Using a save from an emulator

Hookshot and the emulators and ports that run the Switch 2 Ocarina of Time on a PC all keep the game’s saves as the same files. You can carry on in Hookshot from a save made in Lichii (or Eglantine, Orchid, NX2navi, …), or take your Hookshot save to one of them, at the same spot: nothing is converted, the files are copied across. scripts/oot_saves.py finds the folders and does the copy safely.

You need your own copy of the game. Nothing here comes with game files.

The files

Every one of them keeps one folder per user profile, holding:

account.sav
option.sav            (the game's own settings)
slot_00/ ... slot_NN/ (one per save slot)
  progress.sav
  caption.sav

Only the folder they are in differs.

Where the saves are

Program	Linux	Windows	How sure
Hookshot	~/.local/share/hookshot/save/<user id>/	<game folder>\user\save\<user id>\	Hookshot’s source; Linux tested
Lichii	~/.local/share/eden/ + Eden’s save path below	%APPDATA%\eden\ + Eden’s save path	Lichii’s source; Linux tested, Windows not
Frizti (Fritchii), a Lichii fork	(Windows only)	%APPDATA%\eden\ + Eden’s save path	its source (fritchii-v5.5); not tried
Orchid	~/.local/share/eden/ + Eden’s save path	%APPDATA%\eden\ + Eden’s save path	its source; not tried
PokeDinner	~/.local/share/eden/ + Eden’s save path	%APPDATA%\eden\ + Eden’s save path	its source; not tried
Eglantine	~/.local/share/eglantine/ + Eden’s save path	%APPDATA%\eglantine\ + Eden’s save path	its source; not tried
NX2navi	<game folder>/profile/save/<account>/ (its AppImage builds into ~/Games/Ocarina)	<game folder>\profile\save\<account>\ (the launcher’s game folder is %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\NX2navi\game unless you chose another)	its documentation (docs/launcher.md, docs/installer.md, docs/README-BuildKit.md); not tried

Eden’s save path, under that data folder: nand/user/save/0000000000000000/<profile id>/0400486024DEC000/.

• 0400486024DEC000 is the game’s title id. Eden’s <profile id> is the Switch user profile you play with; Hookshot’s <user id> and NX2navi’s <account> are one folder with a 32-character hex name.
• Lichii, Frizti, Orchid and PokeDinner share one folder, Eden’s (eden): a save there is the same save in all of them. Eglantine has its own (eglantine).
• The emulators use a user folder beside the program (Linux: in the folder you start it from) instead of the paths above when that folder exists (their “portable” mode). Point the script at it with --from/--to.
• Newer Eden code also reads a save from nand/user/save/account/<profile>/0400486024DEC000/0/ when that folder exists, and then uses it first. The script looks there too.
• NX2navi writes a save to profile/save-tx first and moves it into place after. While something is waiting there, that is the save the game loads next, so the script refuses to copy until NX2navi has been started and quit (or --force). NX2navi’s launcher also has its own Import Saves, which takes an emulator’s save folder.
• $XDG_DATA_HOME replaces ~/.local/share when it is set. Hookshot’s --user <folder> puts its saves in <folder>/save/<user id>/ (command line arguments).
• The emulator paths come from each one’s src/common/fs/fs_paths.h, path_util.cpp and src/core/file_sys/savedata_factory.cpp. Official Eden does not run Switch 2 games; its name is accepted because the forks above use its folder.
• Not listed: Ryujinx and its forks (Ryubing, …) do not run Switch 2 games. Any other program that keeps these files works through --from/--to with the folder that holds them.

Copy with the script

scripts/oot_saves.py (Python 3, nothing to install) copies the slots, account.sav and option.sav one way, after backing up the side it overwrites. From the Hookshot folder (or a clone):

python -I scripts/oot_saves.py list              # every save it finds, its slots and when each was saved
python -I scripts/oot_saves.py import lichii     # Lichii -> Hookshot
python -I scripts/oot_saves.py export lichii     # Hookshot -> Lichii
python -I scripts/oot_saves.py import --from ~/Downloads/my-save   # any folder holding a save -> Hookshot
python -I scripts/oot_saves.py export --to ~/Lichii/user           # Hookshot -> a portable emulator

The names are lichii, frizti (or fritchii), orchid, pokedinner, eden, eglantine and nx2navi. to-lichii and to-hookshot still work: they are export lichii and import lichii.

On Windows Hookshot’s folder is your game folder, which the script cannot guess, so name it:

python -I scripts\oot_saves.py import lichii --hookshot "C:\Games\Hookshot"
python -I scripts\oot_saves.py export nx2navi --hookshot "C:\Games\Hookshot"

Option	What it does
--dry-run	Says what it would copy and where, and changes nothing
--keep-settings	Leaves the target’s option.sav alone, so each program keeps its own settings
--profile <id>	The emulator’s profile to use. Needed when more than one profile has saves: the script lists them and stops rather than pick one
--from <folder>, --to <folder>	The emulator’s side: the save folder itself, or a folder above it to search (a data folder, a portable user folder, NX2navi’s game folder). With a name, it replaces where that emulator is looked for; without one, any folder works
--hookshot <folder>	Hookshot’s data folder (Windows: the game folder), or its save\<user id> folder
--backup-dir <folder>	Where the backup goes, outside the target save folder
--force	Copies even if a game seems to be running, or NX2navi has a save waiting

The script refuses to run while it sees Hookshot or any of the programs above running. The side being overwritten is copied to oot-save-backups/<import or export>-<name>-<date>-<time>/ first: in ~/.local/share on Linux, in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Hookshot on Windows. To undo a copy, put the backup’s contents back.

Copy by hand

Close both programs, then copy the contents of the folder you are leaving into the folder you are going to (see the table above). Keep a copy of the target first. Delete the target’s old slot_* folders before copying, so a slot that only exists on that side does not stay mixed in with the new save.

Before you copy

• Close both programs first. A game that is running can write its save again on exit and undo the copy.
• Never run two of them on the same save at the same time. Pointing two at one folder with a symlink may work, since the files are the same, but it has not been tried.
• Settings follow the save. option.sav holds the game’s own settings (camera, text speed, …) and is copied too. Use --keep-settings (or skip that file by hand) if you want different settings in each.
• Profiles. If your emulator has several user profiles, make sure you copy to and from the one you play on.
• Backups. The script keeps one for every copy. Delete old ones when you no longer need them.
• Start each program once and save in it before the first copy, so that its save folder exists.

What was tested

• Linux (Arch-based), Hookshot v2.0.5 and Lichii built from source on the same day.
• A Hookshot save copied to Lichii loads in Lichii at the same spot (Kokiri Forest, the spawn by the flower patch).
• A Lichii save copied to Hookshot arrives identical, but has not been played through on the Hookshot side.
• The script’s discovery for every program above, its copies and backups are covered by tests/test_oot_saves.py, on temporary folders.
• Not tested: Windows, and every program but Lichii. Their folders come from their source or, for NX2navi, its documentation, as the table says.