Matrix Games Forums

Unofficial EDBTR Database Editor Re-release

I have finally decided to re-upload the unofficial EDBTR database editor that was briefly released to a select few a couple of years ago. I am not the original creator of this editor (he wishes to remain anonymous), but I was a beta tester for it.


This editor makes possible to adjust the following things in the EDBTR database:

Aircraft: Name, type, bitmap, speed, altitude, climb rate, manueverability, durability, armour rating, endurance, maximum load, maintanence time, factory production requirements, factory production dates, Allied aircraft replacement rates, and weapon types.

Aircraft groups: Group name, aircraft used, number of aircraft, base location, headquarters, group commander, and group starting stats.

Locations: Type (factory, airbase, radar site, etc), headquarters, and location coordinates.

Pilots: Name, rank, experience, group, leadership, and delay factor.

Group leader pilots: Name, rank, experience, group, leadership, and delay factor.

Weapons: Name, type, capacity, range, effect, penetration, accuracy, and production.

Scenario editor: Start date, starting industry points, starting terror points, points needed to win, and aircraft in pool.

Sound effects: Sound played per sound effect.


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Installing and usage:

You must have Microsoft Excel and Visual Basic installed.

1. Back up ALL of your original .dat files located in your C:\Matrix Games\Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to the Bombing of the Reich\DAT folder (or wherever you have the DAT folder installed).

2. Upon unzipping, place the EDBTR Editor v1.15.xls file into your C:\Matrix Games\Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to the Bombing of the Reich\DAT folder (or wherever you have the DAT folder installed).

3. Open the file. You will see a row of tabs at the bottom. Make sure click the one that says 'aircraft'. Now at the top, you will see some tabs, such as load BoB 40. Click on one that you wish to mod. This will load it into the editor.

4. Go to the top of the page and look for the Excel 'Window' tab. Click on it, then click on 'Unfreeze Panes' tab. This will allow you to scroll through the editor now. You may need to do this for each editor tab you click.

5. To save your changes after modding is complete, you must be on the 'aircraft' page. Now click 'save BoB 40', or whichever .dat file you had loaded.

6. Now load you game and see if your mod works. Changes may not work properly on saved games. You will probably need to start a new game first.


If you are getting editor error messages, please try the following:

1. Open the command prompt. (Start Menu, Run, then type: cmd)

2. Type: cd\documents and settings

3. Press the Enter key

4. Now type: del /S /A:H /A:-H *.EXD

5. Press the Enter key


This database editor cannot modify any of the hard-coded core files. Therefore, some of the game's problems cannot be resolved with this editor alone. But it's better than nothing. [;)]

Please see the included readme file for installation and usage instructions.

Much thanks to the original creator of this great editor. Maybe now we can breath some life back into this abandoned and dying game by fixing certain problems. Mod away, and please share!


Unofficial EDBTR Editor v1.10c (works better with older versions of Microsoft Excel): http://www.filedropper.com/unofficialedbtreditorv110c

Unofficial EDBTR Database Editor v1.15: http://rapidshare.com/share/68456DA582B ... F580850FCC

(thanks Creeper for providing the date bug fix in 1.15 version!)

DUDE! I think you may have just made a ton of new friends!!!![&o][&o][&o][&o]

We'll see... [:D]

Here's an EDBTR mod I made a few years ago, and decided to upload it again. Please check it out:

tm.asp?m=3429813&mpage=1&key=�

Nice, but the editor seems unable to load the files properly.

ORIGINAL: Turner

Nice, but the editor seems unable to load the files properly.

Works fine for me. Can you please tell me what the problem is?

Clicking on 'load BTR 43' f ex give a error;


Runtime error nr '40036'.:

Program or objectdefined error.

A few things to try:

- Be sure you have the latest version of .Net Framework installed

- Enable macros upon opening the editor

Ok thanks will do when back home. Seems to be a great modding tool look forward to getting into it.

I hope you can get it to work on your PC. [:)]

This editor is capable of fixing a lot of the game's shortcomings, including that overpowered Ta problem mentioned in the other thread.

Hi K 19

first many thanks for your effort to make this wonderful game live!

I tried to install the editor in the Dat directory and enable macro.
Module load and all sheets seems ok but i get an error when i select the missions tab.
The error is referred to this code statement

Dim sort As Boolean

The description of the error that i translate is this:

Compilation error
Member existing in a module from what object module derives

If i delete the statement all seem ok (but i don't know if this is correct or cause some other issue in another place).

A final question:

I tried to load BTR 43 and all is loaded correctly apart i cannot load any savegame (it seems the button does nothing)
Am i doing something wrong?
(Saves are in the BTR directory as usual).

Final: How we read the graphic about altitude performance? (What positive and negative scale signify?)

Again thanks for your wonderful work.[&o]

ORIGINAL: littleike

Hi K 19

first many thanks for your effort to make this wonderful game live!

I tried to install the editor in the Dat directory and enable macro.
Module load and all sheets seems ok but i get an error when i select the missions tab.
The error is referred to this code statement

Dim sort As Boolean

The description of the error that i translate is this:

Compilation error
Member existing in a module from what object module derives

If i delete the statement all seem ok (but i don't know if this is correct or cause some other issue in another place).

A final question:

I tried to load BTR 43 and all is loaded correctly apart i cannot load any savegame (it seems the button does nothing)
Am i doing something wrong?
(Saves are in the BTR directory as usual).

Final: How we read the graphic about altitude performance? (What positive and negative scale signify?)

Again thanks for your wonderful work.[&o]

Hi. I'm sorry to hear you are having problems. Please remember that I'm not the original creator of this editor, but was a beta tester.

Both the Missions and Savegame tabs are not functional. I would strongly recommend against trying to use them. I know the original creator hadn't finished implementing all the features he wanted to before quitting work on it.

And for the aircraft performance chart, I believe that's another unfinished feature. Just remember this isn't an official editor, and it was never fully completed. Use this editor at your own risk. And remember to always back up your original files first!

Don't worry K 19.

I think you made a very special service to this community to resume this program also if it has some bugs.

I hope that some excel guru in this forum could be able to investigate and adopt this orfan child! [:D]

Hi K 19,

thanks for sharing this excel tool and to remind me,
that i was a beta tester too, a few years ago.
Those were the days we all had the hope, that
Harley would provide us with new bug fixes for EDBTR!

@Turner: I get the same error message like you got when trying to load the dat files with V1.10c.
Nevertheless after looking in my old EDBTR directory I found a newer beta excel sheet
(V1.14 date: 02/01/2010) that seems to work without the error message.
Please try it and see if it's work for you, too.

V1.14 link removed, because of a serious bug!

New link: Editor V1.15

@littleike: In order to load a savegame file, you need an external program called 'btr_decode.exe', which decrypt the savegame file.
IIRC the author of the editor had to remove it, because there was the possibility to 'cheat' in a PBEM game.

Thank Creeper for your infrmation.

I made a few test:

- If i launch the editor and i try to load something in the initial mask i also receive the run time error.
- If i launch the program don't do nothing and only go through the tabs i can see all the displays but when i click on the mission tab i get the error i just described.
- if i delete the highlighted statement "Dim sort as boolean" in the mission tab and save the xls and then reload the program i get no more the run time error if i try to load something as before.

That's all i have seen.

@Creeper - i would like to test your 1.14 version but the link don't function for me!!!

I had no problem downloading 1.14. If anybody else has a problem, contact me and I will email it to you direct. It is 2.65MB, so it is not a huge file.

OK so now does anybody have that btr_decode.exe and would like to u/l it?

ORIGINAL: Creeper
@Turner: I get the same error message like you got when trying to load the dat files with V1.10c.
Nevertheless after looking in my old EDBTR directory I found a newer beta excel sheet
(V1.14 date: 02/01/2010) that seems to work without the error message.
Please try it and see if it's work for you, too.
Link: V1.14

That certainly did the trick! Good stuff, thanks! [&o]

Hi Creeper. Long time no see! How have you been?

I didn't realize there was a v1.14 of this editor. I guess editor development went on longer than I thought! Anyway, I never get any error messages when using v1.10c, but v1.14 doesn't work at all for me. Lol. I have no idea why. Probably because I'm using an old Excel version. Hehe.

It's too bad what happened with the developers. We tried to keep the game alive by releasing an editor and mods, but they basically squashed any attempts. We were fixing game problems through the editor and releasing these fixes as mods. We were doing their job for them, and they didn't like it. [8|] So petty. Then after all that, they turn around and abandon the game. They basically killed the game. Lol. It figures.

Everyone, there seems to be some compatibility issues running the editor on newer versions of Excel. The editor was created with Excel 2003, and many of the Visul Basic commands are no longer recognized by newer versions of Excel. So if you are getting error messages in the editor, try to get hold of an earlier version of Excel (2003 or earlier). This should solve your error problems.

Excellent, boy did they stuff up by not supporting this.

My only minor problem is that I dont have excel and use open office, any idea if it will still run???

Hi. Honestly, I don't know about Open Office. But please give it a try and let us know if it works!