I have updated my tool to work with the new 1.0.54 update in the post below.
But always make a backup of your save(s), as there could be information that gets added to the save file that my tool misses.
--- End of Update ---
Long time lurker, first time poster...
Backstory for why I created this tool: Feel free to skip this section.
I recently got Monster Crown through Humble Choice, gave it a go, and while it is pretty fun, there are a few issues/bugs (some of which can soft-lock your game).
So, I was eight hours in (I spent a lot of time collecting Monsters and exploring the map before progressing the story, the latter is what caused my issue) before I realized that I was soft-locked. The issue I had was that I had entered a dark forest area and unknowingly triggered an event, well before it was meant to be triggered, and by the time I got the quest that leads to that event, nothing happened when I returned to the area. So I spent a bit of time searching the internet for any info relating to this issue, and eventually came across a couple of posts where others had the same thing happen. One of the games Dev's had responded to player stating that they couldn't recreate the issue, and that it shouldn't have been possible to trigger it on the current (at that time) build. The Dev also stated that it shouldn't cause an issue if you continued to play in that state (but it does), but that it was probably best to restart the game. Someone asked if it was possible to fix the issue by altering something in the save file, and the Dev said no, as the save files are encrypted... Given I had put eight hours into the game, and had collected a few good/rare monsters, there was no way that I was going to start over, so that lead me to have a chat with (vent to) my brother, from that chat, he asked if the encryption was base64, and it was (well a mix of plain text, and base64 encrypted data).
Well, new goal, SAVE MY SAVE FILE!... I spent a bit of time coding in Python (mainly to refresh my Python skills), and managed to spit out a decrypted version of the save file, then quickly coded up re-encryption of the file. Once I was able to get the re-encrypted file to match the original save file, I put it all together with a very basic GUI (literally an ugly little window with some text explaining how to use the program, a textbox for changing the save filename, and two buttons).
In Notepad++ I opened the decrypted file, changed a few flags that were related to the quest and the event that had triggered (plus a couple of others that triggered after the initial bug, relating to learning monster breeding as it wasn't working), re-encrypted the file, moved my original save out of the save folder, renamed the re-encrypted file (safety measure, in case the save hadn't been backed up before re-encrypting), loaded the game, entered the area where the event triggers, and it worked, I had saved my save file!
After making the tool with Python and PyInstaller, the exe was too large to upload here (just over 9MB), so I've re-written the tool in C# and thankfully the exe is only 13KB.
Story time's over.
So, I was eight hours in (I spent a lot of time collecting Monsters and exploring the map before progressing the story, the latter is what caused my issue) before I realized that I was soft-locked. The issue I had was that I had entered a dark forest area and unknowingly triggered an event, well before it was meant to be triggered, and by the time I got the quest that leads to that event, nothing happened when I returned to the area. So I spent a bit of time searching the internet for any info relating to this issue, and eventually came across a couple of posts where others had the same thing happen. One of the games Dev's had responded to player stating that they couldn't recreate the issue, and that it shouldn't have been possible to trigger it on the current (at that time) build. The Dev also stated that it shouldn't cause an issue if you continued to play in that state (but it does), but that it was probably best to restart the game. Someone asked if it was possible to fix the issue by altering something in the save file, and the Dev said no, as the save files are encrypted... Given I had put eight hours into the game, and had collected a few good/rare monsters, there was no way that I was going to start over, so that lead me to have a chat with (vent to) my brother, from that chat, he asked if the encryption was base64, and it was (well a mix of plain text, and base64 encrypted data).
Well, new goal, SAVE MY SAVE FILE!... I spent a bit of time coding in Python (mainly to refresh my Python skills), and managed to spit out a decrypted version of the save file, then quickly coded up re-encryption of the file. Once I was able to get the re-encrypted file to match the original save file, I put it all together with a very basic GUI (literally an ugly little window with some text explaining how to use the program, a textbox for changing the save filename, and two buttons).
In Notepad++ I opened the decrypted file, changed a few flags that were related to the quest and the event that had triggered (plus a couple of others that triggered after the initial bug, relating to learning monster breeding as it wasn't working), re-encrypted the file, moved my original save out of the save folder, renamed the re-encrypted file (safety measure, in case the save hadn't been backed up before re-encrypting), loaded the game, entered the area where the event triggers, and it worked, I had saved my save file!
After making the tool with Python and PyInstaller, the exe was too large to upload here (just over 9MB), so I've re-written the tool in C# and thankfully the exe is only 13KB.
Story time's over.
TLDR:
This tool is intended to allow a player to alter their Monster Crown save file (which is encrypted) in order to recover from a "soft-lock" state by altering the flags relating to events/quests/triggers in the game, or to relocate you character if you get physically stuck (change your X,Y coordinates). But... it obviously allows the player full access to alter their save in any way they choose.
About the tool:
Please note, you need to edit the decrypted save file carefully in a text editor, my program simply allows you to create two new files, a decrypted save and a re-encrypted save. It also will not overwrite your save file. But before using it, always make a backup of your save file first! (place a copy of your save in another folder)
This tool creates a new file called "*Save*_decypted.txt" (*Save* being your saves filename) to your save folder. You then make your changes to the decrypted file in Notepad or some other text editor, save it, then use this tool to re-encrypt the file, which creates a file called "*Savefile*_reencrypted.txt". Once that's done, replace your save file with the re-encrypted one, and launch the game.
I have also included an Excel sheet in the zip file that has a list of items, their ID's, along with info about the items, and a section to allow you to copy and paste your items from the save, alter the quantities, and then copy the output back into your save. It should make sense if/when you look at changing your inventory.
The list of items is from capeleto over on the post here: viewtopic.php?p=216241#p216241, I have altered it slightly, but I take no credit for making the list.
I hope someone else finds this tool useful.
But PLEASE, do not ruin the fun for other players, as this game does have online trading features (I haven't actually tried that part myself). E.g. Don't trade altered monsters with other players.
=== EDIT ===
Ok... So I "fixed" the Excel sheet before, but forgot to check that it was actually adding the correct value to the output, apologies for that. I have now re-uploaded new zip files (same password for both zips) containing the corrected Excel sheet, and I hopefully won't need to upload another version... Fingers crossed, and sorry again to those that had downloaded the files earlier.
I also updated a couple of item names and their descriptions. I think 24 and 25 were "Key Item" before, but are now "Monster Body Part (Claw)" and "Monster Body Part (Torso)" respectively (I have no idea what they are used for though).
The updated version is in the next post.
Old version
Zip file content:
- MonsterCrown_Save_ReEncrypt.exe
- Monster Crown Item Table.xlsx <<< Version 3 (Actually fixed this time)
- MonsterCrown_Save_ReEncrypt.exe
- Monster Crown Item Table.xlsx <<< Version 3 (Actually fixed this time)
- Monster Crown Item Table.xlsx <<< Version 3 (Actually fixed this time)
Zip Password: FearlessRev010