Custom Start Date Patch / ArtMoney Development Thread

[archibalduk]

I haven't tested this myself, but apparently the ArtMoney patch works with EHM 2004 and 2005 as well. If that's the case, I should be able to make a version of the CSD Patch which works with all three EHMs. However, I don't expect I'll have the time to test this out for quite some time yet. Nonetheless, I thought I'd raise this in case anybody is interested in trying it out themself:

i read your forum post regarding custom start dates and tried your method with art money, i didnt know if you was aware but your method seems to work on both the 2004 and 2005 versions of the game also. they seem to load and work perfetly

[jossc]

i followed archibalduk's guide with artmoney to achieve this except by changing the search value from 2006 to 2004 for ehm 2005 and 2003 for nhl ehm.

[archibalduk]

Were the offsets/addresses exactly the same as EHM 2007? I'd be very grateful if you could upload your ArtMoney AMT files so I could take a look.

[jossc]

Yes everything was exactly the same except for the inital search string where instead of searching for 2006 you have to search for the start date of the game your using. 2004 for ehm 05 and 2003 for nhl ehm. After that you do exactly what your guide says. I will upload the artmoney file as soon as im home am currently away for the week and will be back at the weekend.

Ill then upload the file soon as im home

[jossc]

link for the edited artmoney file for nhl eastside hockey manager(2004) edition

https://www.sendspace.com/file/pvan6o

[archibalduk]

Outstanding! Thank you very much.

[jossc]

no problem!

[jossc]

played through a season of edited rosters and custom start date in ehm 04 and have experienced one problem. it seems some of the stars of previous nhl entry draft years are not being ranked or recognised by the draft system. like for example im up to the 2001 nhl entry draft but jason spezza hasnt appeared in the draft list and it lets me offer him a contract without a draft even though he is 17. yet christian ehrhoff is ranked number one and can be drafted. not quiet sure whats causing this.

not sure if this is also a problem with ehm 07?

[archibalduk]

It used to be, but we were able to fix it. I don't know if it'll be the same for EHM 2004, but in 2007 there is a field named Date of First Pro/NHL Contract. This has to be set correctly otherwise the game thinks the player is no longer draft eligible:

Date of First Pro Contract
I now have some clarity with regards to the DoFPC. As previously suspected, this field relates solely to the date of a player's first NHL contract. It has the following effects in game:

• Ensures correct NHL Entry Draft eligibility.
• Ensures that rookies can only ask for new contracts within the rookie maximum salary and the rookie maximum contract length. Rookie contracts are always two-way contracts.
• Affects when the player is eligible for arbitration.
• Ensures the correct free agency type of players with NHL rights still valid.
• Determines regular season waiver eligibility.

It also has various other effects in the game where there is a distinction between a rookie and a veteran.

I'm going to add DoFPC updating to the Player Info Generator. The Generator will be able to generate the DoFPC based upon the player's career history. Hence it will be important that we keep player career history up to date (for the NHL at least).

I'm not sure that field exists in EHM 2004's DB. I'll have to try and find the DB structure and check.

[jossc]

oh i see, i just checked the editor and cant find that or anything similar relating to it, only the drafted section which i have already set to none.

hmm not sure what to make of it lol.

[archibalduk]

Annoyingly it seems I don't have EHM 2004's DB format to check.

The Date of First Pro Contract setting isn't visible in the EHM 2007 Editor (there are a number of fields that aren't visible/editable in the Editor). So if it's not visible in the Editor, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist in the DB.

[jossc]

oh i see,

is it difficult to check? ill see if i can have a crack at it.

[archibalduk]

oh i see,

is it difficult to check? ill see if i can have a crack at it.

You'll need the database format in order to check. Unfortunately I don't have the format for EHM 2004 (I only have the format for 2005 and 2007). It would have been posted here but it looks like posts from 2004 have been archived (i.e. are no longer accessible).

This is an example of what the DB format looks like (this is for EHM 2007): http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... 81#p131548

If by some miracle you do find 2004's format, let me know and I'll take a look at it for you.

[jossc]

oh i wouldnt know where to start with that lol looks very complex.

[jossc]

quick question which program are you supposed to use to open the .dat files,

just playing around with the 2005 pregame database format files which open in notepad but im not sure how to open the .dat files to modify anything

thanks

[archibalduk]

The files are in hexadecimal format. So you'll need a hex editor.

You might find this thread useful: http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... 60#p127321

[Mike Lowe]

I see in the CSD program that it explicitly states to NOT open a league beyond Feb 1 of the 1st season. Out of habit, I did this a few times, but have stopped since.

Is my game going to be corrupt or something? I could revert back a few months, worse case scenario.

What happens by doing this accidentally?

[archibalduk]

If you didn't do it beyond 1 July then you should be alright. Much further than that, and it might cause your game to crash later down the line (probably by 1 August the following year).

[Mike Lowe]

I haven't had any sort of crashes taking place. What I did notice though is something odd happening with the "team positions" screen:
http://screencast.com/t/CqSqBh9Ay

Coyotes actually finished 13th LAST season (2013-2014), and at the start of 2014-2105, with all teams at 0-0, they are listed as last year's record had them?

Seems odd?

[Mike Lowe]

And here is how that screen looked back on June 13th.

http://screencast.com/t/vLojek6R7

I'm confused by it all, but also asking to see whether or not something with the CSD patched may have caused this?

I can easily start over if that's the case, as I'm just simming up to opening day tonight and taking a job!

P.S. Is there a way to add yourself to a team WITHOUT creating a new GM at that point in time? Doesn't seem to be.