A way to edit a .sav file?

[whosurdaddy]

Ok, another question. I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to be able to edit a game already in progress in the Editor. I know you could do this in Civ2 with the cheat mode, but is this possible in any way in Civ3. I tried renaming a .sav file to a .bic file, but this obviously did not work.

 

[Zouave]

No. I've been screaming for a Cheat Mode since December. And Firaxis couldn't care less.

As for your other question, there is no way to force a city/town to build anything, no way I know of other than hacking into the code. Go ask Soren Johnson; he seems to have the answers.

 

[kingjoshi]

I was pretty sure that Gramphos Multitool could do that. In the SaveGameEditor, pick any city and then you can change what it is building, how many shields are in the production box, etc.

 

[BeerCur]

I guess the first thing that needs to figured out is what type of compression does a .SAV files use... gzip? RAR?

Second thing, you need a HEX editor.

Third thing is you need to know where to look to alter certain attributes...

I've wanted to create or have someone create a dioplomacy/Reputation hack but we've been lacking, for whatever reason, in this department since the get go... wonder if it will be something included in the Add On.

~Matthew

 

[kingjoshi]

The compression method is done by PKware. That information was revealed in a chat. Gramphos has a utility called "SAVExpnd.exe" that decompresses the files. Other programs, such as Lovro's MapStat, can also decompress the files.

There are free hex editors out there.

Some of the info on the save files have been posted on the threads, and the BIC file format is just about completely known now. There is a thread in Apolyton on the Creation section that's a Sticky.

My concern about Firaxis revealing too much of the save file format is people cheating with play by email or other multiplayer methods. Though I would hope they have multiple check methods and some checks on the server.

I don't know anything about the Diplomacy information and don't think anyone outside of Firaxis knows it. If you looked at Gramphos' SaveGameEditor, you can get an idea of what he does know. I would wish Firaxis would reveal more information though, instead of having us hack the thing to figure stuff out. I mean, in essence, Gramphos's utilities are stuff they should've implemented with the game, but didn't have the resources for it.

I was planning on creating multiple programs, but other things are coming up and I doubt I'll have the time. Oh well.

 

[BeerCur]

Thankyou so much kingjoshi...
Some much needed info

~Matthew

 

[Koronin]

Write your own trainer.

Originally posted by Zouave
No. I've been screaming for a Cheat Mode since December. And Firaxis couldn't care less.

As for your other question, there is no way to force a city/town to build anything, no way I know of other than hacking into the code. Go ask Soren Johnson; he seems to have the answers.

 

[royfurr]

Originally posted by kingjoshi
I was pretty sure that Gramphos Multitool could do that. In the SaveGameEditor, pick any city and then you can change what it is building, how many shields are in the production box, etc.

Kingjoshi, do you know- has gramphos upgraded the Tool to 1.29 compatable?

 

[kingjoshi]

He released a version .94.1001 that I believe is compatible. I don't know if he posted it at the beginning of the thread, but it's there somewhere He said he'll be busy this week.

I actually haven't played a v1.29f game since I've been programming for over a week without playing anything so I haven't verified. From what I know, the BIC file adds a few things (nothing he didn't predict) but I don't know what changes the save file has. I couldn't imagine much would change. From looking at these save files from version 1.07 to 1.21, they seem to be mostly consistent.