Save and Load

When running games through DBP, there are two ways to save and load your progress:

  1. Use the standard Save/Load State feature available in RetroArch.
  2. Save your progress using the game's built-in save system, where DOSBox Pure will save all changes made to the C: drive.

It is strongly discouraged to combine these two methods. Let's look at each method in detail.

Saving and Loading Game State with Save/Load State

This is a standard RetroArch feature that allows you to save the current state of the game and load it later.
It works not only with DOSBox Pure but also with other emulators.

You have access to multiple save slots, which can be switched in the Quick Menu by pressing F1, then selecting Save States → State Slot.

Save States → State Slot menu

In the same Save States menu, you will find the Save State and Load State options to save the current game state and load a saved state.

You can also assign hotkeys for these actions in the Input settings (see Keyboard Controls).

By default, F2 and F4 are used for saving and loading states.

Saving Changes to the C: Drive

Most DOS games have their own save systems that write progress to the C: drive.

If you launched the game from a .zip archive or a disk image, all changes for that game will be saved in a separate archive located in the Save Files folder.
The name of this archive will match the name of the game archive exactly.

If needed, you can open this save archive to inspect the files written to the C: drive.

Keep in mind that all changes written to the C: drive after starting the DOSBox Pure core are saved in this archive. This includes not only game saves but also any other files the game writes, such as configuration files, logs, etc.

important

If the game was launched from a folder with extracted game files instead of an archive, all changes will be saved directly to that folder instead of a separate archive.