During the last few weeks, I have been posting regular screenshots about a future patching/editing tool for Usm98-99, a tool which was already under development.
As the release date is coming – a couple of weeks I think, it is time to clearly annonce what it will contains.
The community first
As everything is ephemeral, our website, ou computer, our life… I decided to publish the source code of the Tweaker under the MIT licence terms, and make it freely available on Github.
It will enable, first of all, to assure the safety of the source code in a case I would no longer be the capacity to continue this work, and also to enable other people to signal bugs through a standardized procedure, to take the lead, or even create their own version with my work as a base.
Another word: the tweaker is programmed in Java. This language offers a huge advantage: if properly used, it is cross platform. In other words, if you are playing USM98-99 on Windows, Linux or Mac OS, there will be no problems for you to use this tool.
RTFM
It stands for Read This F… Manual. An acronym that we, in the computer industry, are very familiar with. The USM Tweaker will be delivered with a short but clear and concise manual, which will contains:
- Credit,
- Information about the licence
- The details of each feature. For each one:
- How it works and how to use it
- What you can expect of it
- The known possible issues and side effects
Features
The first release, the version 1.0.0, in february 2017, will include the following features:
- Patching section:
- Change the value of the maximum quantity of player you can loan
- Enable/Disable long-terms loans
- Change the starting year of the game
- Enable access to the surprise of the year: the cheat menu. This one enable you to start a new game with options such as getting more money, always success when trying to buy a listed player…
- Savegame editing section:
- Edit savegames to change players attributes
The target
The tweaker patching section is designed to work on the english version of the USM 98-99 game. A feature of the tool will help you to check if you have the good one. However, it won’t be compulsory, and you will be free to try to patch a different version, as for someones there is probably only the translation which changes.
The savegame editing section is not impacted: you can use it with every version.
What’s next?
In a two or three weeks interval following the initial release, a 1.0.1 version will be issued correcting (if possible) the reported bugs, if there are ones.
Then, in march or april, the 1.1 version will be available, including new features. If for someones it is not sure to see them (disable the possibility to be fired, change the max bet amount…), there is a least one we should see: the possibility to enable/disable the transfers period.
I have great expectation for this one, as it will prevent computer-managed squads to change half of the team during the season, and hence reducing the huge quantity of transferts, decreasing the risk of savegame crash because too much transfers have been processed.
Open to proposals
If you have any idea of new feature we could try to implement in the tweaker in a future release, do not hesitate!
I however gently remind that as we don’t have the game source code (read here) , we can only try to modify the game, not add new stuff (leagues for example).