on pc emulators, there is usually saving and loading capabilities which i think is a good idea. i know the suspend feature works like a quick save and load mechanism, but it also closes. I have made a feature request about this because i think it's a good idea. I don't think assigning buttons to quick save and load is a good idea in the event that you might accidentally press them (especially on sony ericsson devices) but I think having the options in the options menu (where "show log" and close rom are,) is a good idea.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I do something similar in my J2ME spectrum emulator. Snapshots are automatically generated when the application is closed or a new game loaded. I never overwrite the original file, but make a copy so the user can always revert to the virgin state.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
There are several possible implementations. The Feature Request, which daaceking mentioned above, speaks of a means to save the state in-game, without necessarily exiting the game (the user might indeed be asked whether he wants to quit or to continue), and an option to revert to this state later. Automatically generating snapshots on exit would be somewhere inbetween this solution and the current since it would allow more than one save slot, as in the current implementation, but it would only work when closing the game.
Technically it would IMO also be possible to take a snapshot while playing the game and then continue with the game. What I think is that the user should later somehow get a list of snapshots to choose from. IMO this list should contain meaningful names for the snapshots. But on a mobile device it is probably not (always) appropriate to ask the user for a name when saving a snapshot since typing text is cumbersome on many devices. Therefore I'd suggest to use the name of the current game plus the current date and time as default identifier (renaming might be an option later). On startup or after leaving a game the user might then either start a new game or select a snapshot to continue with. So a user can save as many snapshots as his device has memory and can hopefully quickly identify the snapshot he wants to continue with.
Does this make sense?
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
on pc emulators, there is usually saving and loading capabilities which i think is a good idea. i know the suspend feature works like a quick save and load mechanism, but it also closes. I have made a feature request about this because i think it's a good idea. I don't think assigning buttons to quick save and load is a good idea in the event that you might accidentally press them (especially on sony ericsson devices) but I think having the options in the options menu (where "show log" and close rom are,) is a good idea.
I do something similar in my J2ME spectrum emulator. Snapshots are automatically generated when the application is closed or a new game loaded. I never overwrite the original file, but make a copy so the user can always revert to the virgin state.
There are several possible implementations. The Feature Request, which daaceking mentioned above, speaks of a means to save the state in-game, without necessarily exiting the game (the user might indeed be asked whether he wants to quit or to continue), and an option to revert to this state later. Automatically generating snapshots on exit would be somewhere inbetween this solution and the current since it would allow more than one save slot, as in the current implementation, but it would only work when closing the game.
Technically it would IMO also be possible to take a snapshot while playing the game and then continue with the game. What I think is that the user should later somehow get a list of snapshots to choose from. IMO this list should contain meaningful names for the snapshots. But on a mobile device it is probably not (always) appropriate to ask the user for a name when saving a snapshot since typing text is cumbersome on many devices. Therefore I'd suggest to use the name of the current game plus the current date and time as default identifier (renaming might be an option later). On startup or after leaving a game the user might then either start a new game or select a snapshot to continue with. So a user can save as many snapshots as his device has memory and can hopefully quickly identify the snapshot he wants to continue with.
Does this make sense?
Sounds good, but you may have a problem with an ever-increasing list of snapshots
this would mean a delete snapshot option would also be required
Yes, of course. In the Feature Request you submitted I already included this option in my proposal.
sorry, i read the forum before the feature request.