Btcc22

As7raios was playing around with customising his Windows 7 background, which prompted me to do the same. We discovered that there's a 256kB limit on the background image size, making the images looks pretty terrible on higher resolution monitors. From a quick search around the web, the consensus seemed to be that this is just how things are and that there's nothing much that can be done about it. Long story short, I had a quick reverse engineering session to figure out where this limit was being imposed and to how remove it. I'm posting this as a tutorial here because I have nowhere else to document it and hopefully other souls in search of an answer will stumble across it. Before we begin, here's the usual disclaimer that applies when messing around with system files: Follow this tutorial at your own risk. The only person responsible for any damage caused to your machine/files is yourself. Having said that, I consider this to be a pretty low-risk modification. 1) First up, follow another tutorial for setting your custom wallpaper up. Disregard the bit about keeping your file below 256kB. This one should be fine. 2) Navigate to C:\Windows\System32. If you've installed Windows to another directory, head there. 3) Make a copy of authui.dll. Save it somewhere easy to access (say, C:\) and rename it to something along the lines of authui_working_copy.dll. Don't worry if your file isn't the same size. 4) Make a copy to hack on. This will be our patched file. 5) Next up, you'll need to find yourself a hex editor. I'll be using Hex Workshop which can be downloaded here. It has a trial-period more than ample for following this tutorial. 6) Open your authui_patched.dll in your hex editor. 7) For 32-bit Windows, search for the following hex bytes: 3D 00 E8 03 00 73 51 For 64-bit Windows, search for the following hex bytes: E8 03 00 41 3B C1 73 3E 8) For 32-bit Windows, replace the found bytes with: 3D 00 E8 03 00 90 90 For 64-bit Windows, replace the found bytes with: E8 03 00 41 3B C1 90 90 A before and after for the 64-bit edit If you're wondering what the change is, it's removing the instruction that checks the size of the file and replacing it with two instructions (called nops, or no operations) that do nothing. The 00 E8 03 00 bytes represent the 256,000 byte limit. Patching done, now to replace the file 9) Time to replace the stock authui.dll with our patched version. There are several ways you could do this but I'll detail the method I used. 10) Reboot the machine. Hold F9 before Windows begins loading and select the repair option. We're not going to run the repair tools, it's just an easy way to access a console. 11) Once you've logged in, select the bottom option to open a command prompt window. Bottom option, right there 12) By default, it'll place you in the X: drive, the temporary space used for booting the repair tool. Switch to your normal C: drive by typing "D:". Confirm that it's your C: drive by checking the contents using the dir command. If it's not (it won't be if you have multiple drives), go through the letters (E:, F:, etc) until you find it. 13) Now type the following commands, substituting D: for the drive letter you discovered in the previous step (if it differed). takeown /f D:\Windows\System32\authui.dll copy D:\authui_patched.dll D:\Windows\System32\authui.dll When prompted to overwrite the file, select yes. Reboot and enjoy your high-res wallpaper goodness! Click the spoiler button for a before and after example (saved as PNG to preserve quality). Click the images to view them at full resolution. Troubleshooting, for those that dun goofed Problem: Windows boots to a black screen with a cursor. Solution: Go back to step #12 but this time copy the original, backed up, file over the patched one. You either messed up the editing or removed read access from the SYSTEM user for authui.dll - this can happen if you follow other tutorials on replacing system files. Problem: Windows doesn't boot. Solution: Go back to step #12 but this time copy the original, backed up, file over the patched one. Problem: I copied the original authui.dll back but I still can't access Windows. Solution: Run the repair tool, followed by running sfc from the command prompt (sfc /scannow /offlinedir=D:\Windows - replace D with your drive letter, if it differs).

To view the source, visit this topic. Halo Anticheat 2 is a new mod, supporting all versions of both Halo CE and Halo PC. Download is at the very end of the post. Despite the name, there's no anticheat in this build. This release is an alpha/preview to gather feedback on some of the features and a chance to get them tested on a wider array of machine configurations. Expect there to be bugs and gripes; removing them is the point of this alpha/preview release. Here's a quick overview of the features currently on offer for testing: Map downloading To help promote custom maps, HAC 2 boasts an in-game map downloading system. If a player attempts to join a server running a map they don't have, HAC 2 will intervene and download the map for you from a network of map mirrors and then continue connecting you to the game. Currently the system grants access to around 1,000 maps and growing. This system requires absolutely no effort on the part of game server administrators. Players and administrators will be able to add any maps that might be missing from our extensive collection to the network responsible for serving the maps. There are also plans to support map makers further by allowing them to hold beta testing sessions without the hassle of distributing maps beforehand and having to worry about them being leaked by testers. To keep things speedy, we're seeking bandwidth providers/mirrors for map hosting. You're free to donate as much or as little space and bandwidth as you wish. The only requirement is that you have at least ~10mbit upstream non-residential (other words, no home hosting) bandwidth. If you're interested in helping the service out, contact me or reply to this post and I'll contact you. Rapid load times HAC 2 adds a caching system to Halo CE that allows for near instant game launch times, regardless of how many custom maps you have. Put away the map managers, they're no longer needed. Download as many maps as you wish, your load times will stay constant. Note: The initial launch time after loading HAC 2 will be the same as usual, so don't be disheartened. You'll see the speed increase on subsequent attempts after the caching has kicked in. Increased draw distance A small addition but the default draw distance has been increased severalfold. This only benefits a few custom maps. If you wish, you can restore the default (1024 units) via the 'draw' console command. Doubled BSP poly limit This was mainly done to fix glitches on existing maps but the extra budget could be used to produce more detailed maps. Although the limit has been doubled, it could be increased further in the future if desired. I'm aware that OS does something similiar (wasn't at the time of implementation), although I'm not sure if it's only for .yelo maps. Assuming it's not, having this as a feature in more than one mod will allow map makers to have their higher detailed maps played by a wider audience. In-game BSP poly budget display I've included a basic budget display for map makers that'll allow them to view how many polys are being drawn and how much of their budget they've used. This might prove to be utterly useless but the idea was to help map makers to squeeze the most of engine. That and to deserve as a distraction for a few moments. Automated version changing Having a community split between game versions necessitated a version changer to grant players a wider choice of games to choose from. HAC 2 takes this idea one step further by detecting the version of the server you're attempting to join and silently switching your game to the correct version, ensuring you can join any game, regardless of version differences. Unified server list Another problem, related to the version changing, was only being able to see the server list for a single version of the game. HAC 2 solves this by showing you servers from all versions of the game. Combined with the automated version changer, you needn't worry about which version of the game you're using again. Field of view modifier Fairly standard feature but an important one to have. Pressing F6 in-game will allow you to adjust the field of view to your liking. If you're a console command kind of person, you can just type the value directly into the console with 'fov degrees'. Your preferences will be saved so you only need to do it once. In-game server bookmarks/favourites Pressing F4 in a game will allow you to add (or remove with another press) a server to a list of bookmarks. Pressing F5 will allow you to view this list, including live status information to help you pick a game to play in. To quick join a bookmarked server, simply press alt and the corresponding number. To join bookmarks with a number higher than 10, hold the control key down (e.g., alt + ctrl + 5 is 15). Quick server information copying A minor feature but it solves a pet annoyance held by many scrimmers. You can copy the details of a bookmarked server to the clipboard for easy pasting on Xfire/your choice of IM service by typing 'copy' followed by the corresponding bookmark number. To copy the details of the server you're in, regardless of whether it's bookmarked, simply type 'copy'. Devmode toggle Since external apps are irritating, I've added a command to toggle devmode on/off. Simply type devmode 0/1 into the console. Note: Disable it before switching between games unless it's local (non-dedicated) or the game will crash. I'll patch this in the next update. Stuff nobody cares about (misc fixes) There are a couple of small fixes, such as fixing the console text so that the display time isn't tied to your framerate. Future development plans The features included in this release aren't the end of the project. Here's a quick taster of some of the other features that will be included in future updates, as testing progresses. There are more to come as development marches on. Chat customisation HAC 2 integrates and enhances Sehe's "Halo Chat V2" to allow for control over your in-game text display in multiplayer games. Aside from the customisation options, this fixes the dreaded 'text lag' issue. Optic integration Optic integration brings the announcements and medals from newer titles to your Halo 1 multiplayer experience. By having Optic as a feature built-in to HAC 2, we hope to bring you a wider variety of announcements and medals. As it stands, you can choose medals and announcements from any of the games, except Halo Wars. More allowances raised To follow on from the raised BSP poly limits, HAC 2 aims to do more of the same to other limitations. I'd just like to note that this project isn't focused on engine enhancements (you have OS for that) but if a few limits can be raised here and there, I'll do so. Statistics tracking HAC was the first application for Halo to bring detailed and reliable statistics tracking to the game and to date has tracked millions of kills and hundreds of thousands of games. HAC 2 aims to build upon the statistics service offered by the original and bring the feature over for CE players to enjoy. Anticheat HAC 2 will offer server supported anticheat to both HPC and HCE. This means that for the first time, server administrators running SAPP* will be able to ensure a cheat-free experience by requiring all players in the server to be running HAC 2. Just to stress the point, there's no anticheat in the current build being provided for testing, so save the reverse engineering until later. *hopefully users of other server mods such as Phasor and Gandanur will be able to join in on the fun. Installation - A.K.A. "What files do I have to replace this time?" HAC 2 is a single file that gets dropped into your Halo directory. It does not replace (or proxy) any of your existing files. Uninstalling is a simple matter of pressing the delete key. For more information, see the readme.txt included in the download. HAC 2 will automatically grab the newest release when you start the game to ensure that you receive all bug fixes with zero effort on your part. Work has been put in to ensure the smallest possible file size (~75KB) to give you a smooth updating experience. Details of fixes and new features will be posted with each update. F.A.Q. Do I need admin rights to use HAC 2? No. It was important to me that users didn't need to run the game with admin rights in order to make use of certain features, including map downloading. Where do maps get downloaded to? Maps are downloaded to a subdirectory of where Halo stores your game profile. This was done to allow users to download maps without requiring them to start the game with admin rights as would have been required by downloading to the game's default maps directory. If you wish to copy the maps to the standard directory, simply running the game with admin rights will cause HAC 2 to copy all downloaded maps there. What ports does HAC 2 use? There should be no need to adjust your firewall settings or mess around with port forwarding (only outgoing is required) but port 80 is used for updating and map downloading and port 3750 is used for communicating with the master server (stats tracking, anticheat, aspects of map downloading, etc). 3750 is unused in this release but will likely be made use of in the coming weeks. If you're able to play the game online, you should be fine. Other questions Ask away and I shall answer. Thanks to... Things wouldn't have progressed so smoothly without the help of the people below. Some of them had no direct involvement but have contributed through posting their research over the years. In no particular order: Sehe, As7raios (my personal Q&A department), PM Rave, Harbinger, Sean Aero, Oxide, Goemitar, Souless (UI prototype for the abandoned HAC 1.5), Snafubar (work on the abandoned C# HAC 2), Martz0r (work on HAC 1), SilentK (engine research, pre-OS), FleetAdmiralBacon (your app gave me the idea to increase the draw distance), WaeV and Tucker. Click here to download. Read the readme.txt before asking any questions!

I've been telling myself that I'd release HAC's source for quite a while now but each time there was usually some feature I wanted to add first, as well as giving the code a thorough cleaning. There are still features I intend to add and the code still hasn't received the cleaning it badly needs but since I'd like to start spending more time on other projects, I may as well release it as-is before it ends up being pushed to the back of my mind. Motivation: Sharing is caring. Perhaps somebody can learn from or make some use of it. What to expect: Messy code, although mostly no worse than most projects of a similar nature. The nature of the project, the way it's expanded in scope and my own inexperience of working on a project of this scale will show, I'm sure. The core has been refactored several times as things have grown so it's not as bad as it could be but it's still thorny in places. To put some effort in if you want to compile it. You'll need to get ahold of a few libraries (listed below) to compile, although most of the smaller ones are included in the source folder. The code for the loader and some of the other tools aren't included. They aren't needed to get things working. No support. If you decide to try to compile your own binary, I don't have the time to help out with it. Pre-C++11 code for the most part. Moving to a newer compiler isn't a decision that can be taken lightly. Notes: The source here is the version used to compile the last release. It has some code for incomplete features. I've removed some source files from the release that weren't relevant/required. These related to the anticheat (dropped) and unfinished features. If you want to compile it, you'll need to remove a few references to these files. I'll probably put the source up on a repo at some point in the future, after some cleaning up. Libraries you'll need: Lua or LuaJIT. libZPlay. Boost. License: The MIT License. See license.txt in the archive. Thanks: As well as the names I mentioned in the client release, Termy and Sehe deserve an extra mention for this release. Some of the code is based on or is a heavily modified version of their work (namely ArgContainer and aspects of the hooking code). hacclient.zip

27" is pretty big and if you sit as close to the screen as I do, you wouldn't need great vision to read the text.

It's not an issue with 27".

I wanted to add date checks so it could automatically recalculate. I'll bump it up the list if it's a desired feature.

Seemingly it doesn't even attempt to do anything - the function is commented out. I was going to implement a better solution at some point but didn't get around to it. You'll have to use the flush command.

http://hce.halomaps.org/?fid=6952

Did somebody just say "wouldn't be hard" in the context of warp travel?

"I'll buy it from the States", he said. "It'll be here faster", he said. "It's less likely to go wrong", he said. Three months and a huge mishap later... It usually takes just over a week for them to arrive from South Korea.

The only thing that you all have in common is that you're OpenCarnage users. Therefore, any sleeping disorders are quite likely to be Tucker's fault. Something something causation ≠ correlation.

Radar spoils the competitive aspect of the game.

For about five minutes. It was a very spooky five minutes.

You, apparently.

Sure was. It even received a few minor fixes.

http://mynameisapache.tumblr.com/post/107001785641/i-sexually-identify-as-an-attack-helicopter-ever

Between 60 to 90 seconds.

Better to do one thing at a time and actually do a good job of it.

Just to note - the 1.10 patch removes the AMD/Nvidia split for the camo too.

OpenGL has been due a revamp for a long time; it was supposed to be done years ago but didn't materialise. There's just so much cruft and legacy code that they really needed a clean sheet. Given that the specs aren't public, I think it's way too early to pit D3D12 and Vulkan against each other but it would please me if Vulkan ended up being at least as good as D3D12 and as widely and well supported. As things stand, D3D is just a better API than OpenGL in all but its proprietary nature. Writing cross-platform code isn't that difficult and having an equally-as-good or better API supported on every major platform could be a nice boost to gaming on Linux and Mac. Having no good reason to pick D3D over Vulkan would just be one less barrier. Having said all that, again, its too early to judge. Vulkan sounds like it'll be more work to get up and running initially, in exchange for more power and flexibility. I can understand why they went down this path though. If you want a pretty good post that explains the rationale, see this one.

I guess that explains it.

Heard about this quite a long time ago. Disappointing to see that they haven't really delivered, with the 64 core version being unavailable. I figured that it could be a cheap way for programmers to get to grips with parallel programming and testing their software's scaling characteristics (probably not though, architecture issues there) but with only 16 cores, I'm not so sure. I can find a desktop PC with that many logical processors (or close enough) or I could just use a GPU if I need some real grunt. I'm struggling to see a use for this.

Huh? I'm going to sit down and have a little think about how such a washing machine could fall over. In which direction did it fall?

That's why front-loading machines are superior.

Watch the stream for a moment. The game takes input from commands typed in the stream's chat. Not only is the stream delayed by around ten seconds but a good chunk of the 'players' are either trolls or don't know how to play Halo.