SparksTH
New Member
Personal kvetch generator
Posts: 36
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Post by SparksTH on Aug 25, 2005 17:32:19 GMT -5
Since you seem to have connections with people in high places, do you suppose you could get ahold of one of the game's engineers and ask them some questions about the PC version of Croc, namely, what they used to create the game, especially the levels/models? It'd really help me out, as I'm currently in the process of cracking this thing, and with absolutely NO technical knowledge whatsoever, I can only work with what I've been given, provided it exists in the first place. :/
Anyway, yeah, the filetypes are completely alien to me, and CKNOW doesn't know jack, so any info would help. Also, I found that the PC version is filled with .wad files (Used in several incarnations of the Doom series), which was really a shock, as it's the only filetype that I'm truly capable of working with as of now. However, none of the programs that would generally be used to edit these files were capable of opening them. They may be a currently unknown subdivision of the extension, or something completely different, so if someone could shed some light on this, it might be a big help.
Also, Ketsuban, one of the tech members of the SWS2B forums, has already attempted to modify the Saturn version of the game (Lord, the brave soul), but to no avail. He seemed rather surprised when I informed him about the PC version, which is truly a stroke of luck, as he likely knows far more about the subject than I do. He has yet to do any work with it, but I'm sure that he'd appreciate some info as well.
Now, if we actually ARE capable of modifying the game, I can't make any promises that I will be able to do so, as I am quite lazy, and the engine looks far too cryptic to mess with without a level of expertise that I do not yet posess, but it's worth a shot, right? :7
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Post by Forte Wily on Aug 28, 2005 20:16:35 GMT -5
I'm really sorry, but I'm really not in favour of the suggestion that I should pester my old contacts for information they probably have no reason to have memorised, about a long-disused game engine that belonged to a now-bankrupt company. ;P
I personally think that games are for playing and enjoying, not for taking apart in the name of "discoveries" which end up destroying the magic (I'm sure you know what I mean with this description) inherent in some titles. I'd be disappointed to see the Croc franchise treated with such disregard. I also feel that "cracking" games isn't in the spirit of respecting the fun that the games, and the characters and stories contained therein, have brought to people over the years, and as such, I feel that such things have no place on a fan site.
For these reasons, I'm afraid that I'm not the person to ask about this sort of thing, as I don't think it's worth a shot - I really see no purpose in annoying the people who made a great game almost a decade ago, but who have since moved on to other things. ;)
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SparksTH
New Member
Personal kvetch generator
Posts: 36
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Post by SparksTH on Aug 29, 2005 14:04:36 GMT -5
It's alright, I understand. But you see, I had no intention of disrespecting the game, only to modify it a bit. While we're bound to make a discovery along the way, I had only intended to edit/create more levels, for added replayability. It's more of an homage to the original than anything, but yeah, I see what you mean. :I
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Post by shadowpanda on Aug 31, 2005 2:23:12 GMT -5
Personally, I'd love to see more levels for the original Croc.
Croc 2 just didn't improve on the prequel as much as it should have, and I'm surprised it didn't turn out to be a total flop like JJ3D.
I'm surprised to see activity in this forum of any sort.
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SparksTH
New Member
Personal kvetch generator
Posts: 36
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Post by SparksTH on Sept 2, 2005 21:21:38 GMT -5
Indeed. We need to advertise more.
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SoniCroc
Full Member
Croc... can't... jump... higher... than... gobbo...
Posts: 145
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Post by SoniCroc on Oct 29, 2005 18:44:34 GMT -5
Yah, I searched for quite a while looking for a Croc site, this being the only one it seems.  |
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Tyguy
Full Member
Why is a parkway called a parkway if you actually don't run around in grass and swing on swings?
Posts: 136
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Post by Tyguy on Sept 16, 2008 12:27:01 GMT -5
So, SparksTH, have any luck with 'Cracking' it? ;D I'd love to see some screenshots!
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proog
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by proog on Sept 28, 2008 6:04:45 GMT -5
Yeah, me too!
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Post by stegriff on Jan 6, 2009 16:04:17 GMT -5
Speaking of Hacking around with Croc, I renamed all of the texture files and matting information (with the intent that the walls would disappear and I could screenshot the backdrop ) but the only visible change on Level one was that the floating platforms showed as the Dante-themed ones (red with a gold face) This is because the information for each level in regards to where to locate the appropriate textures is stored in a WAD ("Where's All the Data") file in the textures folder, I presume. |
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Post by Forte Wily on Jan 8, 2009 4:53:59 GMT -5
My (limited) understanding is that you are correct, SteGriff. I remember something about WADs being noted in an ancient interview with one of the team (it was just that, though - a passing remark about WADs being used, and a joking comment on the name of the batch file that they used to compile them). |
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Post by stegriff on Jan 8, 2009 15:34:54 GMT -5
Jolly good  The game seems fairly impermeable though... the WADS are machine encoded, and I can't make much difference by just destroying files. Admittedly, I have no experience here, and I'm just working off mad, mad logic. I'm a little pleased about making the platforms change. And that I was right about the WADS (seeing as there are MOD files in the installation, which aren't actually music files, i.e. that is an extension chosen by the developers.) and a lot of the files seem to have been made by their custom 'wares. Care to share the name of the batch used, Forte (unless of course, it isn't for polite company XD) |
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Post by Forte Wily on Jan 9, 2009 10:56:33 GMT -5
If my memory serves me correctly, the comment in the interview was that it was at one point renamed to "Jesus.bat", because, they said, "It was a miracle if it worked". |
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proog
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by proog on Jan 9, 2009 11:27:19 GMT -5
If my memory serves me correctly, the comment in the interview was that it was at one point renamed to "Jesus.bat", because, they said, "It was a miracle if it worked". Brilliant  Also, stegriff, "machine encoded"? |
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Post by stegriff on Jan 9, 2009 12:53:05 GMT -5
ûN Ë+P:\CROC\EDITOR\MAPS\GAME\FRONTEND\title.map ç Default Blank Mapþ ü@ ù b ÿ ýa ÿ ý‚ ÿ ý ÿ ý ù ` ÿ ýv ÿ ÿ ÿ ý( û ù @ ù ~ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ù # ù ù a ù v ù * ù $ ù ù b ù ` ù ù ù ü Â5 þ úGobbo! ÿ þˆ ó DantiniWalk ÿ þˆ ÿ þ€ ý ÿ ÿ ÿ @ øÛ
ÿÿ€ û%ò +ÿ Kû :, û É-P:\CROC\EDITOR\MAPS\GAME\FRONTEND\OPTIONS.MAP ê Default New Mapþ ü ü ü ü þ ù ù ÿ ý
ù ÿ ÿ ù
ù ÿ ý ù ÿ ÿ
ù ù ÿ ý
ÿ ý ÿ ÿ ù ù ù ù ÿ ÿ ý ÿ ÿ ÿ @ øÛ
ÿÿ€ ûÿÿ +ÿ ?û Ð û¸ Ï'P:\CROC\EDITOR\MAPS\NATHAN\DESTEST.MAP éF Default New Map
Low level, not English.
The files have been converted into non-sensical random characters, which can be understood by the machine.
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proog
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by proog on Jan 10, 2009 10:00:16 GMT -5
It's not random characters, the reason it looks like that is probably because you opened it with Notepad or a similar program. That's usually how game data works, you know |
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