Are GB/GBC/GBA/DS saves region-free?

[Lumstar]

I don't believe GBA saves can be used on multiple region games. I attempted to do that with a Metroid: Zero Mission VC injection, and it didn't read the file. I had extracted the save from the VC, which is a EUR version, and tried to play it on VGBA-M using a US rom, and the file wouldn't be read. In the end I had to extract the game from the VC and play it for it to work. The EUR save wouldn't be read on the US game.

Well for that game the EUR rom is a slightly better choice. You get the language select menu.
Not counting hacks or mods that use the US one.

 

[PolloDiablo]

I don't know if it's the same for every game but in Minish Cap you'll need to change BZME to BZMP in the first few lines when you open the save file in a HEX editor to change the save from US to EU. So basically just look for the game's ID.

I'm trying to convert my Europe save to USA.
But I cannot find those games IDs (BZME / BZMP) on the ASCII code of my savefile.

EDIT: nvm I got it to work. I just needed to change "HSI.3" (Europe) to "HSI.5" (USA) in two lines of the file.
Thanks for the idea!

 

[Ketchup901]

Probably pretty much the same. Just find the game ID in the save and if you're playing the US version it should have an E in it, which you can change to P for Europe or J for Japan

I can't find anything in the .sav, any help?

 

[MichiS97]

I can't find anything in the .sav, any help?

Can you show me the file in a hex editor? Just provide a screenshot of the first 100 bytes or so. Which game are you trying this on and which emulator are you using?

 

[Ketchup901]

Can you show me the file in a hex editor? Just provide a screenshot of the first 100 bytes or so. Which game are you trying this on and which emulator are you using?

Pokémon Emerald, trying to convert from USA to EUR. I'm using a DS, no emulators involved.

 

[GothicIII]

I don't believe GBA saves can be used on multiple region games. I attempted to do that with a Metroid: Zero Mission VC injection, and it didn't read the file. I had extracted the save from the VC, which is a EUR version, and tried to play it on VGBA-M using a US rom, and the file wouldn't be read. In the end I had to extract the game from the VC and play it for it to work. The EUR save wouldn't be read on the US game.

I did convert golden sun m3 saves to play on 3ds (VC) the 2nd part. Also conversion between different regions is possible if the game save is not too complex (like having foreign characters which other versions can't display)
It is possible but you have to know how to do this.
Many games have different save formats coded into the rom. If you start the game with a save that has a different format it usually gets wiped by the game and you have to copy it again.
Sadly it is already a few years ago when I did the conversion so I don't have any details but I had to experiment around to get the save working.
I really don't remember it but I think I used decrypt9 to inject a gba save because the save is stored in SRAM(?) and I had to boot sysnand to get the save written for the game.

 

[Lumstar]

Pokémon Emerald, trying to convert from USA to EUR. I'm using a DS, no emulators involved.

No such thing, unless you want to change language.
Pokémon Emerald uses the same ROM for all English releases.

 

[Ketchup901]

No such thing, unless you want to change language.
Pokémon Emerald uses the same ROM for all English releases.

That would explain why the backup software identifies both of them as BPEE.
Still, the save from the USA version doesn't work in the EUR version.
Also, neither savegame_manager.nds nor GBA_Backup_Tool.nds creates any good savefiles from my EUR copy (they're mostly blank with some sporadically filled in bytes, and a large chunk of FF toward the end).
In addition, my USA copy is fake while my EUR copy is legitimate.

 

[Spokenlastchance]

never ever mix different language saves with GB/C games. Not sure about GBA but for DS Pokémon games at least I think the saves work on any region. The European version of Scribblenauts has a different word list and the multiplayer is region locked so I'm guessing mixing saves won't work right for that game

I'm pretty sure pokemon games from GB/GBC saves won't be region free because there are tons of differences in how the games themselves work. For instance you shouldn't ever try and trade from GB/GBC pokemon games due to where information is store.

It might be worth looking into say on an emulator, but I wouldn't try it on actual hardware.

 

[Lumstar]

That would explain why the backup software identifies both of them as BPEE.
Still, the save from the USA version doesn't work in the EUR version.
Also, neither savegame_manager.nds nor GBA_Backup_Tool.nds creates any good savefiles from my EUR copy (they're mostly blank with some sporadically filled in bytes, and a large chunk of FF toward the end).
In addition, my USA copy is fake while my EUR copy is legitimate.

Who knows what quality control fake games have. It might be modified in some way that makes saves incompatible with legitimate games.
Perhaps the fake uses SRAM saving, while the original uses EEPROM?

 

[zfreeman]

The GBA reproduction cartridges typically have a patched ROM instruct the SRAM to flash to the ROM chip, cutting the cost of including a battery. This will happen during the process of saving the game; button inputs, video, and audio will freeze. If the cartridge's ROM is dumped, the save will be in it. If the cartridge's SRAM is dumped, the save will be null, as the SRAM only holds a save with a battery or during gameplay.

 

[Ketchup901]

The GBA reproduction cartridges typically have a patched ROM make the SRAM flash to the ROM chip, cutting the cost of including a battery. This will happen during the process of saving the game; button inputs, video, and audio will freeze. If the cartridge's ROM is dumped, the save will be in it. If the cartridge's SRAM is dumped, the save will be null, as the SRAM only holds a save with a battery or during gameplay.

Yep, that's exactly what happens on my fake game.
So then is there any way to extract my save from a dumped ROM? I'm pretty sure I can dump the ROM using the same backup tool as I use for my savefiles.

 

[zfreeman]

Just play the dumped ROM in an emulator and it will generate the correct file after saving.

 

[Ketchup901]

Just play the dumped ROM in an emulator and it will generate the correct file after saving.

Tried this with mGBA and it didn't work. When just loading the rom, mGBA created its own save file just loading the ROM, and there was no continue option, just new game and option, and if I tried to also load the savefile, an in-game message told me the savefile was deleted due to corruption.

 

[zfreeman]

Try VBA (Visual Boy Advance). http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/gba/vboyadvance.html

 

[Ketchup901]

Try VBA (Visual Boy Advance). http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/gba/vboyadvance.html

Thank you, it worked!!! The save file created by VBA was 64KiB, rather than the 128KiB that was apparently wanted, so Rudolph's GBA backup tool wouldn't let me restore from it, so I had to use nds_savemanager instead.
Thank you for all your help! Much love.