are saves transferable across versions?
As for v0.2.6 above, I used persistence save files. This save files is designed specifically to track whether you're already go to the second area or not. If you have, you can have an option to start from second area when you start a new game. But, because this only works for v0.2.6 above, you still can't transfer the save from the older version.
However, you can note that, after you get through second area in the v0.2.6, you can transfer the save files for any newest update. Just make sure to transfer the persistent.rpgsave too.