Difference between revisions of "DatGen"

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{{Infobox Software
 
{{Infobox Software
 
|name = DatGen
 
|name = DatGen
|logo = [[Image:DatGen.jpg|48px|]]
+
|logo =  
 
|developer = DarkMatter
 
|developer = DarkMatter
 
|latest_release_version = 0.7.13 Alpha
 
|latest_release_version = 0.7.13 Alpha

Latest revision as of 13:31, 22 March 2012

DatGen
DeveloperDarkMatter
Latest Version0.7.13 Alpha
Release DateOctober 3, 2005
O.S.Windows
TypeModding Tools
Websitewww.datgen.info (has been shut down)



DatGen is a complete DBPF archive editor and viewer, applicable to the *.package archives in The Sims 2, and the *.dat archives in The Sims Online and Simcity 4. DatGen has a complete and extensive plugin API, allowing developers to write plugins that extend the completeness of DatGen, such as through adding file readers and interpreters.

DatGen was originally started in the spring of 2003 by DarkMatter, as a modding tool for SimCity 4. It has since been rewritten from the ground up and expanded to support any game that uses the DBPF format. As of today DatGen's core program and libraries were written by DarkMatter, and many of its plugins were written by members of the DatGen Programming Team:

   * DarkMatter: Lead Programmer and Project Founder
   * Karybdis: Lead File Decoder and Programmer
   * Breon: Head Plugin Developer and File Type Handler Developer
   * Kichigai: Plugin Developer
   * Judhudson: Plugin Developer
   * DataFarmer: File Decoder and File Type Handler Developer
   * Atavera: SimAntics translation Guru
   * AdidasSG2: SimAntics translation Guru


The official DatGen website was shutdown and the domain lease was not renewed in 2007. However Wayback Machine web archive was provided a lot of the content of the original website, which could be found at web.archive.org/web/20060824034404/www.datgen.info

There seems to have been very little activity on DatGen since October 2005. In one forum there is a reference by Azureale that DarkMatter had some hardware problems. DarkMatter has apparantly not been heard of in the support forum of modthesims2 since late in 2005. Maybe some data loss caused the stop of development, no info is provided on the site. It remains to be hoped that DarkMatter is well and nothing ontoward has happened to him.

Documentation The excellent documentation and tutorials can be found there.

Downloads
It is quite difficult to find the DatGen downloads on the web now, as the domain site is closed and there are broken links on the archived pages. If you follow the links from the downloads page, note that the "I agree" link to the actual download on the license page is broken.
However if the "Featured Download" button on the home page is pressed, DatGen V0.7.12 is downloaded!

Here the available downloads:

Datgen 0.7.13 (Last Alpha Release)
Datgen 0.7.12 (Last Official Release)

DatGen is a nice tool, but it is unclear how much longer it remains available.

Uninstallation

There seem to be some issues de-installing DatGen, as several posts refer to missing uninstallation info and request info on how to de-install the program. These requests have not been answered so far.

Projects Status
Not in development, Not supported

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