[Tutorial] False Patches

[EmperorJon]

Thanks Cycrow, by the way I was joking about 5.

* How playing vanilla requires uninstall of fake patches.

5. It does!?

[apricotslice]

Re 4.....

Spell out the progression.

The highest fake patch overrides all previous fake patches. So tships in patch 15, will override all tships files in lower numbered patches. But 15 may not have a tfactories, so tfactories in patch 12 will override all lower numbered ones. (just making up the numbers). Some examples of stacking the mods would be great, so that the files within them can be shown and then how the hirarcky works can be shown.

The selected mod overrides all patches.

Any file in the game directories overrides the mod and the patches.

So compatibility depends on each mod using different files. Those using the same files, have to be merged at the file level.

[Aro]

* How playing vanilla requires uninstall of fake patches.

My fake patch gives me more fps, some funky asteroids, and vanilla...

[jlehtone]

My fake patch gives me more fps, some funky asteroids, and vanilla...

You do mean that you have some visual mods that do not touch anything "signed". Those are a special case of their own. EmperorJon naturally writes a paragraph about them too.

[apricotslice]

I've just added this into the X3 Handbook. However, I felt the need to add a few things.

The version now in the Handbook, looks like this :

False Patches

What are they?

A false patch is a way of adding a Mod to a game, as opposed to using the 'Mods' folder.

What are the benefits?

You can have as many mods as you want false-patched in to the game.

What are the disadvantages?

When you get a new patch it will have a set number. This will overwrite a false-patch of that number if you have one. More on this later.

How does the game use its files ?

There is a specific order in which the game determines which actual file it will use.

1. It starts at patch 01 and applies all patches sequentially over the top of each other. That means that any file duplicated in a higher numbered patch, is overwritten. Tships for example is in patches 04, 06, 08 and 11. The file used is the one in 11.

2. Any selected Mod package, overwrites all of the fake patches. If this is a ship mod, then the tships in the mod will overwrite the one in patch 11.

3. Any individual file within the director structure of the game itself will override the Mod and all Patches. So if you place the tships file in the Terran Conflict\types directory, then this is the file the game will use, overriding the one in the Mod and the one in patch 11.

4. If a ship mod is then added as a false patch, say 12, its tships file will override the files in 11, 08, 06 and 04. But the selected ship mod, will override 12. And the tships in the types directory will still override the mod.

5. To clarify the order of selection : The game will use a file in the directory structure if one exists. If one doesnt exist, it will use one in the selected mod if it exists. If a mod does not exist, it will use the one it finds in the highest numbered patch.

6. Not all files are included in any patch, mod or directory. So the files the game actually uses can be scattered through all patches, mod and directories. 01 to 04 are always in use, as these were the original shipped game, and some of these files have never been modified.


How do I do it?

False patching is not that hard.

1. Download the mod.
2. Check the Cat/Dat numbers in your Terran Conflict directory. Here you can see they are both 11, as my game is patched to 2.7.
3. Rename the Cat/Dat files of the mod so they are one more than that number... in my case, 12.
4. Now, play the game. The game thinks that it has had another patch installed with the changes given in the mod.
5. If, in my case, I wanted to add another false-patch in, I'd call it 13, then the next one 14, 15, and so on.
6. Numbers must be contiguous. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 will work. 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 - will ignore everything after 10.
7. Game patches are specifically numbered. 09 was patch 2.5. 10 was patch 2.6. 11 was patch 2.7. The next official patch will be released as 12. When this happens, BEFORE you install the patch, you must shuffle all patches numbered 12 and above up a number first, or else patch 12 will be overwritten by the egosoft patch. This has to be done everytime you install a new Egosoft patch.


Remember

- The game knows it's not an official patch, and therefore your game will be *MODIFIED*.
- When you download a new patch it will automatically be called the next number after the previous official patch, so the next patch after 2.7 will be Cat/Dat 12. This would overwrite your false patch number 12, without asking you. For that reason, it is a good idea to keep in mind how many patches you have installed and what number the next official patch will be, so you can just rename them all one higher number and then download the official patch.
- Not all mods are compatible. For example, mods which change ships. If 2 of your mods at any point change the same object, then you'll have problems. ALL ship mods are incompatible with all other ship mods, unless specifically stated. The same applies to all mods containing factories, docks, guns, wares.
- You will need to remove the fake patch(s) to return to vanilla.
- Fake patches overwrite the previous fake patches in terms of the files changed. The top number will always be prominent, unless you select a mod from the 'mods' folder, in which case that is the prominent one.
- If two fake patches change the same file (eg. TShips) they'll have to be merged so both work together. The process of merging can be difficult and varies from file to file.
- It is important to note that mods only changing graphic files and no 'T' files will not result in a *modified* tag whether installed on their own or as a fake patch, as long as the game is not already modified. Examples of this include low-poly asteroid and complex tube mods.

The Plugin Manager:
- The Plugin Manager automatically renames fake patches to the correct numbers that they should be.
- Any ships installed via the PM, ie XSP files, will merge all the required files together, TShips, TCockpits, Components, Dummies, etc. This will be added to any installed fake patches you might have and then used as the primary files for the game.

[EmperorJon]

Have you changed anything?

[apricotslice]

Not changed anything. Just added to.

Added in a section "How does the game use its files ? "

Added 6 and 7 to How do I do it.

Added to the 3rd point in Remember with "ALL ship mods are incompatible with all other ship mods, unless specifically stated. The same applies to all mods containing factories, docks, guns, wares. "

[CrisGer]

Is there any advantage to using a False Patch when the Lite Patcher by Cycrows can renumber any patch automatically? I hoped to use the cockpit mod and it looks like it may be easier to just use the Patcher rather than do false patches? can one of the Wise and Learned help me on this? And I was guilty of NOT reading the Sticky and was saved from damnation by a kindly Moderator who sent me here.....sorry about that.

[apricotslice]

Doing it manually allows you to control the order of the mods, especially when you know there are conflicts and you want to control how the conflicts manifest in the game.

So if say 2 mods alter ships, but they both alter different things and you want the ships from one, and the other stuff from the other, then you can specify the order of the false patches to achieve this.

The main thing about being able to use Cycrows software is if the author of the mod has distributed it in the file format for the software. If its a zip or rar, then you have to manually false patch.

Personally, I'd always do them manually. And I only distribute my mods as a zip, so they would have to be false patched manually.

[Cycrow]

Is there any advantage to using a False Patch when the Lite Patcher by Cycrows can renumber any patch automatically? I hoped to use the cockpit mod and it looks like it may be easier to just use the Patcher rather than do false patches? can one of the Wise and Learned help me on this? And I was guilty of NOT reading the Sticky and was saved from damnation by a kindly Moderator who sent me here.....sorry about that.

both methods are the same, the only difference is the plugin manager renames it automatically, whereas you would have to do it manually

if its a zip or rar, it can also be installed via the plugin manager and have it renamed automatically (at least in most cases).

Also, you can set the order which you want to renumber the fake patches like you can do if done manually

there are several advantages of using the plugin manager.
the first is obviously dont have to worry a bout renaming them and making sure they are in sequence as its done automatically.

also, it keeps track of all the fake patches and easy to see what mods they belong to.

and when uninstalling any, it'll automatically shuffle the patches above. Just deleting a patch from the middle would leave a gap in the sequence, and the game wont load anything after the gap.

so if u had, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. and you delete 14 manually, u'll end up with 12, 13, 15, 16, so 15, 16 are ignored

[EmperorJon]

Manually renaming can be a pig too, if you get numbers wrong thing can go nasty, like I managed to somehow once rearrange them so I didn't know which was what mod... turned out I'd also somehow moved some of the patches too so the game had a really bad fit at me...

[CrisGer]

Hi Cycrow, and thanks for the fantastic add ons you have made...ok that makes a lot of sense, and I am glad to hear the Plug in Manager can handle Zips too, i had hoped to use it for the ease of installation and tracking thanks a Lot

Hi Apricot! thanks to you too, for all your great work ...and thanks to all three of you for replying to my humble question. thanks that helps me understand immediately. OK, i will proceed then, and will know how to address the different formats thanks to you.

thanks again for making our X Universe better in many ways

[EmperorJon]

thanks again for making our X Universe better in many ways

I prefer the term "different".