SAVW (File Format)

This article is for the SAVW format from Metroid Prime 1 and 2. See SAVW (File Format) for the other revisions of this format.

The SAVW format determines what data gets saved to the memory card. It's used to save information on non-hardcoded parts of the game, like whether a particular MemoryRelay has been activated, whether you've scanned a particular scan has been fully scanned, etc.

Format

Type	Count	Name	Notes	MP1	MP2
u32	1	Magic	Always 0xC001D00D.	✔	✔
u32	1	Version	See below for a list of possible version numbers.	✔	✔
u32	1	Area Count	Number of areas contained in this world.	✔	✔
u32	1	Cinematic Skip Count	Count of skippable cinematics.	✔	✔
u32	Cinematic Skip Count	Cinematic Skip Instance IDs	Array of instance IDs listing every Cinematic Skip SpecialFunction instance (MP1)/Camera instance with cinematic skip enabled (MP2) in the world.	✔	✔
u32	1	MemoryRelay Count	Count of MemoryRelay instances.	✔	✔
u32	MemoryRelay Count	MemoryRelay Instance IDs	Array of instance IDs listing every MemoryRelay instance in the world.	✔	✔
u32	1	Layer Toggle Count	Count of layers that can be toggled on/off from this world.	✔	✔
Layer Toggle	1	Layer Toggle Array	Array specifying every layer that can be toggled on/off from this world (any layer referenced by a ScriptLayerController). The layers specified can be in other worlds.	✔	✔
u32	1	Door Count	Count of DoorArea/Door instances.	✔	✔
u32	Door Count	Door Instance IDs	Array of instance IDs listing every DoorArea/Door instance in the world.	✔	✔
u32	1	Scannable Object Count	Count of scannable objects in the next array.	✔	✔
Scannable Object	Scannable Object Count	Scannable Object Array	Array describing every scannable object in this world.	✔	✔
u32	1	System State Env Var Count	Count of system state env vars modified from this world.	✖	✔
Environment Variable	System State Env Var Count	System State Env Var Array	Array of env vars affecting the entire system. Mainly used for multiplayer music unlocks.	✖	✔
u32	1	Game State Env Var Count	Count of game state env vars modified from this world.	✖	✔
Environment Variable	Game State Env Var Count	Game State Env Var Array	Array of env vars affecting only this save slot. Mainly used to enable the Dark World map button.	✖	✔
u32	1	Unmappable Object Count	Count of unmappable objects in the world.	✖	✔
u32	Unmappable Object Count	Unmappable Object Instance IDs	Array of instance IDs listing every instance that can be removed from the map. Mainly used by Translator Door Location SpecialFunctions.	✖	✔
End of file

Versions

Possible version numbers:

Version	Game
0x3	Metroid Prime
0x5	Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
0x6	Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
0x8	Donkey Kong Country Returns

Layer Toggle

Type	Name	Notes
u32	Area ID	Internal area ID (not the MREA ID).
u32	Layer Index	Index of the layer that can be toggled.
End of layer

Scannable Object

Type	Name	Notes
Asset ID	SCAN Asset ID	Asset ID of a SCAN file.
u32	Logbook Category	Enum describing which logbook category this scan is part of. Always 0 in MP2. See below for possible values for MP1.
End of scan

Possible logbook category values (MP1 only):

ID	Category
0	Non-Logbook
1	Space Pirate Data
2	Chozo Lore
3	Creatures
4	Research

Environment Variable

Type	Name	Notes
string	Variable Name	Name of the environment variable as a zero-terminated string.
u32	Unknown	Always 0?
u32	Unknown	Always 1?
u32	Unknown	Always 0?
End of environment variable