EHM 2007 Hardcode Editor (An exe / hex editor) [WIP]

[archibalduk]

I have uploaded a new beta version. The download link can be found in the first post of this thread.

The main additions are the league name editing and league structure editing. The User's Guide screen is still blank. Here are some notes:


League Editing
- I haven't actually tested this feature yet, but I don't see why it shouldn't work.
- Only some names can be edited so far.
- The "TM" trademark symbol doesn't appear correctly yet (it appears as a weird question mark symbol in the Editor, but it appears correctly in game).
- Obviously any changes you make in the Hardcode Editor must also be made to your DB.


League Structure
Unfortunately Hobbit13 knew all about this. I can't really explain much about how to edit these things; it's just a case of experimenting. If anybody tries editing any of these settings then please let me know what you find. It seems you don't have to edit all four settings for a league; e.g. you can just change the League Size setting and leave the others.

It seems that when you make changes to the structure, league sizes, etc then the league schedule can appear different in the first season than the second season. For example, I changed just the League Size setting of the EPIHL from 12 to 16 teams. In season 1 the teams played 46 games each (that's an uneven number given that there are 15 teams for each team to play - and most of the season was played in the first two months). In season 2, the teams each played 60 games, which should mean each team played each other 4 times (which is the same number of teams each team ordinarily plays each other in the EPIHL). I haven't simmed any further yet, but it seems some teams have single games scheduled for the next few seasons at neutral venues - and this is before the schedule has been released. So I'm not sure what is going to happen there.

Note: I think there might be a mistake with the U-20 World Champs, so don't edit this right now.

As for what the different settings do, all I can say is what Marek previously said (btw the titles of each of the settings are just titles I gave them):

League Size: Number of teams in the league (I'm not sure how effective it is with leagues split into divisions - e.g. AHL, ECHL and NHL)
Playoffs: This is required is you change the league structure. Its exact function is unknown but, without it, the playoffs never start.
Schedule / Playoff Structure: Changes the schedule and also the playoff structure
League Structure / Playoff Structure: How many teams qualify for the playoffs, what type of OT is played and possible other settings

Btw, I forgot to mention that the League Info screen in game doesn't update when you edit the league rules or structure. However, the Next Game screen does seem to update.

[Alessandro]

Archi - there is a huge problem I guess you didn't take into consideration
If I set for example a league to be a 30 team league like the NHL, the problem is that the league structure in the offsets isn't just the number of teams, but also the division/conference structure. Therefore you have to reflect it in the DB. It might work for the less complicated leagues, though (like UK, Austria, Denmark, Norway), but only copying to less complicated leagues.

[archibalduk]

Yeah that's what I meant when I said I wasn't sure how effective it is with leagues split into divisions.

[Alessandro]

Yeah that's what I meant when I said I wasn't sure how effective it is with leagues split into divisions.

Did you try some testing? I tried with Russian league and the different NA leagues, couldn't do jack most likely due to the needed DB work with alignments...
IMHO you should find a way to further work on a pre-game editor. We need the capability to create conferences/divisions AND tie them to a competition. Without this ability I fear that this utility isn't much of work. Did you try expanding the AHL to 30 teams?

[archibalduk]

The only real testing I have done so far is to try expanding simple leagues (the Austrian league and the EPIHL).

I did briefly try expanding the AHL to 30 teams. I can't remember for sure, but I think I changed all four of the AHL's settings to the same as the NHL. It didn't crash, but only 27 teams appeared in the standings. In the second season, it seemed the worst three teams were "relegated" and replaced with the three teams that didn't play the previous season. Also, one of the Divisions appeared with the name of something like the Western Conference in game.

With regards to the alignments, there isn't anything in the DB which allows conferences/divisions to be tied to a competition. I think this must be hardcoded. Something I thought might be worth trying is to copy the entirety of the NHL's league settings over the AHL's to see what happens - i.e. will it inherit the entirety of the NHL's structure? The Hardcode Editor only edits the four settings Marek identified in one of his tutorials. However, there must be about 20-30 settings per league which might have some sort of effect (the great thing is that every league has the same number of settings and they are all located in a consistent place - so once we identify the settings for one league, I can identify the settings for every league).

I remember Lazion mentioning that he'd achieved a 30 team AHL once before. I'd be very interested to know how he did that because then I could incorporate it into the Editor.

[Alessandro]

The only real testing I have done so far is to try expanding simple leagues (the Austrian league and the EPIHL).

I did briefly try expanding the AHL to 30 teams. I can't remember for sure, but I think I changed all four of the AHL's settings to the same as the NHL. It didn't crash, but only 27 teams appeared in the standings. In the second season, it seemed the worst three teams were "relegated" and replaced with the three teams that didn't play the previous season. Also, one of the Divisions appeared with the name of something like the Western Conference in game.

With regards to the alignments, there isn't anything in the DB which allows conferences/divisions to be tied to a competition. I think this must be hardcoded. Something I thought might be worth trying is to copy the entirety of the NHL's league settings over the AHL's to see what happens - i.e. will it inherit the entirety of the NHL's structure? The Hardcode Editor only edits the four settings Marek identified in one of his tutorials. However, there must be about 20-30 settings per league which might have some sort of effect (the great thing is that every league has the same number of settings and they are all located in a consistent place - so once we identify the settings for one league, I can identify the settings for every league).

I remember Lazion mentioning that he'd achieved a 30 team AHL once before. I'd be very interested to know how he did that because then I could incorporate it into the Editor.

Yes I think that you should start by copying/pasting the entire set of offsets from one league to another. And start discriminating (eg no need to investigate over for example the number of foreigners). The problem is that God knows what DB changes we should do to reflect it.

[archibalduk]

Yes I think that you should start by copying/pasting the entire set of offsets from one league to another. And start discriminating (eg no need to investigate over for example the number of foreigners). The problem is that God knows what DB changes we should do to reflect it.

Well I've tried copying/pasting the entire hex code from the NHL to the AHL. I'm only halfway through season 1, but the AHL has all of the AHL divisions plus the NHL divisions. However, there are only 14 teams in two of the AHL divisions and only 7 of those teams are playing games. I'll keep simming to see what happens in season 2...

I did try adding NHL divisions to the Other Division setting for each AHL team but it caused the game to crash when creating a new game.

[Alessandro]

Yes I think that you should start by copying/pasting the entire set of offsets from one league to another. And start discriminating (eg no need to investigate over for example the number of foreigners). The problem is that God knows what DB changes we should do to reflect it.

Well I've tried copying/pasting the entire hex code from the NHL to the AHL. I'm only halfway through season 1, but the AHL has all of the AHL divisions plus the NHL divisions. However, there are only 14 teams in two of the AHL divisions and only 7 of those teams are playing games. I'll keep simming to see what happens in season 2...

I did try adding NHL divisions to the Other Division setting for each AHL team but it caused the game to crash when creating a new game.

Hobbit where are you

[Filip Croatia]

When I open editor, and try to open exe file it wont open it writes "unexpected file size" !?

[Filip Croatia]

And yes, I really do hope that Hobbit will help you guys with this editor, it would be dream to play KHL with original divisions....

[archibalduk]

When I open editor, and try to open exe file it wont open it writes "unexpected file size" !?

What version of the game are you running? The Editor only works with the v3.0.4 eLicense version. An unexpected file size means that the exe you're trying to edit does not have the file size of the v3.0.4 eLicense game. This may mean you're trying to edit a different version (e.g. v3.0.3), the CD-ROM edition exe or a cracked exe.

[Filip Croatia]

When I open editor, and try to open exe file it wont open it writes "unexpected file size" !?

What version of the game are you running? The Editor only works with the v3.0.4 eLicense version. An unexpected file size means that the exe you're trying to edit does not have the file size of the v3.0.4 eLicense game. This may mean you're trying to edit a different version (e.g. v3.0.3), the CD-ROM edition exe or a cracked exe.

I have 3.04 version, but Yes, cracked exe file...

[Alessandro]

Yes I think that you should start by copying/pasting the entire set of offsets from one league to another. And start discriminating (eg no need to investigate over for example the number of foreigners). The problem is that God knows what DB changes we should do to reflect it.

Well I've tried copying/pasting the entire hex code from the NHL to the AHL. I'm only halfway through season 1, but the AHL has all of the AHL divisions plus the NHL divisions. However, there are only 14 teams in two of the AHL divisions and only 7 of those teams are playing games. I'll keep simming to see what happens in season 2...

I did try adding NHL divisions to the Other Division setting for each AHL team but it caused the game to crash when creating a new game.

I think the problem here is (also) db-related

[Alessandro]

Btw Archi, did you ever had a look at the Tapani patch for CM01/02?

[archibalduk]

Btw Archi, did you ever had a look at the Tapani patch for CM01/02?

Yeah a long time ago when I was first trying to figure out a start date patch.

I think the CM 01/02 exe is different to the EHM exe. It seems as though things are less hidden or encoded in CM than in EHM - perhaps because CM is about 5 years older than EHM.

Also, I think Tapani was a bit of a genius. He seemed to have a great understanding of how machine code worked along with a lot of patience to experiment.

[Alessandro]

I think the CM 01/02 exe is different to the EHM exe. It seems as though things are less hidden or encoded in CM than in EHM - perhaps because CM is about 5 years older than EHM.

Also, I think Tapani was a bit of a genius. He seemed to have a great understanding of how machine code worked along with a lot of patience to experiment.

Maybe he got some insides...

[Filip Croatia]

So is there a chance in foreseeable future to see NHL and KHL with their current formats in EHM ?

[Alessandro]

So is there a chance in foreseeable future to see NHL and KHL with their current formats in EHM ?

I fear no

[MKoivuFan]

I've made a bit more progress with the Editor, with the basic team name and league structure editing up and running. I just need to input all of the leagues and settings.

Thanks to Marek's guide and Lazion's table, it seems as though the league structure settings are always located in the same places. So this should make it very easy to make these editable. I have only been through 4 leagues so far, but it does look promising.

Btw, I haven't tested any edited league names or structures in game yet.

I don't know much about coding and such but with the whole World U18 tournament do we have to make sure that the countryes are in the SGE editor in the database into the divisions and such like they are for world championship...

[MKoivuFan]

I also want to add in World U17 as well not sure what i have to do to add it and U18 to my current file of which doesnt have them in it..

U18 if i could some how understand the U20 with there being 10 teams in U20 i would have to set it for 8 teams with no relegation however make it so that the divisions each year change due to where they finish the previous year..

with U17 with there being 12 teams it would be the same as above except theres 5 in each division and it would be the same as what i said with U18 above..

[MKoivuFan]

I know to copy the .cpp file to another directory and rename it and then copy it back into the code but not sure what else to do to change the rules..

[archibalduk]

I'm really struggling to understand what you're saying.

The Editor doesn't allow you to add new tournaments. You can only rename them. Also, it doesn't allow you to change which teams/nations start in a tournament.

The Editor allows you to change rules but you will have to experiment. I don't think anybody has really experimented with the tool yet.

[Sabresfan]

Sorry on my phone that's why username is different but I want to take World Cup and change it to u18 or u17 and change rules so u don't have nhl players playing inn u18 and u17 tournament

[MKoivuFan]

I'm really struggling to understand what you're saying.

The Editor doesn't allow you to add new tournaments. You can only rename them. Also, it doesn't allow you to change which teams/nations start in a tournament.

The Editor allows you to change rules but you will have to experiment. I don't think anybody has really experimented with the tool yet.

The 1 reason that ur problemly confused is because the one screen it shows World U18... We have world championship, world cup and U20 and U20 Div 1... SO i want to take World Cup an change it to like U17 or U18... Is there a way that i can copy the cpp or what ever of world U20 and then replace World Cup with the U18 which would be a copy code of U20..

[archibalduk]

No. All you can do is what is in the Editor - i.e. renaming the competitions and editing the various settings with the drop-down menus.