Forum:PS3 Save Edit Help Guide

Forums: Index > Archives Help desk > PS3 Save Edit Help Guide

PS3 Gamers

Need help writing guide for save editing. We have input from PC and XBox gamers. We need advice from the PS3 crew. We need software required and procedures followed.

Software

Willowtree version beta10r13 or higher.

Hardware

PS3
PC
Any USB 2.0 storage device - drive or stick - with at least 1mb of free space.

Procedures

Insert USB device into any USB port on the PS3.
Navigate to the Save Data Utility then to the desired Borderlands Character Game Data icon.
Hit triangle and 'copy' to USB device.
After copy has completed, disconnect USB device and insert into any USB port on the PC.
Navigate to Save Data file on USB device and copy to a working directory on the PC.
Use Willowtree to open and edit Save File as desired. Save when completed.
Rename original Save File on USB device to serve as a backup.
Copy edited Save File back to USB device.
Disconnect USB device and insert back into the PS3.
Use Save Data Utility to delete original Save File.
Navigate to USB device then to edited Save File.
Hit triangle and 'copy' edited Save File.
Navigate to Borderlands Game and launch.
Select edited character and play.

Enumerating Saves

IMPORTANT.

If you copy a save file and/or move it to another machine you must rename the file, and ALSO change the save number within the file using a program called willowtree or a basic hex editor (advanced). Failing to change the internal savenumber will cause borderlands to overwrite one of your existing saves.

With willowtree v1.22 :

To edit the save number in willow tree navigate to the 'save info' folder, and right-click on the 6th value. It should be the same as the filename. Change it to a unique number (in decimal) and save the file with willowtree. Note that borderlands will save the file using hexadecimal, so if you enter '10' as the save number, borderlands will save it as Save000A.sav

With willowtree v2+:

Simply change the 'save number' on the 'general info' tab and save the file. - Courtesy of Special:Contributions/125.237.155.159

Manually (advanced difficulty - only requires an OS and a basic hex editor):

This method requires a working knowledge of computers, a familiarity with hex editing and a desire to dig into the actual save file rather than trusting a third party program to do the work. I strongly recommend backing up ALL characters to a safe place (preferably a hard drive that is not associated with either the USB stick or PS3 on which the work is performed). If anything goes wrong with the process, it is entirely possible to overwrite a completely unrelated character. Take five minutes to back them all up and save hours in the potential loss! I take no responsibility for any losses resulting in using this process.

The method works for transferring a save file from a different PS3 or for copying a save file on the same PS3. The steps are targeted specifically to the purpose of transfering a file since it is slightly more complicated due to save-slot conflicts on the thumb drive. They will, however, work in both situations. There are two parts to the process: fooling the PS3 (by renaming the save file) and changing the internal contents of the Borderlands save file itself.

Fooling the PS3:

1. The transfer / copy process starts with a copy of a character (source character) on a thumb drive. Copy this character to the hard drive of a computer that has a hex editor installed. For the purpose, I used Red Hat Linux 6 with the GHEX hex editor. Any Windows or Mac with an appropriate editor should work equally well. If there is no hex editor installed, use google and find one. It should be lightweight, free and offer the ability to look at both the Hex data and ASCII translations in side-by-side windows.
2. On the target PS3 in game: Create a new, target character (to be overwritten) of the same class type as the source character. Play up to the point where you have the opportunity to choose a name / colors. Save the new target character.
3. From the XMB: Copy the target character to the thumb drive. If the source character save files
   are still on the drive, it may give a warning concerning an overwrite. Since the source character is already on the computer's hard drive, this can be safely ignored.
4. Open the thumb drive on the computer and navigate to the /PS3/SAVEDATA/character folder. Note the name of the .SAV file (specifically the # in "SAVE000#.SAV") and then delete the .SAV file.
5. Open the folder for the source character from step 1. Copy the .SAV file to the thumb drive in place of the file that was just deleted. Rename this source .SAV file so that it matches the one that was just removed. This will probably only require changing the # from step 4.

Changing the internal contents of the Save File: (Note: This method worked as of 3/29/11. If the save file structure changes, it may not be a valid solution in the future.)

1. Open the newly copied and renamed .SAV file with the hex editor.
2. Using the ASCII translation window, scroll past the Weapon Proficiencies, Ammo, Shields, Weapons and Locations. Between the Locations and the Missions there is a hex 2B section of storage which is mostly empty. (Note that the offset changes depending on how far through the game the character has progressed, otherwise I'd just provide an offset here.)
3. Starting with a count of 1 (on the first byte of x'00' after the Locations), go forward hex 19 bytes (decimal 25) to find the one byte representing the save slot number. The number should show up four bites prior to a hex 23 ('#' in the ASCII translation). The number should be the same as was on the name of the .SAV file before it was renamed. (i.e. if the save file was originally SAVE0002.SAV, it should be a 02) If it doesn't, it's the wrong one so re-read step 2 of this section and go find the right place.
4. Change this single hex byte to match the NEW .SAV file number. Example: I changed mine from 02 to 04 since the character I moved was the second on my friend's system (02) and was the fourth on my system (04).
5. Save the .SAV file with the single byte changed on the thumb drive and copy it back onto the target PS3.
6. Depending on the name and colors chosen at the beginning of the process, the save file will temporarily have the wrong information both in the XMB AND in the game itself. Do not worry, this will be fixed as soon as it is opened and saved within the game.
7. Open the new character in single player mode, fire off some rounds, buy some grenades or do something small to trigger a state change. Exit forcing a save.
8. Confirm that all of the characters are still available with correct names, levels etc. If something went wrong, restore from the backup that should have been made prior to trying any of this!

Notes

Original procedures posted by MeMadeIt 21:18, June 19, 2010 (UTC)

spiff. ty.   Dr. F            21:23, June 19, 2010 (UTC)

I have tested these steps. If someone else would like to confirm, please do so. -- MeMadeIt22:15, June 19, 2010 (UTC) then i assume saves are on removable media and are same format as pc?   Dr. F            21:01, June 19, 2010 (UTC)

I would assume so. PS3 save file looks the same in Windows Explorer as PC save files (see below). WT beta10r13 added support for PS3 so it may be doing a translation or conversion.

PS3 Save File on USB device

PC Save Files

Iit says after editing (solving quest glitch) that I can't use other savegames. it's my own savegame. -- Enzyme, June 20 2010 (UTC)

I can confirm that this method works, but personally I would hold back on deleting the original save incase something goes wrong. Also I can confirm that PS3 saves are not exactly the same as PC saves but they will contain the same info so you can copy and paste weapons and such. If you attempt to load a PS3 save on a PC without copying from (example) SAVE0001 to Save0001 it will come up as corrupted. I'm not sure if this is simply file naming convention as PS3 uses caps and PC only caps the "S" but I would not be willing to find out. More than likely the code goes further than that. Laserblasto 08:04, June 20, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend trying to use a PS3 Save File on a PC in-game or vice versa. I did add a step to rename the original Save File as a backup. Thx. -- MeMadeIt 09:06, June 20, 2010 (UTC)

Looks to be more or less the same as the procedures used for the 360, so I am pretty sure most of what is in the guide I made for that is relevant here too, console-specific menu controls notwithstanding.    Skeve613^{ask Dr. Hax}  17:33, July 17, 2010 (UTC)

Willowtree beta 10r13R8 and R9 both have an Auto backup feature, willowtree just can't see them.

to use the backup open the folder of the save you edited and look for the file that ends in .bak.

(ie SAVE0001,SAV.bak) just delete the .SAV file and rename the .bak to .SAV

p.s.you do not need to move the file onto your pc, you can edit them right on the flash drive.

p.p.s newest version is beta 10r13R9 and added support for dlc4 and changed sliders to hex values:) no more need for a seperate hex editor. w00t:) ~~Shadowdude_3~~

I have a problem. I'm using Ps3 and can't open the save file in WillowTree. My OS is Windows 7. It should open it but it just says: "Could not open save." (All the WillowTree files I have are: Data, DevComponents.DotNetBar2.dll, WillowTree#, X360.dll) -Should I have something more? Loader 15:39, September 26, 2012 (UTC)