Forcing game to load from DefaultGameCore.ini

[Amineri]

I've been using this change since I found it, and haven't noticed any issues (well, except that some of my loading screens are much longer than before, but I don't know if that's due to this change or having the developer console turned on, or some other experimental mod that I've made).

 

Having this available via an installer would be really nice. I have some ideas that I'd like to work on that would require a much larger DGC.ini file than is supported in the Resource Cache (for whatever reason).

 

The main things now are:

 

1) Reworking the alien dynamic stat progression system to allow for unlimited numbers of increases (instead of 2) so that the increases can be smaller and smoother

2) Also reworking the alien dynamic stat progression system to add in stat changes based on difficulty for all four difficulty settings

3) Storing alien perks and stats for use in "leveling" up alien pod leaders -- effectively each alien species would be configurable as a "class" with different perk options and stat progressions

 

The current new-item modlet has consumed basically all of the available space that can be used in the Resource Cache DGC.ini, so these will remain on the back-burner until some kind of workaround is found.

[johnnylump]

For what it's worth, I actually noticed my loading screens really get longer about the time we started including changes to command1.upk in the game.

 

But yet, an installer capable of the changes to xcomgame.exe is sorely needed.

[Yzaxtol]

I've noticed the Warspace Uninstaller increasing the load-time so much that my Skyranger Audio used to lose sound for 5 seconds then re-loop... twice! with every attempt at getting back into the Strategy UI.

[johnnylump]

I have the same with the Skyranger audio. Again, seemed to start when we began with actionscript mods.

[Yzaxtol]

I don't have that problem at the moment, A full re-install sorted it out for me and I never bother to un-install my mods anymore just over install them over and over again.

[deus0ww]

The offset for the Mac (Mac App Store version) is around 1BD58D0. Use UTF-32 (Little Endian) encoding. Search for "72 00 00 00 65 00 00 00 2E 00 00 00 69 00 00 00 6E 00 00 00 69 00 00 00" (which is "re.ini" in UTF32LE).

 

From my limited testing, it does seem to be reading/using DefaultGameCore.ini in Contents/Resources/Data/XComGame/Config/...

 

Note that you may need to re-code-sign the app after hexediting. This may not be necessary on a non-MAS version but I don't have a copy to check.

[johnnylump]

So it appears the very long load times for the strategy game are a result of forcing the load of either the ini file or the upks, in line with Yzaxtol's finding as well. So this is a clear downside to using this method instead of modpatch / xshaping mods into the exe directly.

[Yzaxtol]

I've noticed occasionally getting insanely long load times for the strategy game well before this new alternative to the modpatcher, I haven't tried the .upk thing from Toolboks.

 

And ever since I stopped using the the Warspace Uninstaller my load times haven't increased anymore to those insane levels. (The Skyranger audio used to loop twice before loading the strategy game)

[Amineri]

I was experiencing really really long load times too (both when loading a save game in the strategy layer and when returning from a tactical mission).

 

However, I'd never run any version of the un-installer. When I want to revert back to a different version I delete modded files and use the Steam Verify Local Files option, then install fresh on top of that.

 

Since my last revert and install of the Long War 1.9 beta these issues seem to have cleared up. Possible things I had done that might have been contributing:

1) Had modded the exe to turn the developer console on

2) Had modded the exe to disable the SHA hash checks

3) Had modded the exe to force the DGC.ini to load from file

 

Not sure how each of these interact with each other, if it just one of them causing the issue, or if they all interact somehow.

[Zybertryx]

Oh! My load times are insane! And seem to be creeping ever longer. Especially the bink clip of the back end of the Skyranger when going from tactical to strategy - I also get audio breaks there, driving me nuts (takes like 40+ seconds which in gamerland is eternity). I was about ready to reformat thinking my PC was a bit ill.

 

So, this is likely because I used LW 1.08 uninstaller way back when, then after figuring out which files it altered and overwriting them manual style while using Toolboks to 'hack*' the exe - the skip hash thingy tick box - I've been suffering from that initial uninstaller issue ever since? I still use modpatcher to update my DGC changes pretty much daily (I'm rebalancing the economy atm).

 

I should clean slate via the Steam method and throw my work back in manually to see if that resolves it.

 

* Disclaimer: My lexicon is fundamentally non-technical. That's gamer speak for "that-thing-that-the-old-school-used-to-have-to-XSHAPE-but-now-Toolboks-auto-does-it-for-you-kinda-thing"