botw-save-state

A BOTW 1.6.0 Switch save-state mod for speedrun practices

If your game crashes when saving/restoring, delete /atmosphere/exefs_patches/botwsavs

Install

First, download and extract the zip from latest release. There should be 2 folders mods and botwsavs.

I recommend using Simple Mod Manager for installing the mod. It will allow you easily disable/enable it. The downloaded package is already formatted and tested with Simple Mod Manager.

1. Install Simple Mod Manager.
2. Copy the mods and botwsavs folders to the root of your SD card.
3. Launch Simple Mod Manager, Select BOTW.
4. There should be a Save State mod in the mod list. Enable it.

You can also install it without SMM: Navigate to the atmosphere folder inside the mods folder and copy it to the root of the SD card. The mod will be automatically active.

In either case, make sure all other mods are uninstalled/disabled, as there is practically no way this mod will work with other mods.

Disable/Uninstall

If you use Simple Mod Manager, you can disable it within the tool. It will allow you to easily enable it again.

Otherwise, delete or rename /atmosphere/contents/01007EF00011E000 from the SD card. To fully delete the mod from existence from your device, also delete the /botwsavs folder from the SD card. This will remove config files, etc.

You can also hold L while launching the game to disable all mods. (SS2.0 has fixed the crash issue.)

Tutorial

Launch the game with the mod installed. You should the version in the title screen change to 1.6.0-SSx.y where x.y is the version of the mod. There will also be a welcome message displayed when you load into a save. This way you can verify the mod is active.

Save and Restore

Now you can press ZL + L + Dpad Left + Plus to save the state. I typically hold ZL + L + Dpad Left then press Plus and then release all buttons. You should see a message like this

Saved state to memory

Then you can move around, and when you want to restore to the saved state, press ZL + L + Dpad Right + Plus. You should teleport to the saved position with the message

Restored state from memory

Make sure you are only activating the key combos while having control of Link. The game may behave weirdly or even crash if you press them in loading screen or title screen

New in 2.0: As long as you don't release all the keys, the mod will keep resetting Link's position, allowing for a more accurate restore while in ragdoll state. For example, with the default restore combo, I typically release the other 3 keys and hold Plus for slightly longer until position is fully restored.

If you see errors, please see trouble shooting below.

Settings

Hold all triggers (ZL + L + ZR + R) and the whistle button (Dpad Down) for 3 seconds to enter setting mode. You should see the setting menu pop up in the top-right corner. Use the dpad to navigate the menu and A to select. Use B to go back a level or exit the settings.

Key Binding

You can change the key bindings for save/restore. Follow these steps:

1. Open setting menu (see above), then select Change Key Binding
2. Use dpad to select the key you want to change, then press A
3. Hold the new combo for 3 seconds, or hold ZL to cancel.
   • If you combo includes dpad or plus/minus, open the menu (plus) or map (minus) first, then hold the dpad direction, and then press and hold plus/minus to unpause and hold the other keys.
4. You should see a confirmation message when the new binding is set

State Options

Since 2.0, you can now toggle individually what you want to save/restore. Open the setting menu and select Change State Options.

Recommended (TL;DR):

• Keep Timers enabled as they don't have negative effects
• If you don't need to track inventory during practice, you can disable Inventory to avoid issues.
  • Having it on can still have benefits, for example you don't need to swap equipments after restoring for Any%

Full List:

1. Restore Message
   • When disabled, there will be no message displayed upon restoring. Useful for grinding BTT or if you think the message is annoying.
2. Timers enables
   • Time of day values:
     • Including the current time of day and blood moon timer
   • Climate damage timers:
     • Time until next heat/cold damage
     • Time until Link starts burning
   • Champion abilities:
     • Cool down for all abilities
     • Uses left for gale, fury, and protection
     • Master Sword cool down
   • Potion timer:
     • Speed
     • Attack
     • Defense
     • Heat Resist
     • Cold Resist
     • Flame Resist
     • Shock Resist
     • Stealth
3. Inventory enables:
   • (Since v2.1) All your items and their states in the inventory, including but not limited to:
     • Number of offset slots for IST
     • GameData will be synced
     • Equipped items in the overworld will be synced if a quick menu is open. If not, they will be synced the next time you open the quick menu.
   • Number of offset slots for IST
     • (Since v2.1) This is a stored in its own field, so you can edit this value and break slots easily like in

The following will always be enabled, and you cannot turn them off:

• Current Health
• Current Stamina
• Position (Havok Position and Main Position Matrix)
• Camera Matrix

Additionally, the following will happen when you restore, regardless of the setting:

• Runes will finish cooldown
• Bombs will be deleted

Save/Restore from File

In additional to saving the state to memory, you can also save it to a file. The default save key combo is ZL + L + Dpad Left + R3 and restore is ZL + L + Dpad Right + R3.

When saving, the file will be saved to /botwsavs/latest.txt. When restoring, the /botwsavs/restore.txt file is read. This is intentional, so you can't overwrite restore.txt by accident.

The saved state file is human-readable, so you can also use this feature to edit the state manually (like breaking slots for IST practice quickly). You can use this python script to transfer save state files over FTP (with the ftpd homebrew app). Run python3 ftp.py to see how to use.

(This has nothing to do in game, just makes managing the save state files generated by the mod easier)

Troubleshooting & FAQ

Q: The mod is not showing in SimpleModManager

When you download the release zip, there are 2 folders mods and botwsavs. Make sure to copy these to the root of the SD card, and overwrite existing files. Do NOT put them in any subfolders.

Q: I installed but it's not working in game

Please check the following:

• The title screen should show the version as 1.6.0-SSx.y where x.y is the version of the mod.
• When you load a save, after walking around for a few seconds, there will be a welcome message displayed on the top-right corner.

If you have these working, then the mod is active, and you likely are not pressing the key combos correctly. Make sure to only press the keys set. For example, if your binding is A+B, then pressing A+B+Y will not work.

Q: Restore is showing error

Try restarting the game. The mod uses raw memory access to save/restore the state and has protection against invalid memory access. There is a small chance that when the game boots, the values are not in the usual location.

Q: I'm stuck after restoring

Don't restore in water or on a ladder.

Q: Crash

If you installed the mod before SS2.0 and is upgrading, make sure to delete /atmosphere/exefs_patches/botwsavs. Otherwise, Please open an issue and upload the crash report found in /atmosphere/crash_reports/<timestamp>.log, where <timestamp> is a number. The greatest number is the most recent crash.

Q: Will there be support for TOTK?

Making a mod like this requires an insane amount of research, and I was lucky to have Bloom do most of it for BOTW. I don't really have the time and energy to think about TOTK right now.

Developer

This section is intended for developers

Environment

Only Linux environment is tested.

Install these tools:

• DevKitPro for switch development. Distros with pacman can use the commands at vmsetup
• megaton for building - Rust toolchain required
• clang-format for code formatting

These tools are (very strongly) recommended but optional:

• This project has out-of-the-box support for clangd. Make sure /usr/bin/g++ is available or you can change the compiler manually in .clangd
• magoo for git submodule management
• lftp for FTP transfer - install it with your package manager
• task for running scripts

Clone the repo, then run magoo install to clone the submodules. Or clone the repo with --recursive

Build

Run megaton (set it up first, see the link above) to build the project. This will build the nso and validate it with symbols from BOTW.

task upload will send the binary to your console over FTP. Use CONSOLE_ADDR environment variable to specify the IP address of your console.

task download will download crash reports from the console (and delete them from the console).