Changing spell particle effects

[August]

Aye well - Nilbog if you're out there, I am willing to work on it. I do need access to actual source and not just the executables, of course.

For that matter, I'm really open to working on the project as a dev in general. I spend half my time at work on these forums / browsing the internet and would love a side project that keeps me coding.

[Furinex]

I took the time to write up a full explination of my methods on fixing this, Here. Any help on this project would be appreciated, as it is a lot of work.

[azxten]

Originally Posted by August [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Aye well - Nilbog if you're out there, I am willing to work on it. I do need access to actual source and not just the executables, of course.

For that matter, I'm really open to working on the project as a dev in general. I spend half my time at work on these forums / browsing the internet and would love a side project that keeps me coding.

There is no source code that has anything to do with these effects.

Yes, this is black box reverse engineering. Good luck trying to figure out where these files are being referenced.

The .dds image files in SpellEffects folder are DirectDraw surfaces which implies they are being passed as an argument to a DirectX particle emitter function. However, the .edd file has no reference I can find.

In my opinion this means the file is a custom format that is read in by a custom function which passes data to the DirectX particle emitter functions.

[August]

Originally Posted by azxten [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

There is no source code that has anything to do with these effects.

Yes, this is black box reverse engineering. Good luck trying to figure out where these files are being referenced.

The .dds image files in SpellEffects folder are DirectDraw surfaces which implies they are being passed as an argument to a DirectX particle emitter function. However, the .edd file has no reference I can find.

In my opinion this means the file is a custom format that is read in by a custom function which passes data to the DirectX particle emitter functions.

Why would it be difficult to determine where these are being referenced? What method is passing in the data to the DirectX particle emitter function. Is the DirectX particle emitter function well-defined? Are there references? How did the original EQ devs know how to create the DD surfaces? We should be able to locate calls into directx. We then should be able to see how these files are deserialized, or find the entry point into the DirectX method call and see what gets passed in as a parameter. If it's just the DDS surface, then we should be able to look up the member definition of that DX interface and understand the serialization format. If it's passing actual parameters, then our custom function is defined in source and we should be able to tell what we're pulling from the files.

In either case we own the code that deserializes or we know which method is decoding the files - and that method, if DirectX, is public domain.

[azxten]

Originally Posted by August [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Why would it be difficult to determine where these are being referenced? What method is passing in the data to the DirectX particle emitter function. Is the DirectX particle emitter function well-defined? Are there references? How did the original EQ devs know how to create the DD surfaces? We should be able to locate calls into directx. We then should be able to see how these files are deserialized, or find the entry point into the DirectX method call and see what gets passed in as a parameter. If it's just the DDS surface, then we should be able to look up the member definition of that DX interface and understand the serialization format. If it's passing actual parameters, then our custom function is defined in source and we should be able to tell what we're pulling from the files.

In either case we own the code that deserializes or we know which method is decoding the files - and that method, if DirectX, is public domain.

Its not really difficult, just very time consuming. Go do it. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[August]

Like I said - I am more than willing. I have some expertise in this exact area, so somewhat exciting just to be able to contribute. I just need source access.

[Furinex]

Originally Posted by August [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Like I said - I am more than willing. I have some expertise in this exact area, so somewhat exciting just to be able to contribute. I just need source access.

August, I guess what we're confused about is... what source? No one here can give you anything you already dont have access too. We're all using the same files out of the EQT/p99 directory. Have at it!

Azxten, You see your PM?

[August]

I think I get the confusion, now.

Source refers to the actual lines of code that create the eqgame.exe and .dll files. For the modifications that have been made to this game, I am assuming that we have in our possession for this server the actual C++ code and headers that accompany it. I know at some point the PEQ stuff was leaked on a torrent and I downloaded it then.

Your EQ Install folder has only the object files that are created after compilation. As such, you are forced to do black-box modifications to those files. With only these objects you have literally no options besides opening hex editors and marking files.

Furthermore, when you edit these files there's usually a checksum that accompanies them that will check for modifcations - mainly corruptions. that will prevent them from loading - it's risky business. The kind of access I would require would be to see the true source directory and dive into the code to see where these things get parsed.

If that's not possible, Furinex, then what you are doing is the best hope we have.

Cheerio!

August

[Furinex]

Well, maybe Nilbog can help with this. I know he has a vested interest in this project, as its been a thorn in this server's side for some time. Honestly, The spells are almost done, Telin has done such a great job helping me identify the stuff, I usually try and fix it right away. However, the shielding spell is what is killing me. I want this fixed the most and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to, 1) find the blue diamond sparkles, 2) add 2 more emitters to the spell to allow the blue particles, or 3) combine 2 emitter origins on the same line for the same effect to save an entry allowing me to do all 3 colors. Same goes for the healing spell (Even though I hacked together a decent version of it)

[Telin]

August,

According to staff interaction rules, there shouldn't be an issue with you sending a PM to Nilbog on what he can provide, if he reads them.

http://www.project1999.org/forums/member.php?u=3