Emerald Save Restore Glitch Research

[FromCrimsonToWool]

There is an bug with Pokémon Emerald save restoring. A few of the clock-based events don't trigger/reset properly when you transfer/restore a save from an emulator to an Emerald cart, but the in-game clock and other time based events will still function properly.

I'm determined to find out why this happens. Moreover, I will find a proper fix for this( and there’s no harm in me learning a whole lot in the process :-) ).

This is a call for as much additional information, no matter how seemingly trivial it may be. It’s seems that this is an issue related to the RAM and/or save state.

Observations:

• the Lillycove lottery never resets
  
• secret base trainers never reset( I’ve got a SWEET setup with 6 level 100 Blissey’s that have no attacking moves for BOATLOADS of experience )
  
• the clock in the player’s bedroom continues to run properly
  
• the man in Pacifidlog that
  gives out Frustration or Return TMs still does so

Theories/ideas:

• placeholder
  

Questions that need to be answered:

• Is this a problem with the emulator, a problem with the save restoring & backup program, both, or something else entirely?
  
• Is this permanent?
  
• Does this type of thing only happen to Emerald or do Ruby and Sapphire suffer, too?
  
• I know that there are MANY people that know spellbinding amounts not just about programming in general, but also about the specific programming of these generation III games. Where else should I ask for help?
  
• Will someone please provide a ‘known good’ save( i.e. a save backup from a cart that is working properly )?
  
• It has been surmised that this occurred after they beat the Elite Four, is this true or just coincidence?
  
• MrEobo posted that someone told him the issue is worked out if the game isn’t played for a while. I don’t think this is true as my cart hasn’t seen much play in a long while and still has the issue, but is there a way to positively confirm or deny this?
  

Edited October 4, 2012 by FromCrimsonToWool
Changed to an é

[MrEobo]

This is, indeed, becoming a nuisance

I'm not sure when I started noticing that some time based events no longer occur correctly, but I believe it was just randomly. I might start a new game on Emerald, transfer the save file a few times early in the story, and see if this problem still occurs, or if there is something specific that triggers it.

[MrEobo]

I have started a new save file on my Emerald version.

Not much to say about it, but the fact that I've used homebrew transferring software and edited the save file with Encyclopedia Pokemon a few times, and in-game events still run normally, along with my player's house clock.

I will soon test whether or not actually playing the save file on the VBA emulator *without* using "Real-Time Clock" will affect in-game events. If it doesn't affect them, then the only way to *prevent* this problem will be by not using the Real-Time Clock on VBA. Still no answer to a 'fix', per se.

[MrEobo]

I played the Emerald U ROM on VBA with my cartridge save file *without* enabling the Real-Time Clock, injected the save back into the cartridge, and timed events still resume normally. I even watched news on one of the televisions for the Berry Crushing Master! I might back up my save file and try playing with the real-time clock enabled or maybe some AR codes to see if it affects the in-game time events.