This section will give a brief walkthrough of the editing process and various things to keep in mind while editing.

The first time you open Paragon, you must create a project through the project creation screen. The next time you open the program, it will remember the project you created and skip to the main window. To work on a different project, select the "Close" option on the main screen to return to project creation.

When Paragon opens the main screen, it must load all modules for the game you want to edit as well as any files those modules require. Modules will always be in the "Modules" directory that comes with the program in a subdirectory that corresponds to the game your project targets. For files, Paragon will take the following steps to locate them:

• First, Paragon will search the project directory. For example, if a module wants "GameData/GameData.bin.lz", Paragon will look for "Patch:/GameData/GameData.bin.lz" where "Patch:/" is the path to your project directory. If it finds the file in the patch directory, it will conclude the search at this step.
• Next, Paragon will search the ROM directory. For example, if a module wants "GameData/GameData.bin.lz", Paragon will look for "ROM:/GameData/GameData.bin.lz" where "ROM:/" is the path to your extracted ROM directory. If it finds the file in the ROM directory, it will conclude the search at this step.
• If the file still hasn't been found, Paragon will fail to open the file. Any modules that depend on this file will not appear in the modules list since a file they depend on is missing.

To make changes, open the desired editor and begin editing fields, adding new entries, etc. For most modules, Paragon will automatically locate and open the file you want to edit. For modules that work for multiple files, you will be prompted to select a file yourself. This file must be in either the ROM directory or project directory.

You are free to open and close editors as you please. Multiple editors can be opened at once. Closing an editor will not discard its changes. If you want to discard changes to a file, use the "Open Files" tab in the main window to close it.

To save, select the "Save" option from the "File" menu on the main screen. The save process will proceed as follows:

• If a file was opened through an "open file" prompt, it will be saved even if no changes were made.
• If a module that targets a file was opened, the file it targets will be saved. This also applies even if no changes were made.
• Open message archives will always be saved.
• If a file is open but no modules or editors that target the file were opened, then the file will not be saved.

Paragon will handle compression transparently by using the file extension.

Note that files are always saved to the project directory, not the ROM directory.