A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Discuss the game Trespasser here!

Moderators: TresCom Support Team, TresCom Board Managers

Post Reply
Lee Arbuco
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus
Posts: 271
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:09 pm

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by Lee Arbuco »

Well that went rather quickly. I'm pretty certain I know why now. It is in fact a functionality that isn't supported on XP prior to SP3.

I'll see if I can make some fallback workaround for systems that don't support it.
Slugger
-=TresCom Developer=-
-=TresCom Developer=-
Posts: 4720
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2004 6:52 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Atlanta

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by Slugger »

Side thought: anyone try this on Win8 yet?

As a corollary: If yes, wonder how this'll fare on the Surface 3.
0066521C: 'Cannot create local swap file - Is Trespasser installed??',0Ah,0
"Cold lino was the driving force behind world power!"
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by machf »

Lee Arbuco wrote:Well that went rather quickly. I'm pretty certain I know why now. It is in fact a functionality that isn't supported on XP prior to SP3.
I was afraid of that...
I'll see if I can make some fallback workaround for systems that don't support it.
OK, thanks.
Will it work on Windows 2000, BTW?
Slugger wrote:Side thought: anyone try this on Win8 yet?

As a corollary: If yes, wonder how this'll fare on the Surface 3.
Hmmm... has anyone tried it on Windows 7 yet? I may try it on another laptop which runs it...
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
User avatar
awesome24712
Pteranodon
Pteranodon
Posts: 889
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:56 am
Antispam: No
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by awesome24712 »

I knew lurking on this forum would eventually reward me.

And yes machf, this does work on my Windows 7 64-bit.

I wonder how difficult it would be to add ATX-like cheats.

Anyways, thanks Lee for making this awesome patch! I simply love being able to store two weapons.

EDIT: Oh, and why hasn't anyone made a news post about this yet?
Check out the HL2 mod I'm helping with: Image
Visit my Steam! http://steamcommunity.com/id/awesome24712/
Visit my YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/user/awesome24712

Post benchamrks:
1 [x] 2 [x] 4 [x] 8 [x] 16 [x] 32 [x] 64 [x] 128 [x] 256 [x] 512 [x] 1024 [ ] 2048 [ ] 4096 [ ] 9192 [ ]
Lee Arbuco
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus
Posts: 271
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:09 pm

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by Lee Arbuco »

machf wrote:Will it work on Windows 2000, BTW?

Hmmm... has anyone tried it on Windows 7 yet?
Win 2000 would currently only work in old DX mode, not with DX9. If I can fix DX9 for XP SP2 then w2k has good chance of also working.

As noted, win7 is no problem, that's what it's being developed on.

awesome24712 wrote:EDIT: Oh, and why hasn't anyone made a news post about this yet?
If any such post were to be made, it would be best to wait for the next update that's coming soon. It has some necessary fixes.
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by machf »

Lee Arbuco wrote:
machf wrote:Will it work on Windows 2000, BTW?

Hmmm... has anyone tried it on Windows 7 yet?
Win 2000 would currently only work in old DX mode, not with DX9. If I can fix DX9 for XP SP2 then w2k has good chance of also working.
That's what I meant, if making it work under SP2 would also make it work under W2K. Because my desktop PC (the one which I'm trying to revive) is running W2K. Hearing that it currently runs in XP SP3 and higher made me realize that once I'm done fixing my PC, it wouldn't run there either... which would be a pity, as that one has more RAM and a better video card (and FullHD monitor) than this laptop.
As noted, win7 is no problem, that's what it's being developed on.
Oh, OK. I'll see if I try running it there, then.
awesome24712 wrote:EDIT: Oh, and why hasn't anyone made a news post about this yet?
If any such post were to be made, it would be best to wait for the next update that's coming soon. It has some necessary fixes.
Probably a good idea. I guess we've all been too excited trying it ourselves to remeber making a news post...
("Trespasser forthe 21st Century", how does that sound?)
awesome24712 wrote: I wonder how difficult it would be to add ATX-like cheats.
Well, if Lee gets in contact with BigRed, I don't think there would be any problems for integrating some of the things ATX implemented into the code for Trespasser CE.
BTW, what does "CE" stand for? Custom Edition? Community Edition? Collector's Edition?
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
Lee Arbuco
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus
Posts: 271
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:09 pm

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by Lee Arbuco »

I hope I've caught all places that needed the change. Here's another test exe that could work.

Even if it does work, I think it will have some minor limitations. The command console probably won't be visible, or any debug text that can be enabled through it. All regular game stuff should work though, so I'd say that would be a fair compromise.

machf wrote: BTW, what does "CE" stand for? Custom Edition? Community Edition? Collector's Edition?
Not really anything specific, or several things. I felt the need to have some kind of identifier so it won't get confused with any other versions that may be around, so I just quickly chose something.
User avatar
tatu
-=TresCom Website Manager=-
-=TresCom Website Manager=-
Posts: 5087
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:40 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by tatu »

machf wrote:
awesome24712 wrote: I wonder how difficult it would be to add ATX-like cheats.
Well, if Lee gets in contact with BigRed, I don't think there would be any problems for integrating some of the things ATX implemented into the code for Trespasser CE.
The ATX site got the source for the ATX patch, can't he just use that?
Active project: Trespasser: Isla Sorna
Status:
BE-PH1: Released
PH2-IT: Pre-released
PL-SUM: In production

"...there used to be more benches, but InGen's workers removed them during the evacuation in the name of framerate."
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by machf »

tatu wrote:The ATX site got the source for the ATX patch, can't he just use that?
Sure, I meant if BigRed sees no inconvenient in it...
Lee Arbuco wrote:I hope I've caught all places that needed the change. Here's another test exe that could work.

Even if it does work, I think it will have some minor limitations. The command console probably won't be visible, or any debug text that can be enabled through it. All regular game stuff should work though, so I'd say that would be a fair compromise.
OK, I'll try it. BTW, already ran the exe in the Win7 laptop, it looks great with DX9, I'm going to try my Pens level now and see how it handles...

EDIT: OK, this one runs fine. Thanks! No problems with the consol that I've noticed, BTW.
machf wrote: BTW, what does "CE" stand for? Custom Edition? Community Edition? Collector's Edition?
Not really anything specific, or several things. I felt the need to have some kind of identifier so it won't get confused with any other versions that may be around, so I just quickly chose something.
Well, there *is* a file called "Trespasser: Custom Edition" (you'll find it here), so I was wondering...
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
Lee Arbuco
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus
Posts: 271
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:09 pm

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by Lee Arbuco »

That's good news! I'll prepare a full update then.

I noticed the Custom Edition mod when it already was too late. It has no relation to that, so whatever CE stands for here, it's not "Custom Edition" at least. The 'C' could be Collector's, Community, Carnivore, C (as in C/C++), Chrichton memorial, and more...
User avatar
Draconisaurus
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 14032
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:21 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Isla Sorna
Contact:

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by Draconisaurus »

Glad to see this thread is getting so much activity and progress... It's sounding good.
Lee Arbuco wrote:Have you enabled EnableDualStow in trespasser.ini? I would suggest you look at doc\trespasser.ini for a description of how it works. It's not a 3 object storage, it's 2 stowed objects and one in hand.

The short version is, that there's an additional modifier key. If you don't press that then object switching works as always. If you do hold the modifier key (which is either the key also used for rotate arm or rotate wrist) while switching object, it will attempt to only stow the handheld object. However if there already is a stowed object in that slot, it will still do a switch.
Hmmmm thanks! I figured it out, but your description is incomplete. As I discovered, you can only swap your current item with an item of the same size, if you are holding one and stowing two. So if you're holding a hunting rifle, with an AK-47 on your back, and you want to hold the ruger readhawk on your belt, you'll need to drop the hunting rifle first. It still works but I think it should be said somewhere. ;)
Also done in trespasser.ini, with the MultiSamplingLevel option. Look at the doc\trepasser.ini one for descriptions of all the options.
Thanks, didn't know what multisampling was... oopz.
Jumping is indeed one of the things that had the v1.1 changes applied.
That's awesome! How did you get the code for it?
Software mode is only supported in legacy DX mode. That means you have to disable DX9, by disabling UseDX9 in trespasser.ini.

Not recommended, but it's there.
Hmmm, not recommended indeed. I have a small story to tell about it. As I recall, I commented out UseDX9, loaded her up, went to video options and switched to software mode. Suddenly, the menu was tucked away into the upper left-hand corner of the screen! Everything else was black, but after the level loaded, the rest of my desktop appeared, with Trespasser running in that corner... and uh... well:

Image

Something's... not quite right, haha. The entire terrain looked like that, and there was no sky. Don't think there was any fog either, and the LOD sprites were miscolored. Water was colored green and had no ripples. Everything else appeared to be fine.
As a note, hardware mode worked fairly normally. Odd thing is... when using Tres CE, the menu is shrunken on my screen. Somehow the resolution is larger than the menu. Using classic hardware mode, this is not the case, so I'm guessing this is directly linked to the use of DX9. Not a huge bug; I think we could live with it, but might be nice to fix.

Next thing I noticed was that the tpass.ini file still had textures set to 256. It normally always resets to 128 when you switch drivers or install an engine for the first time. Very nice!
You can also use HW rendering but disable texture filtering (TexFilterD3D=0) in trespasser.ini. That will make the game look very similar to software, but with all the hardware benefits.
Just tried this out... Man that's cool! Works like a charm. I want to note that in this mode I noticed distant terrain being far less blurry (higher res textures) than normal - that's just amazing. Normally Tres terrain is fairly unsightly.

I want to mention another error, here - in conjunction with the main menu being shrunken on the screen, the cheat-entry-line (console?) ingame is now situated higher and more rightward, sort of floating on the screen. Not a serious error but might be fixable, perhaps at the same time as the menu.
It does work in general. You can clearly see the difference between 128 and 256 when comparing two screenshots of some arbitrary level location. That doesn't rule out some special case bug. It could also be the result of some other setting(s) or something caused by it requiring ATX, since you're missing shadows as well.

Is this a level I can download and see if I get the same result?
Well I have interesting news. It seems that after going out of and back into DX9, shadows are present and textures are at full res. I do not know what happened - definitely a bug but I fear I won't be able to help any further, as I no longer have said bug...

I want to mention a basic error of Trespasser's - the fog color. In software mode, fog color works exactly as it should. There are triggers in each level to set the properties of fog, including color. This does not work in hardware mode - the fog renders white by default (Big Red said it is loaded along with the main menu, IIRC), and I *think* it will render that level's fog onto a following level if one is loaded (being then backlogged fogged). I recall fixing this in several of my mods using a separate ATXconfig.ini for each one. This is a hassal as often players will not bother to install it, or keep it around after they are done playing the mod and wonder why all their levels have freaky fog now. Fog color is a vital component of a mod, which can make or break the intended emotion. In fact, the entire retail game suffers from incorrect fog color when played in hardware mode; early levels feature a CBackdrop object of distant Mt. Watson which is the wrong color because it is coded for the fog color of that level, not the previous one. So, it would be a great help if this were fixed. :)

Hmmm, I don't see a reply to my comment about the non-working CSetWaterAlphaAction with the patch. Would really suck if a basic script command (not from ATX) no longer works because of an upgrade to the engine. Are there plans to fix this or are you leaving it alone? I can send you the level if you need to see it to work on this error.

So I want to add my two cents on the matter of enabling disabled dinosaur activities. I understand you are a very knowledgeable person when it comes to game programming, or you wouldn't be able to do this. But I ask that you trust the people here (including and perhaps especially the programmers) to know what's best for the game we have loved and worked on for years. We have seen the deactivated actions in action using GUIApp and are aware of how they impact gameplay, positively and negatively. To assume that we would not gain from discovering the nature of deactivated components of the engine seems very misdirected. Certainly there could be parts to stay away from, but I ask you to trust that the community is familiar with the engine after all this time. We are not simply a group of gamers who you're giving a better game to. We hack and modify the game and have an educated standing to make such decisions about what's best in many cases.

As for ATX matters... I understand this one is really up to you (and/or Big Red if he can be involved), but I wish to stress that so much of our work, past and future, depends on ATX that it is perhaps a bigger issue than you realize. Many if not most of the released mods in recent years use ATX in some way. Playing these levels without the proper actiontypes available will cause them to malfunction. I don't want to see bunches of people playing broken levels because the graphics are so much better, and I don't want to see ATX go down the drain for future levels because people want to take advantage of the improved level stability of this new Tres CE (which is a very vital capacity you offer to us). I will also note that ATX offers vital modder tools such as the ability to fly around levels ingame; I was just in a level to perform a test in Tres CE and couldn't do it because my destination was 2/3rds of the way across the map and I couldn't fly there (and don't have the time to play 2/3rds of the level for what should take less than a minute). Then there is simply the fact that I don't want to see all of Big Red's work go to waste; he spent a lot of time accepting requests and adding features, we just can't afford to lose it.

Btw, Trespasser CE might as well mean Custom Edition. No one uses the old Trespasser Custom Edition anymore (it has an outdated version of ATX, and was replaced by Trespasser Twilight), and Tres CE already referred to that package, so you've got an issue either way. I would be fine with calling this new release Trespasser Custom Edition, personally. Sounds appropriate.
Slugger
-=TresCom Developer=-
-=TresCom Developer=-
Posts: 4720
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2004 6:52 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Atlanta

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by Slugger »

Trespasser: the Correct Experience.

Trespasser: the Contemporary Experience.
0066521C: 'Cannot create local swap file - Is Trespasser installed??',0Ah,0
"Cold lino was the driving force behind world power!"
Lee Arbuco
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus
Posts: 271
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:09 pm

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by Lee Arbuco »

Draconisaurus wrote:So if you're holding a hunting rifle, with an AK-47 on your back, and you want to hold the ruger readhawk on your belt, you'll need to drop the hunting rifle first. It still works but I think it should be said somewhere. ;)
It's a painful feature to document. You'll end up with an entire novel, and people will end up confused anyway. I was hoping what you describe would be obvious enough. Anne only has a single slot on the back and a single slot in the belt. It's physically impossible to do what you describe without dropping the hunting rifle in hand, since the slot on the back is already full with the AK.
That's awesome! How did you get the code for it?
It involved comparing the original exe files and searching for differences in relevant places of asm code.
Hmmm, not recommended indeed. I have a small story to tell about it. As I recall, I commented out UseDX9, loaded her up, went to video options and switched to software mode. Suddenly, the menu was tucked away into the upper left-hand corner of the screen! Everything else was black, but after the level loaded, the rest of my desktop appeared, with Trespasser running in that corner... and uh... well:
Don't know why that happened for you. Without seeing a log file I can't even begin to guess why it did that. All I can say is that when I said "not recommended" I didn't mean any such problems. Software and old hardware mode run just fine for me, and other people who have tested.

If it's something you want to look into further then don't hesitate to post the trespasser.log (after you've tried running SW). Would probably be best to wait for the next update though, before doing that.
I want to mention another error, here - in conjunction with the main menu being shrunken on the screen, the cheat-entry-line (console?) ingame is now situated higher and more rightward, sort of floating on the screen. Not a serious error but might be fixable, perhaps at the same time as the menu.
On-screen texts are a bit different in DX9, due to different scaling to cope with higher range of video modes, using different drawing method etc.. So consider that change intentional and not an error. It's a technical limitation if you will.
I want to mention a basic error of Trespasser's - the fog color. In software mode, fog color works exactly as it should. There are triggers in each level to set the properties of fog, including color. This does not work in hardware mode - the fog renders white by default ...
Does this still happen in CE? Could you tell me a specific level name that I can load in HW and SW and see the difference?
Hmmm, I don't see a reply to my comment about the non-working CSetWaterAlphaAction with the patch.
I've already fixed this. It should be working in the next update that I will make available a bit later today.

The dinosaur activities can also been enabled in that update. I mentioned it briefly in previous post somewhere. I've made it an ini option so it can be disabled again if there are any problems, or if someone wants to play the game how it worked originally to compare.
As for ATX matters...
It's a tricky subject. There's a lot of stuff and it basically has to be reimplemented. The ATX source is available, but it's designed around an entirely different situation (injection code to and/or an existing exe).

I can't add all of it, at least not at once. What could help is if I could get some hints of what is most needed. For example, are the ATX actions high on the list? If so, are there some actions that are more important than others?
User avatar
tatu
-=TresCom Website Manager=-
-=TresCom Website Manager=-
Posts: 5087
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:40 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by tatu »

Lee Arbuco wrote:The dinosaur activities can also been enabled in that update. I mentioned it briefly in previous post somewhere. I've made it an ini option so it can be disabled again if there are any problems, or if someone wants to play the game how it worked originally to compare.
It should be noted that (some of them), will only work if a level got the dinosaurs scripted right (emotions), but some behaviours doesn't need that. In Sluggers exe where he did enable it, it was fantastic in retail levels!

But I like the idea that you can enable and disable them through the ini, that way we could try out other function for testing?
Active project: Trespasser: Isla Sorna
Status:
BE-PH1: Released
PH2-IT: Pre-released
PL-SUM: In production

"...there used to be more benches, but InGen's workers removed them during the evacuation in the name of framerate."
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: A new Trespasser patch/update (Trespasser CE)

Post by machf »

Lee Arbuco wrote:
Draconisaurus wrote:That's awesome! How did you get the code for it?
It involved comparing the original exe files and searching for differences in relevant places of asm code.
I've been doing that, but de-compiling the 117 (1.1) executable and comparing it with the source code for 116 (1.0). If you want, I can send you what I've got so far. Haven't been working further on it for a while...
Lee Arbuco wrote:On-screen texts are a bit different in DX9, due to different scaling to cope with higher range of video modes, using different drawing method etc.. So consider that change intentional and not an error. It's a technical limitation if you will.
I noticed it too, but it really doesn't have much importance... I didn't consider it worth mentioning.
Lee Arbuco wrote:Does this still happen in CE? Could you tell me a specific level name that I can load in HW and SW and see the difference?
From what I can tell, yes, it does. Load any Trespasser level with the retail (or patched) executable, then alt-tab out of the game and back, and you'll see how the fog is a different color afterwards. Of load the TestScnNight level, exit it back to the main menu, load any other level, and see how it appears with the dark fog settings the TestScnNight level sets... this Trespasser bug consists in that the fog settings don't take effect until afterwards. I think it was a DX limitation, maybe...
Lee Arbuco wrote:It's a tricky subject. There's a lot of stuff and it basically has to be reimplemented. The ATX source is available, but it's designed around an entirely different situation (injection code to and/or an existing exe).

I can't add all of it, at least not at once. What could help is if I could get some hints of what is most needed. For example, are the ATX actions high on the list? If so, are there some actions that are more important than others?
Maybe the most important ones would be the ones used in TC Isle... for the "spitter", for example, and for the twin machine guns firing at the same time.
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
Post Reply