Encoding of Save Files

[Kaoru]

Hi! Does anyone know what the encoding algorithm used in save-game files, is? Or whether there's a program that can decrypt a save-file? Pretty simple question, I know, but from the looks of the save-file, one without a simple answer. Most changes to the game, for testing purposes or reasons of fun, can be done with the in-game command console. I've run into a few that aren't quite so modifiable, though, and I think I could deal with them if I could get to them in the save-game.

Sort of a weird question, too, I guess. But does anyone know the answer?
Earnestly querying,
Kaoru

[Aradan]

I don't think anybody has cracked the structure, but you can actually get a vague hint using a text editor, you can see lots of hieroglyphics and some unit/building/trait names etc...

[Kaoru]

I was afraid of that. Yeah, I've popped open the files with a text editor - I've actually found that OpenOffice's Word program and Notepad++ are both good for viewing the save-files, though with Notepad++, you need to deal with a couple thousand rows of "null" symbols. Ah, well! I'll search out another way to do what I'm looking for - I honestly don't believe that, even if I could decrypt the gibberish, I could then put it back in a way the game could understand. Thanks for the quick answer, Aradan!

[HouseOfHam]

It's just a raw data stream. A collection of a varying number of objects of different types.

Some things you could determine experimentally, by saving the same game with just one thing different and then comparing the 2 saved games to see which bytes changed. I think it'd be an extremely time-consuming project to decypher the entire file, though.