QUAKE III ARENA V1.1 - SS_MAPS FIX

[LEODCBR]

Hi, how are you guys?
I don't know if everyone knows but SS_Maps servers cant be load on Master Server (scan) on gameplay online, it's happen since the original release.
If a PC server are running SS_MAP then nobody can find this server on scan.....
Well I edited some stuff on Q3 DC.bin, fixed and asked for some test it and everything is working properly.

There are total of 9 original Maps and now it's available to be find online on DC Scan.
It's original QUAKE III ARENA version.
It's to play DC_Maps and SS_Maps. (Original Maps)

Just download the .gdi and have fun:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KuHSFM ... drive_link

[moi]

Cool, glad to see Q3A getting some patching treatments. You might want to check out Mechanic's custom maps release, that's already using custom map file names to some degree:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=17137

[LEODCBR]

Cool, glad to see Q3A getting some patching treatments. You might want to check out Mechanic's custom maps release, that's already using custom map file names to some degree:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=17137

Hi moi, how are you?
Congratulations for your incredible job with MECH.
I talk to you on youtube some years ago hehehe!

Ya i know about t mech scanning new custom maps.
But this bug was different and not in same place that mech edited.
Its was a filter apply by mistake, then i edited some .bin and now its fixed.
Its explain why "MECH" dont get this same trouble with PC_Maps, its because "PC" keyword dont was in this black list.
He replace dc_maps names for pc_maps names on original Q3 USA.bin then its worked. (LIKE ON PICTURE)

Take care.
Peace!

[moi]

Hi moi, how are you?
Congratulations for your incredible job with MECH.
I talk to you on youtube some years ago hehehe!

Ya i know about t mech scanning new custom maps.
But this bug was different and not in same place that mech edited.
Its was a filter apply by mistake, then i edited some .bin and now its fixed.

Hehe did I hint you to register at dctalk then?
That part of the binary that you had edited might is interesting and it certainly needs to be considered in release updates!

Its explain why "MECH" dont get this same trouble with PC_Maps, its because "PC" keyword dont was in this black list.
He replace dc_maps names for pc_maps names on original Q3 USA.bin then its worked. (LIKE ON PICTURE)
Take care.
Peace!

Yeah Mecha came up with that simple but effective workaround.


Actually the part of the game bin is probably way more extendable:

Code: Select all

\num\0\map\pc_map01\bots\crash\longname\Introduction\special\Training\fraglimit\5\type\single...
\num\1\map\pc_map02\bots\ranger\longname\Arena Gate\fraglimit\10\type\single ffa tourney team...


num\0\\ = the number of the map in the game menu, starting with 0
map\pc_map01\ = the map folder to load, here pc_map01
longname\Introduction = map name appearing in the game menu
special\Training = probably specific game type Training
fraglimit\5 = game on that map finishing after 5 frags
type\single = probably meaning map can only be played in single player, ffa(free for all),ctf, team etc also available
...(see hex code 00 00 00) = separator between each map entry

As long as you stay inside the character limit it might even be possible to add more maps than were originally supported by the game.

[Mechanic]

Yeah the PC_map names also made for easier server config editing. The project alone was very time consuming didnt give the q3a bIn much attention. Maybe a coder can give this Bin a gander and unlock the 4 player limit

[LEODCBR]

Yeah the PC_map names also made for easier server config editing. The project alone was very time consuming didnt give the q3a bIn much attention. Maybe a coder can give this Bin a gander and unlock the 4 player limit

I did some few test for 5-6 players and got some issues:
After change sv_maxclients on bin, u need to follow next erros then need to fix one by one and will get first connection, but this will crash too for some reasons:

1° DC Ram Limitations
2° Respawn row fatal error (some map don't have enough respawn for more than 4 players)
3° We need to turn off Score Screen (it's designed for 4 players) it's called CG_Obituary, if you press tab to see score then game get a fatal error and crash.

If we have access to source code would be easy add more maps to scan, fix mapping (map logo) on scan screen and accept more than 4 players inside a match for some small maps.

:]

[moi]

I did some few test for 5-6 players and got some issues:
After change sv_maxclients on bin, u need to follow next erros then need to fix one by one and will get first connection, but this will crash too for some reasons:

Glad to hear that there's at least a proof of concept.

1° DC Ram Limitations
2° Respawn row fatal error (some map don't have enough respawn for more than 4 players)
3° We need to turn off Score Screen (it's designed for 4 players) it's called CG_Obituary, if you press tab to see score then game get a fatal error and crash.

1. can by improved by downsampling audio and textures. Mechanic's release already uses my game resources zip which contains smaller game data from SS maps in converted dc maps.
Also there is a console command that turns all items to sprites instead of md3 models which help to save some ram and improve fps

2. Shouldn't be a problem in custom pc maps.

3. In the first step we could remove the bind in PRESET1.TXT to avoid unnecessary crashes. Next step would be to try to NOP out calls to said function inside the game bin. And finally try to extend the game result screen.

If we have access to source code would be easy add more maps to scan, fix mapping (map logo) on scan screen and accept more than 4 players inside a match for some small maps.

:]

This will probably never happen. However I'm curious about that japanese version which is some months more recent than the retail PAL and NTSC versions.
It's just some speculations on my side but I think it might feature some performance improvements and contain some console commands unavailable in the retail versions.

[LEODCBR]

I did some few test for 5-6 players and got some issues:
After change sv_maxclients on bin, u need to follow next erros then need to fix one by one and will get first connection, but this will crash too for some reasons:

Glad to hear that there's at least a proof of concept.

1° DC Ram Limitations
2° Respawn row fatal error (some map don't have enough respawn for more than 4 players)
3° We need to turn off Score Screen (it's designed for 4 players) it's called CG_Obituary, if you press tab to see score then game get a fatal error and crash.

1. can by improved by downsampling audio and textures. Mechanic's release already uses my game resources zip which contains smaller game data from SS maps in converted dc maps.
Also there is a console command that turns all items to sprites instead of md3 models which help to save some ram and improve fps

2. Shouldn't be a problem in custom pc maps.

3. In the first step we could remove the bind in PRESET1.TXT to avoid unnecessary crashes. Next step would be to try to NOP out calls to said function inside the game bin. And finally try to extend the game result screen.

If we have access to source code would be easy add more maps to scan, fix mapping (map logo) on scan screen and accept more than 4 players inside a match for some small maps.

:]

This will probably never happen. However I'm curious about that japanese version which is some months more recent than the retail PAL and NTSC versions.
It's just some speculations on my side but I think it might feature some performance improvements and contain some console commands unavailable in the retail versions.

Nice tip MOI i will try find and check this version, thank you again

EDITED: I already downloaded and extracted, i dont found big differences between US and JP version! Well i found a way to fix map logos on Scan, its easy just need to add some assets and edit some .bin! I will talk to Mech soon!

[moi]

EDITED: I already downloaded and extracted, i dont found big differences between US and JP version! Well i found a way to fix map logos on Scan, its easy just need to add some assets and edit some .bin! I will talk to Mech soon!

What are you using to reverse the BINs - IDA, GHIDRA or something else? Care to share your setup/project files?
I used to do some hacking of old win32 games such as Road Rash using IDA long time ago.
The SH4 support was pretty lacking back in the day. WInCE was kinda ok, but KATANA binaries were quite unreadable to me. Are there any improvements nowadays that can be used for Q3ADC?

[Mechanic]

He’s probably using Hex editor since he asked me what I used. I already figured out the pics but that was after the release. just didn’t want to rush into a small update .