world_default.xml

[spartacus007]

This is MUCH more intuitive than the comma delimited files... brilliant upgrade.

I'm noticing 'regions' at the end of the file too, where countries are grouped together. Anyone know if this has in-game effect?

[NCBeachBum]

I'd be much more impressed if I could find a good way to edit it. At my current pace, 13 will come out before I start my first league.

[tylertoo]

Originally Posted by spartacus007

This is MUCH more intuitive than the comma delimited files... brilliant upgrade.

I'm in search of some basic information about this change in v12.

I've been creating a solo fictional league from scratch and had created nations.txt and cities.txt for the league, which I intend to start in v12. Now I'm beginning to realize all that this info is now contained in an .xml file.

--Is this correct that nations and cities are now in an .xml file?
--Is that file world_default.xml
--How do I edit this? Clicking on world_default.xml opens IE.
--Is there any documentation on this? Markus has said there's no manual yet.
--Can I make use of my work on nations.txt and cities.txt, somehow importing those comma-delineated lines into this .xml file, or was all that work for naught?

Thanks for your help in advance. I did search the forums first but never seemed to find any clear info.

[Muzamba]

Originally Posted by spartacus007

This is MUCH more intuitive than the comma delimited files... brilliant upgrade.

I'm noticing 'regions' at the end of the file too, where countries are grouped together. Anyone know if this has in-game effect?

I created the regions that are listed in the xml db. Their intended purpose is to allow the user to create leagues based in various geographic regions, as opposed to just specific nations.

The last I was aware, this was supposed to be implemented in OOTP 12. However, it doesn't appear to be in the game yet, which leads me to believe it will most likely be added in a patch sometime in the next few weeks. If I hear otherwise, I'll post here and let everyone know what the new status is for this feature. For now, though, I would expect to see them added to the game soon.

[Muzamba]

Originally Posted by NCBeachBum

I'd be much more impressed if I could find a good way to edit it. At my current pace, 13 will come out before I start my first league.

Admittedly, this is a major drawback to the new xml format. While it is a more logical structure, it makes basic customization much more tedious and awkward.

We are currently using a web-based editor to make changes to the master xml db, which makes the process much simpler. However, it still needs some fine-tuning.

My hope is that once the editor is polished, Markus and Andreas will allow the general public to download a reconfigured version of it that can be used to edit each individual's xml file. Unfortunately, I've had no confirmation of this yet, so don't necessarily count on this happening anytime soon.

In the meantime, it is still very much possible to edit the xml db. I'll explain this process in more detail in the next post.

[Cryomaniac]

Originally Posted by Muzamba

I created the regions that are listed in the xml db. Their intended purpose is to allow the user to create leagues based in various geographic regions, as opposed to just specific nations.

The last I was aware, this was supposed to be implemented in OOTP 12. However, it doesn't appear to be in the game yet, which leads me to believe it will most likely be added in a patch sometime in the next few weeks. If I hear otherwise, I'll post here and let everyone know what the new status is for this feature. For now, though, I would expect to see them added to the game soon.

No offence, but that was supposed to happen with storylines last year.

[Muzamba]

Originally Posted by tylertoo

--Is this correct that nations and cities are now in an .xml file?

Yes, that is correct.

--Is that file world_default.xml

Yes.

--How do I edit this? Clicking on world_default.xml opens IE.

As always, you should consider saving a backup copy of the original file, just in case there are technical problems or you're not satisfied with the changes you make.

After backing up the original, I would recommend opening the world_default.xml file in a text editor, preferably using a basic program like Notepad.

You will then have to locate the data you want to change. This is really the most difficult (or at least time-consuming) part. I'd suggest using the "Find" function and typing in the locations you'd like to edit. (Note that there are multiple instances of certain place names in the db, so be careful that you are editing the correct one.)

Once you've made your updates, simply save the document and the changes should appear the next time you start a new league.

As far as what each field is used for, most should be pretty self-explanatory, but here's an explanation of what each term/abbreviation means and what it's used for:

• lid = language id (See list at top of file; replaces ethnicities.txt file)
• pct = percentage (Note that this isn't technically a "percent" value as its the given number out of 1000)
• pop = population
• lat = latitude
• long = longitude
• abbr = abbreviation
• gender (This field isn't currently being used and should remain "0")
• bbqual = baseball quality (This replaces the old "baseball level" field from the nations.txt file and is used to determine the quality of leagues based in the given nation, as well as the number of players/personnel generated from each nation)
• dem = demonym (This is the term used to describe an inhabitant of the given nation; replaces "nationality" in old nations.txt file)

--Is there any documentation on this? Markus has said there's no manual yet.

No. I suppose the above instructions will have to serve this purpose for now.

--Can I make use of my work on nations.txt and cities.txt, somehow importing those comma-delineated lines into this .xml file, or was all that work for naught?

Well, as far as actually "importing" the data in these files, I'm afraid you may be out of luck. However, you can obviously still make use of the information you compiled by manually adding it to the xml db, using the instructions I described above. (Ok, notice that I said you "may be" out of luck. That's because there might be a way to create your own xml file using a spreadsheet editor, like MS Excel. I don't personally know the process, but I've seen someone else - I don't recall who it was, though - describe how he did it. But the problem, as I see it, is that you apparently would still need to do a lot of pre-configuring in Excel to get it to spit out a fully-functioning xml file. Bottom line: Unless you're an Excel wiz or if someone who knows how to do this happens to post a detailed tutorial on using a spreadsheet to create a new world_default.xml file, you're best bet at the moment is to either do the editing "longhand", as detailed above, or if you have even more patience, just wait to see if the web-based editor is released to the public anytime soon.)

[spartacus007]

Originally Posted by tylertoo

--Is that file world_default.xml
--How do I edit this? Clicking on world_default.xml opens IE.
--Is there any documentation on this? Markus has said there's no manual yet.
--Can I make use of my work on nations.txt and cities.txt, somehow importing those comma-delineated lines into this .xml file, or was all that work for naught?

I used notepad. Just right-click on the file and choose 'Edit' or 'Open With', depending on your Windows version.

You won't be able to copy/paste the .txts I know, it is a pain.


--- Muzamba, thanks for the info!

[tylertoo]

Thank you Muzamba for the detailed reply. I may poke around in that file. Its a relatively small world.

One (perhaps) final question: given that I've created the nations.txt and cities.txt, and given that I don't know xml editing, would it actually be simpler to just create the league in v11 and then import it?

[Muzamba]

Originally Posted by Cryomaniac

No offence, but that was supposed to happen with storylines last year.

erm.. uh... yeah

Seriously, it does seem like the areas I'm most focused on during beta are always the ones that get shelved or scaled back.

My main glimmer of hope for regions is that, unlike storylines, which required more features and functions to be added AND the storylines themselves to actually be written, the regions data is already compiled. So its kind of the reverse of storylines in that the data is complete and we're just waiting for Markus to finish the coding that will allow them to be used. Plus, it at least seems that this should be a rather straightforward thing to add.

Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything new on this feature from Markus lately. However, as of about a week ago, Andreas was aware I was still working on regions and didn't mention anything about them being scrapped at the time. So while I'm still awaiting word from either Markus or Andreas, I remain confident that they will be included in a forthcoming patch.

[albatross11]

Originally Posted by Muzamba

You will then have to locate the data you want to change. This is really the most difficult (or at least time-consuming) part. I'd suggest using the "Find" function and typing in the locations you'd like to edit. (Note that there are multiple instances of certain place names in the db, so be careful that you are editing the correct one.)

Well, as far as actually "importing" the data in these files, I'm afraid you may be out of luck. However, you can obviously still make use of the information you compiled by manually adding it to the xml db, using the instructions I described above. (Ok, notice that I said you "may be" out of luck. That's because there might be a way to create your own xml file using a spreadsheet editor, like MS Excel. I don't personally know the process, but I've seen someone else - I don't recall who it was, though - describe how he did it. But the problem, as I see it, is that you apparently would still need to do a lot of pre-configuring in Excel to get it to spit out a fully-functioning xml file. Bottom line: Unless you're an Excel wiz or if someone who knows how to do this happens to post a detailed tutorial on using a spreadsheet to create a new world_default.xml file, you're best bet at the moment is to either do the editing "longhand", as detailed above, or if you have even more patience, just wait to see if the web-based editor is released to the public anytime soon.)

What if you're not "changing" any data (which I think is what most people are referring to when they say they're "editing" the xml file. They're right of course...I've been "editing' the english xml file for years.), but instead want to "add" thousands of additional cities? Where you gonna get those city id numbers?

[Muzamba]

Originally Posted by tylertoo

Thank you Muzamba for the detailed reply. I may poke around in that file. Its a relatively small world.

One (perhaps) final question: given that I've created the nations.txt and cities.txt, and given that I don't know xml editing, would it actually be simpler to just create the league in v11 and then import it?

Actually, yes. That probably would be the easiest way to do this. While I'm not 100% certain, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Anyway, it couldn't hurt to try.

[tylertoo]

Originally Posted by spartacus007

I used notepad. Just right-click on the file and choose 'Edit' or 'Open With', depending on your Windows version.

You won't be able to copy/paste the .txts I know, it is a pain.


--- Muzamba, thanks for the info!

Thanks. Can I ask for specifics as to why you described this as much more intuitive than the old system. Is it because the entire world is contained in one file? Because the cities are contained within each country/state listing? Because its clear what the numbers mean? All of the above? Other reasons?

[Muzamba]

Originally Posted by albatross11

What if you're not "changing" any data (which I think is what most people are referring to when they say they're "editing" the xml file. They're right of course...I've been "editing' the english xml file for years.), but instead want to "add" thousands of additional cities? Where you gonna get those city id numbers?

Well, first of all, you can always add new id numbers. Just keep in mind that we will probably be adding new cities to the master db, so whenever you download a patch, the ones you created will likely be overwritten. (Of course, this is true with any db file that you've altered yourself, so you should always have a backup copy of your edited db files.)

But even if you keep a backup of your edited db, you'll likely still want to add your new cities to the updated default db. So to avoid the inconvenience of having to change the id numbers of your new cities that have the same id numbers as the new cities we add to the default db, you might want to give your own new cities much higher id numbers.

Here's what I mean...

Currently, the highest id number in use for cities is 89997. When we add new cities to the db, we'll start with 89998. So if you've also given a new city an id of 89998, you'll have to change yours to a new number. Instead of having to do this, I'd recommend starting your new set of cities at something like 95000, as it's unlikely we will be adding more than 5000 new cities to the db anytime soon.

Now, as far as the format is concerned, the best way to learn how to do this is to simply look at how other cities in the db are formatted. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to copy and paste. Find a line that starts with "<CITY id", copy it (preferably with the correct spacing intact at the beginning), and change the values.

The one important element to keep in mind with the xml formatting is that cities no longer have a nation id that they refer to. Instead, cities are now placed underneath the states (or provinces, prefectures, departments, etc.) in which they are located. Likewise, states are placed under the nations in which they are located. These locations needn't be in alphabetical or numeric order according to their id numbers. They simply need to be beneath the correct state and nation. (By the way, you might also notice continents within the geographical hierarchy. In the past, these couldn't be edited. However, you can now create your own new continents, if you want, with constituent nations, states, and cities! )

Please feel free to continue asking any questions you have about the new world db and I will be glad to answer anything I currently know the answer to (and if I don't, I'll speculate. )

[spartacus007]

Originally Posted by tylertoo

Thanks. Can I ask for specifics as to why you described this as much more intuitive than the old system. Is it because the entire world is contained in one file? Because the cities are contained within each country/state listing? Because its clear what the numbers mean? All of the above? Other reasons?

Yes, exactly. With the old files, there were large strings of meaningless numbers. Several times I wouldn't notice a city was in the wrong country or that I'd put the population in the wrong column until after years of simulation.

[tylertoo]

Originally Posted by Muzamba

Actually, yes. That probably would be the easiest way to do this. While I'm not 100% certain, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Anyway, it couldn't hurt to try.

Thanks. Have to say, since this is a brand new league and a brand new version of OOTP, its tempting to just start fresh and get under the hood of xml. I'll learn more, and the league will be more, uh, pure 12.

[Muzamba]

Originally Posted by tylertoo

Thanks. Can I ask for specifics as to why you described this as much more intuitive than the old system. Is it because the entire world is contained in one file? Because the cities are contained within each country/state listing? Because its clear what the numbers mean? All of the above? Other reasons?

From my standpoint, it's all of the above, although there very well may be other technical reasons that Markus and Andreas took into consideration when choosing to change the format.

Granted, as I stated earlier, I definitely preferred editing the old text files (which I usually converted to csv or xls files to edit) simply because it was easier. However, there are some aspects of the new format that weren't really practical in a csv format. The most significant of these was including any field that had multiple values. Take language/ethnicity, for instance. If you listed 20 different languages for a nation, along with their percentages, you'd be taking up 40 columns just for a nation's ethnic distribution, not to mention all the other data. (And keep in mind that we will be expanding the amount of data included in these files over the next several versions, so we need plenty of room for growth. )

I know it's going to take some getting used to, but I think the change will be beneficial overall. And once the web-based editor is released to the public, the editing process should be easy enough that you'll likely soon forget all about the old format.

[Syt]

Originally Posted by Muzamba

erm.. uh... yeah

Seriously, it does seem like the areas I'm most focused on during beta are always the ones that get shelved or scaled back.

My main glimmer of hope for regions is that, unlike storylines, which required more features and functions to be added AND the storylines themselves to actually be written, the regions data is already compiled. So its kind of the reverse of storylines in that the data is complete and we're just waiting for Markus to finish the coding that will allow them to be used. Plus, it at least seems that this should be a rather straightforward thing to add.

Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything new on this feature from Markus lately. However, as of about a week ago, Andreas was aware I was still working on regions and didn't mention anything about them being scrapped at the time. So while I'm still awaiting word from either Markus or Andreas, I remain confident that they will be included in a forthcoming patch.

That would be awesome. I wanted to set up a All European league, but deciding what Home Nation to pick for the league is kinda iffy.

[ukhotstove]

Like I've said before I know little about xml so forgive me if I'm wrong, but to me OOTP seems to have fallen into the FM hole of making a game that people want to customise but have made it hard to do so.

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by Muzamba

Well, first of all, you can always add new id numbers. Just keep in mind that we will probably be adding new cities to the master db, so whenever you download a patch, the ones you created will likely be overwritten. (Of course, this is true with any db file that you've altered yourself, so you should always have a backup copy of your edited db files.)

But even if you keep a backup of your edited db, you'll likely still want to add your new cities to the updated default db. So to avoid the inconvenience of having to change the id numbers of your new cities that have the same id numbers as the new cities we add to the default db, you might want to give your own new cities much higher id numbers.

Here's what I mean...

Currently, the highest id number in use for cities is 89997. When we add new cities to the db, we'll start with 89998. So if you've also given a new city an id of 89998, you'll have to change yours to a new number. Instead of having to do this, I'd recommend starting your new set of cities at something like 95000, as it's unlikely we will be adding more than 5000 new cities to the db anytime soon.

You deserve more than one thank you for posting that Muzamba, I'd have gone all postal if I had added cities only for them to all be cleared out with a patch.