how to edit .dat files what program

[doors11]

I need to edit the coaches.dat file inside my saved game folder. What program do you use.
Since you can't hire a GM in the game. I need to edit that file to change it to have a guy i've made be the GM of the team that doesn't have one.

Thanks for any help. I've tried exported to .csv file , but i can't change it a .txt file so i can import it.

Thanks for any help

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by doors11

I need to edit the coaches.dat file inside my saved game folder. What program do you use.
Since you can't hire a GM in the game. I need to edit that file to change it to have a guy i've made be the GM of the team that doesn't have one.

Thanks for any help. I've tried exported to .csv file , but i can't change it a .txt file so i can import it.

Thanks for any help

I am fairly sure that you have to be a programmer, if not "the" programmer, to directly edit .dat files in this game.

As for what you can import in league set up, the default format is .txt, as you know. What you are probably using is the Export Data to CSV Files in League Setup. I think that's just for database reporting purposes for statheads to have fun with, not meant for editing and re-importing like rosters and stats. You could not import the edited data even if you could convert it from .csv to .txt.

[Neags23]

Essentially, you can't.

Tony M. wrote a vb.net program a couple of seasons ago that could decrypt the .dat files, but from what I remember, he said it was an excruciating process that was fairly fragile in that it would break when a new DB field was added or moved, etc. So unless he's updated it, it wouldn't work for this version, anyway.

I'm a professional programmer myself, and I would never go near trying to crack those open. I did use Tony M.'s program to write a utility back then, though.

One of the benefits of having these locked is that it keeps anyone in an online league that uses scouting from being a little too curious and finding out the actual player ratings.

You're better off trying to figure out what you need to do from within the game.

[doors11]

Thank you for your responces. I thought you might be able too. I did it in other games with a dat program.

All i want to do is Hire a GM frpm an ex player made into a coach. If the game had it so you could select it as job then it could be done easy. I think i'll beg Markus if he could add it to the job list. Thanks again for your help.

[Bowtie]

Originally Posted by doors11

Thank you for your responces. I thought you might be able too. I did it in other games with a dat program.

All i want to do is Hire a GM frpm an ex player made into a coach. If the game had it so you could select it as job then it could be done easy. I think i'll beg Markus if he could add it to the job list. Thanks again for your help.

You can hire a GM from an ex-player made into a coach. From the Manager Home Screen:

1. Click on Manager Menu button to the right side of the Game button.
2. At the lower right side under Advanced you will see "Act As..." Menu. Click on Act As and choose the team you want to hire the GM to.
3. Click on the Manager Menu button again and click on "Staff Search & Shortlist" under Info & Tools.
4. Find the GM you want to hire in the list & right-click on his name and choose "Offer Contract".

****NOTE**** You must be in Commissioner Mode to do this.



Any time you convert a retired player into a coach, he will always be listed as a Bench Coach.


Let me know if you need more help.

[doors11]

Thanks I've tried this and i tried again just now. When i chose my team and then offere a job it says no jobs available The team has all of its coaches and scoot also . I had a GM and went to change him so i could have my new guy as GM. I used player editor to change that gm to have no job. I did this thinking i could free up the GM for my new guy. Now i have no GM and can't get one for this team. I just wish there was a that job in the player editor screen .

i changed this player that i unretired to a GM with the player editor.

Anymore thoughts. I wonder if the game thinks there is a GM already for this team since he wasn't fired. In my coaches screen it shows 19 GM's and that team is the only team without one. I have 20 teams i'm playing 60's baseball

[Bowtie]

Originally Posted by doors11

I wonder if the game thinks there is a GM already for this team since he wasn't fired.

Yes, I think that's the problem. You must first fire the GM you want to replace. Then the game will allow you to hire a new GM. If you know who the original GM is, edit him back to the team then fire him.

[doors11]

Thanks again

It's the same as the player i want to hire as GM. In the editor for the GM i changed or the old GM for this team The GM job as not not an available job.

When you are editing a coach The GM is only available for Preffered Occupation
it is not available for select Job.That is why i think i'll ask Markus if he can make it available for OOTP 13 as both Preffered Occupation and Select job.

When i first made all of GM's for my league what i did was edit al the GM's already in the league that was made into people i wanted.

Thanks again

[doors11]

ok

i went ahead and re imported my leaugue from ootp 12 under a different name. it has my old gm in it from the team i want to change gm's. i went ahead and fired him. then i tried to hire him back and it says no jobs available.

i don't think you can hire a gm i only got these gms by editing them from gms already in the game

maybe Markuswill let us do this some time soon by adding it to the select jobs in the coach editor.

doesnt anybody use their own GM's

[Tony M]

Originally Posted by Neags23

Essentially, you can't.

Tony M. wrote a vb.net program a couple of seasons ago that could decrypt the .dat files, but from what I remember, he said it was an excruciating process that was fairly fragile in that it would break when a new DB field was added or moved, etc. So unless he's updated it, it wouldn't work for this version, anyway.

I'm a professional programmer myself, and I would never go near trying to crack those open. I did use Tony M.'s program to write a utility back then, though.

One of the benefits of having these locked is that it keeps anyone in an online league that uses scouting from being a little too curious and finding out the actual player ratings.

You're better off trying to figure out what you need to do from within the game.

Correct, the last time I updated it was for OOTP 11 - there's been a lot of changes to the structures in 12 and 13 that it became too much work to keep up with.

Lighthousekeeper has done some more work on this though because his OOTP companion is working with v12.

[doors11]

thanks where can i dl it out I found a older thread from 2010 but it's an older version and you can't dl it from my country it says

Thanks again

[MrHaroldG]

Originally Posted by Neags23

Essentially, you can't.

Tony M. wrote a vb.net program a couple of seasons ago that could decrypt the .dat files, but from what I remember, he said it was an excruciating process that was fairly fragile in that it would break when a new DB field was added or moved, etc. So unless he's updated it, it wouldn't work for this version, anyway.

I'm a professional programmer myself, and I would never go near trying to crack those open. I did use Tony M.'s program to write a utility back then, though.

One of the benefits of having these locked is that it keeps anyone in an online league that uses scouting from being a little too curious and finding out the actual player ratings.

You're better off trying to figure out what you need to do from within the game.

This is why the ability to open and edit .dat fles has been on my wish list for years. Hopefully this will be included sometime in the very near future.