itsthemuffinman

Okay... so a little more tweaking and the Java app is working. I've tested with prices varying between 1 and 2.5 billion and it worked fine, i may well work above that but I can't see why you would want more! I'll give Monte Cristo a little while to respond but otherwise I'll upload the script and post the link!

I've been doing some more research into this and it seems this shouldnt be as difficult as I originally imagined... Thanks to XeNTaX (http://forum.xentax.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3544) for the description on the PAK files. Using the QuickBMS script I unpacked Okeanos patch and had a look at whats inside. A nice and simple functions file with information of trade prices. With a little magic, luck and dedication I've managed to make another patch very similar to Okeanos with much more 'sandboxy' prices. I pretty much added a couple of extra zeros to all of his prices. I'm currently working on creating a Java app that will take the functions file and wrap it into a PAK file that cities will load. This will then allow players to make a custom file with the prices they want. Mathew, I ask you this... is a one line answer to a 4 paragraph ticket asking about a sandbox mode and why is wasnt included in the first place reasonable? Please give me a reason why I shouldn't make this script available when I've ironed out the last few issues (and I will).

I've seen the posts on XenTax about how to unpack the files and had a look through the output they produce... hence why I know its encrypted XML. I've had a little play with these files but it appears that Cities doesn't load the XML rather... instead will revert to the original pak. I've also tried removing the pak files that the data files relate to with no success. Any further ideas and im happy to try them out!

Firstly, sorry if this is a repeat... it seems everyone is being very hush hush about this tho! For those of you who haven't found Okeanos Trading mod, this changes the price of imports and exports in the solo mode. It also allows you to sell your workers. This is a step in the right direction for a sandbox mode, weither it be user generated or from MC. What we need is some top nerds working on how he's produced this... My vague understanding is that it is relatively simple XML that sets the trade prices... this XML is then encoded to the .patch file where Cities loads it from the PAK directory. All we need to know is the structure of this file and the encoding algorithm and a simple GUI interface can be generated for making a custom version. Lets unite and get this working! We deserve a sandbox mode, irrelevant of what MC think.