Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 12:08 pm Post subject:
RockPatch2 - Announcement
I am going to be celebrating my 20th Birthday in two days, and what better surprise could I have up my sleeves for you than the RockPatch2 announcement?
Yes, you read right! I have been working on what I call RockPatch2 for a long while already and it is time to let people know about it.
The major questions going through your head right now will probably be "When is it going to be released?" and "What will it feature?"
The purpose of this announcement is to answer these questions - at least partially.
First off, let me make clear that I will not concur with VK's NPatch, that means I will not and did not steal features from his (albeit, code-wise, a few parts are still my) work.
There is no way getting around having the same ideas and of course I will be trying to recreate as many features as possible that existed in - at least my - previous RockPatch versions.
However, I will not do everything VK did for the NPatch and if you need a certain NPatch feature badly, you
will have to use NPatch instead.
RockPatch2 has been created from scratch, which means unlike in NPatch, none of my old code is left.
The purpose of this should be clear: RockPatch2 is to be bug free, and I must say I have done a good job until now for that matter.
So what the hell will it feature?
I could simply give you the full feature list as of now, but instead I will handpick some major features and keep a few surprises for the actual release.
What I would consider a major feature is the recreation of many "old" RockPatch features, of which the better part was bugged.
Custom SuperWeapon cursors might be the best example for that. The limitations in previous RockPatch versions were heavy: no cursor over shrouds, no cursor over the sidebar radar and flickery animations. Forget about all those limits, the custom mouse cursor system has been completely revised and now you can even give any weapon a fresh new attack cursor.
We also have custom colours for special weapon types: Rad Beams, Rad Eruptions, Electric Bolts and now even Magnetic Beams can be given any colour you would like to see!
Additional string tables are now working perfectly as well. They do exactly what they are supposed to do: add new strings, override existing strings.
The advantage of this feature is not the file size (what are 500KB these days?) but the ease of keeping track of your modified strings.
RockPatch2 itself will deliver the "rp.csf" file for various uses.
If you do not like the stringtables at all, maybe because your mod will be English only, why not do it like in TS? The so-called "NOSTRING"-feature allows you to bypass the stringtable modification.
"UIName=NOSTRING:NewUnit", for instance, will make "NewUnit" appear in the game without having added it to the stringtable!
Talking about alternatives, do you hate buildings with rectangular bases? You need to recreate the RA1 repair depot with its cross foundation? Not only can you do that, you can draw your very own foundation in the FoundationMaker tool delivered with RockPatch2 (.NET Framework 2.0 required)!
None of the original foundations will be replaced. Your new foundation can be used independently and will work just fine in the game.
I have attached a few screenshots for some of said features, be sure to check them out!
There is one thing very important to know:
I applied a few changes to the RockPatch concept, which used to say that the game as is will not be touched (i.e. RockPatch is not supposed to be a mod).
I have plans - especially for the sides & countries system - that will break this golden rule and introduce ini sections and tags that are required in order to run the game.
These new sections and tags will be delivered in a modified rulesmd.ini file that modders should use as a new base file for mods.
For people moving their existing mods to RockPatch2, I will add an information file including the new required sections and tags so that they can apply them to their mods.
All the new files will be contained in expandmd02.mix, which should be reserved for RockPatch2.
When will it be released?
RockPatch2 is not going to be "vaporware" like Duke Nukem Forever, but I cannot tell you any release time yet.
The reason is that my working attitude varies extremely and that a lot has still to be done, especially concerning feature recreation from previous RockPatch versions.
When I started working on it in January this year, I was heading towards an early 2008 release, which I am still hoping to stick to.
However, I will not guarantee that.
I will soon ask Renegade to re-enable the RockPatch site and forum so I can post status updates and start discussions about how several features are going to work exactly.
Its good to have you back Pd, and i definatly agree with you that having a bug free patch is far more important than a patch rammed with semi-working features. QUICK_EDIT
2) Did you have anything in mind of reviving some of the more popular features of later RP versions like Air-to-air combat and some kind of Airfield logic? (to your specifications and build of course) Or should I put this on a RockPatch2 "wishlist"?
Either way works, the more venues for modding creativity the better! QUICK_EDIT
Wow, i haven't been here in a long time, lots of changes. I have seen the progress of you're efforts of RockPatch from the beginning, altho i haven't touched a voxel in a while...i was quite interested in you're work and how you always brighten the days of modders. I say, good have you back =].
~ Cheers, Supersonic _________________ Editins ma game QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Location: somewhere south of the north pole
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:07 pm Post subject:
My hart stoped, my mind is lost, and I just had an orgasme
Is there a possiabilety of a NP+RP2=perfect? Also, have you recreated the entire game engin, or just the patch? _________________ This is a signature QUICK_EDIT
All I have to say is two things:
1) Yes that there will be competition to VK. GJ!
And competition leads to better result on BOTH sides. Just like Adam Smith said about economy! _________________ Teammember of the German Gamers Association
VDVC QUICK_EDIT
YAY!!!! RP returns! All hail PD's ability to answer questions niceley and do 1337 coding at the same time!!! _________________ Yes, work on MV continues. It is not forgotten. QUICK_EDIT
The great sunni/shite split has begun.....lets hope this [competition] doesn't degenerate into violence as well
as far as release date goes....I haven't been able to use any new rp/np patch...so I can't complain about any time taken for PD to perfect his craft.........I must say I thought you was older then 20 though.... QUICK_EDIT
I have but two wishes for PD and then if necessary I will never say another again
1) TFD compatible if possible please!
2) Make it ownage!!!!!!!!!!! _________________ Yes, work on MV continues. It is not forgotten. QUICK_EDIT
Lt Albrecht, or anybody for that matter, if you're going to request stuff use the http://bugs.renegadeprojects.com/view_all_bug_page.php, rather than filling up the forums with requests, which usually aren't read. Last edited by Muldrake on Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:11 pm; edited 1 time in total QUICK_EDIT
And I can't use the "right way" because stupid AOL uses proxies as default and you can't disable them... Damn you AOL!!! _________________ Yes, work on MV continues. It is not forgotten. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Location: somewhere south of the north pole
Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:02 pm Post subject:
not realy, it makes each unit more "special" you can add new things a features to the game check out Mental Omega _________________ This is a signature QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:17 am Post subject:
it unlocks things that are hard coded or what not.... like instead of having maximum 10 radius of explosions from nuke or anything you can have as big as your computer can handle. as seen above buildings no longer have to be square or a rectingle which i say is freakin awseome. QUICK_EDIT
lol, with PD's RP back we don't need to listen to VK's crap.
Happy Birthday, I can't believe I missed it...
*Bangs face against the wall* _________________ "Don't beg for things; Do it yourself or you'll never get anything." QUICK_EDIT
Gotta love the classics though, I <3 AAcombat, doesn't even need a tag anymore, the engine decides like normal! _________________ Yes, work on MV continues. It is not forgotten. QUICK_EDIT
RP2 was cancelled when I explored new techniques to do things faster and more efficiently.
Hacking the exe worked well somewhat but it was subject to bugs more than anything, plus it took ages to get even small things running because stuff had to be coded in assembly.
So I investigated and managed to find a way to make the game load a dll and hook exported functions from that dll into itself (it's Syringe which does that part).
The big advantage resulting from that is that code could now be written in C++.
I went on to create a big C++ library to make coding DLLs relatively easy, that's also when DCoder joined and basically slowly took over from there as I was growing tired from this game (not surprising after 3 years of hardcore editing, hehe).
The DLL system works so well that exe hacking became redundant, RP2 is dead. The exe is not even edited anymore now.
And this thing is called Ares and it's in the works.
I retired from it a year ago. Little activity and help here and there but I'm not majorly involved atm.
If you wanna stay up to date, you know what place to check.
RenProj has been, is and will be RP's / Ares' place. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 24 Sep 2009 Location: Originally from Philipines. Currently on NZ. Hacker Type: Game Hacker
Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:04 am Post subject:
Yay!! Now I will try to uhhm............ mod my yuri's revenge with rockpacth!
I wish there also is a special ra2 hacked GAME.EXE
just like this patch!
By The way:
This so awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! _________________
Joined: 03 Feb 2010 Location: People's Republic of China
Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 7:40 am Post subject:
I must celebrate that Pd appears...I have wait the Rockpatch for a longtime,with my best wishes. _________________ Tiberian Tear is making, and I will try my best. QUICK_EDIT
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