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Save States and SRAM Persistence

Nostalgia Play supports client-side saves stored directly on your computer's hard drive. Your game progress is completely under your own control.

How Saves Work

Your saves live inside a hidden folder .nls/saves/ at the root of the local folder you selected during library setup.

  • Directory structure: .nls/saves/{systemId}/
  • State files (.slot{N}.state): The raw emulator state snapshot for slot N.
  • SRAM files (.srm): Battery-backed save data (representing your traditional in-game cartridge saves).
  • Metadata files (.meta.json): Timestamps, screenshots, and slot-specific information.

Automatic SRAM Injection

When you boot any game, the emulator looks for a matching .srm file in your saves folder. If found, it automatically injects the SRAM data 3 seconds after boot, instantly restoring your in-game cartridge progress without needing to load a state slot manually.

Pause Menu & Slot Selection

To save your game at any moment or load a previously saved state, open the in-game pause menu:

  • Keyboard Shortcut: Press Shift + Enter
  • Gamepad Shortcut: Press Start + Select simultaneously

From the pause menu, select Save State or Load State to open the slot picker:

Save State Slot Picker

Load State Slot Picker

Each game supports up to 5 independent save slots. The menu highlights slot statuses:

  • Used Slot: Displays the save date and time (e.g., Slot 1 — Jan 5, 3:42 PM).
  • Empty Slot: Labeled as empty (e.g., Slot 1 — Empty).

Managing Your Saves

Since saves reside locally on your filesystem, you have total access to them:

  • Backup: Simply copy the .nls/saves/ folder to a backup disk or cloud drive.
  • Delete Individual Saves: Delete the specific .state and .meta.json files for the unwanted slot inside the system folder.
  • Wipe System Saves: Delete the folder named after the system ID (e.g., snes/) to clear all saves for that system.