Ultimate Emulator / Feature guide
Pick Up Exactly Where You Left Off
Save the moment, not just the game.
A save state is a snapshot of the exact moment you are playing. Make one anywhere — mid-level, mid-battle, mid-jump — and return to it later. If you have never used an emulator before, start here.
- Quick Save
- Auto-Save
- State Manager
- Auto Resume
01 / Two kinds of saving
A game save and a save state are different things.
Your games still save the way they always did. Save states are an extra tool on top. Keeping both is the safest way to play.
In-game saves
- Made by the game itself — a save point, a menu, a password or a cartridge battery.
- Ultimate Emulator keeps them for you, per game, as Game Saves.
- They are your long-term progress. Keep using them.
Save states
- Made by Ultimate Emulator at any moment, even where the game has no save point.
- Capture everything on screen and in memory at that instant.
- Perfect for a hard section or a quick break. Not a replacement for in-game saves.
02 / The everyday path
Save it. Load it. Keep playing.
Everything starts from the Game Menu while a game is running.
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Go to Save & Load
This is where Quick Save and Quick Load, Auto-Save, your recent states and the State Manager live.
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Save
Choose Quick Save for a fast snapshot. To keep several moments side by side, save new states from the State Manager.
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Load when you need it
Choose Quick Load, or pick one of your recent states or a state in the State Manager. The game jumps back to that exact moment.
03 / Three ways to keep a moment
Quick Save, saved states and Auto-Save.
- Quick state
- One snapshot per game that Quick Save overwrites each time. Ideal for retrying the same jump or boss.
- Saved states
- States you save from the State Manager stay until you delete them. Save & Load shows your most recent ones under Recent States.
- Auto-Save
- Automatic states made while you play, on supported systems. Ultimate Emulator keeps the newest three.
- Previews
- States are saved with a picture of the moment, plus when they were created and last saved, so you can tell them apart.
04 / Your saved moments
Every state for a game, in one place.
Open Manage States from a game's details page, or the State Manager from the Game Menu's Save & Load. It lists each state with its preview, name and dates.
From Manage States you can:
- Save a new state.
- Load a state, and use Undo Load if you loaded the wrong one.
- Restore a recovery point when one is offered.
- Rename a state so you remember why you made it.
- Delete states you no longer need.
- Clear this game's Auto Resume point.
05 / While you play
Auto-Save keeps a recent moment for you.
Auto-Save makes a state at regular intervals while you play, so a crash or a mistake never costs you more than a few minutes.
- On by default
- On supported systems, with nothing to set up.
- How often
- Every 5 minutes unless you choose another interval: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 minutes.
- What it keeps
- Your newest three automatic states. Older ones are replaced.
- Where to change it
- In the Game Menu's Save & Load section, while a game is running.
- Where it does not run
- On systems without save states, and during online multiplayer sessions.
06 / Leave now. Continue later.
Auto Resume and Continue.
With Auto Resume on, Ultimate Emulator saves your place when you leave a supported game. Next time, Continue on Home or on the game's page takes you straight back.
- Turn it on or off
- Settings → Storage → Save States & Auto Resume. Turning it off keeps any resume points you already have.
- Start fresh
- Clear a game's resume point from Manage States. Continue then starts from the beginning; your game saves and save states are not affected.
07 / What to expect
Know the limits before you rely on one.
Save states are available for local sessions on the included systems that support them. A few honest limits:
Keep in mind
- Odyssey², Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, SG-1000, Master System, Atari 7800, Atari Lynx and Game Gear do not support save states in this release. Use the game's own saves.
- A state belongs to the system's engine and the moment it was made. After an application update or an engine change, an older state may not load. Your in-game saves are the safe point.
- PlayStation save states made with earlier versions cannot be loaded in this release. They stay on your PC, and your PlayStation memory-card saves are not affected.
- Online multiplayer sessions keep their states separately from single-player play, and local save-state controls do not work the same way inside a coordinated session.
- Rewind is not available for the included systems in this preview.
08 / Get back to your moment
When a state will not cooperate.
Quick Save does nothing when I press a key.
Quick Save and Quick Load have no default key or button. Assign them in Settings → Controllers → Hotkeys, or use them from the Game Menu's Save & Load section.
I do not see any save-state options for this game.
Check the game's system. Odyssey², Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, SG-1000, Master System, Atari 7800, Atari Lynx and Game Gear do not support save states in this release. Use the game's own save system instead.
An older state will not load.
States are tied to the engine that made them. After an update, an older state may no longer be compatible. Load your most recent in-game save, then make a new state.
A PlayStation save state from an earlier version will not load.
That is expected in this release: PlayStation states made with earlier versions cannot be loaded. They stay on your PC, and your memory-card saves are not affected. Load your in-game save, then make a new state.
I loaded the wrong state.
Open Manage States and use Undo Load. In future, rename important states so they are easy to tell apart.
This game says it has the maximum number of save states.
Delete states you no longer need from Manage States, then save again.
Continue started the game from the beginning.
The game had no resume point. Check that Auto Resume is on in Settings → Storage → Save States & Auto Resume. Resume points are made when you leave a supported game.