game0.SAV - first line - "SATAN"
game2.SAV and game3.SAV and game5.SAV - first line - "-blank-"
game4.SAV - first line "Kecy"

Guessing the first line is the character name or save game name set by the player.

As i already wrote, in last bullet point that is probably save name.. Kecy - means bla,bla in czech.. but it unless, i need some in game string, game or company name etc..

I also checked all my save backups for game?.SAV pattern and i have lots of them, but i got nothing, maybe someone else can be more lucky..

Those files are quite big indeed so it must be saving a lot of state. The biggest save files that I know of are Deus Ex (which saved a copy of the whole map), Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines and Morrowind, but it's not any of them unfortunately.

There aren't any useful strings of text in these files so it'll be very tough to find the game for them. Interesting challenge though 😀

I don't think they are from any DOS game.
The biggest save games I have are only half the size.

Roughly I put them in 1998 or later but its an approximation non-the-less.

This is a proper puzzle, I can tell you that much 😁

What games or kind of games did you remember playing back then, ruthan? And for which ones did you already locate your save games?

Maybe that will narrow the list down a bit 😀

I dont thing that it would help. Its 20 years.

I can tell that it wouldnt be some flight simulator or mech game i never played too much car games (except Carmageddon, Ignition). I always played mostly some rpg games and dungeons, fps and strategy games (mostly realtime) and only sport games which i played a lot was NHL hockey (i checked couple of them from other years and save structer is very different).

From top of my head, it could be something like Black and White, Hexplore, Dungeon Keeper 2, some Heroes of Might and Magic or something like that, i dont have same games for these game to compare, if save filenames match, maybe someone does.. but with any string from file could help, for example strategy game usually dont have medikits.
I could be also some strange unknow local - czech / slovak game, but i did not see any special character within save files to point it this way..

I there would be any clue, i can tell for sure, which games i never played back than and that my main computer in this era was K6-2 300 + Voodoo 3 and Win98.

If you have the save game then you likely still have the game.
Can you not look through your games for games from 1992-2000, pick which ones you would most likely play, then run each one and create a save game for comparison?
If you don't still have the games from back then, then check mobygames for those years for games you would most likely play.

This will not work, because back than i have all most all games lend from richer friends after they were done with them, i have only few (5) own boxes back than and they where old budget titles + 2 years of cover cds which started here around ~1998 - and it would take really lots of time to check these (because i have 15 years of cover cds from lots of magazine in one hoard) + lots of them are gone and there is not certainty that it will even help.. and even that was quite usually that cover cds are migrated around the class and between friends, pretty fast.

So i thing that this is not way, i usually played bigger AAA games from games magazines + few local market games, so if someone did some thing and had big collection, its quite possible that he would same saves.. Back in this time, i never played any Japase specific games, maybe except Knights of Xentar - because of nice pictures and maybe Final Fantasy VII, so it has to be something western or czech (smaller chance, because save size, it would have to newer game and as i dont remember that i would play something like that - we had in 1992-1997 wave of bad adventure games and later almost nothing interesting for me ).

ruthan wrote on 2020-08-22, 23:15:

I could be also some strange unknow local - czech / slovak game, but i did not see any special character within save files to point it this way..

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-08-22, 00:46:

game2.SAV and game3.SAV and game5.SAV - first line - "-blank-"

Is "-blank-" a czech / slovak word ? because it seems like a default.

Its default, but even czech / slovak programmers were usually clever enough to write code methods names and variable in English .. Only comments were usually in Czech.
Its wild guess that i would guess that czech programmer back in this era would probably use other word that black, more likely empty, default etc..

Here is my updated list of game which i remember from that age, is someone has these installed to check save games format, i checked that they are not too new. I dont have these currently installed, or have problem to make them working.
Hexplore - its now on Steam - what is nice, but i had physical copy somewhere.. im sure that i played it in this age
Dungeon Keeper 2 im sure that i played it in this age
Soldier of Fortune im sure that i played it in this age, but i would guess that Quake engine save would be somehow recognizable.
Ultima IX or demo - very small change, it woul have to be demo..
Black and White - im sure that i played it in this age

I also know that back that i would not make backups of some generic save, these would be impotant. I did backup save, usually because - progress of some game was very important for me, so i wanted to have 2 copies, or because i have to uninstall same game to make more space on HDD, but also wanted to continue to play game later.

It's not Ultima IX, its savegames start with a "U9:", though its file extension is sav (but then again it stored the savegames in the program folder).

HandOfFate wrote on 2020-08-22, 08:45:

Those files are quite big indeed so it must be saving a lot of state. The biggest save files that I know of are Deus Ex (which saved a copy of the whole map), Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines and Morrowind, but it's not any of them unfortunately.

My first thought was ZZT, which also saves a copy of the whole map, but ZZT worlds were never that big.

Couple new ideas from checking my GOG and Steam list - i usually bough same games which i liked in the past, but of course there are game which are not still available or i dont own them, but it could help..

Etherlords I
Lords Magic - probably only demo, its small change that i would backup even dame saves, but its still possible.
Earth 2140
Heroes II or III, not IV it release later..
Ignition - i dunno where saves suppose to be..
Revenant - i would have to be probably demo only..
Shadows of the Riva - probably too old
Total Annihilation -
Dark Colony - it would have to be demo only
Dune 2000

Ok, i won through installfest. One of my original tips was right - Hexplore and saves seems to be nice near end of game i guess, so i can sometime comeback to it.

Its nice a bit forgotten game, i completed it in the past and regarding of wikipedia it even supports coop.

Thanks for help.

So now i have only one unknow saves and they probably for some czech obscure dungeon Prokleti Eridenu (afaik there is not english version) and there is only headache make it working even with Dosbox, i can install and make it working with oldgamesk package, but only for first execution and second try its broken Dosbox compete crash window is closed (i dunno if its Dosbox bug or some bad settings, there is at least one missing conf file which is called in some *.bat file).. and its some funny games which needs for saving find some crystal intem, nowhere is online manual (game was released for free in 1999 as first big czech game) or cheats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0vnF60xK74
https://www.oldgames.sk/game/prokleti-eridenu/

ruthan wrote on 2020-08-24, 20:22:

Ok, i won through installfest. One of my original tips was right - Hexplore and saves seems to be nice near end of game i guess, so i can sometime comeback to it.

And its from 1998 , at least I got something right 😁