Method for changing the in - sector location of a FIXED object:
BACK UP YOUR SAVEGAMES until you get practiced at this!
This works for any FIXED object; a player factory, any of the
default XBTF stations, or asteroids. It can also be convenient
to relocate Argon One after the main story has been completed,
to move it away from the 'parked' position by the south gate
in Argon prime.
Some cautions:
NOTE: For some reason if you attempt to hack the savegame
for an object that is in your CURRENT sector, the XYZ
coordinates often appear more than once (usually 3 times
for asteroids). Each occurance IS somewhat different
however; only ONE occurance will have something like what
I am calling the 'Object ID' (unless the object SHARES the
same coordinates with another object in another sector).
You MIGHT find it easier to just fly away by at least 2-3
sectors after writing down the coordinates, THEN save the game
and attempt hacking it.
It IS possible for two or more objects from DIFFERENT
sectors to share the same XYZ coordinates. In this case it
is recommended that you back up your savegame, change one
object at a time, and then restore the savegame if
necessary and try changing the next object until you have
verified that you have relocated the DESIRED object.
Also some duplications 'come and go' I suspect that
freighters also store the XYZ coords of thier destinations.
In this case you can try flying around a while, and try
again later.
OR you can throw caution to the wind and change EACH
occurance of a particular XYZ coordinate. You will need to
do this anyway of you are, say, changing an asteroid
coordinate for your CURRENT sector in the savegame.
If you JUST changed one of three occurances of
an asteroid for your CURRENT sector, the one with the
'object ID' described below, but NOT the other two
occurances, then when you undock the asteroid will NOT
appear to be relocated until you leave the sector and return.
First target the object that you want to move. Activate the
camera with the F3 key. From the left side of the camera
display, write down the XYZ coordinates - to make things
easier later on write them down in the order of X Z Y.
Convert the X Z Y coordinates to hex, 4 byte SIGNED integers.
When dealing with NEGATIVE coordinates and converting them,
then you MIGHT find it easier to reverse the sign (make the
X Z or Y positive), SUBTRACT from 4294967296 and then convert
the RESULT to hex. OR just convert the negative coordinate
to hex, but ONLY keep the least significant (rightmost)
4 bytes.
Decide WHERE you want the object. Convert your NEW coordinates
to hex and write them down.
Look for the old coordinates in the save file. There should be
ONE occurance with an 'Object ID'. The format is as follows:
ID ID ID ID 00 00 00 03 XX XX XX XX ZZ ZZ ZZ ZZ YY YY YY YY
The meaning of '00 00 00 03' is unknown, but you don't need
it. The Object ID resembles something like 39 B4 6A 1F, and
the first byte seems to ALWAYS be '39'.
Change the coordinate. In the case of an asteroid, WRITE DOWN
the 4 byte 'Object ID', you will need it later if you want to
change the mineral yield.
NOTE: Each time you start a NEW game, the 'Object ID' for all
objects (or at least most of them) are DIFFERENT! You need to
derive the object ID for asteroids for EACH NEW game that you
start.
"Real World" example:
Lets move the Pirate Base in Ore Belt so that it shows up on
the TacNav display when we press the 'n' key.
The Pirate Base is at X -0822600, Y +16188000 and Z +1169400
Writing this down in the order XZY and converting to hex:
FF F3 72 B8 00 11 D7 F8 00 F7 02 60
Then searching in the save file :
39 A3 23 45 00 00 00 03 FF F3 72 B8 00 11 D7 F8 00 F7 02 60
ID ID ID ID 00 00 00 03 X_________ Z_________ Y_________
Again, each time you start a new game, the ID changes - it
WON'T necessarily be 39 A3 23 45.
Lets move it to the northeast corner of Ore Belt, just off of
the 'grid' of the 'Ecliptic Projector' (X and Y +5550000),
and 5 KM up (Z +1110000); converting the DESIRED coordinates:
00 54 AF B0 00 10 EF F0 00 54 AF B0
X_________ Z_________ Y_________
So in the savefile replace
FF F3 72 B8 00 11 D7 F8 00 F7 02 60
with
00 54 AF B0 00 10 EF F0 00 54 AF B0
Remember that if you changed the object when you are CURRENTLY
located in the same sector, if you ONLY changed the occurance
with the 'Object ID', that it will NOT appear to be moved until
you leave the sector and re - enter. Generally it is better to
LEAVE the sector, travel away by at least 2-3 sectors, save the
game, and THEN change the coordinates.
Suggested uses : Arrange your factories in 'neat EXACT rows
and columns'. Move asteroids AWAY from Xenon prone gates so
that the mines that you build on them will be safer. Re-arrange
sectors so that they are optimized for freighter traffic.
