Save System
Gameplay SystemsSave/load system: persist game state to disk, SaveGame objects, serialization, save slots, autosave patterns, and data migration.
/skill save-system What This Skill Does
Save System helps you persist game state to disk and restore it across play sessions in Unreal Engine. Whether you need simple checkpoint saves that restore on death, a full RPG save system with multiple manual slots and rolling autosaves, or a settings-only save for player preferences, this skill guides you through creating SaveGame objects, defining what data to serialize (player progress, inventory, world state, quest completion), managing save slots, implementing autosave patterns, handling async save and load for large files, and migrating save data when your format changes between updates.
Covers
- USaveGame subclass creation: defining what data to persist
- SaveGameToSlot and LoadGameFromSlot API
- Save slot management: naming, listing, and deleting save files
- What to save: player state, inventory, quest progress, world state, and settings
- What not to save: object references, transient data, and derived values
- Autosave and checkpoint patterns with rolling save slots
- Async save and load for large save files
- Save data migration for handling version changes between updates
Does Not Cover
- Cloud saves (Steam, Epic, console platforms) → Online Services
- Server-side persistence for live service games → Server Persistence
- Data Tables for read-only game config data → Data Tables
How to Use
Invoke this skill in Claude Code:
/skill save-systemThis skill is also auto-detected when your prompt mentions save, load, checkpoint, persistence, save game, slot, or autosave. AgentUX will automatically activate Save System when it recognizes relevant context in your request.
Key Unreal Engine Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
USaveGame | The base class for save data objects: variables on this class with the SaveGame flag are automatically serialized to disk. |
SaveGameToSlot | Writes a SaveGame object to a named slot on disk, making it available for later loading. |
LoadGameFromSlot | Reads a previously saved SaveGame object from a named slot and returns it for data restoration. |
AsyncSaveGameToSlot | Non-blocking save operation that runs on a background thread, preventing frame hitches for large save files. |
DoesSaveGameExist | Checks whether a save file exists in a given slot before attempting to load, preventing null reference errors. |
SaveVersion | A version integer stored in every save file, enabling migration logic when the save format changes between game updates. |
Related Skills
blueprint-basics
Visual scripting for save manager Blueprints and serialization logic
data-tables
Data Tables for game configuration and default value references
multiplayer-basics
Networking considerations for save state in multiplayer games
What You'll Learn
- How to create SaveGame Blueprints with properly structured save data
- How to implement save and load workflows using slots and player indices
- How to design what data to persist versus what to recalculate on load
- How to restore world state: destroyed actors, moved objects, NPC states, and opened containers
- How to implement autosave with rolling slots and checkpoint triggers
- How to handle save data migration when your save format changes between versions