@Rackscha
yes for the level progress that is simple.
but i also need to save the username entered for each of the 4 username slots.
that brings us up to eight things to be saved into a file and then read from the file into the game on load. And still all this is relatively simple to do. Then i save the option changes which is still just a couple variables.

but the part i am worried about is saving the custom levels. right now i have four save slots. that each have a title, level size, and level tile code representation. and i would like to extend the save slots to 20. This is a lot of information to store and decode. which makes the built in save and load functions look appealing.



perhaps separate save files would be the best way to go. one for the story mode that saves the user names and their progress. another that saves the names of the custom game slots. then perhaps 20 others that save the contents of the custom game slots. all would be loaded right before they are used and saved right after. (just a thought) im still thinking about it.