This is a WIP guide, and information will be added to it as it is discovered. If you have any information I don't, please comment below or send me a message on steam.

The first step to editing any save file is to find the actual location of the save file. Now, there are quite a few for Duskers, so follow along.
1) Confirm the game is off before editing any files
2) The location for the Galaxy data files is at C:\Users\ [USER NAME] \Documents\My Games\Duskers\data\udata\DEFAULT

The files for galaxies are named gd_xxxxxxxxx.txt. These files hold the random ships you encounter in the map, along with their stats and enemies

The file for your ship/drones is named universedata.txt. This contains your ship, your upgrades, your scrap, your drones, your drone upgrades, and all the info about everything previous.

I suggest editing the files with Notepad++ rather than notepad.

universedata.txt has quite a lot of lines. Most helpful to change, some less helpful. Either way, I will go along and explain every line that I have understood so far, though the best explanations are for the lines where changing things has a strong impact on the game

Header
UNIVERSE_PLAYS = It seems to be how many times you've reset the universe, but I am not sure
UNIVERSE_SEED = The seed for the universe you're playing in, 10 numbers and seems to only be used for generation, not file verification
ESY_GLXY = seems to stand for "Easy Galaxy", options are True and False.
LAST_DU_ID = No confirmation for what this does yet.
LAST_SU_ID = No confirmation for what this does yet.
LAST_SHIP_ID = seems to be the ID of the last ship you were at, so it knows where you are located in the game.
GHOP = Galaxies you've been to.
CUR_GLXY = ID of the current galaxy you are in
LAST_SYS_ID = Appears to be the current star system in what galaxy you are in.
STAT_VDUN = No confirmation for what this does yet.
STAT_VSYS = No confirmation for what this does yet.
SYSJMP = How many jumps you have made to different star systems

+GXE
+GXE_########## = Stargate number
P= Stargate Parent
C= Stargate Child
SYS_P= SYS that the stargate resides in (Parent)
SYS_C=SYS that the stargate resides in (Child)
ENABLED= Have you traveled through this stargate yet?

+GX
+GX_########## = Galaxy to add
FILE= Galaxy file, always matches the previous line
NAME= Name of Galaxy
VISITED= Have you visited the Galaxy yet?
P= No confirmation for what this does yet.

+SYS_NURSERY
SEED = Seems to be a separate seed for enemy spawns

+OBJN
+OBJN_######### = Seems to stand for Object Number, don't know where they are located or why they are defined in Universedata.txt rather than a gd_.txt. Possibly Important event ships?
DTYPE = Don't konw what this is for
MAX_SCRAP =: Max scrap the ship can hold
SD= True or False, don't know that this is for. Seen derelict maybe?
EPIDX= Some sort of unique ID, increases by 1
SEED_D= no clue
VISITED= True or false
NAME= Name of ship
P=SYS_NURSERY ; this is the only value I have seen for P in +OBJN so far
ITYPE= Enemy types in that ship, can be "PatrolBot",

+GSTATE
UNIVERSE_DAYS= How many days old the Universe is.

This section expands on the Universedata.txt, specifically for the things you probably actually care about.

+PLAYER
DAYS= How many in-game days have gone by.
SHIP_ID= Ship OBJ number, referenced below for ship stats
DEFINITION= Ship definition. Can be "Salvage". Make sure to match the definition in +OBJ
CLASS= Ship class. Can be "A", "B", or "C" Make sure to match the class in +OBJ
SCRAP=Current scrap
F_JUMP=Current jump number
F_PROP_C=Current fuel
F_PROP_R= Current reserve fuel

+SLOT_###### -No confirmation yet for what this value does.
P=No confirmation yet for what this value does.
STATE=No confirmation yet for what this value does.
MCOUNT=No confirmation yet for what this value does.
BREAK_PROB=No confirmation yet for what this value does.
SLOTNUM=No confirmation yet for what this value does.


+OBJ_(ship ID stated in +PLAYER)|
P=PLAYER -Only thing I have seen for this P
DEFNAME=Ship definition. Can be "Barge", "Government", "Medical", "Mining", "MUTEKI", "Private", "Salvage". Make sure to match the definition in +PLAYER. Can also be "Fuel Depot", "Medical Outpost", "Mining Outpost", "Space Station", or "Trading Post"
DTYPE=1-Have only ever seen this be 1
VISITED= True or False, if you have visited the ship you're on. Should always be True
NAME= The name that shows for the ship
DEFCLASS= Ship class."A", "B", or "C". Make sure to match the Class in +PLAYER

+DRONE_##########|THE INTERNAL ID FOR THE DRONE. modules attached to the drone use this id.
ID= Also the internal ID for the drone, and must match it.
DVPSEED= Seed for the display view point, must be unique for each drone .
DVPNAME = The type of view the drone has, values known are (without the quotes) "tron1.0", "matrix", "default", "dot", "tron2.0", "matrix green"
NUM= What slot the drone is currently in. Valid values are 1-7 Any drones 1-4 will be your current loadout, any drones 5-7 will be in reserve, any other drones will be lost.
SLOTCT = How many upgrade slots the drone has available to it. (0-4)
NAME= The name of the drone.
DTRAVELED= I don't know what this is for
ISFAIL=True or False. Is the video feed for the drone currently failing?
FAIL_NXT= Time until the next time the video starts failing (randomly set after each fail finishes). Can use scientific notation (ex: 1E+24).
FAIL_DUR= Not confirmed, but the duration of video failing each time it does. increases by 15 for each video feed fail that finishes
FAIL_NXT_MIN= Not confirmed, but the minimum time until the next video feed fail. Lowers by 60 for each fail that finishes
FAIL_NXT_MAX= Not confirmed, but the maximum time until the next video feed fail. Lowers by 60 for each fail that finishes
RESTORE_NXT= Time until video comes back. randomly set after each fail finishes
DSTATE=True or False. No confirmation yet for what this value does.
TRAIT_V=No confirmation yet for what this value does.
TRAIT_VP=No confirmation yet for what this value does.
TRAIT_P=No confirmation yet for what this value does.
CSID= Character Selection Noise ID. 1-8
SPD= Drone speed. 1.35 is upgraded engines, but can be higher.
THP= Maximum HP of the drone
HP= Current HP of the drone
MTIME=Not confirmed, but I assume this is the amount of time spent in missions.
RSTATE=True or False, No confirmation yet for what this value does.
DRONE_VIS_IDX= What the drone looks like. 1-5 confirmed safe.
HASFAILED=True or False, Not confirmed, but I assume "Has the drone's video failed before?"
DRONE_APPLIED_MODS= Which upgrades the drone has gotten Works in binary, wher 8 means engines, 4 is r*?. Not all values have been confirmed yet.
ENG = Sound of the engine. EngineA is higher pitched while EngineB is lower pitched (IF None, defaults to EngineA)

+INVITMD_##| ID of the item in your inventory
P="DRONE_[ID]", "PLAYER", "OBJ[ID]", "SHIP", this is the placement of the item. if SHIP, it will be installed. If PLAYER, it will be in your storage inventory.
TYPE= What the actual item is. For ship Items, the names are "PowerManager", "ShipSurveyor", "Quarantine", "RemotePower", "LongRangeScanner". For drone Items, the names are "Tow", "Scanner", "Sonic", "Shield", "Interface", "Sensor", "Gatherer", "Transporter", "Stun", "Probe", "Lure", "AreaSensor", "Generator".
SLOT= What slot it is in, in the drone, ship, or inventory.
INV_MISSIONS= Not confirmed, but assumed how many missions it has been used on.
INV_ERROR_MISSIONS= No confirmation yet for what this value does, but it is only on drone mods
INV_BREAK_TIME=Not confirmed, but assumed to be time until the item breaks.
INV_ERROR_TIME=No confirmation yet for what this value does.
INV_TIME_POST_ERROR_MISSION=No confirmation yet for what this value does.
INV_BREAK_PROB=The item's chance to break after the next mission, best set to 0.
QTY= how many charges the item has, such as drones left or ammo left
STATE="OK" or ??. Is the item currently broken?
INV_MODS=Item upgrades. Current list of upgrades is, (256=sensor magnetic clamps)

DATA= Galaxy name
GALAXY_SEED= Seed for the galaxy, can be negative
VISITED_STAR_SYSTEMS= Which star systems in the galaxy have you visited so far

Sys Objects
+SYS_xxxxxxxxxx| = Reference for the star system
SEED= Seed for the star system, different form the reference, 10 digits
SG= Does this have a stargate?
SG_OTHER= Sems to be GX[# of current GD file]
GXE_P=GXE_#### Not confirmed, but gate exit location? As in which star gates are linked?
SG_CHILD= Is this a stargate linked to another one? (did you have to go through a stargate to reach this one?)
SP= No confirmation what this does yet.
NAME = Name of the star System
ID = ID of the star system, used for VISITED_STAR_SYSTEMS
SCNTYPE= Not confirmed, but type of scan performend?
SS=True or False. No confirmation for what this does yet. Maybe means important to storyline?
VIEWED= True if seen, nothing if not
FIRST_SHIP_ID= What ship you will spawn on when you enter into the star system
LAST_DOCKED_ID= OBJ last docked at
LAST_SELECTED_ID=OBJ last selected:
SCNTYPE= No confirmation for what this does yet
VISITED= Have you visited this object in the system yet?

+OBJ_254098888|
P= the SYS to place this object into
DTYPE= No confirmation for what this does yet
MAX_SCRAP= The maximum amount of scrap this ship can carry if commandeered
MAX_PFUEL= Maximum fuel this ship regenerates every jump.
SHP_FXD_TYPE= No confirmation for what this does yet
DMIN= Not confirmed, but minimum damage of ship?
DMAX= Not confirmed, but maximum damage of ship?
SD= No confirmation for what this does yet, maybe means important to story line
EPIDX= Only put on some ships, seems to be an external ID? Ships with this have no SEED_C
SEED_C= Not confirmed, but seed for contents of the ship?
SEED_D=Not confirmed, but seed for the defenses of the ship? Or location on the map?
VISITED=True or False, have you visited the ship before? To visit again, set to False
NAME= Name of the ship
ITYPE= Enemy types on the ship. Known types are "PatrolBot", "Brute", "Swarm", "Slime". There should be one for a dog, but I don't know the ID
ID= id of the ship, must be unique
DEFNAME= "Barge", "Government", "Medical", "Mining", "MUTEKI", "Private", "Salvage", "Fuel Depot", "Medical Outpost", "Mining Outpost", "Space Station", or "Trading Post"
DEFCLASS="C" "B" "A" Class of the ship.

TROUBLESHOOTING
-not required ((regen on load?) Seed for the display view point, must be unique for each drone . If not unique, the drone will not be able to be seen from their pov. it will stay on whoever the last drone was, and if swapped to schematic view from a bad drone, you'll just get a zoomed-in schematic view of the drone.

I can't switch to a drone's view!
-Make sure you have unique DVPSEED values for each drone.

When I try to swap upgrades, my swap screen never disappears!
-Make sure your SLOTCT is 4 or less for each drone.

My drone disappeared!
-Make sure your +DRONE_###### and your drone ID match

Drone: Turret ID
Enemy: Dog ID
Upgrades: All IDs