Re: UPDATED Xcom 2 Save Editor
Kian Trip
Save the game from Geoscape (and not during a mission).
The save editor supports game saves during missions, but it has limited support (it only changes
the attributes of one deployed soldier, rather than all soldiers).
Only one person has reported even partial success with editing save game files (Bokauk of ToolBoks fame), and she is no longer around. So there is no simple, step-by-step guide to help you, nor anyone who is (to my knowledge) even working on the subject.
If you have the skill set to try to work it out on your own, I can point you to some articles and tools that get you started. But it's going to take quite a bit of investigative work at the hex code level.
But first of all, I would be looking into why you have a bad CRC in the first place. That usually indicates the file was corrupted when saved to disk. Run a "disk check" to find and fix any bad sectors. Then by far the easiest solution is to try using a previous save.
For the benefit of lurkers, GameGem is what is often called a "trainer" app (for IOS), that makes alterations directly to the memory space of the running game. Changes made are only temporary until the game is saved. They then persist in the save game files. WHAT can be changed depends upon the app. Technically they are "memory editors", but close enough for most people. There are similar apps for the PC (see the thread "Save Game Editor"). Haven't heard about any mentioned here for the Mac or Linux, but assume they exist.
Adding starting funds can be done by editing the DefaultGamecore.INI (DGC.INI) file, as laid out in the "How to DIY common mod solutions" wiki article. However, it is still necessary to "enable INI loading", which requires hex editing the EXE file. What little information we have about this on IOS devices is contained in the "Basic Guide to installing mods" wiki article.
Currently there's no saved game editor of which I'm aware. And those continent bonuses are generated at startup, so I imagine you're stuck. There might be a dev console command to change them, but I very much doubt it.
It's worth mentioning, as someone who's completed two campaigns and is halfway through two more (only one of which had Armed to the Teeth) that it's completely unnecessary and fairly overpowered below Legend difficulty. That said, if you want to have it, go get it. I personally think it's not well balanced with other continent bonuses, so I won't judge.
This description of the DefaultGameCore.ini (DGC.INI) file is directly based on the Compiled list of DefaultGameCore.ini settings and their functions thread in the Nexus XCOM Mod Talk forum. All credits to him for the first version of this page which essentially kicked off the beginning of the organized modding process for XCOM:EU 2012.
The DGC.INI file is found in the \XComGame\Config folder. This is known as the 'loose' file. There is also a copy embedded ("cooked") into the game executable file XComGame.EXE, which is part of what is called the resource cache. By default the game only uses certain settings from the loose file, and most mods must alter the embedded version. It has now been discovered how to force the game to use the entirety of the DGC.INI instead of the resource cache copy. (See the Recent Discoveries section.)
Many commonly sought tweaks to the game people have requested help with are made to the DGC.INI file, and now are documented in the article How to DIY common mod solutions - XCOM:EU 2012. That article and this should be your first stops when looking to make any change you think should be "simple or easy".
Most games since the release of Windows Vista write stuff into My Games because the game folder itself is often in Program Files which the Windows OS now makes inaccessible to alteration for security reasons.
There was also a bug in EU in which the XComEngine.ini config file was being improperly merged causing the file to load an additional copy of some DLC art assets every time the game was launched. This would lead to very long "dropship loading screen" times.
Also, bear in mind that loose files are loaded and read AFTER the game executable is launched. This means they can override mod changes made to the internal resource cache of the EXE by hex-editing or tools like ResourceHacker. Choose your method of applying specific mods accordingly.
For example, changing the Character= line for an XCOM soldier will not affect the stats of any soldiers already recruited, but will affect any soldiers recruited after the INI change (including reward soldiers).
The primary issue is that some items are read once when a new campaign is started and the values are then stored in the save-game file. Most items, however, are read "on the fly" from the INI file as needed.
Sections where you find the description "(BALANCE Mode dependent.)" have such settings. Where such BALANCE Mode setting labels appear identical but are presented 4 times, they are listed in order from EASY/Tutorial to CLASSIC/Impossible, sometimes with comments appended like so:
Abilities and properties are used by both the soldiers and aliens, and their weapons. For instance, the damage and offense bonuses for alien varieties of Plasma weapons are taken from the Human/Standard variety of plasma weapons.
E.g. putting eWP_Assault on eItem_PlasmaLightRifle_Floater will take the iDamage and iOffenseBonus from eItem_PlasmaLightRifle and then apply the Assault class restriction property for Floaters, which in turn will make Floaters have that class' long range aim penalty, and human shotguns & rifles.
Be on the watch for these kinds of unintended indirect effects. It is also possible to grant abilities and properties for which there are no appropriate animations, and the game will hang or crash.
A weapon doesn't need the eWP_Rifle property to be in the main weapon slot. itemSize seems to determine this. A weapon with no property and size Large will take the main weapon slot.
A weapon with the eWP_Pistol property will take the pistol slot, attached at the hip. If it's size is Small, it's okay. If it's Large, it will appear as well as a main weapon, enabling you to carry the same weapon twice. Once you swap to the secondary one, they both merge into one weapon visually, but it still works okay. The icon of the weapon turned into pistol will be a bit wrong and appearing always full of ammo when that weapon is selected, but switching it to the ready weapon will show it properly.
Abilities can be added to Armors, Weapons, Equipment, and Characters(UNITS); however they don't always function as they should when added to different items. This is a complete list of the Abilities in the game with a brief description about what each does. The following sections that pertain to each item type will have a list of abilities that are known to work or be interchangeable.
Note: Seems that psionic skill can be added even to ungifted soldier this way, however i was able to make the process work only using Ghost Armor for now, maybe because ability on the skill bar appear only on ABILITIES? All other active abilities but 0 seems to be ignored. Need more test, fix this when confirmed differently.
Properties can be added to Armors, Weapons, Equipment, and Characters(UNITS) and have effects similar to abilities. Sometimes in order for an ability to function, the property must also be present. This is a complete list of the Properties in the game with a brief description about what each does. The following sections that pertain to each item type will have a list of properties that are known to work or be interchangeable.
Armor entries are just what they seem to be, they are the item that your character wears in the Armor slot. At this time there does not appear to be a way to add additional armors to the game, however you can modify the existing armors to add various effects. I am going to list the effects that I know from personal experience can be changed at this time. Again, additional feedback is requested.
The first segment is Abilities and appears be limited to a maximum of THREE abilities, I have not tested adding more than THREE abilities at this time and it may be possible to add more. Abilities that are known to be interchangable are:
The Second segment is Properties and appears be limited to a maximum of THREE properties however I have not tested adding more than THREE properties at this time and it may be possible to add more. Properties that are know to be interchangable are:
Characters are the UNITS that engage in battle during tactical missions, and have a variety of abilities and properties. I have not extensively tested adding or removing abilities to characters so I dont have a list of what can and can not be done to these yet, however I will break down what I DO know about them. In the case of player Soldiers this information is pulled for the initial soldiers you are given at the start of the game, and then modified with the difficulty setting bonus/penalties. However any additional soldiers you recruit appear to pull from a different set of references. This could be, and probably is, a bug in the main game code that may be fixed in a future patch.
Addendum: The player soldier seems to be the (Characters=(iType=eChar_Soldier) section, not character. All the new recruits and the soldier at the base DO NOT seem to use this statistic, check for the rookie section below.
Note: All Modification done to Soldiers IS NOT RETROACTIVELY APPLIED TO SOLDIER ALREADY PRESENT AT THE BASE OR ON MISSION, because the soldier's (already present at the base) statistics ARE WITHIN THE SAVE FILE.
The first segment is BASE stats that the character will have before any bonuses or penalties are applied. In the case of player Soldiers these stats are pulled for the initial soldiers you are given at the start of the game, and then modified with the difficulty setting bonus/penalties. However any additional soldiers you recruit appear to pull from a different set of stats altogether. This could be, and probably is, a bug in the main game code that may be fixed in a future patch.