hello guys...i purchased my fm on steam and i'm trying to use the data editor for the first time.Is there a step by step guide that i can use because i'm seem to be getting it wrong.
Help
Help
Found on official SI forums (original thread):
As you will have almost definitely heard by now (and possibly even tried if you've already got the game!), one of the major new features in Football Manager 2010 is the introduction of a new, much improved editor.
This is capable of everything that the old editor could do, and even more!
The User Interface is also a lot different, which can make it difficult to do whatever you want to do with the editor. Even if you were a master with the old editor, it is likely you will find some areas of the new one difficult to use if you are trying it out for the first time.
Basic Commands
How to open the editor, load a database, save changes and change settings
Firstly, you need to open the Editor. This can be found in the following locations.
If you installed or activated using Steam - C:\Program Files\Steam\Steamapps\Common\Football Manager 2009\Tools\
If you didn’t use Steam at all - C: > Program Files > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2010 > tools > editor > editor.exe
When you have found the editor, it is a good idea to make a link to the editor either on your desktop or start menu. This ensures you won't have to go through the C: every time you want to find it.
Double click on the editor icon to open it up, and you will find that you won't be able to do anything.
To make the editor functional, go to the File icon in the top left corner. Then go to the second bottom option (Load Database...), which should be just above Exit. This will load the latest database that you have avalible to you.
If you would like to load a custom database that you have made or downloaded, again go to File but this time choose the top option - Load Editor Data.... Choose the custom database you would like to load, and press the Select Button.
After you have made the changes you wanted to, you will need to save your changes. If you want to overwrite the old file (if there is one) then choose 'Save Editor Data'. However if you want to give your file a new name, choose 'Save Editor Data As'.
To change the settings for the database editor, use the 'Settings' button at the top. This will allow you to change Currency, Language and Display Options.
Searching
How to search for something in the database
Near the top left corner there is a box entitled 'Menu'. On this, select 'Database'. On the left side of the screen you should now have another box, this one entitled 'Database'. This will contain a list of everything in the database, and will start with Awards and end with Weather.
Click on the word that is relevant to what you want to search, and the largest box on the screen should change its title to whatever you just selected. Now simply type what you want to search for in the Search Box and the results will appear. Please note that you will have to spell what you are looking for correctly, so the editor knows where to search. You do not need to put accents into search boxes.
Editing the database
How to add something new, edit, copy or delete something from the database
Like if you were searching for something, you have to select 'Database' on the top left box. You then select whatever you want to create something new of (such as People) and the main box on the page should change its title to whatever you have just selected.
From here, you will have to use the buttons in the bottom right corner. Not all of the buttons will be avalible on every page.
'Add' should be used when you want to add something new into the database. Pressing this button will take you to a screen where you can add in information about what you want to add to the database. Complete all of the required fields to add what you want into the database.
'Edit' is for when you want to change something that already exists in the database. After you have searched and the results have appeared, you can click once on the name of what you want to edit and it will be highlighted green. When this happens you can select the 'Edit' button and it will take you to the page where you can edit what you want.
'Duplicate' is to be used if you want to copy something from the editor. If, for example, you wanted to make a second Arsenal team, you could do a search for Arsenal, click once so it was highlighted green, then press 'Duplicate'. This would create an exact replica of the Arsenal team.
'Remove' is a simple one - once you have searched for whatever you want to delete, you click on whatever you want to delete until it is highlighted green. Clicking the 'Remove' button will delete this from the database you are editing.
Adding a new Nation or League
Adding a new competition into a country
When you have loaded up the editor, there will be two boxes down the left of the page. One is entitled 'Menu', the other 'Database'. Between these are two boxes, 'Recent Database Records' and 'Add Nation Rules'.
To add in a new competition, you need to select the 'Add Nation Rules' box.This will bring up a pop-up box which allows you to add a new competition in.
Firstly you will have to select the country you want to make a new competition for. If the country you want to make a new competition for is already playable, it can be found in 'Current Nations'. If it is not yet playable then 'Other Nations' is where you will find it.
You then have the choice of what you want to make. If you are planning on simply adding in a lower division or adding a new competition to a league system that is already there, select 'Add Lower Divisions And Cups To Existing Structure'. If you want to completely redo the league system in a country select 'Create New Competition And Rules'. If you are planning on creating a competition for a currently unplayable nation, selecting 'Create New Competitions and Rules' will be your only option.
'Add Lower Divisions And Cups To Existing Structure'
Leagues
In the bottom left box on the page, you will see a list of some of the competitions. On the Leagues part, the top leagues will already be playable and the bottom one will not be playable. To make the bottom league active, you need to double click on it. This will bring up information on the league in the main box.
The top information box will be the name of the league, and the second information box will be a tick box asking if the league contains Sub Divisions or not. The third box - 'Type' - is the one you will have to change. Currently the field will say 'Inactive Division'. To make this active, simply change that to 'League' via the drop down box.
You will then need to make any changes you want to the league structure, such as dates, prize money, TV Money and Fixture Rules.
Sometimes you will want to add yet another league, one that isn't viewable on the left hand box. To get the option to add a new league, click on the 'Leagues' heading in the bottom left box. This will bring up a list of the currently active leagues (and the one at the bottom that you may have just activated. Select the 'Add' button from the bottom right hand corner to add in a new league.
In most countries, lower league's are regional. An example of this is the Blue Square North and Blue Square South in England. When adding a regional tier into the editor, you will need to set it boundaries. These make sure that you won't find southern teams getting promoted or relegated into a northern division. To set boundaries, you need to set four cities that you want to set as the boundaries for that certain league. Make sure that the leagues you set as boundaries have longitudes and latitudes set. If they don't, you can enter them yourself.
Cups
Unfortunately, when adding in a cup, you have to use an existing structure. Click on the 'Cups' heading in the bottom left box to bring up a list of all active cup competitions in that particular nation. Use the 'Add' button to start the process of adding in a new cup competition.
You will get to choose what type of cup you want to add in. Selecting 'FA Cup' will make your new competition the main cup competition in the country, and the winner qualifies for the continental club competition. 'Super Cup' is to make a cup between two competition winners, much like the Euro Super Cup or the Community Shield. 'Other Cup' will make a cup that runs without anything special at the end and for no real reason, similar to the League Cup (Carling Cup) in England.
You will then have to select the competition format, and you get to choose from the currently existing formats already in place in the country. Picking the teams comes next. To make it two teams from one paticular division, select 'Add' and choose how many players from one division you want to add in. If you want all teams to compete, select all leagues and select the amount of teams per division as the amount of teams in each division. This will ensure every team gets the chance.
Lastly, you need to set the rules such as 'Number of Legs' and 'Sub Rules'. When this is done, press 'Add Competition' and you are done!
'Create New Competitions and Rules'
Firstly, select the country that you want your new league to be in.
IMPORTANT - selecting a country that already has a playable league will overwrite those existing leagues, so you won't be able to play in them on this database.
When you have selected the country, you will need to choose the settings for your new league. These include the day the league table resets and the season start and end dates. Pressing 'Confirm' will take you to the main page of your new competition page. To make any more changes, use the main box to edit whatever else you want to apply for the whole country.
From here, simply follow the steps from 'Add Lower Divisions and Cups To Existing Structure' and click on the 'Leagues' tab. This will allow you to make a new league or cup system for your country.
Files
What will I get from this?
Once you have made all the changes you want to make and saved the database, you will be able to find the file you have created in the following location;
PC – My Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2010 > editor data
MAC – Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2010 > editor data
You will find that there are two files in here (although there may be more depending on how many times you have created a new change).
Firstly, you will have the change files work. These will be called whatever you saved them as when you saved them in the editor. If, for example, you made a change so Cesc Fabregas’ common name was CescFab, the file would read as follows (open with Notepad or similar, but DO NOT edit the information in this file);
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?> <record> <record id="rule_group"/> <list id="files"/> <list id="db_changes"> <record> <integer id="database_table_type" value="1"/> <integer id="db_unique_id" value="5120110"/> <unsigned id="property" value="1348693601"/> <string id="new_value" value="CescFab"/> </record> </list> </record>
The other is ‘config.xml’, and this is what makes the files work. You can move the actual change files about in ‘editor data’ as you wish, but ‘config.xml’ MUST stay in the main ‘editor data’ folder. In this config file you will find the following (again, open with Notepad or similar, but DO NOT edit the information in this file.
<record>
<!-- resource manager options -->
<!-- do not translate any comp xml files -->
<boolean id="translate" value="false"/>
<!-- don't need to cache this stuff as it is stored in the database -->
<boolean id="cache" value="false"/>
<!-- don't map this folder -->
<boolean id="auto_map" value="false" />
<!-- the resource manager should store a list of all files in this folder and it's sub folders, so that the game can get a list of all xml rule descriptions -->
<boolean id="store_resource_list" value="true"/>
<!-- allow rescanning this folder, so that the game can pick up new editor files without having to rebuild the skin cache -->
<boolean id="allow_rescan" value="true"/>
</record>
