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Topic Subject: AoE3 UnHardcode Patch
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posted 08-12-16 11:41 AM EDT (US)   

AoE3 Unhardcode Patch

This is the official discussion and support thread for the AoE3 Unhardcode Patch.

The AoE3 UnHardcode is a project started by AoE3 Modders to investigate, research and eliminate the hardcoded issues, also known as "no-nos", which are faced by many modders, like the AI amount limit, in example. The patch will change your AoE3:TAD .exe to apply the code needed to eliminate some of those limitations.

Available Patches
  • AI Limit: Removes the hardcoded 14 AI/Civilization limit by making the game read all .personality files in the from the AI directory defined in the .exe (which should be \AI3, by default)
  • Revolution Banners: Allows new revolutions to have banners above the revolutionary's portrait in the Revolution UI.
  • Ignore Registry Path: Makes the game read the AoE3 files from the folder in which the AoE3 .exe is located, instead of looking for a working path in the registry.
  • Team Limit: Enables team options 3 and 4 for Single Player and Multiplayer games.
  • Resource Restriction: Allows the usage of the Fame Resource in ProtoActions, like AutoGather and ModifyGather, and enables proper displaying of Fame, Experience and Shipment costs in the politicians screen and HC cards.
  • Conversion Restriction: Allows the usage of the ConvertGuardian tactic unit action on units that aren't linked to a treasure, which effectively allows the usage of that action in powers that affect classes other than the Guardian class.
Besides of those features, the UHC Patch also allows the unhardcoding of additional properties through the use of the UHC Configuration file. For more details and information, please refer to the "UHC Configuration File" document, which is included with the release.

Changelog
  • v1.9:
    • A new patch option, which allows the usage of the ConvertGuardian tactic unit action on units that aren't linked to a treasure (which effectively allows the usage of that action in powers that affect classes other than the Guardian class) has been added!
  • v1.8:
    • The bug that would cause the farmingRadius property to not work properly in case more than one unit was assigned to it has been fixed.
    • Three new properties have been added for the UHC configuration file: attackTypeIcons, explorerUnits, and twoScoutCivs. More information about them can be found at the "UHC Configuration File" document.
  • v1.7:
    • The addition of new Native and Asian civilizations no longer causes crashes. Thanks to Takatmo Yereoc and Hoop Thrower, from AoE3H, for reporting!
    • The “Fame Restriction” patch option ( “Resource Restriction”, as of UHC 1.7) now enables the proper displaying of Fame, Experience and Shipment costs in the politician screen and in HC cards
    • Some changes have been made to the UHC Plugin System API. Make sure to use the latest UHCPlugin.h hearder file in your plugin projects and refer to the “UHC Plugin System” document for more information
    • customCheats and customSyscalls settings are no longer removed from the Configuration File by the Patcher after patching an executable.
  • v1.6:
    • The bug that caused the “Team ?” and “Team 4” team options to not work properly in Multiplayer, after applying the Team Limit patch, has been fixed.
    • A new patch option to allow the usage of the Fame resource in ProtoActions, like AutoGather and ModifyGather, has been added!
    • Two new properties have been added for the UHC configuration file: tacticSwitching and farmingRadius. More information about them can be found at the "UHC Configuration File" document.
    • The documentation has been updated to reflect the fact that, in order to the new team options to show up in ESO, the file data\uimpesogamesetuppage2.xml has to be changed. Thanks to Mandos, from AoE3H, for reporting!
    • The Patcher will now create the parent directory for a custom UHC Configuration File relative path, in case it doesn’t exist. Thanks to Mandos, from AoE3H, for reporting!
    • The Patcher has been changed to remove the digital signature from an executable, after patching it, in order to prevent it from being detected as a potential threat by some AVs.
    • The include files related to the UHC Plugin System have been updated, with some bugfixes and improved commentaries.
  • v1.5:
    • A brand-new plugin system, which allows the implementation of custom patches, syscalls and cheats has been implemented. Refer to the "UHC Plugin System" for more information.
    • The patcher now has a proper graphical user interface.
    • The code of both DLLs has been merged into one single UHC.dll.
    • All patch options are now defined in the configuration file of the UHC Patch.
    • The patch configuration file format has been changed. Refer to the "UHC Configuration File" document for more information.
    • The bug that prevented the basePop configuration file property from working properly has been fixed.
    • The option to add more native civilizations no longer removes the native properties of XPSPC civilization.
  • v1.4:
    • Support to new civilizations with the same features of the Native civilizations (Fire Pit UI and Council/Five Politician Aging Up) has been added through the NativeCivs property of the UHC Configuration File. More information about it can be found at the "UHC Configuration File" document.
    • Game won't start if the UHC Configuration File patch was applied, but no configuration file exists or if it could not be loaded.
  • v1.3:
    • Three new properties have been added for the UHC configuration file: AsianCivs, BigButtonCivs and NotBigButtonBlds. More information about them can be found at the "UHC Configuration File" document, which is included with the patch.
    • Fixed the bug that would allow all buildings to have proper Market behaviour, if there was no valid cfg files or no valid entries in the MarketUnits property.
  • v1.2:
    • The bug that would cause the game to fail to load UHC.dll in some systems has been fixed.
  • v1.1:
    • The patches Unlimited Population, Ignore Registry Path and Deck Card Limit have been added.
    • A bug was fixed in the AI Limit patch.
    • Support for the UHC configuration file has been added.
  • v1.0:
    • Initial release
Download

The patch can be downloaded at the Downloads Section of AoE3H. More details about it can be found at the download page and in the readme, which is included with the release.

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)

[This message has been edited by danielpereira (edited 01-05-2018 @ 07:55 PM).]

Replies:
posted 08-13-16 09:46 AM EDT (US)     1 / 36  
You deserve a huge THANK YOU!

Can the card limit number be customised in some way (e.g. hex-editing the .uhc file)?
posted 08-13-16 03:52 PM EDT (US)     2 / 36  
@Pawelec_POLAND: Hello!

First of all, we are glad that you liked the patch and it was helpful to you

Regarding the deck card limit, it's controlled by the "homecitiylevels.xml" file, but, in the original AoE3:TAD, the maximum allowed limit was 25 cards per deck, and you couldn't have more than 25 cards in a deck, even if you set a greater value in that file. The patch raises this limit to 40, which is the maximum number of cards that a deck would be able to handle (since, thanks to the UI, an age can't have more than 10 cards).

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)
posted 08-14-16 00:09 AM EDT (US)     3 / 36  
Another great patch for one of the best releases that AoE3 has ever seen! Good job daniel! You and kangcliff both! Modders will greatly benefit from this new release, specially because it will be able for people to have more than one mod at the same time, by modifying the registry path (which is a much better option than my current one -- changing the names of the files the .exe loads)

I do have some questions!

1) When releasing a mod, whose .exe has been modified, do we need to put the .uhc files in the .zip/installer too? Or after the changes are applied do the .uhc files become useless?

2) Regarding the Registry Path. Lets say I want my mod to be seperate from another or the unmodded game itself. I will need to create a folder for sure, can it be on any path or just inside the AoE3 install directory? Also, will I need to copy the entire files to my new mod folder, or just the one I modified?

Thanks in advance! And thank for another great release!

_________________________________________________________

Creator of The XX Century mod, look it up on ModBB and on WotTA subforums!!!

Want to learn how to add playercolor, bumpmaps and much more to your new models? Click here

[This message has been edited by Titan Joker (edited 08-14-2016 @ 00:09 AM).]

posted 08-14-16 08:20 AM EDT (US)     4 / 36  
@Titan Joker: Hello!

First of all, we are glad you liked the patch and that it was helpful to you! Thanks for the kind words ^^

Regarding your questions:
1) When releasing a mod, whose .exe has been modified, do we need to put the .uhc files in the .zip/installer too? Or after the changes are applied do the .uhc files become useless?
No, you don't need to include the .uhc files with the release of your. They are only used by the patcher to apply the patches ^^
2) Regarding the Registry Path. Lets say I want my mod to be seperate from another or the unmodded game itself. I will need to create a folder for sure, can it be on any path or just inside the AoE3 install directory? Also, will I need to copy the entire files to my new mod folder, or just the one I modified?
You can create a folder anywhere, but the core AoE3 files must be there. ^^

I hope I helped you

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)
posted 08-14-16 08:24 AM EDT (US)     5 / 36  
Actually I have no problem squeezing in 44 cards in a deck, this is what the original UI supports (I'll write more about that when my UnStretched UI mod is released). The thing is I need to set the limit to 32 for my mod to keep the balance.
posted 08-14-16 10:15 AM EDT (US)     6 / 36  
@Pawelec_POLAND: Really? I'll try and see if I can break the limit of ten cards per age... Either way, as I said, all you need to do is applying the patch and editing homecitylevels.xml

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)

[This message has been edited by danielpereira (edited 08-14-2016 @ 10:15 AM).]

posted 08-14-16 12:03 PM EDT (US)     7 / 36  
good job as always daniel & kangcliff.


ESO2 Name:Sir_ConstantinESO Name:Sir_Pacman
Trigger Freak and Modder for AOE3

SCP Editor Tools---my map pack---Some incomplete stuff
My trigger Pack
posted 08-14-16 03:16 PM EDT (US)     8 / 36  
@Mr. SCP: Thanks for the kind words, we are glad you loved the patch

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)
posted 08-14-16 07:38 PM EDT (US)     9 / 36  
Sorry for the double post, but I would like to announce that a fix for the bug that would make the game fail to load UHC.dll in some systems has been released! As usual, to obtain it, just go to the downloads section of AoE3H and download the latest version of the UnHardcode Patch!

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)
posted 08-16-16 12:47 PM EDT (US)     10 / 36  
Hello Daniel Pereira, Do you know that the hardcode to Age up system for Asians and natives is also present in side the hexedit of exe. We just need to remove or replace the civilisation name from hexedit. I think it would help many modders.
Also I request you to make something that removes the registry problems for activating War chief content for Asian Dynasties just after installation. Many people have this issue.
posted 08-16-16 02:10 PM EDT (US)     11 / 36  
@Omkar: Hello!

I'm already researching on the Asian Wonder Age Up system and the Native Councilor Age Up system and I already have a theory on how they work and on how they could be extended, and my tests seem to indicate I'm on the right path. I just need a complete testing platform (that is, a full set of new wonder protounits and tech, even if they are copies of the original ones with different names) to be totally sure of that before releasing it on a later version

Regarding the registry issues you mentioned, the AI Limit fix already fixes that.

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)
posted 08-27-16 05:19 PM EDT (US)     12 / 36  
Sorry, I went on holidays away from any internet, so I could not respond. I want to ask two things, if possible

First:

You said:
You can create a folder anywhere, but the core AoE3 files must be there
By core files, you mean... all files, right? Every single one present after the installation of the unmodded game? So in other words, I need a copy of the unmodded AoE3 files for the registry path patch?

Second, and this is more an thought I had in my head that I needed to brush it off:

I was thinking about something I remember speaking with kangcliff about new gr2 animations, here's cliff said in someother topic:
Saving animations is possible via the NWN2 plug-in, but since the animation format is updated, AoE3 cannot read it. New animations will only be viable if GR2 files are created in older formats (2.5 and lower).
When he said the animation file is updated I think he meant that it was exported with a newer version of the exporter, the default gr2 exporter all modders have is 2.6.0.10 and all (I think at least all) models and anims from the game are exported by 2.5.0.1

Now, my question is: Is there a way to make the game be able to read newer formats of gr2 anims? Maybe unhardcode the .exe so it can read newer formats of the gr2 anims?

Also, is there any particular reason why the game can read new formats of gr2 models but not anims (all models I export into AoE3 are in with the exporter version of 2.6.0.10, for example and the game can read the models of that exporter, but not the anims) why is that?

Thanks in advance! And once again thank you to both you and kangcliff for this amazing tool for AoE3 modders!

_________________________________________________________

Creator of The XX Century mod, look it up on ModBB and on WotTA subforums!!!

Want to learn how to add playercolor, bumpmaps and much more to your new models? Click here
posted 08-27-16 09:35 PM EDT (US)     13 / 36  
By core files, you mean... all files, right? Every single one present after the installation of the unmodded game? So in other words, I need a copy of the unmodded AoE3 files for the registry path patch?
Exactly.
Now, my question is: Is there a way to make the game be able to read newer formats of gr2 anims? Maybe unhardcode the .exe so it can read newer formats of the gr2 anims?
In theory, all that would need to be done would be tracking and reverse-engineering the entire code that would read .gr2 animations and changing it, so it could read animations exported with newer GR2 format versions. But, well, tracking and changing the ASM code for that would be almost impossible, sadly :/
Also, is there any particular reason why the game can read new formats of gr2 models but not anims (all models I export into AoE3 are in with the exporter version of 2.6.0.10, for example and the game can read the models of that exporter, but not the anims) why is that?
My guess is that the animation format may have been drastically changed between 2.5 and 2.6, or that ES used a custom animation format.

And no problem, we are really glad you liked the patch

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)
posted 09-03-16 10:15 PM EDT (US)     14 / 36  
Hello everyone!

I would like to tell you that the version 1.3 of the UnHardcode Patch has been released! Among the new features that were introduced in this version, it includes support for new civilizations that support Export UI and Wonder Age Up. As usual, it can be downloaded at the download section of AoE3H!

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)
posted 09-12-16 08:43 AM EDT (US)     15 / 36  
Hey, thank you for this awesome mod, it finally let's me play Age of Empires 3 the way i want it.

Are you perhaps planning to do something like this for Age of Mythology as well?
posted 09-12-16 10:39 AM EDT (US)     16 / 36  
That would be fantastic if someone can figure out or know the source code of AoM. But i doubt it because it's all verry complicated and hardcoded in the .Exe
But maybe these guys can find the stuff they also find in Aoe3 like unlimited population and adding more AI/Civilizatoin'/major gods. That would be epic.
posted 09-15-16 11:44 PM EDT (US)     17 / 36  
@rafilondon: Hello!

First off all, we are glad you liked the patch

Regarding AoM, I have never played it very much and I don't know much about modding it, so, well, I can't promise anything for AoM. Sorry for the trouble!

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)
posted 11-12-16 02:38 AM EDT (US)     18 / 36  
Hi danielpereira,

You mentioned being able to extend the wonder/native civ upgrade panel...

I've created a separate panel which displays some new tech upgrades and can toggle it using gadgetToggle(). On clicking a tech icon from within my new panel id like for it to research the matching tech ive created.

My problem is matching up the ui and the actual tech to be researched. I've played around with all sorts of ideas, including the politician upgrade screen to try and mimic its capabilities. No success as off yet...

Might you have any insight?

Cheers :-)

Edit: To be more precise I am attempting to extract the deck building screen (card tree panel thing) from the pregame homecity view and have it show the ingame deck in the same skill tree type manner.

[This message has been edited by Ericapaeus (edited 11-12-2016 @ 02:55 PM).]

posted 11-17-16 09:05 AM EDT (US)     19 / 36  
The icon tree view is very problematic, it is the last thing left for me to work around before my HD UI mod is finished. It doesn't allow any kind of resizing, the way icons are placed is hardcoded (although top left corner of a specific gadget seems to be an anchor point, what can be worked around by nesting the gadget, that's how one can get the training queue to work while removing the black background of the main UI) and (what's the biggets problem with my HD UI mod) cannot be resized.
posted 07-02-17 03:54 PM EDT (US)     20 / 36  
Unarchiveing

This month I have mostly been playing Zelda Breath of the Wild
Steam - Maffia GFWL - Maffia01 YouTube - HGMaffia Twitter - @HGMaffia
Age of Empires 3 Heaven Seraph

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
[This message hasn't been edited by fred_ernie (or Maffia) (not edited 12-29-2005 @ 09:57 AM).]
posted 07-02-17 05:34 PM EDT (US)     21 / 36  
Hello everyone!

We are glad to announce that UnHardcode Patch v1.5 has been released! Among its new features, a brand-new plugin system, that allows the addition of custom patches and new game syscalls and cheat codes and an option that allows extending the maximum number of teams to 4 have been implemented!

Besides of that, a new patcher, with a proper GUI, has been made!

As usual, the UHC Patch can be obtained in the downloads section of AoE3H!

PS:
@Maffia: thanks a lot!

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)

[This message has been edited by danielpereira (edited 07-03-2017 @ 04:34 PM).]

posted 07-03-17 08:56 AM EDT (US)     22 / 36  
You might need to have another look at your link, it's not working for me at the moment.

This month I have mostly been playing Zelda Breath of the Wild
Steam - Maffia GFWL - Maffia01 YouTube - HGMaffia Twitter - @HGMaffia
Age of Empires 3 Heaven Seraph

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
[This message hasn't been edited by fred_ernie (or Maffia) (not edited 12-29-2005 @ 09:57 AM).]
posted 07-03-17 04:37 PM EDT (US)     23 / 36  
@Maffia: The link in the post was indeed bugged, and it should be working now. Thanks for reporting!

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)

[This message has been edited by danielpereira (edited 07-03-2017 @ 04:37 PM).]

posted 07-04-17 09:27 AM EDT (US)     24 / 36  
Thank you guys for this great patch! I really appreciate all the work you are doing to make this game greater than ever!
posted 07-05-17 12:24 PM EDT (US)     25 / 36  
@SkyOne578: No problem, we are glad you liked it

The Portuguese Civ Mod III - Download at the Blacksmith
A mod that adds new civilizations, a new age, a new resource and introduces new gameplay features!
2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2013 (PCM I) | 1st place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2015 (PCM II) | 2nd place as Best Mod Pack in AoKH GOTY 2017 (PCM III)


"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:5 (KJV)
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