The flamer's "Torch" and other "new" abilities

[PepprmintButler]

The issue is not finding what to write, it's finding where to write it. Namely find the byte corresponding to "false" to put "true" instead. I was expecting a 27, but there's none. I can't find the "=" either - there should be a byte repeating 3 times that would be it (as you can see the == equivalent 9A does not appear either). 4A and 55 are candidates.Will toy and report back.

[PepprmintButler]

Since I'm achieving precisely nothing with Xcomdamagetype_Areaburn (for some reason I can't seem to change a thing), let's take another approach.

 

Look what is sitting at the top of XcomDamagetype, looking pretty :

static function bool CausesSurroundingAreaDamage(class<DamageType> inDamageType)
{
// End:0x32 Loop:False
if(inDamageType == class'XComDamageType_AreaBurn' || (inDamageType == class'XComDamageType_Flame'))
{
	return false;
}
return true;
}

 

That does seem manageable. Let's find some way to have that loop not return false and we're in business. (bonus : Flame will do damage too now !)

 

EDIT : I realize it's something different now. "surrounding area damage" ? That sounds like something we would want fire to do, but then the other damage types should not.

Ideally we should modify both codes and we might get some nice, hurty fires.

 

EDIT2 : changed the operators in the above code, should return true for the the flame & area, but no visible change. I am dissapoint. Back to trying to find change the true/false in the class above...

 

EDIT3 : in the function, if I change a 28 to a 27 a false becomes a true. So that's what I should be looking for in the class. And yet there's no 28 in the class where I tehre clearly should be (bDamageUnits=false). Is the bytecode different for classes !?

Edited October 29, 2012 by PepprmintButler

[PepprmintButler]

OK, what the hell is this sorcery ?? I know it's Halloween, but still, creepy...

 

class XComDamageType_AreaBurn extends XComDamageType_Flame
hidecategories(Object)
native(Weapon);

defaultproperties
{
bDamageUnits=false
DamagedFFWaveform=ForceFeedbackWaveform0
KilledFFWaveform=ForceFeedbackWaveform1
}

 

is supposed to correspond to that :

 

60 4A 00 00 00 00 00 00 4D 4A 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 92 00 00 08 92 FE FF FF 32 55 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 B8 55 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 07 00 00 00 57 65 61 70 6F 6E 00 32 55 00 00 00 00 00 00 52 4A 00 00 

 

The 57 65 61 70 6F 6E is actually the character string Weapon, which gets modified if I touch those bytes, so I know I have the right bits.

 

Yet...

I can kill most of the byte code and see no change whatsoever in the result read in UE Explorer ??

I probably tried changing every single byte in that code, yet the only effects I get to defaultproperties{} is to make that function disappear completely. Else it stays with the exact same content, which seems to be located in like 2 bytes ??

This makes absolutely no sense to me.

 

Is Defaultproperties actually a callout to data stored somewhere else ? But there is no xcomdamagetype_areaburn folder in the unpacked upk...

 

Sometimes I really wish I knew what I was doing *sigh*

Edited October 29, 2012 by PepprmintButler

[fys]

I love the Aim ability!

I’ve given it to all weapons including alien ones. No more 20% spray & pray at beginning. The aliens use this ability too sometimes, although the AI still seem to favor Overwatch.

Not sure yet if the Aim bonus is also still valid for an Overwatch action taken on the next turn.

 

The flamer ability looks very intriguing indeed. Too bad it doesn’t damage yet, and creating new weapons doesn’t seem to be that easily. I hope someone gets it to work someday.

[Perraine]

Maybe have a look at the Thin Man's Poison Cloud as a reference? That has an AOE and a DOT effect , apart from the colour (green vs red/orange) it should be almost identical to an "on fire/burning" type of damage effect

[fys]

Maybe have a look at the Thin Man's Poison Cloud as a reference? That has an AOE and a DOT effect , apart from the colour (green vs red/orange) it should be almost identical to an "on fire/burning" type of damage effect

I've noticed that the range of some abilities/weapons seem to be coded elsewhere, like pistols always having max (sight) range no matter what you set in DefaultGameCore. Similar behaves the plague ability of the Thin Man. I haven't tested this Torch ability yet but its mentioned unlimited range could use the same "in sight range" code. Adopting some properties from grenades didn't help with the plague ability to reduce it to a proper spitting range.

[szkkteam11]

Can somebody help me with upk modding? I've tried it that ways, first decompress the upks, then unpack it, but i noticed sometimes, it's forget to unpack some items, and the unpacked folder's size dosen't the same. After i repacked the whole upk, then used the XSHAPE the game crashed on startup. I've checked the repacked upk file and i noticed a lot of thing is missing, especially the modified zoom function (which let me to zoom more in the battlefield) so i not wonder why the game crashed, who knows, what else are missing too.

 

Why the unpacker and maybe the packer too, left out items? (i use the upkpacker_v122) What type of repacker and unpacker do you use? How is the fastest to try out new modifications in the upks? I mean, i can open with hexeditor the decompressed upk, but in that i can't find anything it's a totally wall of hex. But in this way i could miss the unpacking and repacking.

 

Sorry for my english i'm just learning it, and it's a little too late in my country :)

Edited October 29, 2012 by szkkteam11

[BanjoOz]

What type of repacker and unpacker do you use? How is the fastest to try out new modifications in the upks? I mean, i can open with hexeditor the decompressed upk, but in that i can't find anything it's a totally wall of hex. But in this way i could miss the unpacking and repacking.

I'm no expert, but I made these VERY rough batch files to make unpacking, editing and repacking upk files faster (use the "step by step" ones so you can edit what you want and see that everything is working each step):

LINK

 

Alternatively, the first time I hex edited the XComGame.upk (since it's so huge), I opened the Function file I wanted to edit first (I use HxD) and then opened the XComGame.upk and searched it for the "chunk" of hex code that was in the function file... so I could know what I was editing more easily.

 

Sometimes I really wish I knew what I was doing *sigh*

This for me, too. I'm totally lost with that class file too (seems the code is totally different for classes). :(

Edited October 30, 2012 by banjo_oz

[Gazzzz]

Since I consider "take your time to shoot" a pretty basic training, I thus don't mind letting everyone (or everyone with rifles, for example) use it. :)

Making Aim a clickable ability would be a bad implementation.

 

What you could do instead is add +10 aim to every shot that consumes 2 actions.

That would prevent abuse by double tap or bullet swarm because characters with those abilities already get a 100% bonus. =)

[BanjoOz]

Since I consider "take your time to shoot" a pretty basic training, I thus don't mind letting everyone (or everyone with rifles, for example) use it. :)

Making Aim a clickable ability would be a bad implementation.

 

What you could do instead is add +10 aim to every shot that consumes 2 actions.

That would prevent abuse by double tap or bullet swarm because characters with those abilities already get a 100% bonus. =)

While I would personally prefer +10 to +20 (seems a little overpowered to me) and would rather a system of "no move = accuracy bonus", that's sadly not how 'Aim' (already in the game, just not used) works. It works exactly as a clickable ability that sacrifices that turn for a hit bonus next turn (effectively "storing up" two lesser shots for one good aimed one).

 

It's not really that overpowered IMO as an ability, since it costs a whole turn to use, and I'd want to see it given to aliens too (as long as they'd use it, not tested yet).