Can't edit save files.

Matthew Martell

DISCLAIMER: I’m totally new to using Notepad ++, and do minimal programming.
I have attempted to edit save files for certain games multiple times. The files always open as a bunch of garbled null values, with some random characters strewn in between. Is it possible to “fix” this, and somehow edit/read it in plain language? The safe files are saved as Save.dat files. They MAY contain Japanese characters, but I don’t think all of them do. I have tried using a Japanese language pack, but that doesn’t really solve the issue at all. My guess is it isn’t detecting the proper encoding, but I’m not sure if there is an easy way to figure out which encoding is right. Here is my debug information (don’t think its necessary, since this isn’t really a “bug”, but more so an issue that I am totally clueless about).

Notepad++ v7.6.3   (64-bit)
Build time : Jan 27 2019 - 17:16:47
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
OS : Windows 10 (64-bit)
Plugins : DSpellCheck.dll mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll

Terry R

@Matthew-Martell said:

as a bunch of garbled null values, with some random characters strewn in between

Are you SURE they are (plain) text files, as Notepad++ will ONLY work with text files. Given you are experiencing garbled information (including random characters) it sounds like the save.dat files are a proprietary type file (so possibly text based but with data formatted in a particular fashion only recognized by the game in question), possibly even a binary file.

I can only suggest you do some searching on the internet to see if anyone else has had success in editing these files.

Terry

Ekopalypse

@Matthew-Martel, @Terry-R

or it might be that you are affected by the utf-8 bug.
See here and check if temporary solution posted by @meta-chuh solves it.

Meta Chuh

@Matthew-Martell

game saves are usually proprietary binary format files, which can not be cheated/edited with notepad++, so the settings mentioned above will not help you.
newer games and all online games also have a tampering mechanism for all saves.

note: if you follow a guide on how to cheat at your specific game, you will find the tools or hex editors you need, mentioned there.

@Ekopalypse

good news: autodetect character encoding is already fixed and available at the upcoming 7.6.5 release.