by Citizen Jaggy - 5/30/2003 3:28:27 PM
Is there any way to create a pre-made galaxy ? I'd like to be able to create scenarios with stars in certain places owned by certain races, etc. Could it be done by loading a save game file or something similar?
  
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Stardock's mentioned that a Scenario Editor might be in the works. However, CariElf recently stated on the main board that "it's not on the schedule yet", so I wouldn't expect it for this summer's X-Pack.
It might be possible to do this ourselves, but the saved game files are hex-based, not plain text. Without a file map, it would be slow going. I've thought about tackling this, but if Stardock's going to be doing it I'd prefer not to throw a lot of time at a project that will be rendered obsolete in a few months.
      
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| I hope if they don't do it they could at least explain the files grammar to us. |
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That would be huge, but I can understand if they don't want to release that file format to us.
Imagine the damage one could do to the Metaverse if you could edit any saved game any way you like.
In fact, if Stardock asked me not to start hacking the files, I would respect their wishes. They have the integrity of the Metaverse to be concerned about. Me, I could care less, but I understand their position.
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| They don't have to guess. They can put some checkers in the files (like summing all star coordinates and putting that number somewhere in the file, checking it again when uploading to the metaverse - if numbers in file and computed are different then the game was hacked). |
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The problem is that simple summation and CRC-style checks can be recomputed easily by the hacker. Most don't bother, but it's not a difficult task.
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