[WIP] Damage Control analyzer that factors crew experience into the damage report

[leovampire]

for creating a new program to interact with this one. I still have much to learn just a beginer here.

You didn't need anyone to help you make things like I did Jaketoox, Kriller2 and l3th4l did stuff I could not.

Thanks for the compliment but I admire the work you did with this non the less!

[Hawk_345]

this aplication looks interesting, but i see there are medals and ranks involved, im using captain cox's real medals and clasic crew mod, it afects the medals ingame and ranks, will this afect this aplication in anyway?

[billko]

Originally Posted by Hawk_345

this aplication looks interesting, but i see there are medals and ranks involved, im using captain cox's real medals and clasic crew mod, it afects the medals ingame and ranks, will this afect this aplication in anyway?

Hawk_345:

This application in no way modifies any of the in-game data. The medals displayed are strictly read from the output files (and are *different* from what is displayed in the game - go figure! As mentioned in the history file, I believe these medals to be the medals you *should* have).

It is my believe that fullmetaledge's realmedals mod is correct, or at least more so, than stock (or Captain Cox's, which is based on the stock medals). The order of fullmetaledge's medals seem to be more logically ordered (it is arranged in the order that they should be worn on the uniform) and I've only seen one discrepancy between his order and how they appear in the output file. That is, the Silver Star and the Navy Cross seem to be switched - *but* his order makes so much sense, I'm wondering whether the output file is correct or not!

I hope this has answered your question.

Bill

[Hawk_345]

yes it does, thanks, now i will be able to try out your aplication, now that i know whats going on.

[billko]

Originally Posted by Hawk_345

yes it does, thanks, now i will be able to try out your aplication, now that i know whats going on.

I hope you find it useful, but mostly I hope it enhances the SH4 experience in total.

Bill

[leovampire]

Just down loaded and installed your anilizer. Thanks for doing this and I am sure I am going to enjoy it and your hard work!

[billko]

Originally Posted by leovampire

Just down loaded and installed your anilizer. Thanks for doing this and I am sure I am going to enjoy it and your hard work!

Thanks, leovampire. I hope you find it as fun to use as I found it was to program.

Bill

[SirHendrik]

Hi!

Greate idea to rework the tool! Do you rely on savegames, too, or do you get your data directly from the memory?

If you need any help, write me a mail and I might be able to add some knowlage.
Which langauge and which version do you use? VB.NET, VB 2005, C#?

Hendrik

[billko]

Originally Posted by SirHendrik

Hi!

Greate idea to rework the tool! Do you rely on savegames, too, or do you get your data directly from the memory?

If you need any help, write me a mail and I might be able to add some knowlage.
Which langauge and which version do you use? VB.NET, VB 2005, C#?

Hendrik

SirHendrick:

I use VB 2005 to do my coding. This application also uses the saved game files, since it was easy to access and the information is there. I don't know how to plug into the game directly, though. An intermediate step would be to plug into the binary saved game files, since that is where the real information is - the text ouput files are just that - output files. Some of the info in there isn't updated either, probably because they are just vestiges left over from SH3. In SH3 I'm guessing they were the real saved game files.

I guess you would peek at memory locations, but how would you know where to look? Memory offset?

Bill

Originally Posted by billko

SirHendrick:

I use VB 2005 to do my coding. This application also uses the saved game files, since it was easy to access and the information is there. I don't know how to plug into the game directly, though. An intermediate step would be to plug into the binary saved game files, since that is where the real information is - the text ouput files are just that - output files. Some of the info in there isn't updated either, probably because they are just vestiges left over from SH3. In SH3 I'm guessing they were the real saved game files.

I guess you would peek at memory locations, but how would you know where to look? Memory offset?

Bill

Sorry, I don't have VB 2k5 but 2k3 :-( The binary savegames are still unanalyzed, and the text outputs are, as you say, just a leftover. You can proove it, by changing values ==> it doesn't affect the game at all

Peeking memory locations would be a nice way, but it is a dirty hack and requires some OS changes or a loader, to remove the memory protection of windows.
As far, as I found out, SH4 is debugger resitant. So using a loader won't really work.

I'll go on vacation next week, but when I'm back, I'll have a closer look at the binary files. Perhaps I can find out a few things.

Ricky_75 aka SirHendrik

[billko]

Originally Posted by Ricky_75

Sorry, I don't have VB 2k5 but 2k3 :-( The binary savegames are still unanalyzed, and the text outputs are, as you say, just a leftover. You can proove it, by changing values ==> it doesn't affect the game at all

Peeking memory locations would be a nice way, but it is a dirty hack and requires some OS changes or a loader, to remove the memory protection of windows.
As far, as I found out, SH4 is debugger resitant. So using a loader won't really work.

I'll go on vacation next week, but when I'm back, I'll have a closer look at the binary files. Perhaps I can find out a few things.

Ricky_75 aka SirHendrik

I'm sure VB 2003 is similar enough where the differences would be minimal. Any kind of code you might produce would either be directly usable, or easily modified to fit. I'd appreciate it if you could dig around a bit and see what you can find. You know, if you *do* finally hack the binary files, a whole new world of possibilities opens up, and not just for the Damage Control application, either!

Have fun with your vacation and try not to think of this stuff.

Bill

[JREX53]

I tried running the program but it came up with this error: "Could not find a part of the path 'G:\Documents and Settings\Jim\My Documents\SH4\data\cfg\SaveGames'."

I have created multiple copies of the game. I used MultiSH4 to create multiple save directories in "My Documents". I have 2 other save directories one each for Trigger Maru(TM) and Real Fleet Boat(RFB). How do I get the Damage Control Analyzer to look into those other directories?

Jim IC1(SS)

[billko]

Originally Posted by JREX53

I tried running the program but it came up with this error: "Could not find a part of the path 'G:\Documents and Settings\Jim\My Documents\SH4\data\cfg\SaveGames'."

I have created multiple copies of the game. I used MultiSH4 to create multiple save directories in "My Documents". I have 2 other save directories one each for Trigger Maru(TM) and Real Fleet Boat(RFB). How do I get the Damage Control Analyzer to look into those other directories?

Jim IC1(SS)

JREX53:

Interesting. I did not know that such a program as MultiSH4 existed. Damage Control assumes the default saved game path. You are the only one to complain about this so far, but the fact that even one person is affected by it means that I will try to come up with a solution as quickly as possible!

Sorry for the disappointment.

Bill

[leovampire]

Originally Posted by JREX53

I tried running the program but it came up with this error: "Could not find a part of the path 'G:\Documents and Settings\Jim\My Documents\SH4\data\cfg\SaveGames'."

I have created multiple copies of the game. I used MultiSH4 to create multiple save directories in "My Documents". I have 2 other save directories one each for Trigger Maru(TM) and Real Fleet Boat(RFB). How do I get the Damage Control Analyzer to look into those other directories?

Jim IC1(SS)

I see G:\ shouldn't it be C:\

[JREX53]

Originally Posted by billko

JREX53:

Interesting. I did not know that such a program as MultiSH4 existed. Damage Control assumes the default saved game path. You are the only one to complain about this so far, but the fact that even one person is affected by it means that I will try to come up with a solution as quickly as possible!

Sorry for the disappointment.

Bill

Bill, I'm not really disappointed, it looks like a great program and I would really like to use it. I was just wondering if there was a way to direct it to my save directories.

Thanks
Jim IC1(SS)

edit: You can read more about "multish4" on this thread:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...light=multish4