Converting Sins Data to binary

the commands you would use in dos prompt would be "convertdata Entity filename.entity filename.entity" if it's a mesh files you would just replace all entity entries with mesh.

oy!!!! i am so lost, do you think you could help me out here. Mind if I send you the zip folder of what ive done and you could change them for me lol..
Still cant get it, do I need to use the convert.exe file that comes with the sin mod package?? and lets say I have this file:

abilityhowto.entity

what would I type to be exact. And as well do I go into my dos
cmd in run.

still need help on this please/

Yes, go to Start > run, type in cmd

Then navigate to the directory that has the convertdata.exe (and the files you want to convert), then type in "convertdata.exe abilityhowto.entity abilityhowto.entity"

Basically, the exe takes 2 parameters: input file followed by output file. The above command will tell it to convert the file with the .entity extension into binary and save it with the same name (overwriting the previous).

You can batch convert all your files by using convertdata.exe *.entity *.entity, for example.

ok I got there, this is what I have put in:

convertdata.exe AbilityAntiMatterDetonate.entity AbilityAntiMatterDetonate.entity

this is what it says. invalid # arguements

AARRRGGG!!!!

is that wrong??? and as well do the files I need to convert need to be in the same folder or?

Thanks for the help

Hrm, I'll take a look at the usage when I get home, there might be another parameter to use.

And yes, the files need to be in the same folder, unless you want to manually type out the exact path (not recommended since it's long :P)

no lol, I have them all in the same folder, just a folder on my destop.

C:\Documents and Settings\******\Desktop\sins\ConvertData>

thats dest folder, and this is what i did.

C:\Documents and Settings\******\Desktop\sins\ConvertData>convertdata.exe AbilityAntiMatterDetonate.entity AbilityAntiMatterDetonate.entity

and thats about all I get, tells me the:

invalid # arguement

thanks

It's explained in pdf file that comes with the mod tools. You missed 1st argument - 'entity' in this case. Also using the same name for source and destination file is probably not the best thing to do. If the converter can handle such situation nicely, you will lose text file.

I.e.

convertdata.exe entity AbilityAntiMatterDetonate.entity AbilityAntiMatterDetonate-bin.entity

Then of course rename binary version, before putting it into game's mod directory.

You should write some simple script to automate things.

Also, if you spent time in console (which under win nt line is incredibly pathetic), I'd suggest looking for some replacement of sorts - like i.e. Far Manager, or if you prefer unixish approach - msys/mingw or cygwin.

Thanks, I forgot that it needs to specify what type of file it's converting

wooohoooo, it worked!!! yes yes yes

THANKS

cool so i got it to work at work but I cannot get it to change to binary at home. Do the same thing but it just hangs there, like it is eternally thinking. Not sure if my cmd is working or what. Same process just will not process if ya know what I mean. Is there a service or such that I might have shut off?? Or is my reg messed up. Thanks

I'm having a problem where I can get it to convert but then windows says that the program stopped working and I end with an empty .entity file.

I get the exact same problem.

bump, does no one know why it may be crashing the command prompt?

I get the same error. ConvertData.exe has stopped working.

Hey all,

The blank .entity file may be caused by you not putting in a filename for the output.

I discovered that when trying to get the damn thing to convert a bunch of files at once

using the * wildcard does not work for me when trying to batch convert.

I really dont want to have to convert them all by hand...anyone know how to get it to convert all of the .entity at the same time?

i got a stupid question... do we still need to convert it to binary? or we can just put the text format version of .entity?

http://nickciske.com/tools/binary.php

lol might help id dont know

You can use the text files, but they'll be slower.

Or you could use the batch converter i made on this thread.

https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/308863

Does anyone else think that Stardock REALLY fucked up the modding scene for this game? Seriously, it was perfectly fine before! It was so easy my Dad was doing it. Now, we're running converdata.whateverthefuck, and reading entire paragraphs on the thing that was released not even working to being with. I, for one, would like things back to the way they used to be. Y'know, open a file with WORDPAD, make your changes, save, play.

 

Keep it simple, Stardock.

patriotmining, sins WILL WORK with TXT entity files, it just loads a bit quicker and uses a bit less ram loading BIN files, and if you want to convert entire mods to/from txt/bin there is my text-bin gui to help.

harpo

 

and besides, we've ALWAYS had to use convert data. This has NEVER changed.

As far as I remember they were using txt files in the beginning, but went to bin to reduce the loading time.

If "in the beginning" you mean the original beta, than yes.

As for actull releases, no, they have always used BIN.