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FYI - Tinkering with heroes in savegame files

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:36 pm
by spotlight2001
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Existing hero attributes can be modifed

(1) use some hex editor like HxD

(2) search for the hero by name
! with Unicode encoding, since each letter takes up to 2 bytes

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(3) after the FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00
03 00 00 00 attack
04 00 00 00 defense
05 00 00 00 initiative
06 00 00 00 movement
07 00 00 00 spotting
08 00 00 00 range

I have just used ascending numbers to demonstrate which relative hex position relates to which attribute

(4) at deployment phase the hero exists twice, I had to modify both ocurrences


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ok, now that wasnt necessary but it is somewhat hilarious ... max. positive value seems to be FF FF FF 7A


hint: how to get findings on hex stuff: I use VBinDiff.exe to compare a savegame before and after some specific action like getting a hero


Why to do this?
I dont know
Maybe to turn the spotting artillery hero to a modest a+1

Re: FYI - Tinkering with heroes in savegame files

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:07 pm
by spotlight2001
removed

Re: FYI - Tinkering with heroes in savegame files

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 6:18 am
by terminator
Very interesting, thank you

Re: FYI - Tinkering with heroes in savegame files

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 6:45 pm
by ptje63
Finally getting rid of some worthless I (Stuka) and D (artillery) heroes. Takes some time but it works. Each hero name appears 4 times in the file, the 2nd time and 4th time have to be modified, first for application and second for the avatar.

Re: FYI - Tinkering with heroes in savegame files

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 4:57 am
by terminator
The software used is HxD - Freeware Hex Editor and Disk Editor :

HxDShotLarge.png
HxDShotLarge.png (35.54 KiB) Viewed 2519 times

Re: FYI - Tinkering with heroes in savegame files

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 7:58 am
by spotlight2001
ptje63 wrote: Fri Nov 20, 2020 6:45 pm Each hero name appears 4 times in the file, the 2nd time and 4th time have to be modified, first for application and second for the avatar.
I think you are close:

yes each hero appears 4 times

1st occurrence is "battle history" text in case you use "restart scenario"
2nd occurrence is hero values in case you use "restart scenario"
3rd occurrence is current "battle history" text
4th occurrence is current hero values

3rd:
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So i conclude one only has to edit the last occasion if you dont use "restart scenario"

Re: FYI - Tinkering with heroes in savegame files

Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:17 pm
by terminator
Thank you for the information