I’m trying to make new heroes and powers for this game I bought a little while ago, Freedom Force vs the Third Reich, and the only way I can do that is to go directly into the code. I’ve examined all the files that I can open, but there are a bunch of files with tantalizing names like powers.dat and characters.dat. I tried renaming the file extensions to .zip, .txt, .ff (The files that were already .ff I renamed to .zip and extracted, so I figured it might work this time.), and I think a few others. Can anyone help me?
And, yes, I know about the Hero Editor. However, there are some things I want to do that aren’t in there, like Rogue’s powers.
Instead of changing the file names did you try right-clicking and opening it in Notepad (assuming you’re on a PC)?
Bear in mind that the .dat files may not be written using ordinary ASCII code (text) but in binary. Using a text editor to open/modify a .dat file written in binary just won’t work. Well, you might open the file but there is nothing that is readable by a human to know what to modify correctly.
Yes, I have tried opening them in Notepad. The vast majority of what comes out is gibberish.
Duckster, if they are in binary (which is, of course, possible), how could I read them? Could I even read them?
There is no single standard for .dat files. It is an extension used by many applications to store data for their programs to use. So the .dat files for your game will be completely different than the .dat files for XYZ Company’s application.
Bottom line…unless you know the specific details about how the file was created, and what format/organization, etc. is used, you are SOL as far as trying to modify it. Obviously you can try, but you’ll probably wind up doing more harm than good.
Getting the game manufacturer to disclose the details of their proprietary format is also an unlikely proposition.
With a hex editor you can open and edit files in any arbitrary format. Be aware, however, that if you don’t understand the format it is likely that any editing you do will eff up the data to the point that the file will no longer be understood by the program that created it. So make a copy before you start fooling around. If you are clever you might be able to figure out the file format, but it is likely to be difficult.
If you google for “hex editor” you will find several. I can’t vouch for any of them, not having tried any. (The last hex editing I did was when I hacked a school copy of Wordstar back in the eighties.) (I rigged it so that the menus had stupid names - instead of “Print menu” I made it say “Lunch Menu”, etc.) ((Actually pretty easy because you could search for the ascii strings embedded in the exe.))
If it is in binary you’d want a text editor capable of displaying files in hexadecimal. That still might not help much, but often times there is text in save files stored in ASCII that gives a clue as to what the following numbers represent.
Rather than someplace like here, go to one of the largest FF fan communities around - Freedom Reborn. www.freedomreborn.net . Post your question there and you should get MORE than enough information than you could ever want, and will probably find that someone else has wanted to do the same thing you want to do, but actually has the ability and software to do it and has released it to the community.
Also, your question is kind of vague in relation to the game - you want to create a hero - does that mean you want this hero to look completely different than any of the stock heroes in the game, have different powers, just want a different name, etc.? Depending on what you want to accomplish you may have a couple of options. For instance, if you want a Rogue-like character, right down to the Green/yellow spandex and the skunk stripe, you will have to go to a fansite that specializes in meshes/skins and look for one to download.
If you’re wanting to create your own character from scratch, then you need 3D Studio Max (and not just any version - the plug-in for Max that converts the mesh into Freedom Force-compatible objects only works on specific versions - the freedomreborn.net website has lots of details) to create the mesh. If there is a mesh you think will work, you can create a new skin using any good image editor - and again, more details and howtos can be found in the Freedom Reborn forums.