diff --git a/bmp.lua b/bmp.lua
index fbc9923..103c827 100644
--- a/bmp.lua
+++ b/bmp.lua
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ end
 local function getHeader( filename )
   local offset = 2 + love.data.unpack( "<I4", assert(love.filesystem.read( "data", filename, 14 )), 11 )
   local header, size = assert( love.filesystem.read( filename, offset ) )
-  print( "BMP HEADER", filename, size, "\n", string.byte( header, 1, size ) )
   return header
 end
 
@@ -74,7 +73,7 @@ local formats = {
     header = getHeader( "data/earth/sailable.bmp" ),
     w = 512,
     h = 285,
-    --technically this information is in the header already but I don't want to write code to parse it since we only use this one header
+    --technically this information is in the header already but I don't want to write code to parse it we only use one palette ever
     palette = {
       [0] = 0,
       [8] = 1,
@@ -159,7 +158,6 @@ function formats.ai:encode( data )
     local x = math.floor(self.w * (wx + 180) / 360)
     --idk why exactly I need to round the value here instead of truncating it
     local y = math.floor(0.5 + self.h * (wy + 100) / 200)
-    print( "export ai marker", i, x, y, wx, wy )
     --get index into byte array
     local idx = 2 + y * self.w + x
     --in-editor we could have two points in the same place, possibly of the same or different types
@@ -224,7 +222,6 @@ function formats.travel:encode( points )
     local offset = math.floor( y * self.w + x - 2 )
     --1 := white
     bitmap[offset] = 1
-    print( "encoded:", point.idx, wx, wy, x, y )
   end
 
   --fold into 4-bit pixel array
@@ -313,7 +310,7 @@ formats.territory = formats.africa
 for fmt, tbl in pairs( formats ) do
   t[fmt] = function( data ) return tbl:encode( data ) end
   --TESTING
-  tbl:test()
+  --tbl:test()
 end
 
 return t
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/mkdir.lua b/lib/mkdir.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5fb88cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/mkdir.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+-- mkdir only
+-- A portable filesystem API using LuaJIT's FFI
+-- Retrieved 2024-07-13 from https://gist.githubusercontent.com/Techcable/503f35ceea9554fb81cf3a5c1aa550da/raw/33a29f59207335b743824fbb657e4721a12ce280/fs.lua
+local ffi = require("ffi")
+local table = require("table")
+require("string")
+-- Cache needed functions and locals
+local C, errno, string = ffi.C, ffi.errno, ffi.string
+local concat, insert = table.concat, table.insert
+
+-- "Standard" C99 functions
+ffi.cdef[[
+char *strerror(int errnum);
+]]
+
+local exists, mkdir, PATH_SEPARATOR
+if ffi.os == "Windows" then
+    ffi.cdef[[
+    bool CreateDirectoryA(const char *path, void *lpSecurityAttributes);
+    int _access(const char *path, int mode);
+    ]]
+    function exists(path)
+        assert(type(path) == "string", "path isn't a string")
+        local result = C._access(path, 0) -- Check existence
+        return result == 0
+    end
+   
+    function mkdir(path, _)
+        assert(type(path) == "string", "path isn't a string")
+        if not C.CreateDirectoryA(path, nil) then
+            local message = string(C.strerror(errno()))
+            error("Unable to create directory " .. path .. ": " .. message)
+        end
+    end
+    PATH_SEPARATOR = "\\"
+elseif ffi.os == "Linux" or ffi.os == "OSX" then
+    ffi.cdef[[
+    int mkdir(const char *path, int mode);
+    int access(const char *path, int amode);
+    ]]
+    function exists(path)
+        assert(type(path) == "string", "path isn't a string")
+        local result = C.access(path, 0) -- Check existence
+        return result == 0
+    end
+    function mkdir(path, mode)
+        assert(type(path) == "string", "path isn't a string")
+        local mode = tonumber(mode or "755", 8)
+        if C.mkdir(path, mode) ~= 0 then
+            local message = string(C.strerror(errno()))
+            error("Unable to create directory " .. path .. ": " .. message)
+        end
+    end
+    PATH_SEPARATOR = "/"
+else
+    error("Unsupported operating system: " .. ffi.os)
+end
+
+local function join(...)
+    local parts = {}
+    for i = 1, select("#", ...) do
+        local part = select(i, ...)
+        insert(parts, part)
+    end
+    return concat(parts, PATH_SEPARATOR)
+end
+
+local function splitPath(path)
+    assert(type(path) == "string", "path isn't a string!")
+    local parts = {}
+    local lastIndex = 0
+    for i = 1, path:len() do
+        if path:sub(i, i) == PATH_SEPARATOR then
+            insert(parts, path:sub(lastIndex, i - 1))
+            lastIndex = i + 1
+        end
+    end
+    insert(parts, path:sub(lastIndex))
+    return parts
+end
+
+local function mkdirs(path)
+    local parts = splitPath(path)
+    local currentPath = parts[1]
+    for i=2, #parts do
+        if not exists(currentPath) then
+            mkdir(currentPath)
+        end
+        -- Note: This isn't suboptimal, since we really do need the intermediate results
+        currentPath = currentPath .. PATH_SEPARATOR .. parts[i]
+    end
+    if not exists(path) then
+        mkdir(path)
+    end
+end
+
+return {
+    exists = exists,
+    join = join,
+    mkdir = mkdir,
+    mkdirs = mkdirs,
+    splitPath = splitPath,
+    PATH_SEPERATOR = PATH_SEPARATOR
+}
diff --git a/map.lua b/map.lua
index 7ed00f3..c727766 100644
--- a/map.lua
+++ b/map.lua
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+local love = assert( love )
+local io = io
+local mkdir = assert( require 'lib.mkdir' )
 local lg = love.graphics
 local AI = require 'ai'
 local Cities = require 'cities'
@@ -179,16 +182,22 @@ function map.draw()
 end
 
 local function write( filename, string )
-  --
   print( "Writing", string:len(), "bytes to", filename )
-  os.rename( filename, filename..".bak" ) --just in case :^)
-  local file = assert( io.open( filename, "wb+" ) )
+  local file = assert( io.open( filename, "wb" ) )
   assert( file:write( string ) )
   assert( file:flush() ) --your toilet is set to stun, not kill
   file:close()
 end
 
 function map.save()
+  --should be cross platform-ish
+  for _, folder in ipairs{ "/data/", "/data/earth/", "/data/graphics/" } do
+    assert( mkdir.exists( map.path ) )
+    local path = map.path..folder
+    if not mkdir.exists( path ) then mkdir.mkdir( path ) end
+  end
+
+  --OK back to normal
   for k, layer in pairs( layers ) do
     write( map.path..tostring( layer.filename ), assert( layer:save() ) )
   end
diff --git a/savemodal.lua b/savemodal.lua
index fbf30c1..999dcb9 100644
--- a/savemodal.lua
+++ b/savemodal.lua
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ local button = require( "button" )
 local map = require( "map" )
 local t = {}
 
-local saveLocation = map.path
+local saveLocation = false
 local floppy = love.graphics.newImage( "icons/save.png" )
 floppy:setFilter( "nearest", "nearest" )
 local saveButton = button.new{   
@@ -35,8 +35,9 @@ local cancelButton = button.new{
 
 function t.start()
   modal.start( t )
+  saveLocation = saveLocation or map.path
   button.selected = saveButton
-  saveButton.name = "save to "..map.path
+  saveButton.name = "save to "..saveLocation
   button.displayGroup( "saveModal", true )
 end
 
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ function t.draw()
   
 end
 
-function t.directorydropped( path )
+function t.directorydropped( path )  
   saveLocation = path
   map.path = path
   saveButton.name = "save to "..map.path
diff --git a/travelNodes.lua b/travelNodes.lua
index 5612873..d4ee511 100644
--- a/travelNodes.lua
+++ b/travelNodes.lua
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@ end
 
 local function dfs( idx, adj, unvisited )
   if not unvisited[idx] then return end
-  print( "visiting node", idx )
   unvisited[ idx ] = nil
   for i in pairs( adj[idx] ) do dfs( i, adj, unvisited ) end
 end