Dat files store the game's core mechanics. For a very long time, there have only been 2 mods, of which I know, modifying dat files. And there have been a lot of frustrated questions on how to mod those nasty dat files, as they are not readable nor understandable easily.
I always wanted to be able to mod the game itself and not only graphics, so I took some time and got some basic understanding of some of the files. So here are my experiences so far:
You can change a lot by editing the right numbers in the right places. This is a painful and time consuming process!To find out which value corresponds to which action in game, you have to play some trial and error. Change some values and start the game, look out for changes and repeat.
In my opinion, the best strategy is the following:
1) Get an idea of what you want to change in game - f.e. brick costs of buildings.
2) look at the dat files in the "db" folder in your game-directory and try to find out by their names, which file could include these values - f.e. buildings.dat
3) Open the dat file using a hex-editor. This is the only working method for me - there simply isn't a way to make the files readable otherwise. I am working with Hex-Editor MX.German download site: Hex-Editor MX - Download - CHIP
4) Look out for hex values, which resemble decimal values corresponding to the values in game - f.e. "25" is the brick cost for building a school in decimal. This means "0F" in hex. There are 13 "0F" values in buildings.dat.
5.) So one of this 13 values of "0F" corresponds to the brick costs of building the school. There are other buildings with the same costs. To identify the correct one, change some of the 13 "0F" values with unique and easy to identify values, like
Hex: Decimal:DC 220DD 221DE 222DF 223C8 200
Those are the ones I used. They don't appear to be used otherwise in the dat file and are easy to identify in game.
6) If you changed the values, fire up the game and look at the construction menu. When your school building suddenly costs f.e. 221 bricks to build, you know that "DD" is the value storing the building costs of the school. Repeat this several times until you find the correct value. You can easily find out the building costs of other building using this method.Be sure to write down you findings and share them with us here!
What I could achieve so far:
- changing the building costs of various buildings and monuments, even adding new resource costs to monuments like food, which were not part of the original building process.- changing the costs of upgrading your palace/ palace enhancements- changing the number of farmhouses supported by palace and townhouses. The following screenshot shows which values are important for townhouses:
Dat files store the game's core mechanics. For a very long time, there have only been 2 mods, of which I know, modifying dat files. And there have been a lot of frustrated questions on how to mod those nasty dat files, as they are not readable nor understandable easily.
I always wanted to be able to mod the game itself and not only graphics, so I took some time and got some basic understanding of some of the files. So here are my experiences so far:
You can change a lot by editing the right numbers in the right places. This is a painful and time consuming process!
To find out which value corresponds to which action in game, you have to play some trial and error. Change some values and start the game, look out for changes and repeat.
In my opinion, the best strategy is the following:
1) Get an idea of what you want to change in game - f.e. brick costs of buildings.
2) look at the dat files in the "db" folder in your game-directory and try to find out by their names, which file could include these values - f.e. buildings.dat
3) Open the dat file using a hex-editor. This is the only working method for me - there simply isn't a way to make the files readable otherwise. I am working with Hex-Editor MX.German download site: Hex-Editor MX - Download - CHIP
4) Look out for hex values, which resemble decimal values corresponding to the values in game - f.e. "25" is the brick cost for building a school in decimal. This means "0F" in hex. There are 13 "0F" values in buildings.dat.
5.) So one of this 13 values of "0F" corresponds to the brick costs of building the school. There are other buildings with the same costs. To identify the correct one, change some of the 13 "0F" values with unique and easy to identify values, like
Hex: Decimal:
DC 220
DD 221
DE 222
DF 223
C8 200
Those are the ones I used. They don't appear to be used otherwise in the dat file and are easy to identify in game.
6) If you changed the values, fire up the game and look at the construction menu. When your school building suddenly costs f.e. 221 bricks to build, you know that "DD" is the value storing the building costs of the school. Repeat this several times until you find the correct value. You can easily find out the building costs of other building using this method.
Be sure to write down you findings and share them with us here!
What I could achieve so far:
- changing the building costs of various buildings and monuments, even adding new resource costs to monuments like food, which were not part of the original building process.
- changing the costs of upgrading your palace/ palace enhancements
- changing the number of farmhouses supported by palace and townhouses. The following screenshot shows which values are important for townhouses:
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