Saves
Where Empo keeps your save files, what happens to them when you update or delete a game, and how to move saves in and out.
Empo keeps saves in the Files app, under On My iPhone → Empo. Nothing is hidden inside the app binary, so an app update never touches a save.
Where a save lives
A game writes its saves in one of two places. The game decides, not Empo.
| Location | Path in Files | Which games |
|---|---|---|
| The shared data folder | Empo/Data/<game>/ |
Most games. The engine sends saves there, as desktop mkxp-z does. |
| Inside the game folder | Empo/Games/<title>/Game/ |
Games that save next to their own files (Game.rxdata, a Save Data/ folder). Empo calls these portable saves. |
Two versions of a game that declare the same data path share one folder under Data/. That is
how a fangame keeps its saves from one release to the next.
To see where one game saves, play it, save once, and look for the newest file under both paths.
When you update a game
An import over an installed game merges the new files into the game folder. Your saves stay.
If the new version ships a file at the path of one of your saves, the newer file keeps the path,
and Empo keeps the other one beside it with a .empo-displaced.bak suffix.
The shared data folder is never part of an update.
When you delete a game
- Saves in the shared data folder stay where they are.
- Portable saves move to
Empo/Rescued Saves/<title>/, with their folder structure intact. - A file that Empo does not recognize as a save goes with the game.
When you import the same game again, Empo moves the rescued saves back into the game folder before the first launch.
Move saves in from another device
Copy the save files into the folder the game uses on this device.
Find the folder
Play the game once and save, so the folder exists. Find the new file under Empo/Data/ or
under the game folder.
Copy the files
In the Files app, copy your save files from the other device, from iCloud Drive, or from a zip, into that folder. Keep the file names. Replace the files with the same names.
Restart the game
Quit the game if it is open, close Empo from the app switcher, and start the game again.
Saves from Windows, from desktop mkxp-z, and from JoiPlay work without a change. The file format is the same.
Move saves out
Copy the files out of the same folder with the Files app, or share the folder to another app. Keep a copy of your saves before you try a game update that you do not trust.
Saves that went missing
A defect in versions before v0.6.1 renamed the save files of some games. Empo v0.6.1 and newer restore the newest save for each affected game at launch, and show a Saves recovered sheet. The renamed copies stay in the game folder as backups.
If a save is still missing, check the other location in the table above, then check
Rescued Saves/. If it is in none of them, ask on Discord.