Week 5 Studio: Reading a save file cold

Extracting concrete claims about a game from a save file, with no working build to check them against

22 March 2027

Before the studio#

Bring last week’s archive-reading notes — the same hex-reading approach applies here, just to a smaller, denser file.

In the studio#

You’ll receive a save file with no accompanying build and no documentation, and try to answer: how far did this playthrough get, and what does the file’s structure suggest the game was tracking? You won’t be able to verify your answers today — that’s deliberate.

Afterwards#

Field Report prep starts properly next studio (week 6). If your own chosen artifact has any surviving save data, bring it — this technique applies directly.