hack01.txt - Hacking SFC Save Game Files - by Troy H. Cheek
This file downloaded from http://www.cheek.org   troy@cheek.org
Last updated February 24, 2000

The save game files are found in the primary StarFleet Command folder.
They have a filename format of "SAVEx#" where "x" is the race
identifier (K for Klingon, etc) and "#" is the save slot numer (1-10).
Hence, the 5th saved game for a Federation campaign would be SAVEF5.
There is no filename extension.

For hacking the files, I use GEMHEXED on my Atari Falcon030.  Since
it's unlikely that any of you have a Falcon, any "hex" editor which
can load and save a file in "binary" format should work.  What you
most definitely don't want is a word processor that changes tabs into
spaces and saves in its own special format.

As a precaution, always make a backup file before you make any
changes.  If you want your new file to take the place of the old one,
save it with the same name as the old one.  If you want the new file
to exist in addition to the old one, make sure to give it a new,
unique game.  I know that sounds simple, but I've personally messed it
up more than once.

To change your ship type, first load up SFC and look for your saved
game name, what kind of ship you have, and the ship's name.  Write all
this down.

Start up your hex editor and load a saved game.  Very near the start
of the file, you should see the name of the saved game.  Right after
that you should find the kind of ship.  After that, the name of the
ship, which may have extra spaces or funny characters and look
something like "U S S   F e r r e t".  These are nulls (x00) and
probably should not be messed with.

If you've not played a scenario with that ship, the ship type and name
will probably only appear once.  If you have already played a scenario
with that ship, the ship type and name will probably appear twice.  Or
the second listing may be of the last ship you owned in that slot.

Just use your hex editor to change the ship type from what it is to
what you want it to be.  Suppose you've got a F-FFD+.  Look for that.
Change the "FF" to "CA" and save the file.  If the ship type appears
twice, change both instances and then save.  You've gone from a F-FFD+
drone frigate to a F-CAD+ heavy drone cruiser in seconds!

Note that F-FFD+ and F-CAD+ have exactly the same number of
characters.  I don't know how flexible the save game format is, but I
suspect that making the new ship type longer or shorter than the
original would cause the game to crash or lock up.  Feel free to try
it and let me know what happens.

I have, however, changed Federation ships into Klingon ships in the
saved game.  You can play the Federation campaign in Klingon ships if
it suits your fancy.  I'm sure other race swaps are possible.

Something I've noticed is that when I any changes like this:  The
first time I hit spacedock, the number of shuttles, missiles, etc.
shown is for the old ship, not the new.  Once I play a scenario,
spacedock shows the correct number of shuttles, missiles, etc.

You can also change the ship name.  Since you can easily and legally
change the ship name from inside the game, there's not much reason to.

It should be fairly easy to change your prestige point total.  I just
haven't been able to figure out how yet.  Every time I try, I end up
with a scenario file that locks up the game when I try to load it.

The final bit of advice is to make sure that the new file is exactly
the same length as the old file.  If it isn't, you messed up somewhere
and I'm pretty sure it won't work.

I know this info is fairly sparse, but if this doesn't give you enough
to get started, you really shouldn't be messing with the save game
files anyway.

(End of file)