Cheat Engine

[spammer70]

Hi CE'lers,

a long-time-lurker here.

I know this game is kind of old, but I picked it up again and tried a little hacking to double the fun.
Things like infinite salvage, ammo, grenades and med packs as well as infinite time and instant cool down for Holo Decoy I already got working.

But now I hit a bump.
The range of Holo Decoy is pretty limited. One can only walk so far (distance from real body's position) with the holograph before it vanishes/shuts itself down.
I would like to extend this range. If possible, up to infinite.
However I have no clue where to start.

I already tried searching for the distance:
1. Activate Holo Decoy
2. Search for unknown initial value
3. Increase/decrease distance to real body
4. Search for increased/decreased value
5. repeat 3. and 4. till only a handful of values left

But none of them seem to represent the distance between real body and holograph.

So if anyone has some hints on how to approach this problem, I would be delighted.

I hope I haven't overlooked any information already available on these forums, if so however, would you mind giving me a push into the right direction?

[spammer70]

Bump... maybe? Or is it too early?

Does no one have an idea how to approach this problem?
Is there any information missing?
Is anything unclear because of my phrasing? (English is not my native language.)
Or has the thread just been overlooked?

I don't want to be ungrateful or demanding but I'd really like some kind of response even if it's "We can't help you with this problem".

Thanks.

[spammer70]

bump...

[++METHOS]

Try float type. If that doesn't work, try all data types. Increase/decrease first. If that doesn't work, changed/unchanged...but be careful with unchanged.

Haven't played this game, but have you tried finding the coordinates for the Holo Decoy? If you can find that, maybe you can write a script to vac it to your player, allowing you to move anywhere by taking the decoy with you. Not even sure if that is applicable for this game, but just another idea. If you can find it, you would want to test it first by teleporting it to a location that extends beyond the holograph perimeter to see if the original perimeter is still present, or if it moves with the decoy.

[spammer70]

Thank you for your answer.

I should have mentioned, that I have already searched for "All" data types.

I also may clarify how the Holo Decoy works:
When you activate Holo Decoy, a holo projection of the player character is being created in front of the pc, which you can control just like the pc.
While the holo is active you can switch between pc and holo at any time.
The holo's existence is limited by time (which I already hacked) and distance to the pc (which I'm trying to hack).

If I do the un/changed search, I am left with 600+ addresses in the end.
I tried randomly freezing several of them, but haven't found anything yet.
Some addresses crash the game when frozen.

How would I recognize coordinates?
May they actually be inside the results of the un/changed search?
And I'm not sure what you mean by "vac it to your player".

Thanks again.

[++METHOS]

In that case, it sounds like a vac cheat wouldn't be ideal, as I'm assuming you will need the holographic player to travel to locations that the non-holographic player shouldn't or can't go at that time. That being said, you can try finding the coordinates for the holographic player and NOP'ing one of the instructions that is accessing/limiting them...same as you would a no-collision cheat.

Keep in mind that the instruction(s) that handle holographic character may be the same as the non-holographic player. Also keep in mind that NOP'ing for no collision may require additional injections to avoid falling through the map.

You should be able to find the holographic character coordinates in the same manner as the non-holographic character coordinates. Search for unknown initial value (float type). Move your character north (if there is a map with a north indicator...if not, choose one direction and move in that direction, only). Search for increased value (in the end, if that doesn't work, switch it and search for decreased value). Move in the direction again and search for increased value (or decreased, depending). Now, move back, in the opposite direction, and search for decreased value. You get the idea. In the end, you may have a few hundred addresses to sort through, but you should be able to freeze them, in bulk, until you narrow in on an address that will not let you walk in that direction. Once you have found it, add it to your table. Congratulations, you have also found the other coordinates...just copy your address and adjust your offset (probably by 4) for the two additional coordinate addresses.

Before you do anything with the instructions, teleport your holographic character beyond the holographic perimeter to see what happens.

[spammer70]

Thank you for your time and effort.

I will give it a try and report back.

[spammer70]

Hello,

I tried what you proposed.

It seems I found a coordinate. Freezing it stops the player character and holograph from running north or south. Changing it teleports pc or holo (whichever is active), though with some nasty side-effects (camera issues).

When I teleport it beyond the perimeter the holograph instantly vanishes and I regain control of the pc.

I am, again, kind of clueless where to go from here.
What would be the next step?

[++METHOS]

Not familiar with the game, but you probably shouldn't be experiencing camera issues unless your camera is tied to the non-holographic player during holographic mode.

Since you can't go beyond the perimeter, I would try to find the coordinates for the player (and) the holographic player. You should be able to find them both. If you can, and you can move them both, you should be able to just vac the stationary player to the holographic player and move freely, without limitations.

If this is not possible, then you might try the harder task of removing the perimeter barrier/limitation. To do that, I would start by individually NOP'ing the instructions that handle the coordinates for the holographic player. The reason for this, is because if you walk to the perimeter of the holograph and either the holograph turns off or your character just stops as if walking against a wall, then there has to be an instruction that reads the coordinate values to determine when this bit of code needs to run. You may fall through the map while doing this, so you might be wise to freeze your Y axis to prevent that from happening. Make sure to test the barrier by attempting to move beyond it with each and every instruction before restoring them. Also, be sure to let your debugger run long enough to pick up any oddball instructions that might only appear when you are actually at the perimeter and/or as you walk beyond the perimeter (whichever the case may be).

[spammer70]

Thank you very much for your help. Please excuse my late reply.
At the moment I don't have much time for gaming so I'll let this rest for a while.

Anyways thank you so far. I'll try your solution and post back when I've got more time.