Managing Snapshots - Kizari/Flagrum GitHub Wiki

Ebony Snaps Manager

Ebony Snaps Manager is a tool by Surihix integrated into Flagrum, designed to help players manage FFXV snapshots within Final Fantasy XV. This guide will cover how to use its features to view, save, add, and replace snapshots used by the game.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Ebony Snaps Manager simplifies the process of interacting with snapshot (.ss) files that store in-game photos. It allows players to view, export, replace, and add new snapshots to their game.

Key Features:

  • View snapshots directly from within Flagrum
  • Export snapshots to common image formats
  • Add or replace snapshots using external images
  • Manage and clean up your snapshot storage

Snap Viewer

Snap Viewer is the simpler half of the tool, allowing users to browse and export snapshots Prompto has taken in Final Fantasy XV.

Using Snap Viewer:

  • Automatically loads your default snapshot directory upon opening.
  • To view a different folder, click Load Snapshot Directory.
  • To load a single snapshot, use Load Snapshot.
  • Right-click on a displayed snapshot to save it as an image file.
  • Use the bottom button to export all snapshots in the list.

Navigation:

  • Use the scroll wheel or arrow keys to browse the list of snapshots.

Status Bar:

At the bottom of the Flagrum window, a status bar displays messages related to the snapshot processes. It updates as snapshots load, save, modify and during file/folder selection to help users.

Note: If a file selection window pops up, it may temporarily hide the status bar depending on the size of the window.

Snap Tools

Snap Tools offer additional options for modifying snapshots and save files.

Many of the functions in Snap Tools will modify your save file and the snapshotlink.sl file, it is good practice to make a backup of your saves and photos prior to using any of the Snap Tools. (See Notes)

Load Image to Panel

  • Loads a JPEG or PNG into the snapshot panel.
  • This image can be used to replace or add snapshots.

Note: The tool warns users if the aspect ratio does not match the expected snapshot ratio of 16:9.

Add as New Snap & Batch Add New Snaps

  • Add as New Snap: Inserts a single snapshot using the loaded image.
  • Batch Add New Snaps: Adds multiple images from a selected folder.

How it works:

  1. After loading an image or selecting a folder, the tool prompts you to choose:
    • A snapshotlink.sl file.
      • Found in the main snapshot folder corresponding to the save you are adding images to.
    • A gameplay0.save file that you would like the snapshot added to, present in one of the gameplay\slot folders.
      • Read the notes for help with save files.
  2. The snapshots will be available under "Manual Snaps" in-game.

Additional Uses:

  • Old playthrough snapshots can be transferred into new saves by converting and saving the old snapshots and adding them to the new save.
  • Console players can import their snapshots from previous saves similarly, if they have access to their old snapshot folder.

Replace Existing Snap

  • Overwrites an existing snapshot file with the currently loaded image.
  • Warning: The replaced snapshot cannot be retrieved after replacement.

Remove Blank Snaps

  • Cleans up blank snapshot entries caused by:
    • Deleted snapshots.
    • Using saves from other users.
    • Data corruption.
  • This removes orphaned records while keeping valid snapshots.

Additional Uses:

  • Players convert and save all existing snapshots, delete the original .ss files before using Remove Blank Snaps to get a fresh photo album in game.
    • This is more valuable for players not using the Snapshot Limit Break mod to expand photo storage to 9,999.
  • Adding new snapshots via this tool can continue to add snapshots beyond the game’s photo limit.
    • The game won’t allow new photos to be taken, but existing photos will remain.

Decrypt Save File & Encrypt Save File

Ebony Snaps Manager can read/write encrypted snapshotlink.sl files, which share encryption with other FFXV save files.

These encrypted files include:

  • avatar0.save
  • avatar0_mod.save
  • gameplay0.save
  • gameplay_mission_temporary0.save
  • live_config_data.save
  • snapshotlink.sl
  • system_data.save
  • universal_data.save

Advanced Editing:

  • Reffer to our FFXV Save Templates to analyze your various FFXV save files.
  • 010 Editor can be used to p
  • Decrypt before editing, then encrypt after modifying.

Notes:

  • Save File Structure:

    • There are multiple gameplay0.save files, but only one snapshotlink.sl file per save directory, located inside the /snapshot folder.
    • gameplay0.save files are stored in the /gameplay/slot folders where:
      • slot0 and slot1 contain the first two Autosaves.
      • slot2 to slot9 contain your manual saves in the same order you see in-game.
    • When editing or using other people's saves, it is important to always use the correct /slot folder for that save for it to work.

  • Save & Snapshot Storage Locations:

    • Regular Steam users typically find their photos and saves both in:
      C:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents\My Games\FINAL FANTASY XV\Steam\[STEAM_USER_ID]\
    • Steam;s Cloud Save users will find a second folder for saves in:
      C:\Steam Library\userdata\179242008\637650\remote\gameplay\
      • Steam Cloud keeps a local copy of saves, but will only read from the cloud save location while Cloud Save is enabled.
      • You will likely need to edit save files in this location instead of your documents folder (next to your snapshots), or disable Cloud Save.
    • Codex (non-Steam) versions may store saves and snapshots in: C:\Users\Public\Documents\Steam\CODEX\637650\
    • Other versions (e.g., Origin, Microsoft Store, etc.) may store saves elsewhere. If your version isn't listed, you will need to manually locate where your saves and snapshots are stored.

Backing Up Your Files

Before making any changes to snapshots or save files, backing up your existing files is recommended.

  • Why Backup?

    • Though the program's focus is snapshot files, it also writes data to:
      • The snapshotlink.sl file - Links snapshots to saves.
      • The gameplay0.save file - Stores records of every photo you take and information about each photo.
    • While changes are quick and stable, unexpected issues such as program crashes, power outages, or unforeseen mods that create a conflict with our knowledge of saves could affect save integrity. The tool should account for those rare cases, but we still suggest backing up to be safe.

  • What to Back Up?

    • Before using New Snap or Remove Blank Snaps, copy both:
      • Your snapshotlink.sl file.
      • The gameplay0.save file you plan to edit.

This precaution ensures that if anything unexpected happens, you can restore your previous snapshot and save without losing progress.

Replacing snapshots will also overwrite the snapshot file you are replacing. Make sure you only replace images you either don't care about, or that you have already saved and are alright replacing.

Tool and original code by Surihix can be found here