adding features to the EXE

[GoaSkin 2]

The disasters are softcoded ant potencially moddable. But they're describedin the EffectsDir file and for that, there is neither a template nor an editor. I don't know what you mean with reward structures. There are many custom rewards.

[Imprezza05 1]

this is great, if it is possible to edit the game engine could it be possible to change pathfinding fot transit networks and add new transit networks, add new disasters like what sithlrd98 said basicly changing hard coded things ?????

[Tarkus 6,932]

That is truly fantastic news about the menu thing, GoaSkin.  Absolutely amazing. 

Originally posted by: GoaSkin

I wanted to call the exemplar property for the new menu 0xdeadbeef and used to set EF BE AD DE. In the four menu button Exemplars of the highway menu plugin for the NAM, I changed the SubmenuKey: Highway menu setting (it´s binary value) to deadbeef too. quote>

That is too funny.  0xDEADBEEF.   Maybe it's just because I've been staring at IIDs for so long, but that is a classic.  Seeing it with the "0x" in front of it particularly.  You've just opened up a whole range of joke IIDs for us modding types. 

-Tarkus

[sithlrd98 66]

I guess because Ive never looked at how the reward scripts are done I just thought that there could be even more options possible? I'm not a modder but how are ordinances coded?

[Tropod 144]

The PC exe version can be modded too, if you have the right tools and know what you're doing or looking at. Once I managed to change the charateristics of the street network to that of the road network, not 100% but partially. If it can be altered, it can be added to I would imagine. It's just a matter of time & resources.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

My the deity bless anyone who works in asm.  I haven't looked at an assembler program since the late 1970's or maybe 1980.  I never want to see one again.  This definitely is a task for younger and more agile minds.

 I now prefer very high level languages used in application design or database design.

Good luck to you all, and try to stay in sync on this stuff.  There is a black hole waiting for you just beyond the event horizon.

[flame1396 9]

Originally posted by: GoaSkin Reverse-engineering binaries is only illegal in the USA. I live in Europe.

A patch for new features that does not include original code itself should also be no problem and if we have something usable, we can ask Maxis for permission.

quote>

 

SC4 is soon obsolete with SC5 coming....

Maxis might release it with the pressure of a site of over 150k members... and it's probably the EA ownership that's the major hindrance... though that's speculation

[Tarkus 6,932]

Well, flame1396, I think if this project here is successful, SC4 could actually make SC5 obsolete.

-Tarkus

[GoaSkin 2]

If anything could make SC5 obsolete, then a completely open-source SC4-like game. There are two projects but there could be more people working on it. The simulators work well but the graphics are very simple (because they

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

Makes me think, making a mod to recognise certain Unique LOT IDs, a menu could be made for all NDEX ploppables, and to future proof this idea. The moddat can be programmed to recognise another exampler (0x0000NDEX, something silly like that, dont ask me lol) which can be thrown into each new uploaded lot. The mod will then recognise this and sort it into the specific menu. At the moment this is the only way i can think of doing it. After all, if we do do this mod its gonna need to be put in DAT form somewhere down the line.

[DFire870 2]

I think EA/Maxis might be a bit reluctant to make SC4 open-source, because as Tarkus said it could make SC5 obsolete, and that would mean EA/Maxis couldn't make a big profit. As we all know, the world runs on money...

But still, this looks awesome, especially the extra menu buttons. (The Landmarks and Parks menus will finally not be full of plugins anymore!)

[GoaSkin 2]

It does not depend on Maxis...

There are two opensource projects that began from scratch:

OpenCity and LinCity NG

[simzebu 19]

I don't know that it would make SC5 obsolete. If SC5 is going to be a full-3D game, then an open SC4 wouldn't affect it. In fact, it might re-open a niche market for SC4 as the SimCity for the savvy, and SC5 as the SimCity for the masses.

[GoaSkin 2]

Now I figured out how the vehicle ID of SC4PATH files is assigned to the various OccupantGroups that are used in the vehicle LUA. But what can we do with that. For what may a new train be useful that uses it

[GoaSkin 2]

Regarding the Windows version, I saw encrypted and open binaries. SC4Deluxe seems to be open but the functions to patch are a bit different than the Mac version. I did not found an usable assembler program for windows binaries.

If you install SC4 vanilla and then the rush hour add-on (without the Maxis updates), the binary is encoded and a function implemented that decrypts it into the RAM before executing. Either Deluxe is different or the updates open it. I think (and hope) that it

[david1314 44]

Originally posted by: Tarkus

Maybe it's just because I've been staring at IIDs for so long, but that is a classic.  Seeing it with the "0x" in front of it particularly.  You've just opened up a whole range of joke IIDs for us modding types. quote>

Be sure to index it...otherwise you'll have conflicts

[GoaSkin 2]

Exactly... and deadbeef may be changed too again. It is used for anything unknown but occupied. Only a byte order that you find nowhere else may be used surely.

[Filasimo 1]

i guess this pun should be intended from a famous saying " Where's  the beef?"

[GoaSkin 2]

Bad news: The Windows version of Simcity4 uses an encrypted binary. When starting the game, the data is temporarily decrypted in the RAM. The only decrypted version of the EXE is the cracked one.
That means, that there is no patch possible that changes some bytes without distributing original data. The only thing what

[simzebu 19]

I'll have to read the EULA again, but what about a program that edits the binary without having any of the binary's original data? I know something like that is around to downgrade Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas because the new version did not support modification of files that were previously able to be changed. I'll see if I can find a link to it.

EDIT: Apparently that's not how that one works. Sorry.

But the question remains; Is it possible to make a program that edits the EXE without containing any data from the EXE? I'm not very knowledgable when it comes to EXE stuff, so please excuse me if this is completely crazy.

[jeronij 13]

I have been following this development with great interest, and it is a pity to see it arrived to this point. I am an ignorant when it comes to programming, but how does the "SimCity 4 Extra Cheats Plugin.dll" file work then ?

[warrior 169]

Has anyone contacted EA/Maxis about this recently?

I'm basically looking for a yes/no answer?

If not why hasn't anyone surely around 165000 people have at least a slight effect?

What about some sort of petition?

what about something like if they don't release it we don't buy a copy of SC5

[GoaSkin 2]

The extracheat.dll is a library that contains a modified procedure of the simcity.exe. The program reads DLLs from the plugins folder and if it includes a function of the EXE, it replaces the original one with the function of the DLL - same like with plugins: Custom data replaces contents of simcity1-5.dat.

Theoretically new menus and secondary masstransit/lightrail/monorail trains can be done by rewriting cSC4View3DWin:oTransportMenu(cIGZWin*, cGZMessage&) and cSC4TrafficAutomataManager::GetDefaultPathType(cSC4TrafficAutomaton*) but with the help of Maxis, it is not possible. To compile a DLL plugin, we need the unlinked object files for the functions that interact with the program. Buggy has what we need but he is not here and I also think he is not interested.

[schm0 27]

I suggest moving this thread to the Modding section.

[warrior 169]

ill repeat again has anyone that is still active contacted EA/Maxis yet?

[hjanfield 0]

In regards to the abandonware comment...

- Abandonware is generally considered to be software no longer available for legal purchase. Not only can you still purchase SimCity 4, but it's still kept on the main retail shelves (not the bargain bin). This speaks well for the longevity of the game. Few old games stay on the shelf that long. Starcraft and Diablo are two others that have stayed on the shelf, even 10 years after their release...

- "Abandonware" is a term used to make piracy of old software/games sound legitimate.

As for distribution: Editing the binary without distributing original data is simple. No original code should need to be distributed. People have been doing it since the dawn of commercial PC software. Professional-strength programs like RTPatch Pro are commonly used by EA. Patches can update code in two ways: One is to ensure the user has the exact same file as the one the patch was written for (as simple as calculating a CRC or MD value for the file being patched and checking it against a stored value)., then update specific bytes with new code. The other is to scan a file for a code block (which may move around in different versions of the file), and then replace the bits you want changed.

As for different file versions: As I understand, each "SKU" has a different binary. Some support unicode (properly); others right-to-left text. I don't know why Maxis couldn't simply roll all those features into one version...

As for encryption: Earlier you said the patched Windows versions were unencrypted. Are you rescinding that now? Too bad that, at least in the US, breaking encryption is illegal. We could probably get away with it here in Canada (hey! Simtropolis is Canadian! heh heh heh...) A decrypter would be effective.

[GoaSkin 2]

I examined various EXE files with different date and size. Some where encrypted and some not (with the newest dates not). At first I thought that the EXE originally is encrypted and decrypted when some of the Maxis updates are supplied. But later, I realized that all the unencrypted EXE have the anti-copy-protection patch applied.

All the Macintosh binaries are not encrypted.

[jeronij 13]

And regarding your previous post, where you said that any attemp to decrypt the exe was piracy, this new one means ... ?

[Crazy_Ivan80 35]

Originally posted by: hjanfield

Not only can you still purchase SimCity 4, but it's still kept on the main retail shelves (not the bargain bin). This speaks well for the longevity of the game.quote>

 

Somethign that could be used as an argument in favour should someone talk with Maxis/EA.

Community patching is done at no cost to EA and increases the longeavity of the product resulting in more sales. (and well purchase-and-download sales can go one for ever).

The only example of this I know of is Freespace 2. The source code was released years ago and the game is still being upgraded. Originals also fetch high prices at online sales, but a free version is availalbe via the Underdogs.

Howver, would Interplay not have folded online-sales of the game would certainly be a small but constant source of revenue nowadays simple because the game is a cult-classic and has high-quality mods that still attract new players.

[GoaSkin 2]

@Jeronij: Piracy because if you decrypt the data and encrypt it again, you will never have the same binary and more or less you cannot switch single bytes - what means that we can only distribute complete EXE files (what are somehow copies).