FTG Save Utility

Since the save game cfg files are functionally equivalent to scenario files (as far as I know), any tool that could fully check scenario files for errors should theoretically also be able to check save files if they're moved out of the "Save Games" folder and into the "Scenarios" parent directory. Unfortunately, in practice tools for validating scenarios have focused only on what is generally found in non-save-game cfg files, and so they usually yield thousands of false-positive errors if used to validate save games. However, if you are using Jamie550's Clausewitz Validator (found here), you might be able to edit the database to remove those false positives... though I imagine it would be rather tedious work.

every time I edit the save game on notepad, it gives me errors..I am playing as Byzantine and trying to add a COT on the EEG file, the error is like, it can't find the provinces for the other COT's so weird. I've been playing this game since EU1 and this is weird. What am I missing?

nevermind, I edited the main COT file, started a new game and voila! I got a the COT with no errors. Still would be nice to edit save games like before.

I've been editing saves with 1.3 willy nilly, with no problems (other than an occasional mess up on my part)

What are you doing to add a cot? There is nothing more to it than copying and pasting an existing cot in the game file, and editing the location as appropriate. Be sure to also delete any actively traveling merchants from the new cot, so that you don't have merchants traveling to two places.

Other than that, some of the most common screw ups in editing save games that I've learned to avoid are:

* If you delete a province, for example a colony of someone, then be sure that there are no ships in the port that will no longer exist: this will crash the game. Easiest way to do this is to search for "location = x", where x is the id of the province you are deleting the colony of. Likewise, be sure there is not a CoT in the province that you are deleting. If there is, you will also have to delete the CoT (or move it elsewhere).
* If you delete a unit, be sure that it is not currently in combat/siege, or the game will crash. The easiest way is to search the file for the id of the unit.
* If colonizing, the province (in the top part of the file) has information on the active colonization, but there is also something entitled "mecenat" at the very bottom of the file. You will need to change both if you want to edit anything about an active colonist.
* If you edit the dates of an active process, such as if you want to speed up a missionary, then be sure to leave a positive number of days between the start date and the end date. Making them the same date will crash the game (or at least it used to)
* If you want to properly change the relation between countries A and B, you both have to edit A's opinion of B, and B's opinion of A (which should be the same number).