I would like to start out by saying, in my little time as an RGR Staff member, I have already witnessed countless people comment about having issues with saving. Either your data gets wiped, you can't retrieve it, you accidentally save over it, or it becomes corrupted; there are some quick and easy precautions that can be taken to ensure that your long hours of gameplay aren't in vain.

First of all, keep in mind that saves within game ARE NOT the same as a save state. For those whom are unfamiliar with the two types, the first are saves that are implemented into the game itself, where the latter are saves that the emulator creates within your user folder when you press the specified button during play. For example, let's say you are near the end of a game, and there is a save point before a boss. You save your data to the game, and you decide to make a save state, also. Then, at some point later, you decide that you want to play the game again from the beginning. You start the game over, and then make a save state from your current progress. Then, when you decide to play from your in-game data, your heart sinks as you suddenly realize that it's all gone! Your first intuition is to comment on the situation, or to ask for help in the forums. What you have to consider, is that the save state also CONTAINS your in-game data, so when you save over it from the beginning with a clean slate and no saves to the rom/cartridge, you have just made a grim mistake. Unless the emulator creates both a save state AND a game-pack file (which it usually doesn't for older emulators before Nintendo 64), your data is pretty much unretrievable.

But worry not! This mistake and other save related issues can easily be avoided with a few simple steps.

First of all, if you are able to save your data via passwords, DO IT. The top panel of the RGR has an option to save notes and passwords from your games specifically for this reason. That way, if an accident happens, you can restore your beloved data with little worry about file loss. The only downside to this, is that there aren't that many games which allow password saving, so although this method is very effective, it is somewhat limited by the game itself. Still, it is something worth keeping in mind.

My second method of ensuring your saves is much more effective, and will in most cases always guarantee your data. From your Start Menu, navigate to the folder titled 'Vizzed Retro Game Room'. Once you've found it, find a folder called 'Open Plugin Data Folder', and click on it. After the .msi syncs your user information with the site's data, a new window should pop up with a folder labeled 'User'. That user number helps the website to identify that specific pc, NOT the user themselves. In other words, if you have save files on a computer in your living-room, and decide to play on a computer in your bedroom, the folder will be specific to that pc only. Therefore, you will not be able to access your files from a computer wherein they were not originally created. HOWEVER, there is a solution to this problem! Within your pc's user folder, there are folders for each specific emulator, of which contain another folder marked 'saves'. Inside that folder will be a file with the game's title and the file-type .sav, or some variation of a save file-type. Sometimes there may be several save files for one save state, so just  to be safe, make copies of both. Place those copies somewhere else on your computer as to not confuse the emulator, so that when the inevitable happens (and it happens to everyone at least once), you will have back-ups for the occasion. Rewrite your copies periodically, so that when that fatal mistake rears its ugly head, you can just rewrite the files in your user folder with your copies. Hopefully, if you keep your copies up-to-date, you will be able to retrieve your data with little to no loss in progress.

But let's face it- computers also crash, get errors, and catch viruses, as well as encounter many other unfortunate events which may put your saves at risk still. Once again, fear not! All it takes to keep your data safe and warm is a flash-drive or a reliable server with storage capabilities. For online file storage, I would suggest free and reliable providers such as Google Cloud Storage or Flip Drive. Then, when you are faced with situations where you are unable to obtain your data, you can retrieve it from any pc with the RGR Plugin installed! Just go to your storage, copy your files, and place them in the user folder where they belong; it's that simple. With multiple copies stored by various methods, there is nearly zero chance of losing your data ever again.

In the end, there are still freak occurrences when the RGR Plugin may not function properly, and Vizzed may be at fault. Still, when you consider all of the work that goes into the plugin, and all of the games that are provided to us for free, there is little room for complaint. In most instances, data loss can be avoided by taking simple precautions to ensure the safety of your files. Sometimes I see users get angry at the site itself for issues in which they could have themselves taken steps to easily evade. My point being, sometimes we all must learn to take responsibility and precautions for when the worst happens, regardless of who is at fault (if anyone).

I hope that this information provides insight to all whom take advantage of it, thus preventing the untimely fate of saves being lost to the unforgiving black-hole which is the Internet. Good luck everyone, and happy gaming!