Freight Drone Exploit in AP 2.5

ConCorDian · Post by **ConCorDian** » Wed, 25. Jul 12, 23:45

okay folks a very astute Kurush informed me of the file corrected by EGOSOFT that removes the Negative Values Exploit posted by Bothersome and X3 Master Pro HERE, fortunatly i have a copy of AP2.1a and have pulled that very file from those gamefiles and tried introducing it to the 2.5 version of the game, and guess what folks, it works again!!

ive uploaded the file and its downloadable from mediafire [REMOVED]. i have tried it and it does definatly work, and whats more it does NOT modify your game... but one other small note, if you "Verify Integrity of Game Cache" in Steam it will update this file back to the new version and therefore stop the Exploit from working.

installation is simple, copy the file to your AP Scripts folder
~~/Steam/Steamapps/Common/X3 Terran Conflict/Addon/Scripts
or whereever you have the game installed. id say to make a backup of the original file (but that should be common sense by now when doing this sort of thing)

this is obviously bringing back the Freight Drone Exploit and in turn should (i dont have a gamesave with a PHq in ware form kicking about to be 100% sure) allow you to clone PHq's again but this time its OPTIONAL weither or not you decide to bring back the exploit.

the credit should obviously go to EGOSOFT since they created the file (i think) ive only copied and pasted it, and Kurush for knowing what file was changed to prevent the exploit.

[You shouldn't be hosting official files as they are copyrighted material - Cycrow]

ConCorDian · Post by **ConCorDian** » Thu, 26. Jul 12, 12:44

sorry i never really thought about it before i done it. i have now sent off a PM to CBJ asking for permission to link it in

kurush · Post by **kurush** » Thu, 26. Jul 12, 20:54

ConCorDian wrote:sorry i never really thought about it before i done it. i have now sent off a PM to CBJ asking for permission to link it in

In fact, changed versions of official files are hosted here quite frequently. Most of vanilla fixes fall into this category. How can we decide what is OK to host and what is not?

Post by **Cycrow** » Thu, 26. Jul 12, 23:10

an edited file is borderline, but this wasn't an edited file, it came straight from the game. The same applies to any unedited files from the game

ConCorDian · Post by **ConCorDian** » Fri, 27. Jul 12, 00:48

end of the day what CBJ has said in PM:

To be on the safe side, you should offer this like any other mod. Yes, that will result in a modified game, but under the circumstances that's probably not such a bad thing anyway.

with that being the case it doesn't make much sense in putting it up in that format, because if its going to make you Modified then you may as well use the cheat package and script yourself one. it would be quicker and easier.

BUT he did also say:

What people do with scripts and mods involving cheats and exploits is entirely up to them, and there's absolutely no problem with that. The problem comes with providing links offering download of files that are part of the game

which to me says that if you happen to have a copy of the file from a previous version of the game then it would be entirely upto you if you were to reintroduce it, the issue is with sharing the file itself.

now i dont think im breaking any rules by posting this section but if i am then if a mod wants to remove it then feel free...
the file in question is: !ship.cmd.freightransfer.pre.pck which can be found in your TC directory under ADDONS and then SCRIPTS so the path should be the same as i stated above for where to place this file if your still running Steam. to my knowledge the file could be taken from ANY version of AP prior to 2.5

ConCorDian · Post by **ConCorDian** » Fri, 27. Jul 12, 00:55

Cycrow wrote:an edited file is borderline, but this wasn't an edited file, it came straight from the game. The same applies to any unedited files from the game

im not asking this to question a modderator action, BUT my question is:

whats the difference from hosting a prior versions file compaired to editing the new file and hosting that? id imagine in this case (this could be a big imagination since i dont know scripting) that there has either been a few values changed or perhaps a few new lines of code added to stop it using negative numbers... therefore the "edited" file would be edited to be the same as the older versions file

but i have a question to the people out there who knows coding...

this same file exists in TC's Scripts folder as well as AP's scripts folder, we know this same exploit was present in TC as well, would it break anything within AP if we were to copy this file from TC's folder to the AP folder, would it work the same way as using the !ship.cmd.freightransfer.pre.pck from a prior version?

Sam L.R. Griffiths · Post by **Sam L.R. Griffiths** » Fri, 27. Jul 12, 01:17

ConCorDian wrote:whats the difference from hosting a prior versions file compaired to editing the new file and hosting that?

The difference is that the former is signed by Egosoft and is thus not considered a mod and will not result in a modified tag as a result. Also redistributing unmodified files without prior permission is a technical breach of most End User License Agreements.

Post by **Cycrow** » Fri, 27. Jul 12, 01:23

ConCorDian wrote: which to me says that if you happen to have a copy of the file from a previous version of the game then it would be entirely upto you if you were to reintroduce it, the issue is with sharing the file itself.

thats exactly right, theres no problem with you actually use it, or even telling others how to. The problem is the hosting of offical files.
its the same as if you tried to host the whole game for others to download

ConCorDian · Post by **ConCorDian** » Fri, 27. Jul 12, 01:29

okay if thats the case ill repeat the new big question

can we use the !ship.cmd.freightransfer.pre.pck from the scripts folder for TC to put into AP without breaking any other feature?

kurush · Post by **kurush** » Fri, 27. Jul 12, 02:23

ConCorDian wrote:okay if thats the case ill repeat the new big question

can we use the !ship.cmd.freightransfer.pre.pck from the scripts folder for TC to put into AP without breaking any other feature?

I briefly checked the differences between TC and AP versions and it looks like the worst thing that can happen is it would not find some menu texts. I assume that the codes are likely the same and it is probably a non-issue. You would see it right away it if happens. Another question is whether TC and AP versions are signed using the same or different keys, could be different and then it would not make sense. In other words, give it a try and see if you get modified by using the TC version. I am not even sure whether the script engine would load a script of an older format though.
Finally, we might have found a reason to buy a DVD version. It looks like it comes with unlimited vanilla PHQs if you manage to prevent the update somehow

Post by **Cycrow** » Fri, 27. Jul 12, 09:43

ConCorDian wrote:okay if thats the case ill repeat the new big question

can we use the !ship.cmd.freightransfer.pre.pck from the scripts folder for TC to put into AP without breaking any other feature?

best way to find out is to simply try it

Vlandarr · Post by **Vlandarr** » Mon, 4. Feb 13, 07:44

Not really attempting necromancy here, but...

The file from X3TC 'should' work without issue. On the other hand I was able to modify the V 2.5.3 !ship.cmd.freightransfer.pre.pck file for it to work as before.

Ethan Cole · Post by **Ethan Cole** » Sat, 11. Jan 14, 22:32

I tried it and it works, but it will be considered a modified game. I used the DISC version of TC.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

Freight Drone Exploit in AP 2.5

Freight Drone Exploit in AP 2.5