hak vs override

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               

Frith5 wrote...
My question on this would be why? Why would you prefer your players to download override files instead of a .hak file? Either way requires players to download and install files in order to play, right?

Personally, I'm all for haks.  They keep things nice and tidy.  But I imagine that the aversion towards them has something to do with wanting to attract more players to one's server.  (Of course, if this just leads to crashing, as per Six's explanation, it seems a tad counter-productive.)
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Genisys]

               It would be best to extract the content, make a back up copy of the original hak, edit the files, then import them back into the Hak you will now be using (edited version), and then save the hak, test your changes, and then fix any issues you find... (Good adivce here)

All overrides you use, override ALL player's overrides and YOUR server's game files, so your module would be what they end up using, because your hosting it, therefore all changes you make trump all changes they make, if they are using overrides of the same name..

Files in your override may override files in your hak (and this is not a desired result), therefore editing files in your hak would be better, because your hak overrides other player's hak files...

So why have them download overrides?

Haks on the other hand, if it's a custom one, will require your players to download it BEFORE they log on to your server, and many players flat detest Haks and downloading files, overrides on the other hand are a better solution to avoid haks all together, HOWEVER< you can edit the CEP Top V Hak files without requiring a download, provided you are not doing anything major here...
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Genisys, 27 juillet 2010 - 06:50 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               

Genisys wrote...
So why have them download overrides?

Well, we do have to think of the Mac (and Linux?) players too, who don't have the toolset (if I recall correctly).  Unless there's some utility out there for associating modules with hakpaks (like the PRC's installer), they're kinda stuck.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy__six]

               

Genisys wrote...

All overrides you use, override ALL player's overrides and YOUR server's game files, so your module would be what they end up using, because your hosting it, therefore all changes you make trump all changes they make, if they are using overrides of the same name..

Um. Not quite - the only files where the servers' override the client copy are some 2das (and not all of them - polymorphing would be the infamous example of an exploit, although I think that was fixed in a patch, as well as appearance), and I believe most blueprint files will use the server's module copy rather than the player override version. Anything relating to art or sound assets or the 2das that handle them is handled entirely client side.
               
               

               
            

[Baaleos]

               Hi guys,

Should really reply to some of these messages.



Hak's would be best yes, to keep my content separate from other servers that the player may play on.

Eg - The AmbientMusic.2da I am distributing, would probably override other servers, if they too distribute a 2da in the override too.

But saying that, if they distribute it via hak, then there is no issue.



I would love to be able to set my updater application to examine file contents of hak's but I currently dont know the file structure or how to create a hak reader class in c#.



Is there source code anywhere for examples of a hak reader/writer?

If there was some examples I could translate into c#, I would set my content up, to transfer the content into the players CEP2.3 Patch haks, making it possible for them to get access to even more content.

That being said, visual effects, placeables or tilesets, would cause crashes if the client didnt have the optional downloaded content.





In terms of the content I am distributing, it is strictly

BMU, and mp3's (which are then converted on client side, to wav).



These file types are optional and non-blocking.

Players will not crash, and they will not be refused entry if they do not have them.

They just wont hear the audio, making the content I am distributing an optional enhancement.



@Genisys -So why have them download overrides?



Because the wav files can be put in there, to make the audio available, and the 2da needs to be there to tell their client what audio to play.

The server doesnt send a PlayCommand to the client saying

Play BMU File "BMU_Music.bmu"

instead it sends a message saying

Play BMU 122

Then the client reads row 122 of the clients ambientmusic.2da, and then determines the file name of the bmu, and plays it.



This is similar to why tlk files are used, it takes less bandwidth and overhead to send a number, rather than sending a string filename. Plus, the row number can identify additional properties to that entry, if it has additional headings.