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What gets changed on patch days?
- Thread starter rk1
- Start date
Well #1 Sony is pushing the new expansion through like they always do a few weeks before release. so there are changes not announced.
Todays patch wasn't featureless or there would not have been a new eqgame.exe
The current Dev eqmule is also a programmer and has automated some of the stuff, which is how he gets the source code updated as fast as he does, but it can change every patch.
PM eqmule if you need more programmer inside info just not today lol he is working on the update.
Todays patch wasn't featureless or there would not have been a new eqgame.exe
The current Dev eqmule is also a programmer and has automated some of the stuff, which is how he gets the source code updated as fast as he does, but it can change every patch.
PM eqmule if you need more programmer inside info just not today lol he is working on the update.
lol if you can update mq2 within 2 min after a patch... you should become a dev at macroquest... =\ not even their devs have been able to do that... ever...
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Updating every offset and struct within 2 min doesn't seem even possible (getting the full assmbly for a eqgame takes atleast a min or two... even on the fastest computers...)
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Updating every offset and struct within 2 min doesn't seem even possible (getting the full assmbly for a eqgame takes atleast a min or two... even on the fastest computers...)
i'm a decent programmer... i do understand the basics of c++ and packets.. and structures... and i STILL would never attempt at beating (or even bragging i can beat) the developers at mq2... here are the steps though... very simple according to you....
update the offsets
update the structures
... not hard right? go for it big dog
update the offsets
update the structures
... not hard right? go for it big dog
etherealmist
Active member
He said he would like to, not that he did
Mad Props eqmule! btw your donations go through paypal using email [email protected] right?
Btw, I took 3 years of C++ in college about 10 years back and understand the basics of updating MQ2. I've managed to successful get a working MQ2 (mind you it loaded on patch day with some bugs), but it took several hours worth of work for a half way working mq2 on a small patch.
I also tried this again when House of Thule came out (Remember MQ2 being down for more than a week?) and holy shit... I was completely lost. The amount of skill that goes into mq2 is beyond my comprehension. No matter how much schooling you have had, you have to gifted to be able to patch it when a major expansion hits.
To think that you could update mq2 in a couple minutes is insane, in fact, its impossible. Long story short, donate and appreciate the mq2 devs, because if they decide they don't want to do this anymore... we are screwed.
Btw, I took 3 years of C++ in college about 10 years back and understand the basics of updating MQ2. I've managed to successful get a working MQ2 (mind you it loaded on patch day with some bugs), but it took several hours worth of work for a half way working mq2 on a small patch.
I also tried this again when House of Thule came out (Remember MQ2 being down for more than a week?) and holy shit... I was completely lost. The amount of skill that goes into mq2 is beyond my comprehension. No matter how much schooling you have had, you have to gifted to be able to patch it when a major expansion hits.
To think that you could update mq2 in a couple minutes is insane, in fact, its impossible. Long story short, donate and appreciate the mq2 devs, because if they decide they don't want to do this anymore... we are screwed.
i've attempted to update a compile on patchday before (i beat ieatacid on getting into game 
)... but the short run down... ieatacid fixed it all and got it fully in its grand state in 6 hours... took me 3 days... =\ i've been updating offsets and structures for years... i understand what the mq2 code does (for the most part) and STILL couldn't beat the devs over there... they do a AMAZING job and would be well missed if they ever left...
)... but the short run down... ieatacid fixed it all and got it fully in its grand state in 6 hours... took me 3 days... =\ i've been updating offsets and structures for years... i understand what the mq2 code does (for the most part) and STILL couldn't beat the devs over there... they do a AMAZING job and would be well missed if they ever left...I find this topic interesting, don't have time to elaborate right now, I'll type something up tomorrow, was a long day, patch took 12 hours, so if you can do it in 2 mins, I hope to learn from you
I'm just hoping that we can take whatever you do manually , and automate that, most human work can be automated and i'd love to hear the process from you as asking sounds way way more efficient than downloading mq2 & mq2 previous version and doing a compare hehe
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i'm a decent programmer... i do understand the basics of c++ and packets.. and structures... and i STILL would never attempt at beating (or even bragging i can beat) the developers at mq2... here are the steps though... very simple according to you....
update the offsets
update the structures
... not hard right? go for it big dog
This is a start, but doesn't really help, what would help is a workflow explaining how those are updated (manually found? if so how, what is the starting point etc).
If the manual work can be codified and specified, it can be automated (i wouldn't be shocked if not all of it can, but i'm fairly sure a nice chunk of the boring / slow stuff can be yes)
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College teaches pretty much nothing of programming really, it's one field where you pretty much start fresh out of it having to learn the appropriate Tools mostly. I do appreciate the updates but i still very much feel that if we could automate this (and i'm fairly certain most of it can be) their time could be better spent on more features instead of on (very certainly boring for them) the same process on each patch, and as i said i'd love to contribute.
I mean no offense but i've seen a few post in this thread saying "i kinda know C++ so" . I don't "kinda know" things, i program for a living 8+H/day 250day/week.
Ok, so here is a write up on the process I go through every patchday:
And just to be clear, much of this is automated already, it still takes time.
Really at this point, the only thing you can improve is the automation itself, there isn't much manual work left to automate, but Ill explain:
The initial step I guess could be automated as well, but for practical/lazy reasons I just do these manually:
1. I fire up IDA (10 sec)
2. Load in the new exe. (1 sec)
3. wait for it to finish analyzing, (on my laptop this can take 5-15 min depending on load/other things running.)
4. At this point I dump the xrefs with a super secret IDAscript (patchday.idc). (3-5 min)
5. I run my "eqoffsetextractor.exe" (just basically what patchday.exe does but with a couple personal modifications) on this dump comparing it to previous exe xref dump which outputs the new offsets. (5-10 min)
6. I run my structchecker.exe which basically tells me what structs has changed/their new sizes and a few offsets where they are located. (5 min)
7. I now have a list of stuff I need to do, i.e what structs has changed and needs correcting.
At this point some manual inspection is needed, due to the fact that patches ARE complicated, and I also believe SOE, has implemented opcode/struct regeneration code just to move struct members around on purpose, to delay MQ2 release after patches, so its not just "fighting" a compiler that always does stuff in a logical way, you are actually up against someone that ACTIVLY and intentionally code to obscure and delay you from realigning structs.
Let just get this out of the way, the offsets, are easy to deal with, THOOSE are 99% automated already, the time consuming stuff to deal with are the structures. So here goes:
8. I need to go to the addresses my checker has output, so for this exercise, lets just say the only struct that was changed was SpawnInfo
and BTW in 9 out of 10 patches SpawnInfo WILL change, I see a patch once a year or so, where its not changed, and on those rare occacions
the MQ2 release can be done after some testing in game (15-60 min) So unless you want to leave ALL the testing to the users, and spend the next day or so listening to complaints about some offset being wrong, Id say at a minimum to get a patch out, if u start on it the very second u get the exe its still 15 mins after servers are back up (since patch takes 3 hours we have plenty of time to check the offsets in the cold compile, but still I like to give it a few mins ingame as well just to make sure its all good and ready)
Anyway, Lets say spawnwinfo needs to be corrected, So the way I do that is:
9. I press g in ida and paste in the offset my structchecker has found for spawninfo.
10. I run a ida plugin that looks up the offsets in the struct from the previous patch and then it suggests where the new location is.
This is basically half automated, but still requires me to look at every single offset it suggests, cause I haven't figured out how
to automate this in a way where it can just read old struct, and output a new one automatically without any inspection at all from a human.
I suppose this is the point where you or someone smarter than me, can write a plugin that does that with 100% certainability(is that a real word?)
But for all intents and purposes, my plugin just jumps me to the locations in the struct it "thinks" are correct and I can then make a decision about
if it is good or not, and I click ok if I see its the right place, it then saves that location in the new struct, and moves on to the next structmember.
For SpawnInfo, I'd say that process, to do all the members, takes about 15-30 min or so, if they are all in the places we expect, and here is the conundrum,
IF they are not, I manually need to confirm the member and I look up functions that use the member in question, I pretty much know where to look due to experience over the years from fixing previous patches, and I suppose other devs have their own tricks/functions as well to look into when something is questionable.
When a manual inspection IS needed this process can easily take anywhere from a min to an hour, just for that eluding member...
This is especially true when new members have been added to the struct and my checker hasn't been configured to look them up yet...
11. I now have the offsets of all the spawninfo members in a raw format, basically it looks like this:
12. I then run that through an exe I wrote called structfixer.exe which takes a real struct, the old one for spawninfo, and inputs the new locations/realigns it, and pad the Unknowns, plus it keeps comments, and we end up with this: (1 sec)
13. Now I take that struct and paste it over the old one in eqdata.h (10 sec)
14. I now need to look up a couple of opcodes, namely EQ_BEGIN_ZONE and the END one, I suppose this could be automated, but it only takes me about a min to do it manually, and it would take me longer to automate a way to look them up, which is why I haven't gotten around to it.
Also, I like to do this part manually cause it helps me understand if there has been other changes as well since actually looking at the disassembly is very helpful in understanding whats new/removed/changed, (I can spend an hour or so just getting up to date with the new exes disassembly at this step, manually naming functions/familiarize myself with new structs/functions)
I feel that time is well spent, cause if u miss a couple patches, you will know what I mean, its hard to follow the flow, and will require you to spend so much more time in the future if you are not up to speed with whats done to different pieces of code in the exe.
15. There are also a few other things I need to look into like the chat history offset and so on, minor things but still takes a few mins (automate away this step if you like, but trust me, there are new things added quite often, so this is an ongoing task, you can create an autoupdater that works for one patch, and will be broken in the next...)
16. Ok, so at this point we can build and test, again, ingame is preferred even though Im always 99% certain it will work, I still like to go in game.
17. Update cvs, make a zip, make forum post, inform irc users, change irc topic (10 mins)
The above was only an example of what its like for ONE struct, but seriously, there are many others, for this September 13 patch, I had to correct multiple.
SpawnInfo, Contents, lootwindow, merchantwindow, mapwindow, tradewindow and a couple more I cant remember while typing this, but u can diff previous mq2 source with this sep 13 version and u will see which ones.
18. After all of the eqdata.h structs have been checked, The nightmare structs, the evil stepsisters of all structs, are still left to be done...
its the CXW and the CSW structs... I got this step mostly automated at this point, but I can tell you that when I did these the first time, it was an uphill battle.
I can easily spend an hour or two on the EQUIStructs.h alone, and Id be happy to see if anyone can do it faster, and in that case, please... teach me, no one would be happier than me to see all of that stuff being fully automated.
The manual work is pretty intense even if u get all structs corrected through automation (and I do have most of them, I add another one or so every other month, but it takes a few months since you only get one patch a month, to perfect them.) you still need to paste them into the source and build it, then do a live run...
If you really are going to reinvent the wheel on this one, be prepared to spend the next few months on it, finetuning your process every patchday until you have perfect automation, then watch your perfect automation become crap cause SOE made changes that you could not anticipate, and you will spend another few months on finetuning your process again
We are always looking for new devs that can carry some weight on patchday/support the ongoing efforts to get MQ2 out in a orderly and timely fashion, but don't be kidding yourself, its not an easy job and I don't believe there is a shortcut to success on this one, but im certainly open to any reasonable suggestions on how to improve the patchday process.
And just to be clear, much of this is automated already, it still takes time.
Really at this point, the only thing you can improve is the automation itself, there isn't much manual work left to automate, but Ill explain:
The initial step I guess could be automated as well, but for practical/lazy reasons I just do these manually:
1. I fire up IDA (10 sec)
2. Load in the new exe. (1 sec)
3. wait for it to finish analyzing, (on my laptop this can take 5-15 min depending on load/other things running.)
4. At this point I dump the xrefs with a super secret IDAscript (patchday.idc). (3-5 min)
5. I run my "eqoffsetextractor.exe" (just basically what patchday.exe does but with a couple personal modifications) on this dump comparing it to previous exe xref dump which outputs the new offsets. (5-10 min)
6. I run my structchecker.exe which basically tells me what structs has changed/their new sizes and a few offsets where they are located. (5 min)
7. I now have a list of stuff I need to do, i.e what structs has changed and needs correcting.
At this point some manual inspection is needed, due to the fact that patches ARE complicated, and I also believe SOE, has implemented opcode/struct regeneration code just to move struct members around on purpose, to delay MQ2 release after patches, so its not just "fighting" a compiler that always does stuff in a logical way, you are actually up against someone that ACTIVLY and intentionally code to obscure and delay you from realigning structs.
Let just get this out of the way, the offsets, are easy to deal with, THOOSE are 99% automated already, the time consuming stuff to deal with are the structures. So here goes:
8. I need to go to the addresses my checker has output, so for this exercise, lets just say the only struct that was changed was SpawnInfo
and BTW in 9 out of 10 patches SpawnInfo WILL change, I see a patch once a year or so, where its not changed, and on those rare occacions
the MQ2 release can be done after some testing in game (15-60 min) So unless you want to leave ALL the testing to the users, and spend the next day or so listening to complaints about some offset being wrong, Id say at a minimum to get a patch out, if u start on it the very second u get the exe its still 15 mins after servers are back up (since patch takes 3 hours we have plenty of time to check the offsets in the cold compile, but still I like to give it a few mins ingame as well just to make sure its all good and ready)
Anyway, Lets say spawnwinfo needs to be corrected, So the way I do that is:
9. I press g in ida and paste in the offset my structchecker has found for spawninfo.
10. I run a ida plugin that looks up the offsets in the struct from the previous patch and then it suggests where the new location is.
This is basically half automated, but still requires me to look at every single offset it suggests, cause I haven't figured out how
to automate this in a way where it can just read old struct, and output a new one automatically without any inspection at all from a human.
I suppose this is the point where you or someone smarter than me, can write a plugin that does that with 100% certainability(is that a real word?)
But for all intents and purposes, my plugin just jumps me to the locations in the struct it "thinks" are correct and I can then make a decision about
if it is good or not, and I click ok if I see its the right place, it then saves that location in the new struct, and moves on to the next structmember.
For SpawnInfo, I'd say that process, to do all the members, takes about 15-30 min or so, if they are all in the places we expect, and here is the conundrum,
IF they are not, I manually need to confirm the member and I look up functions that use the member in question, I pretty much know where to look due to experience over the years from fixing previous patches, and I suppose other devs have their own tricks/functions as well to look into when something is questionable.
When a manual inspection IS needed this process can easily take anywhere from a min to an hour, just for that eluding member...
This is especially true when new members have been added to the struct and my checker hasn't been configured to look them up yet...
11. I now have the offsets of all the spawninfo members in a raw format, basically it looks like this:
Rich (BB code):
vtable 0
pPrev 4
pNext 8
SpeedMultiplier 18
TimeStamp 30
Lastname 38
Y 64
X 68
SpeedY 70
SpeedX 74
SpeedZ 78
SpeedRun 7c
Heading 80
CameraAngle 90
FeetWet a1
Name a4
Type 125
UnknownHeight 13c
AvatarHeight2 140
Zone 438
Instance 43a
Z 6C
AvatarHeight 138
SpawnID 148
MasterID 1E4
HPMax 254
HPCurrent 1CC
GuildID 1F0
SpeedHeading 8C
Race eb8
Class 0EBC
Level 3A0
Sneak 52C
PvPFlag 21C
StandState 4D8
Light 271
RunSpeed 1C4
Linkdead 1AC
GM 215
LFG 3A8
BodyType 128
Anon 220
DisplayedName 0E4
AARank 2A0
GuildStatus 44C
Deity 444
Holding 418
Title 4D9
Suffix 450
LastTick 4CC
RespawnTimer 18C
UnderWater 94
GetMeleeRangeVar1 504
InnateETA 2D0
FishingETA 1FC
IsABoat 150
Mount 154
Rider 158
WhoFollowing 0E48
PetID 1DC
GroupAssistNPC 0E4C
RaidAssistNPC 0E50
GroupMarkNPC 0E5C
RaidMarkNPC 0E68
TargetOfTarget 0E74
CastingData 470
FishingEvent 264
Trader 1C8
Buyer 440
Mercenary 4D0
pcactorex 1020
InNonPCRaceIllusion 0EAC
Equipment 0F34
FaceStyle 0EB0
Gender 0EBD
FaceRelatedActorStruct 1028
HairStyle 0EB5
HairColor 0EB1
FacialHair 0EB6
FacialHairColor 0EB2
EyeColor1 eb3
EyeColor2 eb4
ArmorColor 0F00
pActorClient 0EA8
Heritage 0F28
Tattoo 0F2C
Details 0F30
ActorDef 0EBE
Animation 10C8
HideCorpse 11D4
WalkSpeed 11D0
InvitedToGroup 1218
GroupMemberTargeted 121C
Fellowship 13A0
CampfireY 1D84
CampfireX 1d88
CampfireZ 1d8c
CampfireZoneID 1d90
InstanceID 1d92
pSpawn 1EC8
Levitate 1ECC
ManaMax 318
ManaCurrent 448
EnduranceMax 42C
EnduranceCurrent 260
AFK 43C
HideMode 190
GetMeleeRangeVar2 1060
CampfireTimestamp 1D94
Campfire 1DA0
vtable2 1EC0
Rich (BB code):
// actual size is 0x1F18 in Sep 13 2013 version of eqgame.exe (59A998)- eqmule
typedef struct _SPAWNINFO {
/*0x0000*/ void* vtable;
/*0x0004*/ struct _SPAWNINFO* pPrev;
/*0x0008*/ struct _SPAWNINFO* pNext;
/*0x000c*/ BYTE Unknown0x000c[0xc];
/*0x0018*/ FLOAT SpeedMultiplier;
/*0x001c*/ BYTE Unknown0x001c[0x14];
/*0x0030*/ DWORD TimeStamp;
/*0x0034*/ BYTE Unknown0x0034[0x4];
/*0x0038*/ CHAR Lastname[0x20];
/*0x0058*/ BYTE Unknown0x0058[0xc];
/*0x0064*/ FLOAT Y;
/*0x0068*/ FLOAT X;
/*0x006c*/ FLOAT Z;
/*0x0070*/ FLOAT SpeedY;
/*0x0074*/ FLOAT SpeedX;
/*0x0078*/ FLOAT SpeedZ;
/*0x007c*/ FLOAT SpeedRun;
/*0x0080*/ FLOAT Heading;
/*0x0084*/ BYTE Unknown0x0084[0x8];
/*0x008c*/ FLOAT SpeedHeading;
/*0x0090*/ FLOAT CameraAngle;
/*0x0094*/ BYTE UnderWater;
/*0x0095*/ BYTE Unknown0x0095[0xc];
/*0x00a1*/ BYTE FeetWet;
/*0x00a2*/ BYTE Unknown0x00a2[0x2];
/*0x00a4*/ CHAR Name[0x40]; // ie priest_of_discord00
/*0x00e4*/ CHAR DisplayedName[0x40]; // ie Priest of Discord
/*0x0124*/ BYTE Unknown0x0124;
/*0x0125*/ BYTE Type;
/*0x0126*/ BYTE Unknown0x0126[0x2];
/*0x0128*/ DWORD** BodyType;
/*0x012c*/ BYTE Unknown0x012c[0xc];
/*0x0138*/ FLOAT AvatarHeight; // height of avatar from groundwhen standing
/*0x013c*/ FLOAT UnknownHeight;
/*0x0140*/ FLOAT AvatarHeight2; // height of avatar from groundwhen crouched/sitting
/*0x0144*/ BYTE Unknown0x0144[0x4];
/*0x0148*/ DWORD SpawnID;
/*0x014c*/ BYTE Unknown0x014c[0x4];
/*0x0150*/ DWORD IsABoat; // 1 = a type of boat
/*0x0154*/ struct _SPAWNINFO* Mount; // NULL if no mount present
/*0x0158*/ struct _SPAWNINFO* Rider; // _SPAWNINFO of mount's rider
/*0x015c*/ BYTE Unknown0x015c[0x30];
/*0x018c*/ DWORD RespawnTimer; // TimeStamp of when RespawnWnd will close - 0 when you're alive
/*0x0190*/ BYTE HideMode;
/*0x0191*/ BYTE Unknown0x0191[0x1b];
/*0x01ac*/ BYTE Linkdead;
/*0x01ad*/ BYTE Unknown0x01ad[0x17];
/*0x01c4*/ FLOAT RunSpeed;//0.70 on runspeed 5...
/*0x01c8*/ DWORD Trader;//found in CEverQuest__RightClickedOnPlayer_x
/*0x01cc*/ LONG HPCurrent;
/*0x01d0*/ BYTE Unknown0x01d0[0xc];
/*0x01dc*/ DWORD PetID;
/*0x01e0*/ BYTE Unknown0x01e0[0x4];
/*0x01e4*/ DWORD MasterID;
/*0x01e8*/ BYTE Unknown0x01e8[0x8];
/*0x01f0*/ DWORD GuildID;
/*0x01f4*/ BYTE Unknown0x01f4[0x8];
/*0x01fc*/ DWORD FishingETA;
/*0x0200*/ BYTE Unknown0x0200[0x15];
/*0x0215*/ BYTE GM;
/*0x0216*/ BYTE Unknown0x0216[0x6];
/*0x021c*/ BYTE PvPFlag;
/*0x021d*/ BYTE Unknown0x021d[0x3];
/*0x0220*/ DWORD Anon;//found in EQPlayer__SetNameSpriteTint_x
/*0x0224*/ BYTE Unknown0x0224[0x30];
/*0x0254*/ DWORD HPMax;
/*0x0258*/ BYTE Unknown0x0258[0x8];
/*0x0260*/ DWORD EnduranceCurrent;
/*0x0264*/ BYTE FishingEvent;
/*0x0265*/ BYTE Unknown0x0265[0xc];
/*0x0271*/ BYTE Light;
/*0x0272*/ BYTE Unknown0x0272[0x2e];
/*0x02a0*/ DWORD AARank;
/*0x02a4*/ BYTE Unknown0x02a4[0x2c];
/*0x02d0*/ DWORD InnateETA; //Calculated TimeStamp when innate skill will be ready (LoH, HT, Bash)
/*0x02d4*/ BYTE Unknown0x02d4[0x44];
/*0x0318*/ DWORD ManaMax;
/*0x031c*/ BYTE Unknown0x031c[0x84];
/*0x03a0*/ BYTE Level;
/*0x03a1*/ BYTE Unknown0x03a1[0x7];
/*0x03a8*/ BYTE LFG;
/*0x03a9*/ BYTE Unknown0x03a9[0x6f];
/*0x0418*/ BYTE Holding;
/*0x0419*/ BYTE Unknown0x0419[0x13];
/*0x042c*/ DWORD EnduranceMax;
/*0x0430*/ BYTE Unknown0x0430[0x8];
/*0x0438*/ WORD Zone;
/*0x043a*/ WORD Instance;
/*0x043c*/ DWORD AFK;
/*0x0440*/ DWORD Buyer;
/*0x0444*/ DWORD Deity;
/*0x0448*/ DWORD ManaCurrent;
/*0x044c*/ DWORD GuildStatus;
/*0x0450*/ CHAR Suffix[0x20];
/*0x0470*/ struct _LAUNCHSPELLDATA CastingData; // size: 0x50
/*0x04c0*/ BYTE Unknown0x04c0[0xc];
/*0x04cc*/ DWORD LastTick;
/*0x04d0*/ BYTE Mercenary;
/*0x04d1*/ BYTE Unknown0x04d1[0x7];
/*0x04d8*/ BYTE StandState;
/*0x04d9*/ CHAR Title[0x20];
/*0x04f9*/ BYTE Unknown0x04f9[0xb];
/*0x0504*/ FLOAT GetMeleeRangeVar1; // used by GetMeleeRange
/*0x0508*/ BYTE Unknown0x0508[0x24];
/*0x052c*/ BYTE Sneak;
/*0x052d*/ BYTE Unknown0x052d[0x91b];
/*0x0e48*/ struct _SPAWNINFO* WhoFollowing; // NULL if autofollow off
/*0x0e4c*/ int GroupAssistNPC[0x1];
/*0x0e50*/ int RaidAssistNPC[0x3];
/*0x0e5c*/ int GroupMarkNPC[0x3];
/*0x0e68*/ int RaidMarkNPC[0x3];
/*0x0e74*/ int TargetOfTarget;
/*0x0e78*/ BYTE Unknown0x0e78[0x30];
/*0x0ea8*/ void* pActorClient; // start of ActorClient struct
/*0x0eac*/ BYTE InNonPCRaceIllusion;
/*0x0ead*/ BYTE Unknown0x0ead[0x3];
/*0x0eb0*/ BYTE FaceStyle;
/*0x0eb1*/ BYTE HairColor;
/*0x0eb2*/ BYTE FacialHairColor;
/*0x0eb3*/ BYTE EyeColor1;
/*0x0eb4*/ BYTE EyeColor2;
/*0x0eb5*/ BYTE HairStyle;
/*0x0eb6*/ BYTE FacialHair;
/*0x0eb7*/ BYTE Unknown0x0eb7;
/*0x0eb8*/ DWORD Race;
/*0x0ebc*/ BYTE Class;
/*0x0ebd*/ BYTE Gender;
/*0x0ebe*/ CHAR ActorDef[0x40];
/*0x0efe*/ BYTE Unknown0x0efe[0x2];
/*0x0f00*/ ARGBCOLOR ArmorColor[0x9];
/*0x0f24*/ BYTE Unknown0x0f24[0x4];
/*0x0f28*/ DWORD Heritage; //drakkin only face setting
/*0x0f2c*/ DWORD Tattoo; //drakkin only face setting
/*0x0f30*/ DWORD Details; //drakkin only face setting
/*0x0f34*/ struct _EQUIPMENT Equipment; // size 0xb4
/*0x0fe8*/ BYTE Unknown0x0fe8[0x38];
/*0x1020*/ VOID* pcactorex; // ActorInterface*
/*0x1024*/ BYTE Unknown0x1024[0x4];
/*0x1028*/ VOID* FaceRelatedActorStruct;
/*0x102c*/ BYTE Unknown0x102c[0x34];
/*0x1060*/ FLOAT GetMeleeRangeVar2; // used by GetMeleeRange
/*0x1064*/ BYTE Unknown0x1064[0x64];
/*0x10c8*/ DWORD Animation;
/*0x10cc*/ BYTE Unknown0x10cc[0x104];
/*0x11d0*/ FLOAT WalkSpeed;
/*0x11d4*/ DWORD HideCorpse;
/*0x11d8*/ BYTE Unknown0x11d8[0x40];
/*0x1218*/ BYTE InvitedToGroup;
/*0x1219*/ BYTE Unknown0x1219[0x3];
/*0x121c*/ DWORD GroupMemberTargeted; // 0xFFFFFFFF if no target, else 1 through 5
/*0x1220*/ BYTE Unknown0x1220[0x180];
/*0x13a0*/ struct _FELLOWSHIPINFO Fellowship; // size 0x9e4
/*0x1d84*/ FLOAT CampfireY;
/*0x1d88*/ FLOAT CampfireX;
/*0x1d8c*/ FLOAT CampfireZ;
/*0x1d90*/ WORD CampfireZoneID; // zone ID where campfire is
/*0x1d92*/ WORD InstanceID;
/*0x1d94*/ DWORD CampfireTimestamp; // CampfireTimestamp-FastTime()=time left on campfire
/*0x1d98*/ BYTE Unknown0x1d98[0x8];
/*0x1da0*/ DWORD Campfire; // do we have a campfire up?
/*0x1da4*/ BYTE Unknown0x1da4[0x11c];
/*0x1ec0*/ void* vtable2;
/*0x1ec4*/ BYTE Unknown0x1ec4[0x4];
/*0x1ec8*/ struct _SPAWNINFO* pSpawn;
/*0x1ecc*/ DWORD Levitate;
/*0x1ec8*/ BYTE Unknown0x1ec8[0x50];
/*0x1f18*/
} SPAWNINFO, *PSPAWNINFO;13. Now I take that struct and paste it over the old one in eqdata.h (10 sec)
14. I now need to look up a couple of opcodes, namely EQ_BEGIN_ZONE and the END one, I suppose this could be automated, but it only takes me about a min to do it manually, and it would take me longer to automate a way to look them up, which is why I haven't gotten around to it.
Also, I like to do this part manually cause it helps me understand if there has been other changes as well since actually looking at the disassembly is very helpful in understanding whats new/removed/changed, (I can spend an hour or so just getting up to date with the new exes disassembly at this step, manually naming functions/familiarize myself with new structs/functions)
I feel that time is well spent, cause if u miss a couple patches, you will know what I mean, its hard to follow the flow, and will require you to spend so much more time in the future if you are not up to speed with whats done to different pieces of code in the exe.
15. There are also a few other things I need to look into like the chat history offset and so on, minor things but still takes a few mins (automate away this step if you like, but trust me, there are new things added quite often, so this is an ongoing task, you can create an autoupdater that works for one patch, and will be broken in the next...)
16. Ok, so at this point we can build and test, again, ingame is preferred even though Im always 99% certain it will work, I still like to go in game.
17. Update cvs, make a zip, make forum post, inform irc users, change irc topic (10 mins)
The above was only an example of what its like for ONE struct, but seriously, there are many others, for this September 13 patch, I had to correct multiple.
SpawnInfo, Contents, lootwindow, merchantwindow, mapwindow, tradewindow and a couple more I cant remember while typing this, but u can diff previous mq2 source with this sep 13 version and u will see which ones.
18. After all of the eqdata.h structs have been checked, The nightmare structs, the evil stepsisters of all structs, are still left to be done...
its the CXW and the CSW structs... I got this step mostly automated at this point, but I can tell you that when I did these the first time, it was an uphill battle.
I can easily spend an hour or two on the EQUIStructs.h alone, and Id be happy to see if anyone can do it faster, and in that case, please... teach me, no one would be happier than me to see all of that stuff being fully automated.
The manual work is pretty intense even if u get all structs corrected through automation (and I do have most of them, I add another one or so every other month, but it takes a few months since you only get one patch a month, to perfect them.) you still need to paste them into the source and build it, then do a live run...
If you really are going to reinvent the wheel on this one, be prepared to spend the next few months on it, finetuning your process every patchday until you have perfect automation, then watch your perfect automation become crap cause SOE made changes that you could not anticipate, and you will spend another few months on finetuning your process again
We are always looking for new devs that can carry some weight on patchday/support the ongoing efforts to get MQ2 out in a orderly and timely fashion, but don't be kidding yourself, its not an easy job and I don't believe there is a shortcut to success on this one, but im certainly open to any reasonable suggestions on how to improve the patchday process.
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First of, thanks for the very detailed process, should get me going smoothly what i will do is try to do this fully manually once to make sure i understand all of what is involved and get back to you if i make any interesting progress.
Don't worry i didn't expect that it was trivial at all, i still think it would be interesting to see if we can expand to a higher level tool (encompass all those sub process in 1 automation tool, including automated QA and also maybe have a higher level view of some of the subtasks to make them more patch resistant).
I will probably come back to ask for some links to some of the Tools you mention if i can't find them.
Paypaling you some cash toward your expantion purchase as thanks for the lenghty post
what i will do is try to do this fully manually once to make sure i understand all of what is involved and get back to you if i make any interesting progress.Don't worry i didn't expect that it was trivial at all, i still think it would be interesting to see if we can expand to a higher level tool (encompass all those sub process in 1 automation tool, including automated QA and also maybe have a higher level view of some of the subtasks to make them more patch resistant).
I will probably come back to ask for some links to some of the Tools you mention if i can't find them.
Paypaling you some cash toward your expantion purchase as thanks for the lenghty post
You could be a professional programmer and work 16 hour days for 365 days a year for 40 years and never develop the skills required to fully understand MQ2. Why? Because the hard work in MQ2 is reverse engineering. The vast majority of programmers don't have the first idea what goes into this, because the industry does not value this. I believe that you are a programmer, and possibly even good (I have no way of knowing this, but it's entirely probable). However, how often at your job do you have to use IDA, look at assembly, or even just simply have to find offsets while no one has told you anything about how they programmed something? What professional programmers see as "reverse engineering" is simply being given a piece of code from someone else and trying to figure out what it does without comments. Now try to get an executable from a company that specifically uses processes to obfuscate through the compiler, disassemble it, and try to figure out what's going on in the entire program. It's not easy, and not very automatable. eqmule... I wish I had your skills in RE, I've only really done packet reversing and a little of IDA/ReClass work. I'm still looking for those telltale functions in the executable that will help me fill out those UI structs....
You don't need to do any of that, just reading eqmule's post shows it. You surely need to do that to DEV mq2 to begin with, eons ago, but that work is done, you just need to figure out what changes & map to it accordingly.
& the Professional programmer part wasn't about that, it was just about all the "you can't because i kinda know some C++ & i can't". Honestly even redoing MQ2 wouldn't be that hard, but that would take a loooooong while
It all really depends on the person, personally, I am decent at top down programming from scratch or debugging code. I'm just not very good with what is being talked about in this thread. Possibly if I invested many man hours, I could become decent, and in a few years might develop the skills and knowledge to do what the mq2 devs do, but I doubt it. There is just some folks that get it, and some that don't. I personally just don't see myself ever getting there. I wish you well rk1, but I just wanted to let you know what you are attempting to do is very difficult and you will probably become discouraged.
As for eqmule, you sir are my favorite mq2 dev. I highly doubt ieatacid or dkaa would ever of taken the time to post such a descriptive post. Love all you guys, but ieatacid and dkaa are know to point and laugh at folks that ask what they consider an idiotic question. Although, in recent years they have become less brash and a bit more tactful. Anyhow good luck guys!
Paypal coming your way eqmule as soon as I get credit for my Samsung Galaxy SIII I just sent into Gazelle.
As for eqmule, you sir are my favorite mq2 dev. I highly doubt ieatacid or dkaa would ever of taken the time to post such a descriptive post. Love all you guys, but ieatacid and dkaa are know to point and laugh at folks that ask what they consider an idiotic question. Although, in recent years they have become less brash and a bit more tactful. Anyhow good luck guys!
Paypal coming your way eqmule as soon as I get credit for my Samsung Galaxy SIII I just sent into Gazelle.
You don't need to do any of that, just reading eqmule's post shows it. You surely need to do that to DEV mq2 to begin with, eons ago, but that work is done, you just need to figure out what changes & map to it accordingly.
& the Professional programmer part wasn't about that, it was just about all the "you can't because i kinda know some C++ & i can't". Honestly even redoing MQ2 wouldn't be that hard, but that would take a loooooong while
Read the post, you definitely do need those skills. Step 1 is fire up IDA after all...
And he specifically says that it requires manual inspection, which is exactly what I'm talking about. Manual inspection of assembly. Granted, the forms are familiar to a lot of people, so you can figure out what to look for, but it's not top down programming at all. The only top-down programming that goes into MQ2 now is new plugin development and feature additions, which is not what this thread is about. This is reverse engineering still, and is not something the vast majority of programmers would have experience with. Let me ask you, how many times do you need to use IDA in your job? How many times are you given an executable and asked to find structs? I would wager not often, if ever. (If you do need to use RE tools, then you have a very non-traditional programmer job). That is exactly what you have to do on patch days. If you can automate that process, more power to you, but I don't think it's quite as simple as you imagine.
Why are you arguing with him? If he wants to try that's fantastic. No one is going to wade in with a 5 min update but anyone that can contribute and wants to should be encouraged. Eqmule took the time to write that fantastic post about how he does it. Something no other dev has written EVER that I can remember. No reason to give the guy the third degree. Either he can or can't do it. So please lets tone it down a little and hope this thread produces a faster way to update MQ2.
I was kinda enjoying the banter so far, also some opposition is usually a good thing, at least for me personally, if someone says "it can't be done" I'll make darn sure ill do it or die trying haha. So don't feel bad guys, you are using the forum for debate and I think that's great! Been refreshing all day to follow the discussion
btw rk1 i wasn't trying to put you down or say it can't be done... (well the 2 min part absolutly can't... but that asside) i'm just trying to give you a fair warning on how much work eqmule, ieatacid, dkaa, and the other devs at mq2 have put into every patch...
your best bet after doing everything on that post and updating your own patch is to go to their site and check out their forums.... including the vip forums... i have monitored those since i started using mq2 and thats how i learned so much... gl to ya and hope you can help them with all their work...
your best bet after doing everything on that post and updating your own patch is to go to their site and check out their forums.... including the vip forums... i have monitored those since i started using mq2 and thats how i learned so much... gl to ya and hope you can help them with all their work...
What forums? (are you talking about the official MQ2 forums or are there other forums i don't know of? link welcome!
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