[Tutorial] False Patches

The place to discuss scripting and game modifications for X³: Terran Conflict and X³: Albion Prelude.

Moderators: Moderators for English X Forum, Scripting / Modding Moderators

User avatar
EmperorJon
Posts: 9378
Joined: Mon, 29. Dec 08, 20:58
x3tc

[Tutorial] False Patches

Post by EmperorJon » Fri, 4. Jun 10, 21:21

False Patches

As requested by LV.

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 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.


Remember

- The game knows it's not an official patch, and is therefore you game will still 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.
- You will need to remove the fake patch 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 form 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 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.
Last edited by EmperorJon on Mon, 7. Jun 10, 17:53, edited 3 times in total.
______
I'm Jon. I'm mostly not around any more. If you want to talk, please message me! It's cool.
______

User avatar
X2-Illuminatus
Moderator (Deutsch)
Moderator (Deutsch)
Posts: 24950
Joined: Sun, 2. Apr 06, 16:38
x4

Post by X2-Illuminatus » Fri, 4. Jun 10, 21:34

EmperorJon wrote:As requested by LV.
Was the FAQ entry What is a False Patch? Information and usage not enough?
Nun verfügbar! X3: Farnham's Legacy - Ein neues Kapitel für einen alten Favoriten

Die komplette X-Roman-Reihe jetzt als Kindle E-Books! (Farnhams Legende, Nopileos, X3: Yoshiko, X3: Hüter der Tore, X3: Wächter der Erde)

Neuauflage der fünf X-Romane als Taschenbuch

The official X-novels Farnham's Legend, Nopileos, X3: Yoshiko as Kindle e-books!

User avatar
EmperorJon
Posts: 9378
Joined: Mon, 29. Dec 08, 20:58
x3tc

Post by EmperorJon » Fri, 4. Jun 10, 21:40

Judging by his post...
Msg to forum minions

someone please create a new topic just on how to create a FP (dir pics of dats /cats etc would be nice)

and i'll add to tutorials

i'm off to play settlers 7 and then spend time with the wife after that (god dam birthdays)

if i don't have a tutorial by morning i'm going to ban every single one of you

no pressure
I'd say so. :lol:
______
I'm Jon. I'm mostly not around any more. If you want to talk, please message me! It's cool.
______

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Post by jlehtone » Fri, 4. Jun 10, 21:44

I'd boldly presume that the sticky-blindness covers the FAQ too. :roll:

Edit: Link to that FAQ added to tutorials for now. LV can decide upon this threads inclusion. :)
Last edited by jlehtone on Fri, 4. Jun 10, 21:50, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
EmperorJon
Posts: 9378
Joined: Mon, 29. Dec 08, 20:58
x3tc

Post by EmperorJon » Fri, 4. Jun 10, 21:49

'It's all LV's fault!'

*Darth Vader music*

'You have failed me for the last time, commander...'

*forcechoke*

'No.. plea-urgh'
______
I'm Jon. I'm mostly not around any more. If you want to talk, please message me! It's cool.
______

Treelor
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon, 5. May 08, 01:25
x4

Post by Treelor » Fri, 4. Jun 10, 22:14

I must admit, I lol'd kinda hard at LV's post asking for a tutorial on this.

Nice tutorial, by the way. I've got a friend who plays X3TC that didn't even know what fake patching was, and this ought to help him out a lot.

User avatar
apricotslice
Posts: 14129
Joined: Sun, 16. May 04, 13:01
x4

Post by apricotslice » Sat, 5. Jun 10, 09:22

Add in a note about compatibility of mods, particularly ship mods.

Otherwise an endless stream of "why wont my false patches work" posts will be made by people trying to false patch all of the ship mods at once.

User avatar
EmperorJon
Posts: 9378
Joined: Mon, 29. Dec 08, 20:58
x3tc

Post by EmperorJon » Sat, 5. Jun 10, 09:38

Done.
______
I'm Jon. I'm mostly not around any more. If you want to talk, please message me! It's cool.
______

User avatar
LV
Sith Lord
Posts: 8255
Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
x3tc

Post by LV » Sat, 5. Jun 10, 09:48

There was a FAQ entry :? :)

OH, well this will be more useful as more info can be added as apricot said above, then we can move onto users ignoring the FAQ and this tutorial and posting

"what's a false patch" topics

Cheers Ejon you have saved the day

I felt a great disturbance in the Forum, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were about to be suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible nearly happened
LV's TC Scripts
Readme's For All My Scripts


I felt a great disturbance in the forum, Like millions of voices cried out in terror, then were silenced

si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses

User avatar
EmperorJon
Posts: 9378
Joined: Mon, 29. Dec 08, 20:58
x3tc

Post by EmperorJon » Sat, 5. Jun 10, 10:00

then we can move onto users ignoring the FAQ
They day passed a long time ago my lord. :lol:
I felt a great disturbance in the Forum, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were about to be suddenly silenced.
:rofl:
______
I'm Jon. I'm mostly not around any more. If you want to talk, please message me! It's cool.
______

User avatar
Carlo the Curious
Posts: 16999
Joined: Mon, 5. Mar 07, 22:03
x4

Post by Carlo the Curious » Sat, 5. Jun 10, 16:32

LV wrote:There was a FAQ entry :? :)
Tsk. Your powers are weak, old man! :P

User avatar
ezra-r
Posts: 3420
Joined: Fri, 14. Oct 05, 21:04
x4

Post by ezra-r » Sat, 5. Jun 10, 16:34

Carlo the Curious wrote:
LV wrote:There was a FAQ entry :? :)
Tsk. Your powers are weak, old man! :P
no wonder Luke beat him!

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Post by jlehtone » Sun, 6. Jun 10, 11:28

LV wrote:OH, well this will be more useful as more info can be added as apricot said above
I assume that this is LV's way to tell EmperorJon to update, expand, and augment the tutorial, or face the Force. :twisted:

And [url=http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=216693]TC Tutorials[/url] has now a link to here. :)

* So explore what Plugin Manager Lite (PM) can do for fake patches.
* Describe thoroughly, when a merge is required.
* Mention that PM can automatically merge ship-mods, provided that they are in proper format.
* Consider effects of using fakes and mod in 'Mods' together.
* How playing vanilla requires uninstall of fake patches.
* ...

User avatar
EmperorJon
Posts: 9378
Joined: Mon, 29. Dec 08, 20:58
x3tc

Post by EmperorJon » Sun, 6. Jun 10, 11:42

* So explore what Plugin Manager Lite (PM) can do for fake patches.
* Describe thoroughly, when a merge is required.
* Mention that PM can automatically merge ship-mods, provided that they are in proper format.
* Consider effects of using fakes and mod in 'Mods' together.
* How playing vanilla requires uninstall of fake patches.
* ...
1. No idea.
2. No idea.
3. No idea.
4. No idea.
5. It does!?

:roll:
______
I'm Jon. I'm mostly not around any more. If you want to talk, please message me! It's cool.
______

Cycrow
Moderator (Script&Mod)
Moderator (Script&Mod)
Posts: 22201
Joined: Sun, 14. Nov 04, 23:26
x4

Post by Cycrow » Sun, 6. Jun 10, 13:22

EmperorJon wrote:
* So explore what Plugin Manager Lite (PM) can do for fake patches.
* Describe thoroughly, when a merge is required.
* Mention that PM can automatically merge ship-mods, provided that they are in proper format.
* Consider effects of using fakes and mod in 'Mods' together.
* How playing vanilla requires uninstall of fake patches.
* ...
1. No idea.
2. No idea.
3. No idea.
4. No idea.
5. It does!?

:roll:
seems u need some help :P

1. The PM can automatically rename all installed fake patches in sequence, so any can be installed together, without having to worry about renaming them.

2. Basically, when 2 fake patches modify the same files, those files will need to be merged into one, however the processing of merging can be difficult and varies from file to file.

3. Any ships installed via the PM, ie XSP files, will merge all the required files together, TShips, TCockpits, Componants, Dummies, etc. This will be added to any installed fake patches you might have and then used as the primary files for the game.

4. Any mod thats in the "mods" folder and selected to be used in game from the launcher will override any files found in fake patchs, so if a fake patch and the mod both include TShips, the only from the mod will be used, and the fake patch is ignored

5. Any files in fake patches are usually classed as modified files, and all fake patches are loaded into the game automatically. This means that it will force the game into modified mode, so cant be used in a vanilla game. There are some exceptions, mainly if the fake patch only contains graphics edits, ie, no types files

User avatar
EmperorJon
Posts: 9378
Joined: Mon, 29. Dec 08, 20:58
x3tc

Post by EmperorJon » Sun, 6. Jun 10, 13:28

Thanks Cycrow, by the way I was joking about 5.
* How playing vanilla requires uninstall of fake patches.
5. It does!?
:roll:
______
I'm Jon. I'm mostly not around any more. If you want to talk, please message me! It's cool.
______

User avatar
apricotslice
Posts: 14129
Joined: Sun, 16. May 04, 13:01
x4

Post by apricotslice » Mon, 7. Jun 10, 02:08

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.

User avatar
Aro
Posts: 2765
Joined: Tue, 15. Jul 03, 00:35
x4

Post by Aro » Mon, 7. Jun 10, 03:52

* How playing vanilla requires uninstall of fake patches.
My fake patch gives me more fps, some funky asteroids, and vanilla...
[ external image ]
The end of a trilogy does not mean an end to a series.
| Vanilla with strawberries? [List of Vanilla safe mods.] | Tired of the plots? [Plot Skipper Tool v0.5] |
| X3: R & TC Minimaps |

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Post by jlehtone » Mon, 7. Jun 10, 21:19

Aro wrote: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. ;)

User avatar
apricotslice
Posts: 14129
Joined: Sun, 16. May 04, 13:01
x4

Post by apricotslice » Tue, 8. Jun 10, 07:22

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.

Post Reply

Return to “X³: Terran Conflict / Albion Prelude - Scripts and Modding”