As speedrunning moved to the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, the save file became even more integral. These cartridges used SRAM (Static Random-Access Memory) to hold saves.
Runners playing games like Pokémon or Mario Kart realized that the RNG (Random Number Generation) of a game—which determines what items you get or how enemies behave—is often tied to the state of the SRAM when the console is powered on. speedrunners save file
This led to the concept of RNG Manipulation. By starting a "New Game" at a precise millisecond, or by loading a specific save file and performing a specific sequence of inputs, runners could predict and control the "random" elements of the game. They weren't just reacting to the game; they were reading a script written into the save data's memory. As speedrunning moved to the Game Boy Advance
In Speedrunners (by DoubleDutch Games / tinyBuild), the save file contains: ⚠️ It does NOT store local replay files
⚠️ It does NOT store local replay files – those are separate (usually in
%LocalAppData%\Speedrunners\Saved\Replays).
If your progress is