Updating for "Update"

[lyravega]

A short guide for mod authors, about which files to update after a game update has been released.

 

Resources & Tools:

-Notepad++

-Npp Compare Plug-in (grab via Plug-in Manager or from here)

-HashMyFiles

-Previous "Data0.pak"

 

So, what now?

If you are going to mod seriously, be sure to keep the older files around, to see the changes easily. For this, we'll need 2 tools; the Compare Plug-in for Npp, and a free tool called HashMyFiles. The usage of HashMyFiles is very easy; you can just simply drag and drop two files, and see if they do match or not. Doing this with Npp, for every file is both tiresome, and a waste of time.

 

Lets say, we have a mod that modifies 20 vanilla files. What you need to do is, find these files on both the old and the new, vanilla "Data0.pak"s, and drag&drop them to the HashMyFiles tool. If the two files match, those files will have their row colors changed. What we seek is any files that do not match.

 

 

In the example above, we can see that 2 files do not match; which means the update has altered these files. Now that we've refined the results, launch Npp, open all mismatching files, and compare them to each other. Any changes will be very easy to spot. You can bookmark the change locations, close the old files, open your own ones, and mirror the changes with ease, and without having to go through every file one by one.

 

In short, easiest way to spot a changed file is to compare their hashes. I hope this will come in handy someday as it's not for just modding DL; it is (or rather, should be) a general knowledge about computers.

 

PS: I have great respect for the man behind the freeware tool, HashMyFiles. For years, Nir Sofer has been making many freeware tools, and you may find something very useful in his website!

Edited June 2, 2015 by lyravega

[Damaein]

Much appreciated