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Inofficial Hotfix Patches


Nort

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This is a thread for members to post inofficial hotfix patches in. These hotfixes are for people who want to keep using stable official releases of The Dark Mod and Dark Radiant, but with somewhat less bugs.

These patches will overrule parts of the official release, and are therefor only compatible with the specific version of TDM/DR that they were created to patch. It is therefor necessary that you keep track of which hotfixes you installed, and uninstall them all when you upgrade to a new TDM/DR version. If any bugs persist in a future version, it's best to wait for a new patch to be released for that version.

At time of writing, the official released versions are The Dark Mod version 2.10, and Dark Radiant version 2.14.0. When posting a patch, please include which version it is for. (Patches for developer versions are allowed, but don't expect those versions to last long.)

Developers, keep in mind that while these patches will point you in the direction of a problem, the patch solution will sometimes differ from an official release solution. (For example, we can't rename packaged files, and so we have to sometimes refer to badly named ones.)

It's possible that I - Nort - will be the only one posting these patches, and I'm fine with that.

 

Update

After having worked out a lot of patches during these past weeks, I've attached version 1.0 of my hotfix pack to this post. This pack makes all my previous hotfixes obsolete. Details about what they contain, are in the included release notes, because the list is too long to post here. The main features is the fixed console warnings, as well as the fixed mages. (Do not miss these mages. They are eating apples and everything.) If you have any questions about any changes, just ask.

Version: The Dark Mod 2.10, Dark Radiant 2.14.0

 

Small correction:

The release notes should say:
"This new file creates defines several placeholder shaders. Placeholder shaders are mesh defaults which skins can refer to without risking conflicts with other meshes sharing the same skin. They are not simply misnamed shaders, or deprecated legacy shaders."

 

Update

Dark Radiant version 3.0.0 released today, so my patch version 1.0, only stayed relevant for about 24 hours. ...and that's fine. A great changelog of Progress, is all I ever wanted.
While devs should still download my patch to see if everything in my patch change log has been addressed (which I doubt), normal users should instead go download Dark Radiant 3.0.0, where every change is official. Once I've assembled enough mental strength to begin over from the beginning again, I will start working on the next patch. It will likely take a shorter time to make this time.

 

Update

Remember, before uninstalling any def files, to first remove any entities they have created, mainly the noble and mage ragdolls. If Dark Radiant can't find the definitions for entities, it won't display them in the map. I don't know if they still remain in the code, and you probably don't want invisible obsolete entities in your map, so it's cleanest to remove the entities from the map before removing the patch files.

 

Update

I've decided to post-pone any further development until Dark Radiant release 3.1.0. The 3.0.0 was a big update, and big updates will typically come with smaller unforeseen issues. One such issue is that whole numbers aren't being displayed properly. It's thankfully only a cosmetic issue, but since it's so in-your-face, I think that the devs are likely dealing with other issues as well, and that the next update will be coming as soon as possible. ...so I think 3.1.0 will be more stable, and will come soonish.

 

 

Edited by Nort
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5 minutes ago, datiswous said:

Why don't you just put all these fixes in one topic?

Yeah, I should probably have done that, but I started with just one, and then I thought that it would only total to two, but then I finally solved a third one. ...so it kind of snowballed, and I had a lot on my mind as I did this - was delving into a new scripting language for me, high on 3-5 cups of coffee.

If I run into any more, I'll put them all into a single topic.

Edited by Nort
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12 minutes ago, nbohr1more said:

Applied the fix at rev 16489

Perfect.

Just keep in mind that these fixes are sometimes not optimal for release-side implementation. I'm going to post an additional fix today, in which I rename a filepath in a script in a poor manner, just because I can't rename an already packaged image. ...so don't just copy-paste my fixes, okay?

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  • Nort changed the title to Inofficial Hotfix Patches
7 hours ago, datiswous said:

Just wondering if it's not better to make bug report(s) here:

https://bugs.thedarkmod.com

and then track what is fixed and what not and how it is fixed in case someone forgets to write that info down in release notes.

Sorry if my post sounds redundant

Yeah, I probably should make an account on the bug tracker too, but there are two reasons for doing it this way:

1. Some of these bugs and warnings have been around for at least months, while devs are asking for wishlists for new features. I've seen them postpone dealing with bugs to later releases, just because they have too much to deal with, to deal with "the small stuff". Yesterday Springheel talked about only doing this in his spare time, while the whole user community combined, while not being skilled enough to model things, likely has ten times that spare time to fix the small fixable things.

2. Stables releases are, and should be, far between, and people like me don't like to update versions even when they're released, just because it's such a hassle, and so then just patching that version with a fix, becomes a quick and dirty way to just silence the console warnings. The key to a hotfix is speed: If you want something fixed this week, or today, we provide solutions.

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I'm pretty sure developers will find this thread useful!
Personally, I'm not very good with assets, so I'll avoid integrating these myself...

But I'd like to warn about one thing.
Sometimes moving/renaming an asset or file looks like a simple fix for a problem or a warning, but keep in mind that this asset can be referenced elsewhere, even from unexpected locations. So careless moving/renaming of core assets can do more harm than good.
I created a script in assets SVN (devel/find_in_fms.py or something similar) which can search files in FMs for a particular string or regex. Perhaps it is not very easy to use, but it helps to find all usages. Of course, it requires all FMs be downloaded locally (from missions database SVN).

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17 minutes ago, stgatilov said:

I'm pretty sure developers will find this thread useful!
Personally, I'm not very good with assets, so I'll avoid integrating these myself...

But I'd like to warn about one thing.
Sometimes moving/renaming an asset or file looks like a simple fix for a problem or a warning, but keep in mind that this asset can be referenced elsewhere, even from unexpected locations. So careless moving/renaming of core assets can do more harm than good.

Could you give an example of this doing more harm than good? ...because I seriously doubt that. After implementing every patch, I verify in the console that the warnings and errors are gone, and that no new ones have popped up. These patches are also easily removed. If they make something not work, then remove the affected entities from your map, save, delete the patch file, and restart Dark Radiant. The default pk4 archive should then take it from there. Don't just wiggle your fingers and tell ghost stories, when you apparently don't know much about assets to begin with yourself.

 

"I created a script in assets SVN (devel/find_in_fms.py or something similar) which can search files in FMs for a particular string or regex. Perhaps it is not very easy to use, but it helps to find all usages. Of course, it requires all FMs be downloaded locally (from missions database SVN)."

That would be great for those mappers who want to make sure that those fireballs and waters are working.

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Progress Report

I've not posted anything in this thread for about ten days now, but I'm still working on more patches from dusk 'til dawn.
I just figured that I'll release them all in one go, when they're all done.

I've discovered quite a few more issues, and have recently also had to rethink many of the patches, and so progress has gone from 75% done, back to 50% done.

...and so maybe I'll finally be done in 2 days, maybe I'll be done in 10 days. I don't know yet. So far more and more work has just been piling up.

Edited by Nort
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On 6/2/2022 at 11:24 AM, Nort said:

Could you give an example of this doing more harm than good?

Models with missing textures, missing models showing up as black cubes, missing sounds, maps not loading due to missing scripts or broken entityDefs... the list could go on forever. This is why the TDM team is very conservative with modifying existing assets, especially renaming or relocating them, and only makes such changes after close scrutiny to make sure nothing that relies on these assets (both in core assets and any released FM) will break as a result.

Obviously just fixing whatever you see in front of you produces fast and easy results, but it's unlikely someone else will do the remaining work to make sure it won't break things elsewhere.

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1 minute ago, Dragofer said:

Models with missing textures, missing models showing up as black cubes, missing sounds, maps not loading due to missing scripts or broken entityDefs... the list could go on forever. This is why the TDM team is very conservative with modifying existing assets, especially renaming or relocating them, and only makes such changes after close scrutiny to make sure nothing that relies on these assets (both in core assets and any released FM) will break as a result.

Obviously just fixing whatever you see in front of you produces fast and easy results, but it's unlikely someone else will do the remaining work to make sure it won't break things elsewhere.

What I've seen is the opposite, actually: Misnamed and missing shaders, legacy skins fused with new ones, and console warnings I'm told to just ignore. ...but if you're afraid to break something, just put it in your fan mission sub directories, and prepare to replace things like mages when you update to a new official version. I think I've fixed a lot more things than I've broken, and if you find something that broke, tell me and I'll fix it. ...and if you find something I fixed, that's me telling you how it's supposed to be done. ;)

 

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Hi Nort,

I checked your patch but I am afraid I cannot appreciate it as much as you probably deserve. Sorry. From the Readme it looks it is more about internal stuff... interesting fixes I guess but I don't recall in the missions I played any of the issues you describe.

This does not mean these issues don't exist and can show up up anytime therefore: thanks for the effort. I hope your work doesn't go to waste and makes it into the core mod, in one form or another.

TDM Modpack 4.0

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13 minutes ago, snatcher said:

Hi Nort,

I checked your patch but I am afraid I cannot appreciate it as much as you probably deserve. Sorry. From the Readme it looks it is more about internal stuff... interesting fixes I guess but I don't recall in the missions I played any of the issues you describe.

This does not mean these issues don't exist and can show up up anytime therefore: thanks for the effort. I hope your work doesn't go to waste and makes it into the core mod, in one form or another.

My focus has been on the internal stuff, yes. You'll likely only notice it if you enable the hidden console, and see that almost all the red, glowing warnings are gone. From what I hear, not even the devs pay attention to the console. ...but I do. These patches are mostly for my own peace of mind, I guess. :)

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