NSS2 Save game editor

[Dan Atkinson]

Hey,

I seem to be making a lot of non-important posts lately! :)

Anyway, to cut a long story short... I've figured out most of the save game data for NSS2 and I'm interested in putting together an editor for people to edit their stats.

Does this appeal to anyone?

Right now I've discovered how to edit:
All skills
Salary
Contract termination date
Sponsor dates
Sponsor payments
Items bought (including special items!!! :lol: )
and
cash.

Now although this editor would give the user extraordinary powers to cheat, I was actually wanting to aim it at veteran players who were in their mid 20's who wanted an increased challenge (eg reduced money to fight bankrupcy, reduced stats etc etc).

I've already pm'd siread about this but thought I would ask the community first. Ideas and comments welcome!

[siread]

Yes, i like the idea of an editor - it will be useful for me too! :D

[JJU]

Nice one Dan! I'm all for it, tried myself some way back but only managed to corrupt the saved game file despite being really careful!

Look forward to hearing more.

[Shorty]

Ye, that would be good.

[Dan Atkinson]

Well I did some more work on it last night. I figured out a bit more of the data.

In response to your corrupting the data, I think the problem that you had is that you maybe tried editing the data in something like Notepad. This does not preserve linebreaks so when it is re-saved, the data is corrupted. I recommend something like JEdit. Anyway, I've got some excellent proof that the editing is successful.

Here's a few shots of an edited game.

http://dan-atkinson.com/nss/skills.jpg
http://dan-atkinson.com/nss/contract.jpg
http://dan-atkinson.com/nss/relationships.jpg
http://dan-atkinson.com/nss/items.jpg

You may also like to note that I have been able to add all of the special items (and have also corrected 'peice'! :wink: ) so that the player has a better chance of getting a girl. It's also possible to change the prices in the save game data so you could theoretically change the prices to minus values. This would cause the game to 'pay' you every time you bought an item.

I'd just like to thank Siread for responding to my e-mail. You've made it a hell of a lot easier to see what's what!

Here's a simple document with my descriptions of the data. It's not good by any means but it's just trial and error.
http://dan-atkinson.com/nss/nss.txt

If the data stays more or less the same in different games (which I think it does) then I'll set about making something pretty soon. Although my HND course comes first so it may be a little while.

There you have it. That's me for now! :lol:

[Dan Atkinson]

Should also add that I have found the value for energy but I forgot to edit it back to 100 after the match! :o

[Shorty]

In response to your corrupting the data, I think the problem that you had is that you maybe tried editing the data in something like Notepad. This does not preserve linebreaks so when it is re-saved, the data is corrupted. I recommend something like JEdit.

I have been editing my game with notepad, I know nothing about editing, but have fugured out skills, relationships, except girlfriend, wage, cost of living, etc, and i have got no data corruption, I have been careful, and I have lost one game trying but have cracked most of it, with no editing knowledge.

[mrcancer1981]

I myself am very confused. I use a normal everyday Hex editor for my editings, and I can't seem to figure how you have your lines, Dan. Line 40 on my Hex editor is way different than the name. How exactly do you go about your editing?

[Dan Atkinson]

I did explain that I use JEdit in my earlier posts. Go have a look at what JEdit is. Using a Hex editor is a bit unneccessary unless you're editing executables or complex data files. Thankfully, Siread made the save games quite easy to read and understand so a hex editor is more or less useless and unneccessary.

Are you sure you edited your game in Notepad? Notepad doesn't understand the line breaks in the .nss files.

[Dan Atkinson]

Hey again!

Right, I've written most of the stuff for the editor now.

I've got the following sorted out:

Contracts (both club and sponsors)
Stats (except red and yellow cards)
Skills
Relationships (I think! 8) )

By sorted, I mean actually in the editor.

I was going to put stuff in like league tables but that's a little more work.

I haven't written the items section yet, I spent the afternoon writing a half-decent method of reading the file into the array and then spitting it out in lines.

There is of course one huge downfall with this method. If you look at two save game files, you'll see that they don't always match up. Some values stay the same, some don't.

This is where I need siread (or someone else) to tell me more or less the exact structure of the files. I keep finding small things (like sounds and tips flags at the beginning of the file) and they're taking time. Any help with the structure would be greatly appreciated guys!

Anyway, time for some screenshots methinks.

http://www.dan-atkinson.com/NSS/setsandyou.jpg
http://www.dan-atkinson.com/NSS/stats.jpg
http://www.dan-atkinson.com/NSS/eskills.jpg
http://www.dan-atkinson.com/NSS/contracts.jpg

[JJU]

I can't answer any of those queries but just wanted to say "Top notch work!"

Let's just hope it can be used to enhance the game in a positive way :)

[pookie]

I love cheating a lot....
but i Seriously feel I respect this game too much, to use this editor..
Its just way to powerful, and I believe would cause a user to get bored with the game half way throught the season.

I did cheat a little bit myself tho, in after going through one season of development, I went into Notepad, and made my self one year younger again, to get an extra year of boost of development at an early age, and give myself that extra edge..
but any more cheating would be too much.

[Dan Atkinson]

Hi there,

I appreciate your concerns, I really do. I can honestly understand that the temptation to cheat with a tool like this is great. But what I'm offering is a chance for people. Just because there is the possibility to cheat, doesn't mean that all people will use it to make themselves super.

I work with Mind Compression, one of the most respected and oldest communities in the Football Manager arena. I know for a fact that there are tonnes of people who use our editors to do things other than ruin their game with high stats and the like.

I was thinking of placing a 'God' and 'Sod' mode into the editor as well. Sort of a quick cheating method. Obviously God mode would make the player super, and Sod mode would make them, crap and old. I don't know if it's possible for a player to start again once inside the game.

I hope to release the editor in the next couple of days. Although it's looking likely that Tuesday will be on the cards (no laptop net access at uni). Please don't hold me to Tuesday as I still have one major problem to contend with.

That is this:

Reading data from the file is absolutely no problem, I had that one sussed in an hour. I'm no expert at C# but I know my way around a lot of programming languages! :P Anyway, so I wrote a streamreader for that and the file reads in a few of the stats and values. When it comes to writing I've got a problem.

Basically when the file is saved, it first reads in the original file to an array, it then dumps this into the new file. Once that is done, it then takes the values that were edited, and puts them in one line at the time. Unfortunately, it appends them to the end instead of actually placing them in the correct area.

Another problem: Not all files are identical. Obvious I know but what I mean is that the actual lines values differ somewhat from file to file. I don't know quite to what extent (I can only guess that zero values are placed in areas not used since each file (or all that I have tested) are in the region of 1.19mbits.

So... Please Siread can you provide me with the information I need? It only takes a sec to send me the info. I'd be very happy if you did!

Warning:
The editor in it's first version or so will have NO kind of error support. This means that if there's an error, it will either crash, or come up with a scary warning. This will come later I hope! :wink:

I am also thinking of placing a block into the editor to stop you overwriting files. This may only be in for the first few versions (until I can ensure that the editor works ok with most peoples games.

There's a lot of asthetic work to be done on it (as you can tell from the pics) but right now asthetics are the very least of my concerns!

No new data found as I spent all night trying to sort out the saving problem.

That reminds me... It took me about 3-4 hours at best to find that info, I only started playing that game a week or so ago. People have been playing this game for ages. Does anyone have any more precise data than me? I'd be willing to share! Anything with line numbers in would be a great help.

[JJU]

Are there any apps that don't require a 50+ mb java download to run that could do the same job as JEdit? I'm tempted to have a play about myself but am feeling lazy!

[FCKBO]

Where can i get the editor??

[JJU]

If you read above you'll see it's not actually been released yet. Keep watching this thread for more news.

[FCKBO]

Oh, that's why i can't find it!! hehe. Thank you!

[FCKBO]

Which file is it you can change in??

[JJU]

Which file is it you can change in??

That'll be the save game file in 'C:\Program Files\New Star Soccer 2\Save', or equivalent directory. I wouldn't recommend trying to edit with notepad, I'm sure it will result in corruption!

[FCKBO]

Ok, tak you!!

Which program will so suggets to use??

[JJU]

I wouldn't.. hence why I asked Dan if there is an alternative to what he's using. I'm going to wait for his editor myself.

[FCKBO]

i will do that to, when i tried to change my game i crashed!! Hehe
So think it is best to wait for his version!

[Dan Atkinson]

If you don't already have the Java VM then I recommend that you get it from java.sun.com.

It's really good and allows you to play Java games and see Java applets.

Due to some difficulty with streamwriters overwriting the data, I will be uploading the editor at a later date when I fix this problem.

Also, please don't private message me asking when the next editor for Football Manager is released. I'm not here to answer questions about my other projects, just NSS 2.

Thanks.

P.S. Thanks Si for the e-mail.

[Jay-Jay]

Good work Dan :D

Any questions please ask here as PM's take up room on the server which waste's are space.

I would like to point out to everybody though any editing of the files are done at your own risk!

[Shorty]

Which file is it you can change in??

. I wouldn't recommend trying to edit with notepad, I'm sure it will result in corruption!

I have been editing it with notepad with no corruption except for my first try, now i have it perfect, and I haven't got any corruption

[JJU]

Which file is it you can change in??

. I wouldn't recommend trying to edit with notepad, I'm sure it will result in corruption!

I have been editing it with notepad with no corruption except for my first try, now i have it perfect, and I haven't got any corruption

Question... which version of notepad are you running? I find it weird you can do this but maybe you have a version which keeps the line breaks?

[FCKBO]

I have succesfully edited Nss with JEdit as Dan Atkinson recommended! So many thanks for that!! But are still looking forward to his savegame editor!!

[Shorty]

Which file is it you can change in??

. I wouldn't recommend trying to edit with notepad, I'm sure it will result in corruption!

I have been editing it with notepad with no corruption except for my first try, now i have it perfect, and I haven't got any corruption

Question... which version of notepad are you running? I find it weird you can do this but maybe you have a version which keeps the line breaks?

I have version 5.1.

[MRRF]

is it possible to edit so you can play into your 80s? or even 50s?

[Scoz]

Edit: Never mind, found it in the Save Game file myself!

[Lawrence]

i edited my saved game with somthing called metapad. It looks like notepad but its not. I now have top stats

[bennitto]

the editor i used and its very great cuz i got full stats and over 90 billion in my bank but since i'm very young i dont have a card to pay for NSS2 and my parents wont allow me. All i need is a code but i cant get one so i keep starting over and over again.

[JJU]

the editor i used and its very great cuz i got full stats and over 90 billion in my bank but since i'm very young i dont have a card to pay for NSS2 and my parents wont allow me. All i need is a code but i cant get one so i keep starting over and over again.
Shame on them :oops: , tell them it's a worthwhile and engaging game and you get great value for your (small amount of) money!

[Dan Atkinson]

Terribly sorry for not replying for so long.

List of excuses:
University started a huge Java based project
They also started a rather large web design project
I spend most of my time at my girlsfriend which means two things (very little time to work (should be obvious why! 8) , and no inkernet!)
Last Friday my laptop decided not to boot (due to Longhorn being more unstable than I anticipated (and not having a good enough ghost)
I managed to retrieve the editor files (via ERM Commander) but I forgot to get my .pst files from Outlook and NSS. Which means one of several things. I have had to re-download NSS, and I no longer have the confirm e-mail to re-register my copy. Damnit. I'll have to look into that ASAP.

I've just got my laptop back and running now (via Win 98) and I'm getting everything back to where it was.


A couple of things to mention right now...

The editor still has a huge problem which is bewildering me. If I chose to save a file, it insists on putting the new data right at the beginning or at the end. This is infuriating me beyond reason.

Several people have kindly sent me their save games to hack for them. I am willing to participate with a few requests to adjust stats but please don't send me any more of them.

Another problem with this is that I see a number of people using the same name in their game. Surely there can't be THAT many <censored>?

To even the odds, I have taken the step of testing for this name when each file is loaded. This way, anyone wanting to use the editor with <censored> as their name, will not be able to as the editor will exit as soon as the condition is found to be true.

Apologies to any real <censored> out there!

I don't like piracy, especially when it's a nice guy like Si Read who's getting robbed out of his hard earned cash.

Anyways, Si has kindly sent me some vital info on what the stats are. But I feel that to write this all in will take time. So I think subsequent versions will gradually include this info along with the necessary boxes to edit them.

[JJU]

great work Dan, and a good idea to ween out the reg code stealers...

any clue when the editor may be released now?

[Dan Atkinson]

Warning:

This is still in beta.

I DO NOT recommend using the Save or Save as. I've only re-started work on this today.

In fact... If you imagine that it's a save game reader, you'll see just how good it is! :P 8)

Hehe!

The box at the bottom is really for my benefit only!

http://www.dan-atkinson.com/nss/nsssge.exe

Probably lots of other things I need to tell you but have forgotten. Oh yeah, the Mike Radlowski thing was enabled. People using the program with that name will find that the editor shuts down immediately.

Because of these anti-piracy measures, the source code will not be available to anyone except Si Read and a selected few.

I will make the source code available to him upon request.

Also, if you know of other names in existance which are in widespread use, please give me them and I'll code them into the editor. Thanks.

[Dan Atkinson]

Has anyone got any problems with the program? Only I've noticed couple of problems in the last day or so with stats being reported incorrectly.

[JJU]

Has anyone got any problems with the program? Only I've noticed couple of problems in the last day or so with stats being reported incorrectly.

Now had the chance to download it yet, and it looks good.. but I assume by your earlier comments that it isn't fully functional yet as you have no way to save the save game file?

If I'm correct in said assumption, when will we be able to save and use the ediited files?

[Dan Atkinson]

you can save the files, but... there is a problem with the editor saving. Thus you cannot properly open the files in NSS2.

As for an ETA on a fixed version, I have non. Only a promise that I'm working on a way around it. My aim right now is to get all of the info I have there, working. After that, then I'll start adding other stats and features.

[JJU]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/NickGreig/NSS2_editor_error.jpg

I meant to do that before but had a lazy moment...

[Dan Atkinson]

Have you tried closing the game before you open the file in editor?

[Dan Atkinson]

You need to MS .net 1.1 framework for the program to run.

You can get this through Windows Update if you look through the recommended updates in the custom install option.

[Dan Atkinson]

Does anyone have legitimate savegame that I can look at and test please?

I'm hoping to upload a new version of the editor (still in beta) which will solve the problems with the sponsors. Currently when a save game is loaded, the sponsor only loads as a value. The next version should fix it.

[JJU]

Have you tried closing the game before you open the file in editor?

I didn't have the game open when I editted the file, so that's no an issue.

Exactly what do you mean by needing .net 1.1 Framework for the program to run? It ran fine for me and I don't have this update installed. Are you saying it will work correctly and save the file with it?! :?

[Dan Atkinson]

There are no if's or buts on this issue but you do need MS .net 1.1 framework installed. If you say it's not installed but your program is working ok, then the framework is installed.

Can you please send me your save game so I can have a look at it please?

Thanks.

[Dan Atkinson]

Warning:

This is still in beta.

I DO NOT recommend using the Save or Save as. I've only re-started work on this today.

In fact... If you imagine that it's a save game reader, you'll see just how good it is! :P 8)

Hehe!

The box at the bottom is really for my benefit only!

http://www.dan-atkinson.com/nss/nsssge.exe

Probably lots of other things I need to tell you but have forgotten. Oh yeah, the <censored> thing was enabled. People using the program with that name will find that the editor shuts down immediately.

Because of these anti-piracy measures, the source code will not be available to anyone except Si Read and a selected few.

I will make the source code available to him upon request.

Also, if you know of other names in existance which are in widespread use, please give me them and I'll code them into the editor. Thanks.

[JJU]

Was there supposed to be something new there??

[Dan Atkinson]

I er... Didn't send that.

[ggssmm]

i cant save my game, i have MS .net framework 1.1......

[Dan Atkinson]

I have uploaded a new file to http://www.dan-atkinson.com/nss/

Also some boring info about my problems with my brand new white full cotton shirt.

One major thing is this: I think that sponsors display correctly now. If there are any errors please tell me.

Simon has requested that I inform users that their save files are illegal. This has been done although the purchase link has not been added as yet.

Please feel free to simply download and ignore the fluff (although you may find it relevent if you happen to crash it!).

I think that 60% of problems that some people had have been fixed now and I really hope that if anyone else has any problems whatsoever, please let me know via my e-mail address in my profile.

Much appreciated.

Thanks again.

I'll be working on thisa bit longer tonight as well!

[JJU]

What changes have been made to the previous available version?

Any clue when we can expect to see a version that allows you to load the edited save file?

[Dan Atkinson]

Sorry but I refuse to be drawn into a discussion regarding the release date of a fully working version of the editor.

Well, if you actually go to the site, it does tell you what improvements have been made.

Mainly the sponsors not showing, also, a problem with the pirates. There is now a warning before the program exits. This has since been tweaked.

My newest version which I'll likely release on Monday, contains information about the editor.

The save problem still remains a problem and until I can fix that, the editor will remain in beta.

I have some ideas which need implementing still (like God and Sod status) but other than that, it's going well.

[Dan Atkinson]

Depending on how much progress I can make tonight, I will be releasing a new version of NSS tomorrow.

Again, this will be in beta due to problems with the saving (nearly there).

I won't be saying anything about when the actual editor will be released though.

[AName]

Nice work but i edit it real-time which doesn't corrupt any saves so i have no need for it.

As i said before Nice Work i have no clue as how to edit save games =D>

[Dan Atkinson]

Real time is a very nice way of doing things, if there are problems with the actual save itself, it tends to go **** up without damaging your game.

The only real problem with that is if you save the edited data and continue, and then the game crashes, you have a screwed save game file. Whereas if you save the game offline then when the game is loaded in, the error checking should prevent the game from running.

In both cases, these should be solved by making regular backups.

Having had experience with real time editors (being at the legendary Mind Compression), I do a bit of hex editing on programs (sometimes with ArtMoney (making the odd table) and sometimes with Hex Workshop).

Either way, it's a very good way for people to get into programming. Good luck to you with that! Hope you release something soon!

[AName]

I would release something but i don't know where to start in making a program, I have the values but can't do much as i haven't got visual basic or anything like it :?

Mind Compression have saved me days/weeks searching for values in games such as FM2005 congrats on the good programs.

[fd1972uk]

I get an error saying:-

c:\winnt\microsoft.net\framework\v1.1.4322\mscorwk s.dll could not be loaded


Any ideas?

Cheers.


FD

[Dan Atkinson]

Try re-installing Microsoft .Net 1.1.

[Dan Atkinson]

After looking through the MS Knowledge Base, it seems that this has something to do with the MS .Net 1.1. It's actually a bug. It 'may' be solved with the service pack 1 (which can be downloaded via Windows Update.

Apologies to anyone who has this problem. It's nothing to do with me!

[lpx88]

i edited my saved game with somthing called metapad. It looks like notepad but its not. I now have top stats

I also tried to edit my data using metapad but it corrupted the game.can you teach me de way to do it?

[Dan Atkinson]

Well... If you read through the thread, you'll find some discussion about JEdit.
Nuff said.

[lpx88]

Well... If you read through the thread, you'll find some discussion about JEdit.
Nuff said.
Dan,I tried 2 edit de data usin jedit as u had recommended but de game corrupted and dere's an error msg sayin "Access Violaton blah blah blah' Wad's wrong and any method to solve it?[/img]

[Dan Atkinson]

Ok Ok. You don't have to type like that.

Right... Don't go in and edit everything willy nilly. Try a couple of values (say like the money (look at what it is in the game and then search for that value and edit it).

Once that works then look for other values in various sequences.

[JJU]

As much as I hate 'street' speak... each to their own...

Anyways, for those off you waiting for this editor, I'd recommend picking up on Lawrence's tip about using
metapad (http://www.liquidninja.com/metapad/) to edit your save game file. Tied in with Dan's list of values (http://dan-atkinson.com/nss/nss.txt) you can enhance the game as you see fit.

Of course, editting the file is done at your own risk as previously stated :D

[lpx88]

Thank you all..It work..Can finally edit my data without any problem :D
Anyway when is NSS 3 coming out?i am looking forward to it... :)

[Dan Atkinson]

LOL!!!

OMG I thought I'd lost that file of values when my computer got wiped!!!

Turns out it was on my website all this time!

I feel a bit silly now! :o

[Dan Atkinson]

Some of the values are wrong (certainly with the sponsor!).

There are two Mitre's in there!

[JJU]

i think 'vision' is wrong as well, maybe it should be line 60? I'd double check but I'm at work right now :(

[Dan Atkinson]

And I'd triple check but I've got my VB and ASP.NET head on right now.

I'm not kidding but it takes about ten minutes for me to switch my head around to the different syntax's and methods etc. This is made worse today for several reasons:

Yesterday was St Patricks Day
I drink Guinness
I got a Guinness hat within one hour by myself (that's 5 pints)[/list]

[Wesley91]

I want to use metapad to edit the files, I don't know which file to open (.bak file or .nss file) so I tried both. IMO they are exactly the same.

I don't understand the editing, since all of the lines don't mean **** to me. :oops: :(

[JJU]

I want to use metapad to edit the files, I don't know which file to open (.bak file or .nss file) so I tried both. IMO they are exactly the same.

I don't understand the editing, since all of the lines don't mean (ooooppsie i said naughty word) to me. :oops: :(
If you read the rest of the thread well enough, you'd have picked up on Dan's list of values (http://dan-atkinson.com/nss/nss.txt). This describes each line attribute.

The .nss is your primary save file, the .bak the backup.

Oh, and please refrain from using any profanity, however mild it may be :wink:

[Dan Atkinson]

Yes.

I stopped work on the SGE for NSS2 until NSS3 in case anyone was wondering.

[jahbetto]

how do you edit the game with metapad?

[JJU]

Read the rest of the thread and it should be pretty clear... #-o

[Wesley91]

I understand it now, thanks JJU :wink:

[Dimitrije]

Is this working with NSS1 ?

[Tashan]

Can somone please upload it

EDIT:Never mind got it

[Sean_78]

Hi bro, ur editor look fantastic can give a copy, thank you

[wonder]

Is this working with NSS1 ?

No, NSS1 is *editable* with windows Notepad....