Saves (GTA 3)

This article deals with the format of a save game file for the PC version of GTA 3.

Location

By default, the game places its save game files into the folder "GTA3 User Files" which is located in the current user's Documents folder. The location of this folder varies depending upon the version of Windows installed.

The save files themselves are named in the format GTA3sfX.b where X represents the in-game slot number. There are 8 slots available in the game (1-8).

Format Details

• Save files are ALWAYS 0x3145C (201820) bytes long.
• Byte order is little endian. For example, the number 3452 is represented as as 0x7C 0x0D.
• File is divided into 20 blocks, followed by a 4-byte checksum

Data Blocks

There is a DWORD value preceding any block of data which is equal to the size of the block.

Block 1: Miscellaneous

Game "meta-information" giving the overall state of things. Also includes 'TheScripts' sub-block.

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	block size
0x0004	wchar_t[24]	save name (long names are truncated on the save/load screen)
0x0034	word	SYSTEMTIME wYear
0x0036	word	SYSTEMTIME wMonth
0x0038	word	SYSTEMTIME wDayOfWeek
0x003A	word	SYSTEMTIME wDay
0x003C	word	SYSTEMTIME wHour
0x003E	word	SYSTEMTIME wMinute
0x0040	word	SYSTEMTIME wSecond
0x0042	word	SYSTEMTIME wMilliseconds
0x0044	dword	unknown
0x0048	enum	current island (1=Portland; 2=Staunton; 3=Shoreside Vale)
0x004C	float[3]	camera coordinates (x,y,z)
0x0058	dword	length (ms) of in-game minute
0x005C	dword	weather timer
0x0060	byte	game hour
0x0061	byte[3]	(align)
0x0064	byte	game minute
0x0065	byte[3]	(align)
0x0068	word	(unknown) current pad
0x006A	byte[2]	(align)
0x006C	dword	global timer
0x0070	float	game speed
0x0074	float	(unknown) frame delta time
0x0078	float	(unknown) tick time (time of an iteration of the major game loop)
0x007C	dword	number of the frames processed from the beginning of the game
0x0080	float	(unknown)
0x0084	float	(unknown)
0x0088	float	(unknown)
0x008C	word	(unknown)
0x008E	byte[2]	(align)
0x0090	word	(unknown)
0x0092	byte[2]	(align)
0x0094	word	(unknown)
0x0096	byte[2]	(align)
0x0098	float	(unknown)
0x009C	dword	(unknown)
0x00A0	dword	(unknown)
0x00A4	dword	(unknown)
0x00A8	dword	(unknown)
0x00AC	dword	(unknown)
0x00B0	dword	(unknown)
0x00B4	dword	(unknown)
0x00B8	float	(unknown)
0x00BC	float	(unknown)
0x00C0	TheScripts	various scripts information

TheScripts

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	block size
0x0004	char[4]	'SCR\0' signature
0x0008	ScriptData	data dumped from the main.scm

ScriptData

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	block size
0x0004	dword	script global variables amount (n)
0x0008	dword[n]	script global variables dump
0x0000	ScriptInfo	various info from scripts
0x03CC	dword	threads amount (n2)
0x03D0	CRunningScript[n2]	script threads dump

ScriptInfo

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	block size (always 0x3C8)
0x0004	dword	$onmission var offset
0x0008	ContactInfo[16]	contacts info
0x0088	Unknown[4]	(unknown)
0x0188	dword	(unknown)
0x018C	StaticReplacement[25]	static replacements
0x031C	InvisibleObject[20]	invisible objects
0x03BC	byte	(unknown) unused, always 1
0x03BD	byte[3]	(align)
0x03C0	dword	size of the MAIN section in the main.scm
0x03C4	dword	biggest mission size
0x03C8	word	missions count
0x03CA	byte[2]	(align)

ContactInfo

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	mission_flag (opcode 0181)
0x0004	dword	base_brief (opcode 0182)

StaticReplacement

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	type
0x0004	dword	building handle
0x0008	dword	new model
0x000C	dword	old model

InvisibleObject

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	type
0x0004	dword	handle

CRunningScript

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	CRunningScript *	next script
0x0004	CRunningScript *	prev script
0x0008	char[8]	name
0x0010	dword	current_ip
0x0014	dword[4]	return_stack
0x0024	dword
0x0028	dword
0x002C	word	stack_counter
0x002E	word
0x0030	dword[16]	locals
0x0070	dword	timerA
0x0074	dword	timerB
0x0078	byte
0x0079	byte
0x007A	byte
0x007B	byte
0x007C	dword	wake time
0x0080	word
0x0082	byte
0x0083	byte
0x0084	byte
0x0085	byte
0x0086	byte
0x0087	byte

Block 2: Player peds

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	block size
0x0004	PlayerPeds	player peds information

PlayerPeds

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	block size
0x0004	dword	players count (n)
0x0008	PlayerPed[n]	player peds array

PlayerPed

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	unknown
0x0004	word	unknown
0x0006	dword	(unknown) ped reference
0x000A	CPed	CPed dump (0x5F0 bytes)
0x05FA	dword	max wanted level
0x05FE	dword	max chaos level
0x0602	char[24]	model name

Block 10: Restarts

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	block size (constant 0x128)
0x0004	RestartBlock	restart block

RestartBlock

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	block size (constant 0x124)
0x0004	char[4]	'RST\0' signature
0x0008	RestartData	restart data

RestartData

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	dword	block size
0x0004	RestartPoint[8]	restart point after wasted
0x0084	RestartPoint[8]	restart point after busted
0x0104	word	wasted restart points count
0x0106	word	busted restart points count
0x0108	byte	override next restart flag (opcodes 016E, 0255)
0x0109	byte[3]	(align)
0x010C	RestartPoint	overriden restart point (opcodes 016E, 0255)
0x011C	byte	fade in after next death flag (opcode 040F)
0x011D	byte	fade in after next arrest flag (opcode 040E)
0x011E	byte	override hospital level flag (opcode 041F)
0x011F	byte	override police level flag (opcode 0420)

RestartPoint

OFFSET	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
0x0000	float[3]	x,y,z coordinates
0x000C	float	z_angle

Checksum

The final four bytes of a save file are an unsigned integer checksum value. This checksum is simply the sum of all the preceding 0x3145C bytes. If the checksum value does not match the calculated sum of those bytes, the game will consider the save file to be "corrupted" and refuse to load it. Thus, any time you make any changes to a save file you must remember to update the checksum when you are finished.

See also

• Saves (GTA SA)
• Saves (GTA VC)

External links

•  GTAForums: GTA III Save File Documentation
• 010 template for gta 3 save file