HeroQuest Savegame Format

Format type	Saved game
Save locations	Hub location between levels
Elements saved	Character names, stats, gold, quest object, inventory. various stats
Games	HeroQuest

The QUEST.SAV file in HeroQuest contains the saved character data. Characters can be saved between quests.

Format

The file holds the 8 slots for each of the four characters of the game, split into two sections. The first section are the (in-game editable) names of all the characters, the second half contains all the characters' actual information and inventories.

Positions are fixed. If you mess something up you can always delete the file; the game will always generate a default upon saving for the first time.

This is how a default savegame looks like in an hex editor:

The internal format is the following:

Offset	Data type	Repeats	Default value	Description
0x000	char[17]	8	SIGMAR	Name of the Barbarian
0x088	char[17]	8	GRUNGI	Name of the Dwarf
0x110	char[17]	8	LADRIL	Name of the Elf
0x198	char[17]	8	ZOLTAR	Name of the Wizard
0x220	BYTE[26]	8	Zeroes	Inventory of the Barbarian
0x2F0	BYTE[26]	8	Zeroes	Inventory of the Dwarf
0x3C0	BYTE[26]	8	Zeroes	Inventory of the Elf
0x490	BYTE[26]	8	Zeroes	Inventory of the Wizard

Name sections

The names are in typical zero-terminated format, and can be a maximum of 16 characters in length. If a savegame is edited to have data in the remaining name part, it will not be read, and the space will be cleared to zeroes when re-saved.

The name normally only accepts uppercase characters. If lowercase characters are edited into the savegame file, it becomes clear that the lowercase range of the font is used for special accented characters. Some characters in the range are completely empty, but they still offer clickable space.

If the first byte in a name is set to a 00 byte, the entry becomes unclickable in the user interface, effectively making it permanently unusable. There is a bug in the game where this can occur when you change the name of a character and confirm without filling in anything, and then save the character data.

Inventory sections

Offset	Data type	Default values				Description
Offset	Data type	BAR	DWA	ELF	WIZ	Description
0x00	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Character game status: 00=in menu FF=in quest
0x01	UINT8[2]	0000	0000	0000	0000	Placeholder for Hero's position on the map XXYY. See Rooms Layout
0x03	UINT8	00	00	00	00	Placeholder for Hero's current room. See Rooms Layout
0x04	UINT16LE	0000	0000	0000	0000	Placeholder for Memory location of Hero's position on the Walls Layout in memory at [0B6B:546F]
0x06	UINT8	08	07	06	04	Body points, 0-9 shows a figure, higher values work but the game shows the rest of the fonts.
0x07	UINT8	02	03	04	06	Mind points, same as above.
0x08	UINT8	26	2C	38	44	Placeholder for Hero's facing sprite. See Hero Positions
0x09	UINT16LE	0000	0000	0000	0000	Amount of gold coins in stash (bytes "88 13" = 5000 coins)
0x0B	BYTE	00	00	38	07	Placeholder for spells bit mask during the game (Water and Air); see Spells
0x0C	BYTE	00	00	00	3F	Placeholder for spells bit mask during the game (Fire and Earth); see Spells
0x0D	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Owned special items bit mask; see Special Items.
0x0E	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Owned weapons bit mask; see Weapon Items.
0x0F	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Owned armour bit mask; see Armour Items.
0x10	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Owned potions bit mask; see Potions
0x11	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Equipped weapon. Same values as owned weapons, but only one weapon (or special weapon) can be active.
0x12	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Equipped special items. Same values as owned special items. Combines any equipped special weapon and armour.
0x13	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Equipped armour. Same values as owned armour.
0x14	UINT8	03	02	02	01	Base attack dice number
0x15	UINT8	02	02	02	02	Base defence dice number
0x16	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Placeholder for casted Spells (caster) bit mask during the game
0x17	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Placeholder for used Potions effect bit mask during the game
0x18	BYTE	00	00	00	00	Placeholder for Spells effects (target) bit mask during the game
0x19	UINT8	00	01	02	03	Character id used for attack animation and map icon (04=Sir Ragnar/Manfred)

Upon loading a slot the equipment is copied in memory at these locations:

0B6B:4663 Barbarian
0B6B:467D Dwarf
0B6B:4697 Elf
0B6B:46B1 Mage

Equipment

The equipment is saved in bits, which are combined into full values. So a value of 0x00 means completely empty, and 0xFF means all are enabled. The equipment bits are used for both ownership and to store which items are currently equipped.

There are three classes of equipment: weapons, armour, and special quest items. In terms of equipped items, there are limitations on which bits can effectively be combined together. The player can only equip one helmet on their head and one armour on their body, and can have a light weapon in their primary hand and a shield in their secondary hand, or the Battle Axe taking up both hands. These rules are enforced when the game evaluates the equipped item bits, taking both normal and special items into account.

Weapon Items

The Weapons follow the order of the equipment on the screen, with the lowest bit indicating the first item, but since they do not include the armour, and the Tool Kit is equipped as weapon, that one takes up the eighth weapon value.

Weapon items:

Bit	Binary value	Hex value	Item	Equipped on
1	00000001	0x01	Staff	Primary hand
2	00000010	0x02	Short Sword	Primary hand
3	00000100	0x04	Broad Sword	Primary hand
4	00001000	0x08	Battle Axe	Primary and secondary hands
5	00010000	0x10	Crossbow	Primary hand
6	00100000	0x20	Hand Axe	Primary hand
7	01000000	0x40	Spear	Primary hand
8	10000000	0x80	Tool Kit	Primary hand

Armour Items

Like the weapons, the Armour types follow their order on the inventory screen, with the Shield as the lowest value.

Armour items:

Bit	Binary value	Hex value	Item	Equipped on
1	00000001	0x01	Shield	Secondary hand
2	00000010	0x02	Helmet	Head
3	00000100	0x04	Chain Mail	Body
4	00001000	0x08	Plate Armour	Body

Special Items

Like the normal items, special items are saved as single bits that can be combined into a full value. They follow the layout of the special items on screen, with the lowest bit indicating the first item.

The special items are:

Bit	Binary value	Hex value	Item	Equipped on	Remarks
1	00000001	0x01	Borin's Armour	Body	Despite showing a helmet as icon, this item is considered body armour and can be combined with the helmet.
2	00000010	0x02	Wand of Recall	None	Can't be equipped.
3	00000100	0x04	Talisman of Lore	None	Can't be equipped.
4	00001000	0x08	Orc's Bane	Primary hand
5	00010000	0x10	Spirit Blade	Primary hand

Examples for the ownership bits:

00000001 = 01 = Borin's Armour Only
00010100 = 14 = Talisman of Lore and Spirit Blade
00011111 = 1F = everything

Spells

Like the other items, spells are saved as single bits that can be combined into a full value. In the Savefile though these bytes are only a placeholder for the spells once in memory. There are two separate 8 bit masks the first for Water and Air and the second for Fire and Earth.

Bit	Binary value	Hex value	0x0B Spell name (Type)	0x0C Spell name (Type)
1	00000001	0x01	Veil of mist (Water)	Courage (Fire)
2	00000010	0x02	Water of healing (Water)	Ball of flame (Fire)
3	00000100	0x04	Sleep (Water)	Fire of wrath (Fire)
4	00001000	0x08	Tempest (Air)	Pass through rock (Earth)
5	00010000	0x10	Swift wind (Air)	Rock skin (Earth)
6	00100000	0x20	Genie /attack (Air)	Body healing (Earth)
7	01000000	0x40	not used	Genie /reveal (air)
8	10000000	0x80	not used	not used

Examples for the ownership bits:

00000111 = 07 = all three Water (0B) or Fire (0C) spells
00111000 = 38 = all three Air (0B) or Earth (0C) spells
00111111 = 3F = all Water and Air (0B) or Fire and Earth (0C) spells
00000100 = 04 = only sleep (0B) or fire of wrath (0C) spell

Spells effects

Only the effects that last at least one round appear in this bit mask (0x18).

Bit	Binary value	Hex value	Spell Name	Spell effect	Duration (PC)	Duration (BoardGame)
1	00000001	0x01	Veil of mist	Invisibility	next monster phase	next monster phase
2	00000010	0x02	Sleep	Lose a turn	until you throw a 6	until you throw a 6 or if attacked
3	00000100	0x04	Tempest	Lose a turn	next hero phase	next hero phase
4	00001000	0x08	Swift wind	Double movement	next movement phase	next movement phase
5	00010000	0x10	Courage	+2 Attack dice	next attack phase	until no monster are visible by the hero anymore
6	00100000	0x20	Pass through rock	Self explanatory	next movement phase	next movement phase
7	01000000	0x40	Rock skin	+2 Defense dice	next defense phase	until the hero suffers a wound
8	10000000	0x80	not used	--	--	--

Courage, Rock skin and sleep effects differ from the original boardgame.

Potions

Potions follow the same principle of all other bit masks. The only exceptions is they get wiped once you start a new quest.
This can be bypassed with a simple hack since the save and load features correctly process that byte.

Bit	Binary value	Hex value	Potion Name
1	00000001	0x01	Potion of Strength
2	00000010	0x02	Potion of Resilience
3	00000100	0x04	Potion of Healing
4	00001000	0x08	Potion of Healing
5	00010000	0x10	Holy Water
6	00100000	0x20	Potion of Speed
7	01000000	0x40	Heroic Brew
8	10000000	0x80	not used

Examples:

01111111 = 7F = All potions
00001100 = 0C = Two potions of Healing
00000011 = 03 = Strenght and Resilience