OT - For Parias

[Vagamus]

The Peacekeeper Antaeus!

http://imagecloset.com/4/03-PK%20Antaeus.jpg

Yeah, a its a small edit... just to prove concept.

I can now edit almost everything in Hostile Waters :D

[SchnozBott]

He'll be VERY happy to learn of this. Hell, I think it's great you can customize HW.

[WOOO!]

kool:up:

[Parias]

I think I just touched myself inappropriately. Excuse me.

[hoom]

I don't see whats so special about a redex?:p

[Red_Hex]

Originally posted by hoom
I don't see whats so special about a redhex?oh, i could give you a few ideas

[Momaw]

Originally posted by hoom
I don't see whats so special about a redex?:p

Apparently the texture files are packed, compressed, archived, encrypted, mangled, hidden, obfuscated, nonstandard, or otherwise difficult to get at. Hence the "proof of concept". It's not simply a retex, it's finding out HOW to do a retex.

That said, call me when you've got the object files and unit list/stat files figured out. :D

[Parias]

Yes - I demand you unlock the secrets to a mobile Antaeus!

[Vagamus]

I've got it all extracted, but the rough edges remain in the fact that... while i have the object files and such, they're in some kinda friggin format i can't crack. For instance, the antaeus's model... which starts at "Carrier.bin_n" ... wtf is bin_n? THE MIND BOGGLES!

Anyways, as for configs for the games vehicles, weapons, ect... thats easy, most of it is all in one file;


.; Values file for Hostile Waters


;
;
;
; Stuff for our vehicles
;
;
;

;Global Numbers

;The proportion of damage taken by an AI controlled vehicle
AIControlDamage = 0.75
;The proportion of the previous one each add on is worth
ArmourDiminishingMarginalReturn = 0.85
ShieldDiminishingMarginalReturn = 0.45
CoolerDiminishingMarginalReturn = 0.30

;The speed at which chunks take damage. this value gets subtracted from 10.0 every 60th of a second. Once it hits zero
;the chunks dies. so if you want a chunk to live 60 secs then:- 10 / (20 * 60) = 0.0027777r
ChunkDeteriorationSpeed = 0.00277777

; Vehicle Input Lags. When in human control this makes the controls seem more 'floaty'. The higher the number
; the more pronounced the lag.

SuperHoverControlLag = 0.45
SeeCloakedDistance = 1024

; Vehicle Speeds
SuperTankSpeed = 40
SuperTankTurnSpeed = 5
HeavyTankSpeed = 35
HeavyTankTurnSpeed = 5
ScavSpeed = 20
ScavTurnSpeed = 4
HoverSpeed = 35
HoverSlide = 15
SuperHoverSpeed = 40
SuperHoverSlide = 17.5



; HarPoon
RopeRange = 1500


ect... ect...

goes on with almost everything you'd wanna tweak with the game, including the player vehics and all the enemies.

Where as i only had half the file the last time i tried this, i got it all this time. I have been screwing with it a bit... so i know it works. Made the laser have more of a punch... which to me was the whole reason i started this.

In addition, the same problem of format applies to the voice files, can't get those out yet... would frackin LOVE to get em though.

OH, if the devs would help me...

[Parias]

Wow, that's awesome. Can we get some confirmed technical stats on if different Soulcatcher personalities actually make a strategic gameplay difference (i.e. if Madsen is more accurate with Rapier weaponry than Patton, etc)? I want to know if Ransom's whining about being shifted to tank duty actually has any effect or not - not that I would ever do such a thing, of course.

[Momaw]

Yes, I'm passing curious on the personalities too. But just knowing the diminishing return rate for armor is very interesting.

[Vagamus]

I looked, can't find those values in that text file. My guess is that they are hardcoded or they reside in those bin_n files that i can't crack yet.

I did, however, figure out that they had used paint shop pro for their textures and stuff... a small discovery in a broader frontier, i know... but its some progress. If i get anything on those chips i'll post.


PS, if any of your have any interest in messing with HWAR, you can have the values file for it :D

(Just put this into your "Hostile Waters\Config\" folder, and it should override the stock values.)

http://dl2.rapidshare.de/files/4186021/46497701/Values.txt (Right click and save, unless you wanna just look at it all heh.)

[Parias]

GLEE! Quite a few things to tweak in there - anything you can find in relation to video settings as well? Some way to jack up the viewing distance might be nice...

[Vagamus]

Originally posted by Parias
GLEE! Quite a few things to tweak in there - anything you can find in relation to video settings as well? Some way to jack up the viewing distance might be nice... Well, theres sight ranges and junk in that file that you can mess with... think thats bout all i know how to do right now to accomplish sight ranges heh.

[Parias]

Tried that already, but it appears that this actually affects the "radar range" of that specific unit type - jack it up for increased contact visibility, I think.

I'd also like to know what the "How far our stuff to kill can be away before it gets shot (WITH THE GUN)" variable is supposed to refer to...

Edit: "QuadMissileCost = 1500" ? 'QuadMissile'? And I knew it; putting a Warhammer on a Puma, versus putting it onto a Rhino (or a Behemoth) does have a damage difference! As well as range...

; Mortar / Bombs info

LobberSpeed = 0.01
LobberRange = 24000.0

ChopperLobberDamage = 50.0
ChopperLobberRange = 1500.0

JetLobberDamage = 60.0
JetLobberRange = 2000.0

SuperChopperLobberDamage = 90.0
SuperChopperLobberRange = 1500.0

BuggyLobberDamage = 10.0
BuggyLobberRange = 500.0

HoverLobberDamage = 20.0
HoverLobberRange = 1500.0

SuperHoverLobberDamage = 22.5
SuperHoverLobberRange = 2000.0

HeavyLobberDamage = 25.0
HeavyLobberRange = 2000.0

SuperTankLobberDamage = 30.0
SuperTankLobberRange = 2000.0

StaticLobberDamage = 25.5
StaticLobberRange = 2000.0

I always thought the differences were deeper than an aesthetic level (there's a clear size difference between the Puma and the Behemoth (http://parias.shovebotgames.com/GimpyOwnage.jpg) when a Warhammer is mounted), but never bothered to directly confirm until now. This is very fascinating indeed.

Edit 2: I would really like to know what the hell this "quad missile" is. I recall early screenshots (and gameplay movies] showing that the standard Longbow missile launcher was actually a dual-mount weapon, but they removed that in the final game, with the exception of the missile racks on the Vulture, Behemoth, and Shark - but the "QuadMissile" references in this file are referring to the weapon as if its a totally seperate entity that can be fitted on all vehicles, so this is indeed interesting.

[Vagamus]

Originally posted by Parias
Tried that already, but it appears that this actually affects the "radar range" of that specific unit type - jack it up for increased contact visibility, I think.

I'd also like to know what the "How far our stuff to kill can be away before it gets shot (WITH THE GUN)" variable is supposed to refer to...

Edit: "QuadMissileCost = 1500" ? 'QuadMissile'? IIRC, that variable effects how far away an enemy can be before the ai controlled units fire on it. I did VERY slight tweaking with that to increase the range on the howitzer, i dunno if it really did the job, or whether the ai just took the range that i added and used it.

Lot of odd variables to figure out, some seem to be non-existent, or subversively reflecting to other weapons as a standard. Keep diggin, lemme know what you figure out.

If the the sight range thing isn't workin quite that way, i dunno... i'd have to mess with it. Haven't done any extensive tweaking beyond howitzer range and lasgun effectiveness. Will keep ya informed.


As for quad missile... no clue. We're just basically scratching the surface right now... i wish i could tell you how to do more, but i really can't. Far as anyone is concerned, you and I are pioneers in this Parias.

Which leads me to HOW i got this stuff, if you'd like to mess around with it yourself... I used a program called game extractor, you can get it here: http://www.watto.org/extract/download.html

Its java, has a few quirks, ya might have to take two passes to extract all of the files, but it works now. Been keepin an eye on it for a while.

Far as i'm concerned, the more people we can get tryin to crack this thing, the better heh... if any of the i-war crew would like to lend a hand, i'm sure as hell not gonna say "stop it, butthead!" :p

PS - Funny thing i found when messin around were short descriptions, possibly meant to be objectives, for multiplayer maps heh. Nothing fancy, its just like "Shoot the other bloke more than he shoots you to win." to paraphrase. Pity they never got around to it.



Edit: and yes, it would be very interesting indeed to figure out exactly what the quad missile is/was. I would also love to find out where the hellmonkies the speed variables for the antaeus are... i want her to move just like everyone else.

I'm guessing right now thats all either hardcoded or dug into the bin files. I keep tryin to read the code with programming tools and such, but its gibberish beyond the header to me. Tough as nails it is to decypher without knowing what format its supposed to be.

[Vagamus]

I just e-mailed Swordfish (or more like, replied to an email) again.

They said they couldn't give me any source material or tools last time, but they never said i couldn't ask what file formats or tools they had used... so i just did. I'm hoping they're not legally bound not to release that information... seems rather stupid not to really... i already figured out they used psp for their texture work heh, but that was easy. They use PPM's for texture work in some places, the very header says its paint shop pro.

Anyhow, we'll see what they have to say.

As usual, will keep ya posted.

[Parias]

Thank you very much for posting that link - I'm already tearing into the available files. "TechScript.txt" seems interesting - it's either referencing an unimplemented "tech room" feature for describing the basic assets of Antaeus and its subsystems, or it's referring to the part of the intro scene where Halsey is issuing a damage report on the carrier via the holographic display. Either way, really fascinating stuff.

Edit: IT BEGINS:

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/9272/hwwoops0cf.th.jpg (http://img398.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hwwoops0cf.jpg)

This ended in an unspectacular crash after I spawned into the level, flew forward into a big huge green graphical error, and somehow "lost" the chopper, resulting in mission failure. Clicking "Restart Mission" then crashed the game. This was the result of editing the "level1.lev" file, which is actually pre-compiled code; apparently the game doesn't like you opening it up with Wordpad, editing the few readable variables inside of the file, and then saving it as raw ASCII. "level1.cfg" has some fascinating variables (the same ones contained at the end of the .lev file I was trying to modify, but in a format you can change and save without crashing the game), but the most I've managed to do is increase the starting cash for the mission - all my attempts to change the "start position" or "fog" settings haven't met with any noticable improvement yet.

[Parias]

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/3963/hwmoddingfutz5oe.jpg

Well, uh.. it's a start.

Vagamus: You might want to leave this part out of your dealings with the game developers, as they may break down crying after seeing the abuse I'm putting their poor mission files through.

What I've learned:

-Antaeus is triggered to "move" in the final mission of the game by, indeed, a very specific script, but curiously it's in the form of an AI command, not any kind of behind-the-scenes trickery. Example (from level25.ars):

Trigger: "CarrierRoute" : AIS_SPECIFICPLAYER : 1: BOOL_AND
{
Condition: AIScript_Always
Action: AIScript_AssignRoute
"CarrierRoute"
48
}

References to "CarrierRoute" and other related variables can be found in a number of other ASCII files, but no matter what I do, I can't get the carrier to actually move in the game's first mission. I'm almost wondering if the movement function might just be specific only to the "MutantCarrier" model used in that map, but I've had zero success attempting a model swap - closest thing I was able to do was make Antaeus "disappear".

Also, the ".lev" file contains mission-specific geometry settings, which is why it's so huge, but it still seems to rely upon other files to handle entity / landscaping specifics. As an example, I renamed "level25.lev" to "leve1.lev" and stuffed it into the appropriate directory, and then ended up with the above screenshot. The items you're tasked with harvesting still existed in the mission, but they were floating in mid-air, and, curiously, the War Room showed the terrain as having the generic "green-n-leafy" colors rather than the "diseased, hazy yellow-and-orange" coloring you get in the game's actual final mission.

Further analysis to follow, but I could really use a more qualified expert. Where's Mehrunes when you need him?

Edit: In all seriousness Vagamus, if you could forward my above post (or at least the screenshot in question and some supplementary details) to whichever game developer you're in contact with and see if you could get a low-down on how the game's mission scripting operates, that'd be great. Files such as the .lev are obviously encoded (to an extent) and require use of some presumably proprietary third-party program to access properly, but some hints regarding how to fix the carrier's engines would at least be a great start for the development of prospective game improvements.

[Vagamus]

Will do. I'll try to get as much outta them as i damned well can heh. :D :haha: