Is there anyway I can edit the horses names database without corrupting the game and how do I do it. Noticed there are a few names from past a present horses. Got a few hundred original names to put in if I can, also been gender correct.much appreciated for any help.

What I would do is open the horses.dat file using Excel then add your names in and take out the same number as you put in. Total should be 16076 horse names no more and no less. Save the file which will overwrite the original (backup the original beforehand just in case you make a mistake).
Copy the new created horses.dat file and save it somewhere safe, you will need this because when a patch is released it overwrites yours, so you just then shove it back in.
You will need to start a new game for these names to take effect, good luck.
I did over 9000 names from the past and present from different countries but not gender specific, would have been if we had seperate folders for these names but maybe SO6 will have them introduced.

Thanx exxplosion,I might give that a try,so the programme chooses which names are m or f I take it? Was hopeing I could input that in myself. Ill just have to use names that could apply to either gender. So changing a few names in this file as long as its the correct number won't corrupt the game. .

As Explozzion says, changing the horse names wont corrupt the game, but you will have to start a new game for then to take effect. I did pretty much the same thing you are proposing to do myself, but I also took out all the real horse names, naff horse names as well as the gender specific horse names.

A word of warning though, take a few weeks of work, so stock the fridge freezer with plenty of beer and pizzas - its a mammoth job.

Welcome to the 16076 club!

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=6837

Graham

thanx graham,i have seen your post before and theres no way i could go through that lot. im just going to scroll through them,takeing one out, and putting one in,so i know ive still got the right amount of horses, only on the names that already exist or i dont like. ive already scrolled through them quickly and looks like ill be changing a few.

It is a mammoth job Graham it took me about 2 months to do the 9000+ names what with double checking and triple checking, I blame Microsoft Excel for it because whenever I accidentally typed a duplicate name it never reported it so I ended up with hundreds and hundreds of similar names, then had to put them in alphabetical order to go through them manually deleting them, that was a pain in the arse I can tell you.
Good luck taurus.

Similar expereince here too Kev - checking names are not duplicated takes as long as inputting them! Took me about 8 weeks as well.

Even if you are looking for gender specific names and replacing them, thats an awful lot of time checking the list Taurus, so be prepared mate!

thanx graham,i didnt realise what a mammoth job it was until i started it. working on it an hour a day,or when i can,stop me getting bored,or my eyes giving up. not easy to know where the flat names stop and the nh names start, until i find a name i recognise.

Ha ha! Keep us posted with your progress. I dont think the game has any delineation between NH and flat names - just randomises them.

didnt realise what i had let myself in for when i started changing the horses data names folder. renamed about 1,000 names then tried to put them in the game,just to see if it works. ive obviously made a mistake as it says lib fatal error. so ive either put an extra horse in or taken one out by mistake back to the beginning again.

Easiest way is to open in Excel and scroll down to the bottom of the horse database and see if it's got 16076 horse names remember the top line should say 16076 so the last line in Excel should be the horse name on line 16077.

thanx exxplozzion, think ill do that next time,id rather do that than start all over again.

Or click at the start of the bottom line of the horses.dat file and then edit>goto . This will give you the line number. As Kev rightly says, this should be 16077.

Thanx fellas, I'm opening up the horse data file with notepad is that just as good,that has the correct amount of horses at the top,not sure about the bottom line.

The bottom line in notepad is just the name of the 16076 horse, so, you will be ok as long as you don't enter anymore past the bottom named horse, also, don't hit the enter key when inputting a horse name as that will put a space between that horse and the one below, just input name then move onto the next name and so on...