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GR Modding/Code rework

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 3:03 pm
by DropboxKenshiro
So, I will write as short as I can.

I thought that I could decompile GR's exe file. But boomerang project crashes when doing thing.
Well, I really don't care. I don't have any ideas for modyfing GR, except more drivers at once or some sort of day/night cycle. But maybe, it'll be cool.
Another way is, maybe, publishing GR's source code. Of course, it'll be hard and will need approval of James and Brothers, but really it wouldn't be any disaster.

And you maybe would say: HEY GR2 IS COMING BABEE!
GR2 is dead. All games gonna be dead
That's the reason.

Re: GR Modding or Time Paradox(seriously not bait!)

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 4:32 pm
by Gzehoo
Dobule wrote:GR2 is dead. All games gonna be dead
Image

Re: GR Modding or Time Paradox(seriously not bait!)

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 5:10 pm
by Lorenzo
I'm really not getting what are you trying to say, Dobule.

Instead of blabbering on about GR2 and dying you could take part in some competition while there's still time.

Re: GR Modding or Time Paradox(seriously not bait!)

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 5:23 pm
by DropboxKenshiro
I'm never understanded :(

Re: GR Modding or Time Paradox(seriously not bait!)

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 1:11 pm
by DropboxKenshiro
I'll try to explain it more clearly.

I was thinking about lack of updates for old Generally(on dev's blog there's some plans). So I thought "Maybe we can hack GR?". Liero community did it pretty well(many mods changing the game, there's any support for it from creator). I'm not expert in that, so I tried first method that was in my head - decompilation.
It's a process reverse to compilation(creating executable from source code). Program tries to restore code from machine code that it founds(of course it could be much diffrent from original source code by programmer). Complicated technical stuff, but that better explains my idea.
After decompiling, somebody could modify code to update the game.

That's the clue.

For that, I used boomerang project. But it just crashes in progress.
And that's all. Maybe someone better at that things could speak?

@Lorenzo, I'm awful in racing in GR, that's all

Re: GR Modding or Time Paradox(seriously not bait!)

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 2:38 pm
by Mad Dan
There are currently few attempts at remaking what could have been GR2 but nobody is trying to hack the GR1 I think. Maybe that could be what 'saves' GR. Online multiplayer or something simmilar. On the other hand what the dev team said before starting to work on GR2 was that GR1 code was really messy so it didn't seem like major upgrades would be possible.

Re: GR Modding or Time Paradox(seriously not bait!)

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 5:29 pm
by DropboxKenshiro
Mad Dan wrote:On the other hand what the dev team said before starting to work on GR2 was that GR1 code was really messy so it didn't seem like major upgrades would be possible.
I had that on mind. That pretty ruins the whole thing.

About fan projects... they're fan made, so chances that they'll finish are low. But maybe... let's cross fingers and wait!

Re: GR Modding or Time Paradox(seriously not bait!)

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 6:42 pm
by Lorenzo
I get an impression that there are simply not many good programmers among GR fans, as many other games like the aforementioned Liero, or even Sensible Soccer, have finally got modifications for online play but we're still where we were 10 years ago, except for official updates which didn't change anything in our knowledge of the game's guts anyway.

Maybe it's something we should rather delegate to some qualified, external professionals (or half-professionals) who might have a look and tell if there's a chance of retrieving the source code?

Re: GR Modding/Code rework

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 10:55 am
by DropboxKenshiro
Lorenzo wrote:Maybe it's something we should rather delegate to some qualified, external professionals (or half-professionals) who might have a look and tell if there's a chance of retrieving the source code?
I have two thoughts:
  • Of course it'll cost some money if we want true professionalism. However, we could swap enthusiasts by publishing Generally's source code on open-source rules. It's still not-100%-success work, but it's step forward.
  • I think better thing is rewriting the game. Something like "Generally DX" or Generally 1 but v2.0. If somebody will have to clean the code, most of it had to be rewritten totally. Of course, technology(stay to SDL, or use modern engine?) is a point of discussion. That also will work best as open-source project. But, still, is the nearly the same way as the all remakes.
And about open-source games: they aren't mainstream, yes, but huge part of them are enjoyable, like SuperTuxKart or FreeCiv. And also, open apps: Gimp,Audacity,VLC - they're great in their categories, and they're FREE of charge. So if developing community will get to work, result could be very cool.

Re: GR Modding/Code rework

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 5:11 pm
by DropboxKenshiro
OK, a bit of upgrade.

I used snowman decompiler and... it worked. Hovever, code is really messy, and I can't do much.
So, I think that the subject should be closed.