Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom/Save State Hacking

I've been hex editing everything from emulation save states, to PC save games for a while now, but mostly for personal use. A few years later I decide to publish my first guide at a great place called GameFAQs, and here it is. Basically, I've had all the offset locations for the stats and stuff. All I needed was a few more things and it was complete. Just today I started looking at various other FAQs got motivated, looked through my little journal game save state offsets and decided on the first one I saw: Wizardry V. Well, after some digging around, I present to you, the Wizardry V save state hacking guide.

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
Before we begin here, I assume you already know a few things:

...And you can follow a couple of simple guidelines:
 * 1) You know what I'm talking about when I say, 'Save state hacking'.
 * 2) You know what a hex offset is.
 * 3) You already have/know what a Hex Editor is.
 * 4) You can use the Windows calculator/Hex Editor's built-in tools to convert decimal-to-hex and vice versa.
 * 5) You can actually edit hex locations within the editor without screwing up too bad :)
 * 6) You have common computer knowledge.


 * 1) Unless you are experienced with hex editing, or you don't really care how bad you mess something up, backup any file you edit. In the case of emulation save states... Load the game, switch save slots and then save it. There's your backup :)
 * 2) Document everything you change, just in case. This includes the location and the previous value.

Also, the SNES emulator I was using was ZSNES 1.35. I am not sure if all emulators save states the exact same way. If you aren't sure, download ZSNES and take a simple save state (of anything) and compare the *DOS* file sizes to see if they are the same size. The reason I say to use DOS, is that Windows (which I assume you are using) displays file sizes in Kilobytes, and rounds out. DOS displays file sizes in bytes and, therefore, is more accurate. Even if the files are only a few bytes apart, I would still try. Some emulators might add a few extra info, like the emulator version. An alternative method is to open up the save state file, look at offset 1C15, and see if the first letter of the first character's name is there. If not, you can still look around for your characters' names and then just add or subtract that many (in hex) from the values I give in section [5].

Now that we've gotten that our of the way, the best way to go about using this guide would be this:

Look through section [4] to see what you want to edit. Each element in the game that is covered in this guide will have a description, as well as the format used to edit it. How many bytes long and what the values mean, for example. Then, go to section [5] to see where exactly you want to apply it to.

Let's say, for example, you want change the 4th character's amount of gold. You look up the description to see exactly how to change the amount of gold (from section [4]) and then you go onto section [5] to see what hex offset stores the value of the 4th character's amount of gold. Simple enough, no? Good. Let's get started :)

[4] THINGS THAT CAN BE EDITED
Here, I will describe everything that can be edited with the help of this guide, as well as TRY to give some insight on what you are editing the values for. Bear with me, as I haven't played this game in awhile.

Basically, each character is exactly 128 bytes apart from the start of the next character. This is perfect, as all (or at least they should) hex editors display characters 16 bytes wide which, in turn, means all the characters' data will be perfectly aligned. This is useful because you can just scroll down 8 lines in order to edit the next character, in the same offset. That probably didn't make much sense but you'll see what I mean when you start editing for all characters at once.

The 128 block of data for each character looks something like this: Byte Position  | from start of  | character. | What is stored in the value. 1-8 | Character Name 9 | Alignment/Class/Race (compressed) 10 | Strength 11 | IQ            12 | Devotion 13 | Vitality 14 | Agility 15 | Luck 16-21 | Gold 22-27 | E.P (Experience Points) 28-29 | Current Hit Points 30-31 | Maximum Hit Points 32-33 | Level 34 | Status 35 | Age 36 | ???            37 | AC (Armor Class) 38-44 | Mage spell points 45-51 | Cleric spell points 52-58 | Mage spells 59-65 | Cleric spells 66-73 | Inventory status indicator 74-81 | Inventory slots 1-8 82 | Max inventory indicator 83 | Poison strength? 84-86 | ???            87 | Symbol next to name? 88-97 | ???        98-103 | Marks (Kills) 104-105 | RIPs (Deaths) 106-128 | ???

There are a few gaps within the majority of the data block, and a large one at the end until you reach the next character. I don't know what these do exactly, and I don't think I want to experiment around. They might be objective flags, but I'm not too sure.

And now, for the breakdown

--- CHARACTER NAME: -8 bytes -Alphanumeric string (using in-game character set) -Range: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99

Probably a useless value to change, since you can always modify your name in the game normally, You can, however, use some other special symbols that are within the game's character set, like Japanese symbols and others (probably left in when it was imported). For fun, try some values in the E0-F0 hex range. Because it is an alphanumeric string, it shares some of the ASCII values that we use. This is why you can look in the file and see your name in plain English, and not a lot of hex gibberish :)

ALIGNMENT/CLASS/RACE: -1 byte -Hex value -Range: 00-9F (untested results after 9F)

As noted from the table above, the A/C/R value has been compressed. Sort of. Instead of a value for each, it can represent every possible combination of character's alignment, class and race into 1 value. Although it seems impossible it works quite well. Basically, every time you change this value by one, you change the alignment. For every 4 steps, you change the class type (Fighter, Thief, Mage, etc.) and end up with the same alignment. For every 32 steps, you change the race, but the alignment and class remains the same. With the above information we can use this procedure to completely change a character's a/c/r (we will be using decimal for this example, just add along the numbers):

First, determine the Race-

Human  - Add 0 Elf    - Add 32 Dwarf  - Add 64 Gnome  - Add 96 Hobbit - Add 128

Second, determine the Class-

Fighter - Add 0 Mage   - Add 4 Cleric - Add 8 Thief  - Add 12 Wizard - Add 16 Samurai - Add 20 Lord   - Add 24 Ninja  - Add 28

Finally, determine the alignment-

Good   - Add 0 Neutral - Add 1 Evil   - Add 2 ?      - Add 3

Then, all you have to do, is convert the finally decimal value into hex and use that value. EXAMPLE: We want an Elf (32) Lord (24) who is Neutral (1). 32 + 24 + 1 = 57. Convert it into hex and we get 39. So, if we wanted to change character 1, we slap the value 39 in offset address 1C1D and boom. We now have a neutral Elf Lord. At level 1 :) The '?' alignment I decided to keep in even though I didn't experiment with it any. My guess is that it's kind of like Type-O blood. It can hang around other people with a '?' alignment, as well as G-N-E characters. I could be wrong, though.

Also, You probably would only want to change someone's alignment, so you can mix good/evil characters in one party (unless you have patience enough to do that one trick that does the same job). In that case, just use the third table above and +/- the hex value accordingly. Have a good character that needs a touch of evil? Increase the value by 2. How about a neutral character that wants to be good? Decrease it by 1. Same with races and classes. Just add/subtract 32 or 4 from the value, respectively. Remember to use hex when just changing the a/c/r.

STRENGTH, IQ, DEVOTION, VITALITY, AGILITY and LUCK:

-1 byte each, 6 total -Hex values -Range: 00-5F (unpredictable results after 5F)

I've decided to group these together because it seems logical to. Basically, just change the value to whatever you want it to be. Naturally, one's stats increase as it's level increases until it hits a maximum, pre-determined by the race. Of course, what's stopping us from having godly stats? :) The highest the game seems to be able to handle correctly, in terms of display, is 95 (5F hex). Any higher and the numbers turn into symbols. At a value of FF, the game still displays 95 but, whether or not that actually has an impact on the game, remains to be seen. I've tested this only once so I am not sure but having a value of 5E seems to be more effective than FF.

GOLD:

-6 bytes -Decimal value -Range: 000000000000-999999999999

Unlike most of the other values, which are in hex, the gold value is a straight decimal representation. You want 500,000 gold? It would be... 500000 and not 20A107. The game reads the decimal from left to right and takes all values into consideration, so it would actually be something like 000000500000. The only explanation I can give you is that the game doesn't use standard arithmetic to count your gold. Instead, it uses some sort of slot-calculation. Explaining how this works is beyond this guide. This is probably the only way the game can keep track of huge numbers that it wouldn't normally be able to. I don't know how high the SNES is capable of counting to, but my guess is probably a 4-byte unsigned integer (4,294,967,295) much less than what the game, using this method, can handle (999,999,999,999). I haven't tried letter values.

E.P (EXPERIENCE POINTS):

-6 bytes -Decimal value -Range: 000000000000-999999999999

Same deal as above, but for EP. At first I thought it was a bit overkill having over 999 billion EP but then I saw that levels went in the triple digits. Have fun with this one.

CURRENT HIT POINTS and MAXIMUM HIT POINTS:

-2 bytes each -Hex values -Range: 0000-FFFF

Seems simple enough. Change the amount of HP you have and how much you can handle.

LEVEL:

-2 bytes -Hex value -Range: 0000-E703 or FFFF?

From the range seen above, it can either go to level 999 (E703) or it can go to the maximum of 65,535 (FFFF), but only the last three digits will show. In this case, you would have the level of 535.

STATUS:

-1 byte -Hex value -Range: 00-08 (unpredictable results after 08)

The status shown on your character, which usually replaces a number in the 'hits' column, in the party window.

00 - Normal (OK) 01 - Afraid 02 - Asleep 03 - Paralyzed 04 - Petrified 05 - Doom 06 - Ashes 07 - Lost 08 - Poison

AGE:

-1 byte -Hex value -Range: 00-FF

Be young or be old, basically :)

AC (Armor Class):

-1 byte -Hex value -Range: 00-FF (some restrictions)

This value starts at 0 (00) and then increases to 99 at 63 hex. Afterwards, there is some untested and undocumented stuff until 9F hex which starts at AC -99. After each increase, the AC drops by one (A0 = -98, A1 = -97, etc.), eventually it gets to FF and -1 AC.

It's easy to get a positive AC: Just enter the value in hex. To get a negative value: Take the negative number you want (but make it positive), subtract 1 and then convert it to hex. Then, using hex arithmetic, subtract that from FF to get your AC value. EXAMPLE: You want a -65 AC. 65 - 1 = 64 = 40 hex. FF - 40 = BF hex. BF would be the value you use for a -65 AC value. Oh, and I think the lower, the better. So a -99 (9F) value is probably what you want, anyway.

MAGE SPELL POINTS and CLERIC SPELL POINTS:

-7 bytes each (representing each spell level) -Decimal values -Range: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-99 99 99 99 99 99 99

Just like gold and EP, this value is in decimal. Only that each byte represents the number of spell points for each spell level. Also, for some strange reason I can't figure out yet...

99 value = 9 spell points 90 value = 9 spell points 09 value = 0 spell points

The game seems to want to use double digits for the spell levels and I don't know why. If it seems that the game only wants to read the first digit, it should just be 90, 80, 70, and so on. So, a hex value of 99 88 55 99 00 22 00 would give you 9 level one spell points, 8 level two spell points, 5 level three spell points, etc... I'm not sure if using letters would give you higher/infinite/negative spell point values.

MAGE SPELLS and CLERIC SPELLS:

-7 bytes each -Hex values -Range: 00-0F or FF?

I haven't figured out how exactly the spells work. It looks as if:

00 = No spells 01 = The first spell 0F = all spells for that particular level

Everything in between 02 and 0E I'm not sure. I got mixed results. FF seems to do the same thing as 0F, but sometimes I get no spells when I try different high-ranged values. Just use 0F if you want all the spells for that level.

INVENTORY STATUS INDICATORS:

-8 bytes -Hex values -Range: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-A0 A0 A0 A0 A0 A0 A0 A0

Each 'slot' has a code that will determine the status of the item in you inventory:

00 - Unequipped and identified 20 - Unidentified 40 - "-" and unidentified 60 - "-" and identified 80 - Equipped and identified A0 - Equipped and unidentified

As you can guess, the first byte will determine the status of the first item in your inventory and so on. The only one you will probably be interested in, is 00, which leaves the item unequipped and identified. It would be handy to use the value 80 for the items that characters wouldn't be able to normally use, but I don't think your AC changes when you try to equip armor. I think it only calculates your AC when you equip or un-equip.

MAX INVENTORY INDICATOR:

-1 byte -Hex value -Range: 00-08

If you notice the table in the beginning of this section, the max inventory indicator comes *after* the inventory slots, and there is a good reason I put this before it. When you buy items in the game, and your inventory increases, so does this value. As you sell or drop items, this value decreases. Basically, you set this value to however many items you have in your inventory. If you have eight items, and this value is set to 6, then you will only see the first 6.

INVENTORY SLOTS:

-8 bytes -Hex values -Range: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-87 78 87 87 87 87 87 87

These values will determine what's in your inventory. Everything from hard to find weapons, to quest items. Get ready for this list:

00 Broken Item      2D Robinsword          5A Staff of Doom 01 Torch            2E Sword of Fire       5B *S* of Katana 02 Lantern          2F Master Katana       5C *S* of Petrifying 03 Rubber Duck      30 Soulstealer         5D *S* of Fire 04 Dagger           31 Silver Axe          5E *S* of Conjuring 05 Staff            32 Axe of Doom         5F *P* of Dios 06 Short Sword      33 Solemn Basher       60 *P* of Charming 07 Long Sword       34 Faust Halberd       61 *P* of Latumofis 08 Mage             35 Silver Hammer       62 *P* of Dialko 09 Hand Axe         36 Mage's Yew Bow      63 *P* of Wounding 0A Pike             37 Hv. Crossbow       64 *P* of Madi 0B War Hammer       38 Treated Leather     65 King of Diamonds 0C Super Basher     39 Silver Chain        66 Queen of Hearts 0D Long Bow         3A Master Scale        67 Jack of Spades 0E Thieve's Bow     3B Armor of Master     68 Ace of Clubs 0F Robes            3C Scarlet Robes       69 Munke Wand 10 Leather Armor    3D Emerald Robes       6A Lightning Rod 11 Chain Mail       3E Tower Shield        6B Lark in a Cage 12 Scale Mail       3F Bacinet             6C Staff of Water 13 Plate Mail       40 Cone of Fire        6D Staff of Fire 14 Target Shield    41 Silver Gloves       6E Staff of Air 15 Heater Shield    42 Knight's Bracers    6F Staff of Earth 16 Leather Sallet   43 Blade Cusinart      70 *P* of Demon-Out 17 Leather Gloves   44 Armor of Defense    71 Gold Medallion 18 Robber's Sword   45 Shield of Magic     72 Ice Key 19 Sword of Knights 46 Jeweled Arnet       73 Ticket Stubs 1A Blackblade       47 Wizard's Cap        74 Tickets 1B Katana           48 Gloves of Myrdall   75 Skeleton Key 1C Battle Axe       49 Cloak of Capricorn  76 Pocketwatch 1D Morning Star     4A Sylvan Bow          77 Battery 1E Runed Flail      4B Muramasa Katana     78 Petrified Demon 1F Halberd          4C Odinsword           79 Gold Key 20 Lt. Crossbow     4D Gold Plate          7A Blue Candle 21 Padded Leather   4E Ring of Frozz       7B Jeweled Scepter 22 Shiny Chain      4F Ring of Skulls      7C *P* of Ghost-Away 23 Bushi Scale      50 Ring of Madi        7D Hacksaw 24 Armor of Knights 51 Ring of Jade        7E Bottle of Soda 25 Silver Mail      52 Ring of Solitude    7F Silver Key 26 Padded Target    53 Ankh of Wonder      80 Bag of Tokens 27 Knight's Shield  54 Ankh of Power       81 Brass Key 28 Crystal Shield   55 Ankh of Life        82 Orb of Llylgamyn 29 Brass Sallet     56 Ankh of Intellect   83 Love of Abriel 2A Iron Gloves      57 Ankh of Sanctity    84 Solemn Talisman 2B Bracers          58 Ankh of Youth       85 Amulet of Rainbows 2C Sword of Master  59 Staff of Summoning  86 Amulet of Screens 87 Amulet of Flames *S* = Scroll        *P* = Potion/Powder

Whew! Quite a list. Everything after 87 hex is just random garbage and, in the game, Love of Abriel is actually a heart symbol, of Abriel.

POISON STRENGTH:

-1 byte -Hex value -Range: 00-FF?

This value, I am not too sure of. Whenever it's set to anything but 00,it changes your characters' status to Poison. As stated above, there is a separate value for the characters' status. Right now I think, if no matter what you change it to (other than 00) makes you become poisoned, it must have some sort of impact on poison. This is why I called it "poison strength". I haven't tested it extensively, however, but a value of 01 or FF doesn't seem to do any damage. Feel free to experiment.

SYMBOL NEXT TO NAME:

-1 byte -Hex value -Range: 00-FF?

This is another value I'm not too sure about. All I know is that it produces a symbol next to your name when you are inspecting someone. It could be a blessing/enchantment/curse or whatever. I was too lazy to find any real effects

MARKS (Kills):

-6 bytes -Decimal value -Range: 000000000000-999999999999

Not totally sure if it's the number of kills you have, but it's next to the death count, and it has a very large maximum. The marks value has the same principles as gold and E.P.

RIPs (deaths):

-2 bytes -Hex value -Range: 0000-FFFF

Don't like that little blemish on you permanent record? No worry... Just edit this little value. Simple.

OTHER STUFF:

A lot of the values are still not known and they could do anything. I could probably look into what, if anything, they do but I have to leave a little to the imagination, right? :D

[5] HEX OFFSET LOCATIONS

Here are all the hex address locations for everything that was explained in section [4], for each of the six characters. Remember: Because each character is a perfect 128 bytes away, you can go down 8 lines to reach the exact same spot for the next character, if you decided to edit the same stat for each person.

The numbers in parentheses, "", are how many bytes long a stat is, for quick reference.

Character 1-

1C15-1C1C Character Name (8) 1C1D Alignment/Class/Race 1C1E Strength 1C1F IQ    1C20 Devotion 1C21 Vitality 1C22 Agility 1C23 Luck 1C24-1C29 Gold (6) 1C2A-1C2F E.P (6) 1C30-1C31 Current Hit Points (2) 1C32-1C33 Maximum Hit Points (2) 1C34-1C35 Level (2) 1C36 Status 1C37 Age 1C39 AC 1C3A-1C40 Mage Spell Points (7) 1C41-1C47 Cleric Spell Points (7) 1C48-1C4E Mage Spells (7) 1C4F-1C55 Cleric Spells (7) 1C56-1C5D Inventory Status Indicators (8) 1C5E-1C65 Inventory Slots (8) 1C66 Max Inventory Indicator 1C67 Poison Strength 1C6B Symbol next to name 1C76-1C7B Marks (6) 1C7C-1C7D RIPs (2)

Character 2-

1C95-1C9C Character Name (8) 1C9D Alignment/Class/Race 1C9E Strength 1C9F IQ    1CA0 Devotion 1CA1 Vitality 1CA2 Agility 1CA3 Luck 1CA4-1CA9 Gold (6) 1CAA-1CAF E.P (6) 1CB0-1CB1 Current Hit Points (2) 1CB2-1CB3 Maximum Hit Points (2) 1CB4-1CB5 Level (2) 1CB6 Status 1CB7 Age 1CB9 AC 1CBA-1CC0 Mage Spell Points (7) 1CC1-1CC7 Cleric Spell Points (7) 1CC8-1CCE Mage Spells (7) 1CCF-1CD5 Cleric Spells (7) 1CD6-1CDD Inventory Status Indicators (8) 1CDE-1CE5 Inventory Slots (8) 1CE6 Max Inventory Indicator 1CE7 Poison Strength 1CEB Symbol next to name 1CF6-1CFB Marks (6) 1CFC-1CFD RIPs (2)

Character 3-

1D15-1D1C Character Name (8) 1D1D Alignment/Class/Race 1D1E Strength 1D1F IQ    1D20 Devotion 1D21 Vitality 1D22 Agility 1D23 Luck 1D24-1D29 Gold (6) 1D2A-1D2F E.P (6) 1D30-1D31 Current Hit Points (2) 1D32-1D33 Maximum Hit Points (2) 1D34-1D35 Level (2) 1D36 Status 1D37 Age 1D39 AC 1D3A-1D40 Mage Spell Points (7) 1D41-1D47 Cleric Spell Points (7) 1D48-1D4E Mage Spells (7) 1D4F-1D55 Cleric Spells (7) 1D56-1D5D Inventory Status Indicators (8) 1D5E-1D65 Inventory Slots (8) 1D66 Max Inventory Indicator 1D67 Poison Strength 1D6B Symbol next to name 1D76-1D7B Marks (6) 1D7C-1D7D RIPs (2)

Character 4-

1D95-1D9C Character Name (8) 1D9D Alignment/Class/Race 1D9E Strength 1D9F IQ    1DA0 Devotion

1DA1 Vitality 1DA2 Agility 1DA3 Luck 1DA4-1DA9 Gold (6) 1DAA-1DAF E.P (6) 1DB0-1DB1 Current Hit Points (2) 1DB2-1DB3 Maximum Hit Points (2) 1DB4-1DB5 Level (2) 1DB6 Status 1DB7 Age 1DB9 AC 1DBA-ADC0 Mage Spell Points (7) 1DC1-1DC7 Cleric Spell Points (7) 1DC8-1DCE Mage Spells (7) 1DCF-1DD5 Cleric Spells (7) 1DD6-1DDD Inventory Status Indicators (8) 1DDE-1DE5 Inventory Slots (8) 1DE6 Max Inventory Indicator 1DE7 Poison Strength 1DEB Symbol next to name 1DF6-1DFB Marks (6) 1DFC-1DFD RIPs (2)

Character 5-

1E15-1E1C Character Name (8) 1E1D Alignment/Class/Race 1E1E Strength 1E1F IQ    1E20 Devotion 1E21 Vitality 1E22 Agility 1E23 Luck 1E24-1E29 Gold (6) 1E2A-1E2F E.P (6) 1E30-1E31 Current Hit Points (2) 1E32-1E33 Maximum Hit Points (2) 1E34-1E35 Level (2) 1E36 Status 1E37 Age 1E39 AC 1E3A-1E40 Mage Spell Points (7) 1E41-1E47 Cleric Spell Points (7) 1E48-1E4E Mage Spells (7) 1E4F-1E55 Cleric Spells (7) 1E56-1E5D Inventory Status Indicators (8) 1E5E-1E65 Inventory Slots (8) 1E66 Max Inventory Indicator 1E67 Poison Strength 1E6B Symbol next to name 1E76-1E7B Marks (6) 1E7C-1E7D RIPs (2)

Character 6-

1E95-1E9C Character Name (8) 1E9D Alignment/Class/Race 1E9E Strength 1E9F IQ    1EA0 Devotion 1EA1 Vitality 1EA2 Agility 1EA3 Luck 1EA4-1EA9 Gold (6) 1EAA-1EAF E.P (6) 1EB0-1EB1 Current Hit Points (2) 1EB2-1EB3 Maximum Hit Points (2) 1EB4-1EB5 Level (2) 1EB6 Status 1EB7 Age 1EB9 AC 1EBA-1EC0 Mage Spell Points (7) 1EC1-1EC7 Cleric Spell Points (7) 1EC8-1ECE Mage Spells (7) 1ECF-1ED5 Cleric Spells (7) 1ED6-1EDD Inventory Status Indicators (8) 1EDE-1EE5 Inventory Slots (8) 1EE6 Max Inventory Indicator 1EE7 Poison Strength 1EEB Symbol next to name 1EF6-1EFB Marks (6) 1EFC-1EFD RIPs (2)

[6] FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Since this is only the first version of this guide there hasn't been any questions sent in to me, but I figure I should add a few questions that might pop into your head.

Q. In the gold example, you stated that 500,000 in hex was 20A107, but using Window's scientific-mode calculator the value turns out to be 7A120. Any explanation?

A. Before I answer this question I would like to get one thing out of the way. In hex (if you don't know), 2 hex digits = 1 byte. so 0F = 1 byte, EF20 = 2 bytes, etc.

When programs record a non-string value (numerical, for example) they record it from right-to left. This seems logical to do, since programs also read it from right-to-left. Therefore, when searching or editing hex values, we reverse the hex digits. When I say reverse, I mean splitting the entire hex value into 2-digit chunks, and reversing the chunk positions, so:

FE 30 2B CC becomes... CC 2B 30 FE

or...

2E 66 9B 0F 0E becomes... 0E 0F 9B 66 2E

In the case of an odd number of digits, add a zero to the front of the hex value:

7D0 becomes... 07D0 (07 D0) and then... D0 07

I hope this explains a bit.

Q. Can you recommend a good hex editor?

A. Sure. The one I am currently using, and am very pleased with, is WinHex by X-Ways Software (http://www.x-ways.com). It's got a ton of features and it's easy to use. If you are looking for something else, just look around www.cnet.com or www.zdnet.com.

Q. I would like to learn more about hex/hex editing. Can you direct me to a good site?

A. Well, a general search on google will bring up good results. I didn't learn on the internet so I can't suggest a good site.

Q. I've noticed, in many instances, that you would use 00 00 instead of 0000 and vice-versa. Any particular reason?

A. For some examples I used the xx xx format, for sake of example only. When I was explaining the ranges for certain stats within the game, it was either because the value wasn't a numerical value (continuous 'xxxx' format) or it was because the value was non-numerical like a text string, or each value within the range has it's own 'slot', like inventory or spell points (separated 'xx xx' format). Other than that, there really is no difference.