Any idea on how to make a client read from ".IMG" files instead of wz?

[Saleem93]

So, I've played maple legends before and I noticed they are the only ones to use dumped binary IMG files instead of the regular wz extension. Their client somehow can read directly from the imaged binaries that you can create from HaRepacker and WZRepacker which is quite interesting..

Does anybody have any clue how they managed to do that? As if I recall correctly it makes patching your game very easy.. does the original client game supposed to support that anyway? :blink:

 

[Eric]

Re: Any idea on how to make a client read from "".IMG" files instead of wz?

This has always been in the client, but I don't see why you'd want to use it.. I much more prefer using the WZ files, especially for encryption purposes. Nexon uses this and it's great for debugging, but that's about it imo.

I'd dig around the client and get the addys for whatever version you're looking for (I'm assuming v62), but I'll let Kimberly answer first

 

[xrandox]

Re: Any idea on how to make a client read from "".IMG" files instead of wz?

Patching WZ files isn't ever hard they just can be rather large. This would reduce the sizes of patches significantly, but as a WZ editor it'd probably be annoying to deal with.

 

[Saleem93]

Re: Any idea on how to make a client read from "".IMG" files instead of wz?

I'd dig around the client and get the addys for whatever version you're looking for (I'm assuming v62), but I'll let @Kimberly answer first

Indeed, I am referring to v62 and I would appreciate very much any clues given from either you or Kimberly.. As I said that would make patching the data files for your clients much easier and less bandwidth consuming =)

 

[Kimberly]

Re: Any idea on how to make a client read from "".IMG" files instead of wz?

While I would love to give hints I am not the person that did the work, and the person that did do it did it for us in private, and thus had no intention to give it out to public. Eric has however all the rights to give you hints or give you the way to do it, since he wasn't the person that did it, and it would just be his work instead.

However, you need make sure what your intentions are with .img. .img removes compression of .wz files, which means the file size becomes much larger. Furthermore, in-game every file loads separate, so it can be slightly more laggy when everytime a new character loads into the map, depending on your PC. Client boot-up will definitely becomes slower.

The advantages however is like you said its much easier to create patches, and it also helps with stability issues of the client, which is why we still use it with all these disadvantages in mind.

 

[Saleem93]

Re: Any idea on how to make a client read from "".IMG" files instead of wz?

Kimberly Very well.. :

okay guys, let me begin with some initial thoughts to get us started:

You need to look for the following codes inside the client with STRedit and fix the data folder path to be inside the current folder instead of outside it:

2267;"Data"
2268;"DataT"

So, no more "../Data" and this will make the client detect the data folder after you dump the ".IMG" files from HaRepacker inside it.

After that I would assume that you will have to change an entry or addy with OllyDBG for each code containing a file path like for example these:

2178;"UI/UIWindow.img/GameMenu/BtSkin"
2179;"UI/UIWindow.img/GameMenu/BtChannel"
2180;"UI/UIWindow.img/GameMenu/BtGameOpt"
2181;"UI/UIWindow.img/GameMenu/BtSysOpt"
2182;"UI/UIWindow.img/GameMenu/BtQuit"
2183;"UI/UIWindow.img/Channel/BtChange"
2184;"UI/UIWindow.img/Channel/BtCancel"
2185;"UI/UIWindow.img/Channel"

And that's about it I think. :mellow:
Eric waiting for you to guide me further, I would also take a tour inside the IDB to figure it some stuff related to this topic.

 

[SympaticW]

Re: Any idea on how to make a client read from "".IMG" files instead of wz?

I would be interested to know how this works.

 

[Saleem93]

Bump.. okay did you find anything for certain @Eric? I have no hope but to seek hints from you I guess =)

The community of MS server development is really dying for I remember back in 2009 I used to visit this forum and it was really active! Evey body had a clue about something somewhere and discussed technical things from time to time. Now that I am much more interested in coding and java, there is no more opportunities for me to learn from other experienced developers. :glare:

BTW, I am going to launch my open beta v62 private server this month and I would like to start with this data structure at first. I would be thankful!

 

[Eric]

Bump.. okay did you find anything for certain @Eric? I have no hope but to seek hints from you I guess =)

The community of MS server development is really dying for I remember back in 2009 I used to visit this forum and it was really active! Evey body had a clue about something somewhere and discussed technical things from time to time. Now that I am much more interested in coding and java, there is no more opportunities for me to learn from other experienced developers. :glare:

BTW, I am going to launch my open beta v62 private server this month and I would like to start with this data structure at first. I would be thankful!

I can look into it soon now that I'm back home, sure. I was gone the whole week on a cruise so I had completely forgot about this.

 

[SympaticW]

Bump.

 

[buttbeam]

http://forum.ragezone.com/f921/release-client-load-img-instead-1165258/#post8961113

there you go fam