Tool(s) for hacking saved games

The script fc_edit_save.py can be used to read or write FC games saved with the "Save to Disk..." option. It can convert the compressed files (usually named free-cities-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.save) to or from JSON format, view or modify some variables, search for slaves matching some criteria to view or modify them, etc.

Dependencies

The script fc_edit_save.py requires Python version 3.6 or later.

In addition, it uses a small module called lzstring, available via PyPI. If you do not have it yet, you can install it with pip3 install lzstring or simply pip install lzstring if your default version of Python is already Python 3.x. You can also install the module manually from PyPI without using pip, but then you are on your own for copying the files in the right locations.

Usage

To view the help message summarizing the command-line arguments, try:

./fc_edit_save.py --help

To view a longer help message including details for each command and a list of examples, try:

./fc_edit_save.py --long-help

The basic usage consists of:

• reading an input file (compressed *.save file with the option -i, or uncompressed JSON file with the option -I),

• optionally modifying it with various commands,

• then saving the result in some output file (compressed *.save file with the option -o, or uncompressed JSON file with the option -O).

If the options -i/-I or -o/-O are not used, then the standard input and standard output will be used, which allows this script to be used easily in a pipe including other commands. If the input is a file, then the option -A can also be used instead of -o/-O to set the name of the output file automatically. Try --help and --long-help for more details.

Examples

The following examples assume that you already have a saved game in the file free-cities-20200401-123456.save.

To convert a compressed FC game file to a human-readable JSON file:

./fc_edit_save.py -i free-cities-20200104-123456.save -p -O free-cities-20200104-123456.json

To convert a JSON file to a compressed FC game file:

./fc_edit_save.py -I free-cities-20200104-123456.json -o free-cities-20200104-123456.save

To display the names and current assignments of all smart slaves (with more than 50 in intelligence):

./fc_edit_save.py -i free-cities-20200104-123456.save -p --get-slaves 'intelligence>50' 'name,assignment'

To ensure that all your slaves have at least DD-cup boobs and change the hair of Miss Lily at random:

./fc_edit_save.py -i free-cities-20200104-123456.save -A --set-slaves all 'boobs=atleast:900' --set-slaves 'Miss Lily' randomhair -v

Note that the option -A in this example will save the results in the file free-cities-20200104-123456-cheat.save. The option -v will show the changes that are applied to all slaves.

For more examples, try --long-help.