They Who Returned - JSON Edits

TL;DR - this quest line does not take that much time, please consider doing it in game instead of using this guide.

After creating the guides for Trace of Metal, the Artemis Story and the Atlas Path.... I've become rather intimate with the way HG tracks quests and missions.

The Trace of Metal used keys named "SENTINELS_x" which made it easy to log and follow.

The Artemis Story was easy to track and made complete sense, keys were clearly identified as "ACTx_STEPx" and followed a numeric sequence.

The Atlas Path was also straight forward with "ATLASx" keys and a numeric sequence.

Now we get to "They Who Returned". You start the mission, meet your first Autophage and the quest line splits off into TWO new missions. Once you complete both of those, they are removed from your log never to be seen again. Complete the last step (locate & use a Portal) and you're done. All traces of this quest line are gone save for if you have, or rather once you obtain Void Motes, a new mission is added to seek out Autophage and spend your Void Motes with them.

[!] If you have never used the goatfungus Save Editor (on github), I'm sorry but this guide is NOT for you. You must be 100% comfortable not only using the Editor but making edits to the RAW JSON (text) data. A LOT of edits...

[!] If you inadvertently delete a "," you will render your save file unreadable and complete garbage. Not even the save editor will be able to load/read it...

Make Your Edits Very Carefully

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If you feel confident, here we go:

* Launch the game; load and save every save slot that you want to edit. This ensures the file is up to date and has any added data from the v5.5x update.

NOTE: Tested & Confirmed for Worlds Pt II Update 01/29/2025

BACKUP YOUR SAVES

[!!!] BACKUP YOUR FILES [!!!]
* Make a copy/backup of your entire save folder.

Honestly, if you don't know where your save files are, this guide IS NOT intended for you, I'm very sorry

Version: 1.0

[!!!] DO NOT PROCEED UNLESS YOU HAVE MADE A COPY OF YOUR SAVES [!!!]
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Notes: For the keys we need to edit, we are going to use the "FIND" function. Be very careful using the PASTE (CTRL+V) function. We will be entering all our edits and THEN saving the JSON data. Good thing you have made a backup of your saves.... right? :)

NEVER, EVER EDIT YOUR SAVE WHILE LOADED IN THE GAME
ALWAYS EXIT TO THE SELECT SCREEN

The data is structured as follows:
NAME / Progress

So for "MONO_NUB_DUMMY Progress = 0" it will be listed as:
MONO_NUB_DUMMY / 0

Select this text now and CTRL+C (copy) it

Let's open the Editor and get into that Raw JSON data.

Once you have opened the JSON data and located and selected the "MissionProgress" key, press CTRL+F to open the FIND window.

Click in the text box and CTRL+V and paste in the text you copied

Now click the "Find" button. The text should appear at the bottom of the window as shown

Scroll down and make your edit (change the -1 to a 0), it should look like this

That's how all the edits are going to work.

So using the "Find" function, search for and edit the listing below

The items that I have listed are all the ones that I found to have changed while actually performing the mission and collecting the data. This mission is a secondary mission and once completed, will be removed from your mission log, unlike both the Artemis Story and Atlas Path. This mission also adds two additional missions that were completed before the final step was active. As such, depending on the state of your save file, you most likely won't have any of these extra keys that are marked (not found). Please do search for them and if found, perform the edit. If they are are not found, move on to the next one. After you locate your first key and make your edit, when you perform the next search, you should make sure "Wrap Search" is checked.
Be very careful when copy/pasting to NOT include a trailing space.
This key exists "ROBOMISS_1" This key DOES NOT exist "ROBOMISS_1 "

Reminder: The data is structured as follows:
NAME / Progress

So for "MONO_NUB_DUMMY Progress = 0" it will be listed as:
MONO_NUB_DUMMY / 0

ROBOMISS_0 / 6
ROBOMISS_1 / 22
ROBOMISS_1A / 4

ROBOMISS_3_NADA / 39 (not found)
ROBOMISS_3_BUI / 69 (not found)
ROBOM_STAFF_A / 1 (not found)
ROBOMISS_BOAT / 1 (not found)

ROBOM_STAFF_B / 1
ROBOMISS_2 / 58
ROBOM_STAFF_C / 1
BUI_SCRAP_HINT / 1
ROBOMISS_LORE_ / 2
ROBOMISS_4 / 44

PP_BUI_SCRAPPIN / 20 (not found)
ROBOM_FEAR / 0 (not found)
ROBOM_ATLAS2 / 2 (not found)
ROBOM_NADAR2 / 0 (not found)
ROBOM4_WIKI / 1 (not found)

Save your JSON data by closing the window or clicking on one of the other keys in the left column.

On the Discovery tab, make the following additions

Add the following TECHNOLOGY items
Polyphonic Core
Scan Harmoniser

Add the following PRODUCT

Atlantideum Chamber
Concentric Transducer
Fibreglass Grip

Add both the Scan Harmoniser and the Polyphonic Core to one of your multi-tools

While still in the save editor, click the "Save Changes" button back on the Main tab

Close the Editor and load your save in the game.

If this was your last requirement to start the "In Stellar Multitudes" quest line, be advised this will most likely start on your new extended Pulse drive. If it does not, jump to a new system with your ship and engage your pulse drive.

Revisions / Updates / Comments will be added here

v1.0 - 01/02/2025 Created
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Testing Log:
(5) New Survival v5.5 saves