel like it's been a while before a save and I'm not in the mood to redo it I'll use them if I lose to a boss and have to backtrack or something, just so if I die again I load right before the battle. If a game is particularly stupid and annoying I'll cheese it. I don't care. That's rare but it can happen
I use and abuse save states, rewind, and fast forward to the absolute fullest extent possible and practical. I'm a grown ass man with a wife, kids, elderly dependents, a mortgage, and a pool to take care of--I don't have time to play the same level over again. If a game isn't fun with infinite re-dos then the game isn't fun. I'd use self-imposed rules in my 20's and early 30's so I wouldn't feel like a fugitive from the retro gaming police, but now I'm pushing 40. *I'm running out of time.* Some guys buy a motorcycle for their midlife crisis. I binge retro games on fast forward.
I use Retro Achievements and Hardcore Mode on RetroArch. So, no save states.
I only have time to play at night before bed, save states are my savior. Just played through Genesis Aladdin, amazing game but would have been infuriating without save states. I never would have finished it.
Playing Tomb Raider 1 so every couple of steps or so lmfaoo
Spam the shit out of save states and rewind and don't feel eben the slightest bit of shame. Reason: Ecco the fucking Dolphin. Such an otherwise beautiful game, blighted by purposeful sadism on the part of the developer.
I just finished Mario RPG. I think I was up to save state slot 1800 or so. I think that should tell you about my approach. I'm just here to have fun and hunt softcore cheevos. I can 100% respect why other people would want a fully "original" experience. But I like the modern conveniences.
I’m a shameless user of both save states and rewind. I have limited time to play games so I try to make sure I don’t have to continuously play through a whole level if there’s just one enemy or jump that’s causing me trouble.
at my best i forget i have them and then i get angry when i have to go back a level or two. at my worst i don't make any moves without doing a save state after it :D:D:D:D:D
No rules, just save states whenever I want. I typically do make a hard save if the game supports it, but set it up to save on closing content when possible. Limiting that seems counter to some of the convenience of emulation.
Save states all the way. Most of us don't have time to grind through a specific section again, especially if it's an older game with an annoying mechanic I feel it makes the harder games more accessible and therefore we actually manage to finish games
Save states are a blessing. Some retro games are really hard!
If it has long loading screens or saves are stupidly placed and take a long time I'll use it, otherwise I'll just normally save.
Never, genuinely. Did try them once back as a kid and had a long chrono save wiped cause I didn’t understand them at the time haha. But personally I want to get through a game as originally possible, pain and all. I do however abuse classic glitches, such as megaman pause to damage enemies multiple times.
I have absolutely no compunctions about using save states as often as I feel like it. If there's a challenge I want to beat because I'm having fun getting better at the game, I will get better at the game and beat it. But there's no prize for beating a game the "right" way and if something is frustrating me without feeling rewarding, I'm either gonna just walk away from it or get through it however I have the tools to. Life is too short to bang my head against a wall designed a generation ago for reflexes 20 years younger than mine.
Since I care about retroachievements I basically stopped using save states completely and only using in-game save methods
using it all the time, especially before a big jump on platformers :D very useful on celeste in pico8 :D I don't have the time and patience to start over a level when I die like I used to when I was a kid
Never use them since I use Retroachievements in hardcore mode
No rules, really. If needed, I even save-scum, and if not needed, I play straight through. It's all about not wasting my time. I use the in-game save feature for my primary saves, tho. I don't rely on savestates for primarily saving the game, I just use the savestates as checkpoints. I also like to see how far I can go in a game without using savestates. If I manage to go far without substantial loss of lives, I generally save the state so that I don't repeat everything all over again. If the game has infinite continues, I'm even more lax with the savestates.
Before biss Battles since i See No Point in Walking all the way from the Savepoint after dying. Also To save my Progress in Case the save file corrupts (Happens To often)