Save inspector¶

A site visitor opens a Civilization V save file, and the site reads it and shows a report about the game. A guest sees the same report on the home page, but with three metrics and without player names. After you sign in with Discord, the “Save inspector” shows all the metrics, the player names and the diagnostics.

Participants¶

• Guest is a visitor who isn't signed in. They open a save on the site's home page and see a report with a reduced set of data.
• Signed-in visitor opens a save in the “Save inspector” and sees the full report.
• Site reads the file, shows the report, and keeps neither the file nor the report.

Steps¶

sequenceDiagram
    participant V as Visitor
    participant S as Site
    V->>S: drags a .Civ5Save file into the field or presses “Choose file”
    Note over S: “Reading the save…”
    alt file read, visitor not signed in
        S-->>V: shows the report with a reduced set of data
    else file read, visitor signed in
        S-->>V: shows the full report in the “Save inspector”
    else save looks like a game still in progress
        S-->>V: shows no report and offers “Choose another file”
    else file not read
        S-->>V: shows the reason and a “Choose another file” or “Try again” button
    end
    opt report open
        V->>S: presses “Open another save”
        S-->>V: shows the report of the new save
    end

1. Find the save field. If you aren't signed in, scroll the home page to the “TRY IT NOW” section with the heading “Open a save and see your game.” If you are signed in, open the “Save inspector” in the top bar (on a phone, in the menu at the top left) or press “Inspect save” on the “Overview” page. In the inspector, the label “WORKSPACE / SAVE INSPECTOR” stands above the field, and the field has the heading “Open a Civilization V save”.
2. Choose a file. Drag a file into the field or press “Choose file”. On the home page the field is labeled “Drop a .Civ5Save file here”. The picker window offers .Civ5Save files. If you drag several files, the site takes the first one. Where to find a save tells you where saves live on your computer.
3. Wait while the site reads the file. The field shows “Reading the save…” and “This usually takes a second or two.” While it reads, the field doesn't accept a new file.
4. Look at the report. A guest and a signed-in visitor see the same report layout, but a guest gets only three metrics, nations instead of names, and empty diagnostics. See Reduced view without signing in and The report in the inspector.
5. Open another save if you need to. On the home page, the “Open another save” button stands above the report. In the inspector it's in the top bar, and on narrower screens an icon button “Open save” stands there instead. A new file replaces the report, and the metric and the turn range go back to their defaults.

Where to find a save¶

Under the file field, both on the home page and in the inspector, there is a hint: “Autosaves of network games are here:”. Under it you see the folder path for your system (Windows, macOS or Linux), with a “Copy” button next to it. After you press it, it confirms with “Path copied”. The paths are:

Windows: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\Saves\multi\auto
macOS:   ~/Documents/Aspyr/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/Saves/multi/auto
Linux:   ~/.local/share/Aspyr/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/Saves/multi/auto

The paths for other systems are under “Other systems”. The hint explains how to paste the path for your system:

• Windows. “Paste it into the address bar of the file window.”;
• macOS. “Press Cmd+Shift+G in the file window.”;
• Linux. The hint gives no separate advice on pasting.

The site treats a phone and an unknown system as Windows. On the game page, the same hint stands under the file choice in the save block, and in the finish banner the “Where is the save?” button opens it. See Game saves on the site.

Reduced view without signing in¶

After reading, the label above the field changes to “SAVE PREVIEW”. The “Open another save” button stands above the report, and below it is the same report as in the inspector: the file name, three facts, the result line, the “Charts” tab with a metric choice and a turn range, the player cards and the “Technical details” block. Only the set of data differs, and the site decides it:

• a guest gets three metrics: “Effective science”, “Culture per turn” and “Production per turn”;
• there are no player names: the card is labeled “Player 3”, and under it are the nation and the slot, for example “Aztecs · Slot 3”;
• there are no diagnostics: “Technical details” shows “No diagnostics”.

If the save has none of the three metrics, you see “No player histories in this save” instead of charts.

A guest can see the full report by signing in with Discord and opening the same file in the “Save inspector”. For more about signing in, see Sign-in and privacy.

The report in the inspector¶

At the top of the report are the label “WORKSPACE / SAVE INSPECTOR” and the file name. Next to the name there is an ⓘ icon. Pressing it opens the explanation “Explore recorded player histories. Names come from the save; Discord accounts are not linked.” Below come the facts, the result line, the “Charts” tab and the “Technical details” block.

Facts¶

The result line¶

Under the facts is a line with the result of the game, as the save records it:

The site names the victory types like this: “Time victory”, “Science victory”, “Domination victory”, “Cultural victory”, “Diplomatic victory”. The line doesn't name the winner: you see only the victory type and the turn.

At the end of the line is a “Technical details →” link. If the reading found diagnostics, it says, for example, “2 diagnostics · View details →”. The link expands the “Technical details” block.

Choosing a metric, searching and pinning¶

At the top of the “Charts” tab is the “Pinned metrics” block. The “Previous” and “Next” buttons (on a phone, only arrows) page through all the metrics of the save in turn, from group to group, and the button between them with the name of the current metric opens their list.

The list has a search field. It finds a metric by the name of the metric or of its group, in the site's language or in English. At the top is the group “PINNED · 3”, followed by groups like “DEVELOPMENT · 14”, where the number is the number of metrics. At first, the first two groups and the group of the current metric are expanded. The star next to a metric pins or unpins it. If the search finds nothing, the list says “No metrics match your search”.

Below in the block is a row of pinned metrics. A press switches the chart, and the current metric is marked with a check mark. Pinning works like this:

• at first, “Effective science”, “Culture per turn” and “Production per turn” are pinned;
• pins are remembered in this browser, not in your account;
• a pinned metric that the save doesn't have doesn't show in the row;
• the report opens on the first pinned metric that the save has, and without one, on the first metric of the save.

Turn range¶

The “Pinned metrics” block has a button with turns, for example “Turns 1–174”. It opens the “Turns” panel with two sliders, the labels “From 1” and “To 174”, and a “Reset” button. If the range is changed, the turns button is highlighted, and “Reset” brings back all turns. The range stays when you switch metrics. If the save's statistics cover only one turn, the button is inactive.

Players and slots¶

Under the metric choice block and above the chart are the cards of the save's players, in slot order. Each card has:

• a circle with the first letter of the name and a nation badge;
• the player's name from the save, or, if there is no name (as for a guest), “Player” and the slot number, for example “Player 3”;
• a caption with the nation and the slot, for example “Aztecs · Slot 3”. A nation that isn't recognized is called “Unknown civilization”.

The card is tinted with the player's line color. The cards work as switches: a press hides the player's line from the chart (the card turns gray with a crossed-out eye), and another press shows it again. Lines of hidden players aren't drawn.

Names come from the save and aren't linked to Discord accounts.

The metric chart¶

The “Charts” tab shows one metric at a time. Above the chart are the metric's name with an ⓘ icon and a line with the unit, for example “culture/turn”. The ⓘ icon opens the explanation of the metric, for example “Recorded culture income per turn; one-time Great Writer bonuses are recorded separately.”, and a note about missing values: “Series end at their last recorded sample. No values are filled in.” The site doesn't draw in the gaps and doesn't put a zero in their place.

Each player has their own line. The site takes its color from the player's nation colors in Civilization V and picks it so that the lines of different players don't blend. A dot marks the player's last recorded value. When you point at the chart or move to it with the keyboard, the tooltip shows “Turn 120 · Culture per turn” and each player's value with a caption, for example “Orion · Aztecs”. The rows in the tooltip go from the leader downward. Under the chart there is only the axis label “TURN”.

Technical details and diagnostics¶

At the bottom of the report is a collapsed “Technical details” block. Pressing its title, or the link in the result line, expands it. The block has these rows:

The state of each section is “Complete”, “Partial”, “Unavailable” or “Not requested”. Below comes “Diagnostics” with the diagnostics found during reading. Each diagnostic is a code in English and a place in the save, for example “section …” or “field …”. If there are none, you see “No diagnostics”. A guest always sees “No diagnostics”.

Metric groups¶

The site knows 137 metrics, divided into 11 groups. The report shows those that are in the save. You can see how many in the “METRICS PER PLAYER” fact.

Rules and exceptions¶

The site accepts a .Civ5Save up to 16 MB¶

The field on the home page hints: “Tournament Mod saves up to 16 MB. We read the file and keep nothing.” The “Save inspector” has the same limit. The site rejects a larger file right away, without sending it, and the field shows “We could not read this file”. To add a save to a game, see Game saves on the site.

The full report is available only after you sign in¶

Only people who have signed in with Discord can see the “Save inspector”. If a guest opens the inspector by a link, the site sends them to the home page, where they can try a save. A guest sees a report with three metrics, without player names and diagnostics. See Sign-in and privacy.

Inspecting a save stores nothing and doesn't attach it to a game¶

The site reads the file and keeps neither the file nor the report. Inspecting a save on the home page or in the “Save inspector” doesn't attach it to any game and doesn't change the game history or the rating. In the inspector, a note reminds you: “Inspecting a file does not attach it to a game.” To attach a save to a game, open that game's page. There a player of the game uploads the file, and the site stores it. See Game saves on the site and Sign-in and privacy.

The site doesn't show a save from a game that is still in progress¶

The site matches the save's players with the server's games from the last 30 days. If the most similar game is still in progress, the site shows nothing from the file. The field shows “This save looks like a game that is still in progress” and the hint “We show nothing from it until that game is finished. Come back after the finish, or choose another file.” This applies to a guest and to a signed-in visitor alike. The “Choose another file” button takes a new file.

The site allows about 10 s to read a save¶

The site rejects a save that takes longer to read or is too complex to read. The field then shows “We could not read this file”.

The site reads two saves at a time¶

Four more saves can wait in the queue, and while a save waits, the field shows “Reading the save…”. When the queue is full, the field shows “Too many saves are being read right now”. Guests together take at most two of the six places. The other four stay for those who are signed in.

What can go wrong¶

• “We could not read this file”. Under the text you see “Choose a .Civ5Save from a Tournament Mod game, up to 16 MB.” The file is larger than 16 MB, empty, not a Civilization V save, damaged, or not read within 10 s. Press “Choose another file” or drag another save into the field.
• “This save looks like a game that is still in progress”. The site doesn't show the save until that game is finished. Come back after the game finishes, or choose another file.
• “Too many saves are being read right now”. Under the text you see “Try again in a minute.” All the reading places are taken. Wait and press “Try again”: the site sends the same file again. In this state, the field doesn't accept a different file.
• “Something went wrong”. Under the text you see “The save was not read. Please try again.” The connection dropped, or the file didn't finish uploading within 30 s. Check your connection and press “Try again”: the site sends the same file again. In this state, the field doesn't accept a different file.
• You see “No player histories in this save” instead of charts. Under the text is the explanation: “This file has no turn-by-turn statistics. Missing data is shown as unavailable, never as zero.” The facts and the result are still shown.
• The report is gone. The site keeps neither the file nor the report, so the report closes when you reload the page, change the site language, sign in with Discord or go to “Overview”. Choose the file again.
• The “Save inspector” opens the home page. You aren't signed in, and the inspector is available only after you sign in. Press “Sign in with Discord”, then open the “Save inspector” in the top bar.
• The metric you need isn't there. Find it with the search in the metric list, by its name in the site's language or in English. If the list says “No metrics match your search”, the save doesn't have that metric: the report shows only what is recorded in the file. A guest sees only three metrics.
• You see “Player 3” instead of a player's name. The save has no name for this player, or you're looking at the report without signing in: a guest doesn't see names. The site then labels the player with the slot number.
• A player's line isn't on the chart. You hid their card. Press the card again, and the line comes back.

Related¶

• CivBot site
• Games overview
• Sign-in and privacy
• Game saves on the site
• Game page
• Charts and player comparison
• Glossary

This page was translated with AI and checked against the bot's terms.