Hex Editing Fun in SC3000

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

On 6/5/2017 at 0:25 PM, Cool_Z said:

... you have to edit a file with a hex editor.

The Hex Editor is fun to play with.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

I feel stupid to ask, but what did you do here exactly ? 

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

7 minutes ago, Cool_Z said:

I feel stupid to ask, but what did you do here exactly ? 

The game is paused. Check out the news ticker...

[Cool_Z 1,547]

52 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

The game is paused. Check out the news ticker...

Oooohhhh... (I was looking everywhere but there, lol)

[SecretMbr_735754 2,157]

Can you guys figure out where to set the amount of simoleons in the bank too cause I've been using that crappy 'trainer' city file I uploaded and its wonky --that is, 'borked' in Cori-speak.  Good thing I didn't create it, and don't even remember where I got it.   I'm trying to actually use the game to make a city .  Okay, in the meantime, back to square one for me, I'll just have to figure out how to master the SC3U simulator without the crappy 'trainer' file so I can build a nice stable city, and then I'll replace that file I uploaded with one that isn't borked.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

1 minute ago, RandyE said:

Can you guys figure out where to set the amount of simoleons in the bank too cause I've been using that crappy 'trainer' city file I uploaded and its wonky --that is, 'borked' in Cori-speak.  Good thing I didn't create it, and don't even remember where I got it.   I'm trying to actually use the game to make a city .  Okay, in the meantime, back to square one for me, I'll just have to figure out how to master the SC3U simulator without the crappy 'trainer' file so I can build a nice stable city, and then I'll replace that file I uploaded with one that isn't borked.

Here's a list of cheats : https://simpage.net/simcity3/cheats.shtml 

I don't know if there's a way to directly change the amount of money (unless you edit a savefile)... I'll give it a look anyway

[SecretMbr_735754 2,157]

Thanks.  I've looked at the cheats before and they're not exactly what I want.  Just as you mentioned it, I realized it must not be too hard to find in the city file, so I'm going to look too with the hex editor.  I remember something of a method a hacker taught me long ago, looking for a known value that you can change to find out where the variable is located.

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

The amount of the city funds is stored at offset 0x5040 and 0x5041 in reverse order. So the $50,000 you start with is 0xC350 but stored as 0x50C3. However, changing this in the file doesn't change the value in the game. Upon re-saving, those bytes are re-updated to the amount shown in the game.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

I found this :

Quote

Those of you who like to cheat, you're reading the correct article. In a few easy steps, you can gain over 16 million dollars for your coffers.

1. Download and Install UltraEdit32 from www.idmcomp.com
2. When you start a new city, get 10 loans of 25k so that you have 300,000 (remember to set the level to easy)
3. Save the city, and minimize SC3K by pressing ALT+TAB
4. Open UltraEdit, and goto file, open and find your file (do not worry about the trial screen that comes up; it goes away in about 15 seconds)
5. Now press CTRL+G and in the box type: 0x5020
6. Press enter
7. Press CTRL+F and a new box will come up
8. Type e09304, and click Find Now
9. Now look at your page, and e0 93 04 will be highlighted.
10. Change e0 93 04 to ff ff ff (this gives you the money)
11. Now, to erase your loans, go to the right of e0 93 04, and find 05.
12. Change 05 to 06.
13. Save the file and return to SimCity.
14. You will now have to reload your file by clicking on load city.
15. DO NOT SAVE THIS FILE!
16. Load your city, and if you hexed it correctly, you will see that you have $16,777,215.
17. Check to make sure that the loans were erased too.

I didn't try it yet...

 

Edit : I also found that apparently the funds your city has are stored in 3 seperate places in the saves... so if you cheat by editing a save you must replace the amount three times (or like you did before it will revert to what you had).

[SecretMbr_735754 2,157]

I'm glad you're both on the job cause I was just fumbling through a file compare between 2 different fund amounts and realized it was going to take several hours maybe days to figure it out because the data shifts with each save.  Given what Cori reveals, I may have spent eternity trying to find it and change it.

Okay, thank you.  So using the information provided I'll continue to try to make the adjustment on a new city file. 

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

40 minutes ago, Cool_Z said:

I didn't try it yet...

I've been testing it. It does show that the money in the treasury floats in position after 0x5020 rather than being always located at 0x5040 as I first said. So, I can always find the funds on hand based on a reverse layout of the hex equivalent, but saving the change and loading the city and it's simply ignoring my tweak.

 

4 minutes ago, RandyE said:

I was just fumbling through a file compare between 2 different fund amounts ...

That's how I found it initially. I started a new city, plopped a fire station to reduce funds by 500, saved it as a copy, and then compared the files. I knew I was looking for someplace that C350 changed to C15C and that's when I found them each in the same offset, but in reverse order. (50C3 and 5CC1 respectively.)

[Cool_Z 1,547]

Found how to do it.

You need this prog : http://cheatengine.org/download.php

Oh, VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT !!!! When you install this program it will try to install an anti-spyware and set yahoo as your default search engine. You MUST uncheck them !!

And watch this tutorial : 

The tutorial is a bit messy I think... but it does the job.

Dont forget to make a backup if you try it on a developped city.

[SecretMbr_735754 2,157]

Okay good thing something came up and I had to go deal with some RL stuff before getting back to this project.   I'm wondering if these convoluted and not precise ways of modifying the funds is why the file I found, tested, then uploaded, but have since further tested and found problems with the city file.   I'll proceed cautiously, and then thoroughly test the results, if any.  Thanks.

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

Watching that video indicates the edit has to take place in the file while it's in memory. That might explain why my edits to the saved file on disk didn't work. What confuzzles me is how the game knew the un-hex-edited amount when re-loading the city.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

The edit takes place in the memory actually

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

1 minute ago, Cool_Z said:

The edit takes place in the memory actually

Yeah, that's what I sort of said. At least I knew what I meant.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

I'm wondering, shouldn't we discuss all this in another topic ? Can you separate the part about this and make it into another topic ?

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

9 minutes ago, Cool_Z said:

I'm wondering, shouldn't we discuss all this in another topic ? Can you separate the part about this and make it into another topic ?

Sure. I can do that. Where to split it off? Starting here? And call it Hex Editing Fun in SC3000.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

Yep that will do !!

[SecretMbr_735754 2,157]

Or maybe split it where I asked if we could change the fund amounts?   

I've come to the conclusion that I'm just going to have to create a simoleon rich startup trainer city file myself by mastery of the simulator itself, something that I can present to others with a reasonable quality assurance.   I cannot even vaguely understand the video, and I'd rather not use strange patterns of interacting with the data and the operation of the program without knowing what other functions may be negatively impacted.  I think my suspicion is correct that this is the reason why the file I already am using is behaving erratically.  So I'm going to get this done right away because the city file I uploaded is still being downloaded.

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

@Cool_Z and @RandyE

We are now in a new thread. Reply or re-follow if you want.

 

So, I used the Cheat Engine thinger and here's what I have now:

And it stays good after completely exiting the game and then re-loading the city. Saved game is attached.

Cori Is Rich.sc3

[Cool_Z 1,547]

I did a quick test too... but I was more timid and only asked for 4 millions 

[catty-cb 4,397]

There are alternatives that will give you more money

.... goes off to rummage thru the SC3000 website .... can't find it detours over to CB Web to look up the SC3000 cheat index ....

-catty

https://community.simtropolis.com/clubs/26-city-builders-website/cb-documents/10-SimCity-3/55-SimCity-3-knowledge-tree-cheats

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

On 6/5/2017 at 6:34 PM, RandyE said:

So I'm going to get this done right away because the city file I uploaded is still being downloaded.

I can hide your file until you are ready to upload a new one. Or you could use the one I attached above, do a Save As (in game) to get the name you want (or leave it as is), and then upload that to your STEX entry.

 

The method outlined in this post above does work if tweaked a wee little bit. The whole problem is in step 5. Jumping to 5020 does not put us past the first entry and so the rest doesn't work because we are not in the right place. Here's a simplified version:

1. Download and install the HxD Hex Editor.
2. Start a new city on easy level and take out 10 loans of 25k each.
3. Save the city and exit the game.
4. Open the HxD Editor.
5. Load your .sc3 saved city file.
6. Press F3 to bring up the Find dialog box. Type in e09304 and change Datatype to Hex-values. (See pic below.)
7. Click ok. It'll find the first instance. Press F3 and it will find the 2nd instance.
8. Replace the E0 93 04 with FF FF FF and the 05 to the right with 06.
9. Save the file and exit HxD Editor.
10. Load the city in your game.

 

Edit: I just noticed this:

On 6/5/2017 at 4:17 PM, Cool_Z said:

Edit : I also found that apparently the funds your city has are stored in 3 seperate places in the saves... so if you cheat by editing a save you must replace the amount three times (or like you did before it will revert to what you had).

Based on my testing I believe it is stored in two places and the first one in the 0x5000 block is irrelevant. It's the later one (which floats all over the place location-wise) that is the single one that needs changed. That's the reason for doing the loans to have $300,000 on hand so that exact (reversed) hex value can be searched for. It also works for existing cities with specific uncommon funds. Like the Moscow city has $884,263 which is 0D 7E 27 in hex and is stored in the save files as 27 7E 0D.

[SecretMbr_735754 2,157]

3 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

I can hide your file until you are ready to upload a new one. Or you could use the one I attached above, do a Save As (in game) to get the name you want (or leave it as is), and then upload that to your STEX entry.

Okay, I'm back on this.  I agree with the above and that would be more comfortable.  Its traditional we collaborate on the map projects and this SC3U revival gig is yours so its appropriate.  I will use the map you made as the 'trainer' and that frees me up to do the kind of work I like to do anyway.     This way you can provide technical support if necessary  and this file keeps it in the community and I can rewrite the file page to reflect the file creation and its creator, so it adds more interest and adventure to this project.

5 hours ago, catty-cb said:

.... goes off to rummage thru the SC3000 website .... can't find it detours over to CB Web to look up the SC3000 cheat index ....

Thanks for the link @catty-cb  I like the way it organizes the 'cheats' and then easily loads the SC3000 page from your City-Builders site.  I initially logged in to City-Builders thinking I had to access it as a member.   So I'll include this as a reference in my file page.   This all will make it an even more interesting and useful resource.

https://community.simtropolis.com/clubs/26-city-builders-website/cb-documents/10-SimCity-3/55-SimCity-3-knowledge-tree-cheats

 

[CorinaMarie 29,614]

5 hours ago, RandyE said:

I will use the map you made as the 'trainer' and that frees me up to do the kind of work I like to do anyway. 

Cool. Or if you have a better laid out map that you prefer, send it to me right after initial creation still paused and in whichever beginning year you want it to be and I can tweak the city funds. That way you can have a map you prefer. Mine (attached above) was just a random proof of concept. Or, now that I've figured out the Hex Edit on the saved file, you can do it that way. (But you can only get a maximum of $16,777,125 with that method.)

I see you've hidden your trainer file. I'm pretty sure you can't un-hide it yourself so let me (or any staff) know when you want it back. Or, just create a new STEX entry when you are ready.

[Propfam 2,289]

Unfortunately, we can't do this easily in SC4. SC4 is too complex. But, it's not impossible to do that. Just more difficult.

But the way, the result is impressive. It's more easily to mod than SC4. But, lack of advanced modders (those are create DLLs) makes barrier on this.

[catty-cb 4,397]

6 hours ago, RandyE said:

...Thanks for the link @catty-cb  I like the way it organizes the 'cheats' and then easily loads the SC3000 page from your City-Builders site.  I initially logged in to City-Builders thinking I had to access it as a member.....

You never need an account for the documents section, and can't ever see that changing, the searching in SC3000 is better than it was, at one point unless you knew the link you couldn't access anything in the knowledge tree section.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

2 hours ago, Chief ZDN said:

lack of advanced modders (those are create DLLs) makes barrier on this.

If only... I wish only for one mod to be honest. A mod that would allow adding buildings instead of just replacing them.

[Yohane Architects 127]

I like to change in game dates, can you print screen the hex location for dates please and values like 1900 2000 and so on?