Hello everyone!
This is my first post here, so let me give you a little background. I used to have a Saturn back in the day. I got it for cheap in the early 2000s when the Dreamcast was at its peak. I enjoyed playing it, I especially remember the 2D games and (Azel) Panzer Dragoon Saga, which I'm proud to say I finished it 🙂
Recently, I got interested in the Saturn again thanks in part to the SAROO project and Pseudo Saturn Kai. I must say, I missed a lot of good things!
Anyway, over the weekend I have been playing Albert's Odyssey using SAROO. I found a few glitches that I have reported on the SAROO github: Albert odyssey issues · Issue #212 · tpunix/SAROO
I wanted to check if something similar also happens with Pseudo Saturn Kai. However, I'm not too keen on starting the game from scratch again. The goal is to transfer the existing SAROO save game to the internal memory of the Saturn (SRAM - Static RAM kept alive by the coin cell battery), so I can continue playing where I left it but using the Pseudo Saturn Kai this time.
The problem is currently there is no straight forward approach to just simply copy the saved game to the Saturn's internal memory. There is an enhancement logged to address this: Feature request: Option to access System Memory Manager and boot games without redirecting SRAM. · Issue #131 · tpunix/SAROO
Getting hands on, there are three files pertaining save games on the SAROO SD card:
- SS_BUP.BIN This is a dump of all the saves in the internal memory of our Saturn (SRAM)
- SS_MEMS.BIN SAROO's virtual cartridge memory
- SS_SAVE.BIN SAROO's virtual internal memory
As spywn explains in the enhancement request. Essentially, when you select a game, instead of using the console's built-in SRAM, it simulates the internal memory as well as a cartridge memory space to save games using the .bin files indicated above.
This leads us to a two-step process:
- Getting out those save games from the SAROO .bin files (export)
- Write the save game(s) into the Saturn's internal SRAM (import). This allows them to be accessed by your chosen method of playing games, whether it's Pseudo Saturn Kai with a backup CD, your legitimate physical copy, or potentially any other ODE.
Just a quick disclaimer: the following guide is what has worked for me, hence I wanted to share it in case it can help someone else.
I'm not responsible for any damage, lost saves etc. that might occur following these guidelines 😉
Happy to hear from you, any improvements, any other alternatives to share, please don't be shy, go ahead and let everyone know!
Export process
- To simplify this multi-step process, I'm using the "SAROO-SSF converter program". This tool was created by someone outside the SAROO team. Be aware that recent Windows antivirus software (including Windows Defender) will flag this program as a Tr*jan, though I doubt that is the case: https://github.com/tpunix/SAROO/files/15368648/SAROOsavetools.zip (see the note at the bottom)
- Unzip the file, a .rar file will appear. Extract the .rar as well (not sure why they did this). You will see an executable (SSF-SAROO-v1.85.exe with some Chinese characters in between) and a couple of folders.
- Copy the three .bin files from the SAROO's SD card into the same folder where the executable SSF-SAROO-v.1.85.exe is located
- Run SSF-SAROO-v1.85.exe. On the bottom left, select the SAROO .bin file (either SS_MEMS.BIN or SS_SAVE.BIN) containing the save you want to export. The list of save games will refresh automatically as you select the source .bin file. Then click on the icon that has two right pointing arrows (greater than).
- This will create a new folder called 'SAROO' and place the exported save game in a .bin file
- Now, we need to convert the raw save game from SAROO to SSF format. In order to do so, we need to load it on the right panel and then click on the <chinese>SSF<chinese> button.
- This creates an 'SSF' folder containing a new .bin file. The file has the same name as the original export, but is located in a different folder
Import process
- The saved game is now in a standard format that can be imported into the Saturn. To do this, use the Save Data Manager found in the tools folder of the Pseudo Saturn Kai software. This involves creating a new disc image (ISO) containing the exported SSF save game.
This is where SaveRepack.exe comes in. Launch the program and locate the .bin file exported in the previous step (found in the 'SSF' folder)
- Finally click on that Pack into SDM - Start button. After a few seconds, you will have a new sdm_repack.cue and sdm_repack.iso
- Burn the sdm_repack.cue file to a CD-R at the lowest possible speed (using a program like imgburn). Insert your Pseudo Saturn Kai cartridge and the burned CD into your Saturn. Launch the Save Data Manager from the CD and follow the on-screen instructions to import the save game into the Saturn's internal memory.
And there you go, launch the game load your save and enjoy!
It's possible to do the opposite, export the game from the internal Saturn memory into Saroo leveraging the SS_BUP.BIN file SAROO creates.
More information here: Original save game · Issue #117 · tpunix/SAROO
Note: If you are concerned about using the SAROO-SSF converter program, there are a couple of other options. You can run it in a virtual machine (even works on Windows XP). Alternatively, you can use the sst tool provided by the SAROO team to export the save game and then edit the exported save game with an Hex editor to remove some headers from it, which is a bit more involved.
This is my first post here, so let me give you a little background. I used to have a Saturn back in the day. I got it for cheap in the early 2000s when the Dreamcast was at its peak. I enjoyed playing it, I especially remember the 2D games and (Azel) Panzer Dragoon Saga, which I'm proud to say I finished it 🙂
Recently, I got interested in the Saturn again thanks in part to the SAROO project and Pseudo Saturn Kai. I must say, I missed a lot of good things!
Anyway, over the weekend I have been playing Albert's Odyssey using SAROO. I found a few glitches that I have reported on the SAROO github: Albert odyssey issues · Issue #212 · tpunix/SAROO
I wanted to check if something similar also happens with Pseudo Saturn Kai. However, I'm not too keen on starting the game from scratch again. The goal is to transfer the existing SAROO save game to the internal memory of the Saturn (SRAM - Static RAM kept alive by the coin cell battery), so I can continue playing where I left it but using the Pseudo Saturn Kai this time.
The problem is currently there is no straight forward approach to just simply copy the saved game to the Saturn's internal memory. There is an enhancement logged to address this: Feature request: Option to access System Memory Manager and boot games without redirecting SRAM. · Issue #131 · tpunix/SAROO
Getting hands on, there are three files pertaining save games on the SAROO SD card:
- SS_BUP.BIN This is a dump of all the saves in the internal memory of our Saturn (SRAM)
- SS_MEMS.BIN SAROO's virtual cartridge memory
- SS_SAVE.BIN SAROO's virtual internal memory
As spywn explains in the enhancement request. Essentially, when you select a game, instead of using the console's built-in SRAM, it simulates the internal memory as well as a cartridge memory space to save games using the .bin files indicated above.
This leads us to a two-step process:
- Getting out those save games from the SAROO .bin files (export)
- Write the save game(s) into the Saturn's internal SRAM (import). This allows them to be accessed by your chosen method of playing games, whether it's Pseudo Saturn Kai with a backup CD, your legitimate physical copy, or potentially any other ODE.
Just a quick disclaimer: the following guide is what has worked for me, hence I wanted to share it in case it can help someone else.
I'm not responsible for any damage, lost saves etc. that might occur following these guidelines 😉
Happy to hear from you, any improvements, any other alternatives to share, please don't be shy, go ahead and let everyone know!
Export process
- To simplify this multi-step process, I'm using the "SAROO-SSF converter program". This tool was created by someone outside the SAROO team. Be aware that recent Windows antivirus software (including Windows Defender) will flag this program as a Tr*jan, though I doubt that is the case: https://github.com/tpunix/SAROO/files/15368648/SAROOsavetools.zip (see the note at the bottom)
- Unzip the file, a .rar file will appear. Extract the .rar as well (not sure why they did this). You will see an executable (SSF-SAROO-v1.85.exe with some Chinese characters in between) and a couple of folders.
- Copy the three .bin files from the SAROO's SD card into the same folder where the executable SSF-SAROO-v.1.85.exe is located
- Run SSF-SAROO-v1.85.exe. On the bottom left, select the SAROO .bin file (either SS_MEMS.BIN or SS_SAVE.BIN) containing the save you want to export. The list of save games will refresh automatically as you select the source .bin file. Then click on the icon that has two right pointing arrows (greater than).
- This will create a new folder called 'SAROO' and place the exported save game in a .bin file
- Now, we need to convert the raw save game from SAROO to SSF format. In order to do so, we need to load it on the right panel and then click on the <chinese>SSF<chinese> button.
- This creates an 'SSF' folder containing a new .bin file. The file has the same name as the original export, but is located in a different folder
Import process
- The saved game is now in a standard format that can be imported into the Saturn. To do this, use the Save Data Manager found in the tools folder of the Pseudo Saturn Kai software. This involves creating a new disc image (ISO) containing the exported SSF save game.
This is where SaveRepack.exe comes in. Launch the program and locate the .bin file exported in the previous step (found in the 'SSF' folder)
- Finally click on that Pack into SDM - Start button. After a few seconds, you will have a new sdm_repack.cue and sdm_repack.iso
- Burn the sdm_repack.cue file to a CD-R at the lowest possible speed (using a program like imgburn). Insert your Pseudo Saturn Kai cartridge and the burned CD into your Saturn. Launch the Save Data Manager from the CD and follow the on-screen instructions to import the save game into the Saturn's internal memory.
And there you go, launch the game load your save and enjoy!
It's possible to do the opposite, export the game from the internal Saturn memory into Saroo leveraging the SS_BUP.BIN file SAROO creates.
More information here: Original save game · Issue #117 · tpunix/SAROO
Note: If you are concerned about using the SAROO-SSF converter program, there are a couple of other options. You can run it in a virtual machine (even works on Windows XP). Alternatively, you can use the sst tool provided by the SAROO team to export the save game and then edit the exported save game with an Hex editor to remove some headers from it, which is a bit more involved.
Last edited:
