SirTony
1/5/2016 - 11:56 AM
The binary format for Fallout 4 PC save files.
The binary format for Fallout 4 PC save files.
Fallout 4 Save File Format
The binary format for Fallout 4 PC save files. This document was created by reverse-engineering files from version 1.2.37.0 of the game.
Note: This document is incomplete!
Table of Contents
Format
| Field Name | Type | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Magic ID | char[12] | Always FO4_SAVEGAME |
| Header Size | uint32 | The total size (in bytes) of the header |
| Header | header | See: Header |
| Snapshot | uint8[Width * Height * 4] | An array containing raw pixel data for the thumbnail. The array is stored as 32-bits-per-pixel ARGB. |
| Format Version | uint8 | The save file format version (?). Current value is 61 |
| Game Version | wstring | The game's patch version when the save was created in dot-notation (ex 1.2.37.0) |
| Plugin Info Size | uint32 | The total size (in bytes) of the plugin information |
| Plugins Count | uint8 | The number of plugins used by this save |
| Plugins | wstring[Plugins Count] | Each string is a file name for a .esm or .esp file in the Data directory. |
Header
| Field Name | Type | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Engine Version | uint32 | The version of Creation Engine that created this file (?). Current value is 11 |
| Save Number | uint32 | Incremented by 1 each time a game is saved |
| Character Name | wstring | |
| Character Level | uint32 | |
| Character Location | wstring | Name of the player's current location |
| Play Time | wstring | The amount of time played. Stored as xd.yh.zm.x days.y hours.z minutes where x, y, and z are any arbitrary integers. An example of for a character that has played 2 days, 2 hours, and 3 minutes would be 2d.2h.3m.2 days.2 hours.3 minutes |
| Character Race | wstring | The internal editor ID of the player's race. Probably always HumanRace |
| Character Sex | uint16 | The sex (gender) of the player character. 0 = male, 1 = female |
| Current Character Experience | float32 | The current amount of experience the player has attained for progressing to the next level |
| Required Experience | float32 | The amount of experience needed to progress to the next level |
| Filetime | FILETIME | The real-world time the save file was created |
| Snapshot Width | uint32 | The width (in pixels) of the save thumbnail |
| Snapshot Height | uint32 | The height (in pixels) of the save thumbnail |
Types
| Type Name | Size (in bytes) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
char | 1 | An 8-bit character |
wstring | Variable | A wstring is a string prefixed with a uint16 denoting the length, followed by exactly that many characters |
uint8 | 1 | An unsigned 8-bit integer |
uint16 | 2 | An unsigned 16-bit integer |
uint32 | 4 | An unsigned 32-bit integer |
float32 | 4 | A single-precision, 32-bit, floating-point number |
FILETIME | 8 | See: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms724284(v=vs.85).aspx |