Wulf's random questions while looking at GoW data files.

>copypasta

Devs, pls.

>switch movie triggers

If only they would just go away...

The horn that brings you to Pandora's Temple at the Temple Siren fight is a fake before you start the fight.  They have 2 separate horns in the level file.  Unless I'm misreading things, that first horn just can't be interacted with.

Depending on the spot, removing the movie trigger completely leaves the game playing with a permanent black screen.  This is thanks to the FadeOut before the clip.  FadeIn is triggered by the movie completing, which never happens.

None of the triggers in different levels are done the same way though, everybody was creating these triggers as the mood struck them instead of according to a standard.  Some I can work with easily, some are convoluted.

I was able to break all the camera-change triggers at the desert king spot, but couldn't seem to break the actual spawning trigger, or red boundary trigger.  Not that it matters here, I just take a break from PAIN every so often to break whatever level I'm currently in.

On the plus side, if you set a new movie trigger to play a movie you've seen in the past, you can skip it with a button press.

Changing Kratos's model is 'easy', textures/skeleton/collision info is not so easy.  Kratos usually ends up looking like the artist had a stroke.

Collision info is separate from the model.  Changing Kratos to be a tiny model still retains normal collisionbox size.  On the flipside, this should mean that the collision hitbox can be made extremely tiny without worrying about the model.  Not a focus at this time.

>fake horn

Amusing.

>fade issue

I see.

>by mood

Good God.

>break camera change

Foes still recognize when they are on/off camera?

>movie from past

Neat.

>costume is easy

>important bits are hard

As with the stats.

>tiny hit box

Or none at all? 

> foes recognize candid camera

They seem to know but I haven't tested thoroughly, just with the desert kings.  It was their intro cameras that I broke.  Also the bonfire dude's intro scene.  Still removes control for the same amount of time, just doesn't move the camera now.  Needs more playing.

> none.  none more black.

I could be wrong, but I believe that with 'no' hit box you would fall down, down, down, as the flames went higher.

>they know

SHUT.  IT.  DOWN.

>as the flames went higher

Higher and higher (like your love for Deeb). 

>it's like

"That's terribly sexy." - Chris Hansen 

>it's like

"That's terribly sexy." - Chris Hansen 

Everything's on hold until I finish updating to debug firmware.

This will allow real-time memory editing/viewing from my PC, should be some neat stuff possible with it.

>debug

Sounds like a good time.

>neat stuff

You trying to give me a semi? 

Everything's set up.  Scheize be like hard trippin', yo.

My greatest accomplishment so far:

I can make the camera shake if I constantly overwrite a specific memory address with 0.

Baby steps.  Lot going on so I haven't been able to give this the focus required.

I've found the checkpoint section in memory.  I can 'save' a checkpoint, screw around and trigger a new checkpoint, then go back to that first checkpoint by overwriting that chunk of memory.

Now I just need to narrow down what in that chunk controls what.

Edit:  I've turned a save point invisible.  Woo?

Edit2:  Wasn't invisible, I was just modifying its X/Y/Z co-ords.  I can now drag a save point with me.

Edit3:  Found a variable that controls the size of the save point.  I assume the size of each entity can be modified.

>constantly shake

To what degree?

>checkpoint meddling

Sounds promising.

>invisible save point

To make it extra horrifying, move it elsewhere.  Hide-and-seek for those playing that file.

>just roaming

Ah, I see.

>size of it

XBOX huge time?

http://youtu.be/qGPz8pBDwbw

Wee.

Can I claim credit for that new skip?

>claim credit

By all means.  I don't think even the normal OoB allowing chaps for Speedruns will accept this though.  You've already shown something of a limit to a given run with the ability to warp to the Throne Room.

Live data:
53aafc - HP Remaining
53ab00 - MP Remaining
53ab04 - Rage Remaining
53ab0c - Red Orbs

53ab1c - PR Level (Can't force)
53ab1d - MG Level (Can't force)
...
53ab21 - Blades level (Can't force)
53ab22 - Current spell
53ab26 - Poseidon's Trident
53ab27 - Unlocked Magics

Checkpoint data:
53a728 - Max MP

54c8b6 - HP Remaining

54c8ba - MP Remaining
54c8bf - Rage Remaining
54c8c6 - Red Orbs

54c8d6 - PR level
54c8d7 - MG level
54c8d8 - ZF level
54c8d9 - AoH level
54c8da - BoA level
54c8db - Blades Level, 5=Athena
54c8dc - Last Magic selected
54c8dd - Gorgon Eyes
54c8de - Phoenix Feathers
54c8df - Muse Keys
54c8e0 - Poseidon's Trident
54c8e1 - Unlocked Magics, 7C = all, Binary (PR - MG - ZF - AoH - BoA - 0 - 0)

With this, I can easily grant all magics/weapons at the beginning of Aegean Sea.

Edit:  Added more.

>all magics/weapons

Except BotG, I trust.  Still, being able to just have all of these things would indeed allowing for a true NG+.  Anything about allowing costumes on VH?  This for their stat modifiers on that setting, of course.  The appearance is unimportant. 

Tested it out, works fine.  All weapons/magic at the start of the game.

Edit:  No BotG.  I'll have to wait until endgame to play around with that,  I don't have any handy saves.  Costumes should be do-able now, but it'll take some time to track down that value.

>works fine

Hazzah.  NG+ stabalized for the most part.

>no BotG

No surprise there.

>costumes for VH

>should be doable

Little by little, chipping away at the bizarre oversights. 

Costume/difficulty data isn't stored with the normal checkpoint data, level data, or character stat data.  Humbug.

That means I'm looking for a number between 0 and 5 that's stored somewhere in  197,971,149 other numbers.

Should be fun.  There are ways of narrowing down the search space a smidge.

>between

Sounds promising.

>there's a way

One should hope it isn't praying.

54cc66 - Costume

0-5 = Kratos, Chef, Bubbles, Tycoonius, Dairy, Ares 

54cc67 - Difficulty Level

0-3 = E,N,H,VH

>costumes on VH

Now it's the matter of the stats modifying VH properly.  As you know, recovery and EXP are not adjusted by setting in GoW1.  Just Armor and Power.  With Tycoonius, you will see a pronounced increase in damage you take (and collisions) with a good deal more power than you're used to for the setting.  DB would offer truly pathetic damage (25%) and Hard Armor (40%).  Obviously Ares Armor would be vanilla 200 modified to be Power at default (100%) and Armor at vanilla H (40%).  Besides less damage to us and more to foes, you can look out for more EXP per orb and even higher MP/HP orb worth (which are already worth a lot by default).  Tycoonius, I feel, is the most interesting choice for VH testing though.  The potential for being hurt so badly per hit is nice, but the idea of 200/100 (full/half) collisions is nothing to scoff at.  If it works, you will not be able to overlook it in cases you know one collision (on VH) to note be enough to kill a target.

Found the spot controlling magic regen.  It's a number telling it how fast to regen, so you can crank it up for infinite MP and it persists through saves.

Haven't tested costumes fully, yet, but they still appear to have their full effects.

>infinite MP by means of instant regen

How lovely for a NG hack.

>their full effects

Just a matter of getting the non-default stats for our Kratos in New Game conditions.

For silliness, I was just able to become immortal by zeroing out every instruction that tried to modify my health.  Affects the code itself, not something that can be saved.  Something similar could probably be done during the clone fight in order to test things out without the family dying.

Edit:  Just gave myself unlimited 'double' jumps. And turned off enemy AI.

Edit2:  I've figured out how to turn off swimming.  I can fall right through water surface and keep running.

>invincibility

>not a save option

A torrential rain of casual tears would be had upon reading that.

>unlimited double jumps

I believe a previous tester did that.

>turned off enemy AI

Sure would make things easier.

>turn off swimming

Neat.  Being able to turn it off/on on-demand would be useful.

Some odd effects with just the infinite double jump on.  Pandora's Guardian won't die.

Can break all his armor and get his health almost empty but he won't take the final hit.

>won't die

>due to infinite double jumps

Curious.

>won't take the final hit

As in he won't go down far enough to reach his stagger state for the impale? 

Correct.

Didn't play around with it long enough to figure out why, just did the fight normally and re-enabled everything.

>turned off troublesome element and moved on

To be expected.

http://50.72.217.75:83/Gow-damage.jpg

That is the frame that is visible when the damage is applied.  Not anything too shocking, but just to show that damage is applied before you're visibly hit.

My current point of interest is tracing back the calculation that deals damage to you.

I can set a breakpoint on your health changing, so the game will pause at the instruction that deals damage and show you what it's about to deal.  For a boring method, this would allow me to stand dumbly near every single enemy until they've done all their attacks, and log the exact damage from each one.

 If I follow the calculation back far enough, there should be some sort of table somewhere showing exactly what attacks / damage each creature is capable of.  The odds of it being easy to read are slim though.

>damage log

"That's what I'm...talking 'bout." - Dante

>easy to read

It would be too convenient (coming from them). 

My new current point of interest, ignoring the fact that my attention appears to have some sort of deficit bordering on disorderly levels, is figuring out the save file checksum.  I've found where it's stored in memory, but figuring out how it's calculated to generate it myself is eluding me.

This number, of course, being needed if I were to create my own save editor that would allow people to just set whatever parameters (costume/difficulty/extensions/whatever) on their save themselves.

>ADD

Hmmm, yes.

>own save editor for others to set things up for themselves

Something you wouldn't want to broadcast too openly at some boards. 

Meh.  I wouldn't flaunt it in the casual places.

Those ready for it would hear of it.

The method of the checksum has fallen to the mighty power of my brain.

CAFE BAD1 is used as a starting point, and then the file is broken up into 4 byte chunks and added to that, discarding any digits above 4 bytes.

Should be able to code up a save game editor in a day or two.

Edit: (Removed, see 3)

Edit 2: I'm able to overwrite the save data with the info from the first checkpoint.  This means full runs are possible with modified values, can load the save and have it start at the point immediately after the intro FMV.

Edit 3: Problem solved.  Checksumming is working properly.  I can manually make modifications to the file and my editor will give it the right checksum.  Now it's just a matter of making the interface pretty and putting in all the variable locations.

Referring to my Edit #2, this should also mean it's possible to have a save for any checkpoint in the game.

Clones, Ares 2, running on the ground underwater at Port of Athens, etc.  I wonder if it's possible to just tell the save any level file, and appropriate X/Y/Z co-ordinates, and have it load you there....  If so, perhaps a save pointing to individual Challenge of the Gods?

It's also possible to 'reset' a level.  If you zero out the appropriate area of the save, it will load the area fresh.

>wouldn't flaunt it

Words gets around.  Casual lurkers for instance.  Any who seek vengeance upon you need only report it.

>load specific areas

Amusing.

>refresh levels

So many new tricks.  BotG remains elusive though.  Likely the most troublesome thing, so it will remain on the old backlog.