Arsenal Zero vs. DatEdit (Solved! ...Unsatisfactorally.)

[Kaoru]

See the update-post below this one. Mmmph. Well, it was worth a shot...


OLD POST
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So, while working, tonight, I remembered this odd line of text I read on your site. I went back and checked, and, there it was! In Arsenal Zero's description, it says something about how the program might become useful if "Adding entries to the .dat files becomes popular".
Now, DatEdit, which I've currently been using and loving, only allows you to copy-and-paste entries, it doesn't actually allow you to add them. As I recall, this has something to do with crashes, the inherent inability of the .dat files to be added to, and probably some sort of issue with adding new lines to the files, themselves.

So what's the deal-io with Arsenal Zero? Armed with the proper (Non-corrupted) .azf files, is it really possible to add entries to .dat files?
And, incidentally, yeah, the prospect of working in hex and binary with an all-text editor is sort've a bummer, but, meh. I've been modding through text more than fancy user interfaces for most of my life, I'm sure I could get used to it.

Or is there just some inherent functionality of DatEdit I'm missing that allows you to do that, anyhow? And why would it be possible to do this in Arsenal Zero and not DatEdit? Something about the impossibility of auto-generating new entries? Sorry to ask this here, but since SEN went down, there's very little documentation on the various mod-programs, besides what's here, at SCF, at SAMods, and at Maplantis.

EDIT: Also, I'm updating the screenshots near the bottom of the page to show my progress in adjusting graphics-files. There's also a screenshot of "Kizrath" - this is partially a joke. I noticed that RCX renamed the Independant Command Center to "Kizrath", but never took that anywhere, so I decided - as a test of my abilities - to see if I could convert it into a working unit. Auto-attack is a little messed up, and I still haven't figured out how to apply the zealot speed upgrade to him, but he works just fine.

(Old Message)
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I always felt there was something odd about the naming-scheme behind the Memgraft patch for VotF 2 (Black Dream) - since when would it be named '4a'? I always figured there was some rhyme, some reason...

I never messed with the Stargraft patch for VotF 4, so I didn't realize this before, but it just occured to me - and I checked, file-sizes and modify-dates, at least - that the Stargraft patch for VotF 2 ...is the same patch offered for VotF 4.

...Which would explain why Stargraft always crashes when trying to load up the patch for Vision of the Future 4 and the .exe for Vision of the Future 2.

...I'm going to assume that this is a well-known issue, because this site has been up for years, and I figure that I'm not the first one to see it. Which begs the question...
Where's the Vision 2 Stargraft patch, and how'd it get replaced by the Vision 4 patch? It's been like this for years - I was downloading that same '4a' patch years ago, and could never get it to work, and didn't realize why.

Anyhow, this just bugged me, so I decided to inquire. Thanks in advance for any information!
~Kaoru

[Thalraxal]

StarGraft became obsolete for a variety of reasons (incompatibility with SC v1.08+ or 1.09+ and WinXP for the most part), and was succeeded by MemGraft, which worked perfectly well with SC v1.10.

And then SC v1.11 came along and broke everything and made alot of people very unhappy.

To get a MemGraft patch to work, you're going to need to downgrade your version of SC to v1.10.  You can grab the files you need on the download page for Meta's Flame Knives, which also suffers from other related not-v1.10 problems.  Conveniently, Flame Knives is also an awesome campaign and you should try if if you haven't already.

You could also try to recompile the StarGraft files using FireGraft, the current StarGraft/MemGraft successor, but I don't think it's been updated for the latest version yet.

[Kaoru]

No-no-no, you don't understand. I have 1.10. I have 1.07, 1.10, and the latest, 1.15.2. Three separate installs. My question wasn't related to getting versions to work - I've played both Flame Knives and Aeon of the Hawk with my 1.10 copy. (They're excellent, by the way, I definitely agree.)

My question relates to why the Vision of the Future 4 Memgraft/Stargraft patch has, for some inexpicable reason, been what everyone who clicks the Vision of the Future 2 Memgraft/Stargraft patch-download button, has been downloading.

I mean, I could be wrong, I can't see the inside of the files. But they're the exact same size and the exact same name, they're downloaded in the exact same .zip package...
I mean, if you don't believe me, just click on over to the Black Dream campaign. The Stargraft/Memgraft patch available there is called 'vision4a.pat'. It's the same file, to all outward - and most inward, that I can tell - appearances, as the file available on the Final Destiny page.

Thanks for the information about Firegraft, though I already have that, as well. It'll be interesting to see how well it works.
~Kaoru

[Ziktorust Cleaning]

I actually noticed this as well. While the correct .pat file can be found at http://sc.campaigncreations.org/votf-2/ ... gpatch.zip, it seems someone at some point in the last few months decided to make the link redirect to the Vision 4 pat file. I'm not entirely sure why, as the Vision 2 pat file still works perfectly fine.(for me, at least.)

[Kaoru]

Interesting. The way I remember it, it's always been like that - but my memory could be faulty.
I tried out the real patch-file, and, oddly enough, though the 4a patch ran with Vision2.exe (And didn't have any effect), the 2z patch causes the game to crash upon mission start-up. (With 1.07.)

Bah. I just wish the real .mpq and the .exe that's mentioned in the readme were actually included in the .zip.

[Ziktorust Cleaning]

I'm fairly sure you're supposed to use 1.10.
Also, when I downloaded VOTF2 in early 2007, the link pointed to the correct patch, so that's why I think the link was changed recently.

[Kaoru]

Weird. I have 1.10, as well, but I remember - way back in the day - having to use 1.07. I didn't know that Stargraft worked with 1.10, though. And Memgraft alone is being, as ever, annoying. Ah, well. I'll keep trying. Thral has been workin' to send me the necessary files, one way or another, and I appreciate it, so I'm holding out some hope of makin' this awesome thing work the way it was intended to.

[Whiplash!]

I talked to Adun recently hes working on a Firegraft patch for 1.15.2 and he says that hes recoding part of it so it should be compatible between versions (the downfall of all graft-predecessors).

[chris]

what about thundergraft...

[Lavarinth]

I talked to Adun recently hes working on a Firegraft patch for 1.15.2 and he says that hes recoding part of it so it should be compatible between versions (the downfall of all graft-predecessors).

Please, please, say Disciple of Adun, when you say Adun I think 8D!

[Kaoru]

Whoo! Thanks to everyone who offered advice and support - especially Lavarinth, who was nice enough to dig through his hard-drive in order to send me the original Vision 2 files.
Well, they didn't work, at all, but that's all right. I just opened them up and figured out why, and fixed it on my own. I actually ought to thank everyone who's ever made a program for CC or SAMods, because that long list of operative programs that one can go through really...well, made what I did possible. I'm not exactly through restoring the campaign, but, hey, look at this!

(Very work-safe, but also very picture-heavy! Incidentally, ignore the extra buttons. I was just testing the limit of what I could do. For reference, Hhallahh is Unused Protoss Building 2, who formerly displayed the dreaded never-ending stimpack research, the Marauder is the Cargo Ship, and Serena is the Unused Repair Bay. All of them can do everything their buttons indicate, move, die, etcetera, without causing bugs or crashes. Oh, and, incidentally, these were all taken on Brood War version 1.15.)
EDIT: Incidentally, all of these pictures were taken from Vision of the Future 2, which is copyrighted to Razorclaw X, excepting the characters that are held as copyrighted intellectual property of Blizzard Entertainment or Rumiko Takahashi, or other entities or individuals. I'm just excited because it didn't work right, before.
EDIT NUMERO DOS: Added the much-more-sensible picture files. I really ought to get a photobucket, or something. And figure out why my computer is saving screenshots in that moronic format.
EDIT NUMERO TRES: Changed the pictures. Hooray! Incidentally, yes, Kizrath wasn't really there, and he's also overpowered in that screenshot, but whadda ya gonna do? I was just elated to see him working. Oh, and it goes without saying that any unit pictured here with their tranwire edited also has their grpwire edited.

[WB]

Please convert to jpeg or something sensible. >_>

[Kaoru]

That reminds me. Does anyone here know if there are any slots in orders.dat that are unused by the game? I've been looking, and I think I found a few, but I just dunno how to tell if something is used or not. (After all, it might be like the pylons casting the glows - executed automatically by the game engine.)

This is assuming that new entries can't be added to orders.dat, incidentally. If they can, finding unused slots isn't a problem.

[Kaoru]

So, nobody knows about ArrZero versus DatEdit? I'll probably just go ahead and try it out, if there's no resolution. I admit, my main hesitancy is related to how easy things are made with DatEdit and how complicated an entirely text-base system of .dat-editing sounds...But, meh. I've already picked up a fair deal of iscript, going back and learning to text-edit .dat files with ArrZero can't be that hard.

[chris]

version 1.10 for the win.
Best version of starcraft ever IMHO