Save Issues

Symptom: Save files exist but can’t be loaded or cause errors.

Possible causes:

1. Engine version mismatch — Saves from a different engine version may be incompatible

   • Solution: Match the engine version to when the saves were created

2. Corrupted save file — The save file is damaged

   • Solution: Try loading an earlier save or auto-save

3. Missing persistent data — The persistent file is missing

   • Solution: Transfer the persistent file along with the saves

Symptom: The game crashes or shows an error mentioning “unsupported pickle protocol” or similar pickle-related messages.

Cause: This happens when save or persistent files were created on a newer Ren’Py engine and you are trying to load them on an older one. The most common case is loading saves made with Ren’Py 8 (Python 3) on a Ren’Py 7 (Python 2) engine — Python 3’s pickle format is not backward-compatible with Python 2.

Solutions:

1. Switch to a Ren’Py 8.x engine version to match the saves
2. If you must use a 7.x engine, delete the incompatible saves and persistent files and start fresh

When transferring saves from PC:

1. Make sure you copy both .save files AND the persistent file
2. Place them in Spark Documents/games/[GameName]/game/saves/
3. Use the same or compatible engine version as the PC version
4. Restart the game after importing saves

Save compatibility is not always guaranteed when moving saves from Spark to other platforms (PC, Mac, Android) or vice versa. We do our best to ensure compatibility, but testing across every possible scenario is very time consuming and edge cases exist.

If you encounter a save compatibility issue when transferring saves between Spark and another platform, please report it on Discord or via email so we can investigate.

1. Verify iCloud is enabled in iOS Settings
2. Ensure Spark has iCloud Drive permission
3. Check that iCloud Save Sync is enabled in Spark Settings
4. Wait a few minutes — sync is not instant
5. Check your device’s internet connection

Save thumbnails may not appear if:

• The save was created on a different platform
• The game’s image assets are different from the version used to create the save
• The save was transferred without thumbnail data

If saves seem to have vanished:

1. Check if you changed the game’s engine version (saves are version-specific in location)
2. Look in Spark Documents/games/[GameName]/game/saves/
3. Check backup files in Spark Documents/backups/
4. If iCloud sync is enabled, check if saves are still on another device