Modding the trains

[perando]

Hello,

I'm playing jeffryfisher's US History mode and I found it fantastic but they are few minor changes that I want to make. My intension is to make a game more adeqate to 90'-2000' time period. It's all about modding a few trains in the game, and I don't know how to do that. 

I know only this:

-It's all about moding RRT2.exe in hex editor

-graphic can't be changed

-names of loco's can be changed in default2.lng file

My intention is to change entry and exit date, reliability, fuel consumption, grade caracteristic, speed and names for SD45, SDP40, GP-18 and Dash-9 . Specifically I want to convert GP-18 to ALCO RS-3, SPD45 and SD40 to GP-38 and SD40-2, DASH-9 to modern GE Evolution Series loco. I think that default game graphic is adequate for that kind of "conversion".

I'm a aircraft modeler, not a programer but I have a benevolent family member who is willing to help me. I only need a basic instruction how to do that. RRT2 is one my favorite game and this project is very important for me. 

Thanks for help

 

 

[jeffryfisher]

If you have the disk version of the game patched to version 1.56 (or my mod of that version), then you can use my spreadsheet (EXE Data.ods) to guide you. ODS is a LibreOffice (freeware) format.

If you have the Steam version of RRT2, then you have much more work to do to find the data tables deep within the EXE (they're toward the end). However, some text (like engine names) are searchable. Also: The data tables are made of fixed-length records, so just scrolling through in a hex editor you'll see regular patterns of numbers among the zeros to suggest where tables are.

It goes without saying that you should make backup copies of files before editing them.

[perando]

Thanks for your answer jeffryfisher.

I found the hexedit program online and open'd rt2.exe file. I think that I had found locos data, but I don't have an idea what to to with all this numbers. This does not have any value for me.2019-02-20

Can you or anyone else be more specific...

Thanks a lot

[jeffryfisher]

Now you need to open the EXEdata.ods spreadsheet (it's an open-document file made with Libre Office, a free open-source suite). Find the tabs with engine and car data, and compare those numbers (and record lengths) to what you're seeing. Sometimes it helps to tell your hex-editor to display decimal values.

Decoding multi-byte values takes some practice -- first to discern which bytes go together, and then to translate them into larger integers or even floats. It looks like your hex editor has a helpful data inspector on the left-hand side doing that for you. Look there to see numbers that look familiar (prices, intro dates etc).

Since the tables in your game should be the same as described in my spreadsheet (merely starting at a different address in the EXE file), it should be easy to line things up quickly. Then you can write down Steam's starting address for each table so you can find them again (and know what table you're looking at in the future just by its address).

Overall, the exercise is much like solving a cypher or similar puzzle. Have fun!

[KingTigris]

I was thinking of doing something similar as to perando, but I can't seem to find the EXEdata.ods anywhere on this forum which would save me a lot of time.

By the way, is it possible to add more trains, in excample by referencing to the same sprites as the excisting trains (barely scratched the surface of the game yet)?

[jeffryfisher]

IIRC, the last version of the EXEdata spreadsheet is inside the zip for the US History map, which is attached to the OP of its own map thread.