Amongst the data files inside Carmageddon IIs DATA folder, the savedgames.ars file stores the savegame slots.
The file consists of blocks of 808 bytes. Each block is a save game slot. As the game is played, slots are added. The file does not have a fixed size and can handle many blocks.
Content of a slot[]
A sample Carmageddon 2 slot in hex format.
Each slot stores:
- Slot version
- Player name
- Save date/time
- APO and max APO
- Current car
- Current race
- Is mission race enabled
- Bought cars
- Other undocumented information like race stats
For the items above, the information is not encrypted and can be edited by Carmeditor 2.
Binary structure[]
The file is organized in the Little-endian format (most significant byte on the right).
| Offset | Size | Description | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x000 | 4 bytes | Format version. | Usually 78 56 34 12
|
| 0x004 | 11 bytes | Player name, null (0x0) terminated string. | Shut |
| 0x00F | 3 bytes | Unknown. | 00 3C 01
|
| 0x012 | 10 bytes | Chosen car's text file. | SEMI2.TXT |
| 0x01C | 22 bytes | Unknown. | |
| 0x032 | 10 bytes | Save date, padded with null (0x0). | 29/12/98 |
| 0x03C | 22 bytes | Unknown. | |
| 0x052 | 8 bytes | Save time, padded with null (0x0). | 2:18:30 |
| 0x05A | 426 bytes | Unknown. | |
| 0x204 | 4 bytes - int32 | Credits. | 2A 2C 0A
|
| 0x208 | 4 bytes | Difficulty as 0=easy, 1=normal and 2=hard. | 01 00 00 00
|
| 0x20C | 4 bytes | Probably filler. | 00 00 00 00
|
| 0x210 | 4 bytes - int32 | Bought cars count. | 0A
|
| 0x214 | 240 bytes - 60 int32 | Bought cars array, each int32 is a bought car index. | 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 (...)
|
| 0x304 | 4 bytes - int32 | Current car. | 00 00 00 00 for the Eagle 3.
|
| 0x308 | 4 bytes - int32 | Current race. | 04 00 00 00 for group 2, race 1.
|
| 0x30C | 4 bytes - int32 | Mission enabled boolean (as int32). | 01 00 00 00 to enable mission of current group.
|
| 0x310 | 12 bytes - 3 int32 | APO structure, order is Armor, Power and Offensive. | 0F 00 00 00 1E 00 00 00 1E 00 00 00 means each maxed at 30, except Armor, with 15.
|
| 0x31C | 12 bytes - 3 int32 | APO slots structure, order is Armor slots, Power slots and Offensive slots. | 19 00 00 00 1A 00 00 00 1B 00 00 00 means 25, 26 and 27 slots, respectively.
|
010 Editor[]
This editor allows one to open a hex file with templates. Templates allow the user to quickly see what parts of the file mean what in raw hex mode. For a template and more info about SAVEDGAMES.ARS, please read this page.