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Civilization III SAV file format
I've been trying to sort out the SAV file format used by Civ3 for saved games. Much of it corresponds to similar information in the excellent thread on the BIC file format at http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=31974
There are, however, some differences. Naturally, I'm stymied right off the bat with regard to the GAME section. Here's what I know about it:
GAME SECTION (Game-Wide Settings and Values)
Does anyone know what the first 2 long values after "GAME" represent? The next section in the file is "CNSL", which I assume refer to the Advisors (Consultants?), but I can't figure out how to get to its starting offset going forward from "GAME" using meaningful length fields.
FWIW I believe that each of these sections is related to objects used in the game. Soren has said the game is written primarily in C++ so my guess is that a "saved game" file is just a sequenced serialization dump of the game's internal objects. When a SAV is loaded, each object gets read back in from the file and voila! the game takes off from there. Sure would be nice to have the interface files for those object definitions. Even better - if they were in a DLL we could have LOTS of fun! Sigh. Anyway, thanks to anybody who can shed some light on the GAME section.
There are, however, some differences. Naturally, I'm stymied right off the bat with regard to the GAME section. Here's what I know about it:
GAME SECTION (Game-Wide Settings and Values)
Code:
4 char "GAME" 4 long 300, ? (certainly NOT the length of the section) 4 long ? (varies from SAV to SAV - Again, NOT the length) 4 DWORD Game/Music/SFX settings 4 long ? 4 long ? 4 long Level. 0=Chieftan, ..., 5=Deity ... ... ...
FWIW I believe that each of these sections is related to objects used in the game. Soren has said the game is written primarily in C++ so my guess is that a "saved game" file is just a sequenced serialization dump of the game's internal objects. When a SAV is loaded, each object gets read back in from the file and voila! the game takes off from there. Sure would be nice to have the interface files for those object definitions. Even better - if they were in a DLL we could have LOTS of fun! Sigh. Anyway, thanks to anybody who can shed some light on the GAME section.