I've had quite a bit of both big and small problems, so it has taken a while to get this release out. Everything is still not finished or perfect, but I think it's better that you can choose use it anyway, even with a some faults. Especially since syncing works again in this release. (*゜▽゜*)
I am just testing the map feature and painting on it within DISE. Doesn't look perfect yet but it's coming along! :) Actually, after testing a bit more, I'm not entirely convinced that DISE does it wrong after all. Here's why:
It's not ready for release just yet, and I still have some concerns regarding performance, and the explored area seems slightly off at the bottom... However, please check it out! :)
You know, a tiny popup in the main window or something that stays for a second or two, then disappears. It's just to see that something happened (DISE should never fail, though). Many programs has this fancy feature, even if it doesn't take long to save.
I guess it was about time I made an icon for DISE. This is what I have so far, and I plan to use it for DISE. :) What do you think?
I'm pretty happy to release this one! :D
If you try to reveal the map, please look for anything that could be missing or wrong. :)
I'm experimenting with revealing the map, and I think it's pretty successful so far.
Please don't use alpha 42-45 because backups will be broken/empty. I really am sorry for any inconvenience. I'll do better to make sure something like that doesn't happen again.
Warning: Backups are broken
Quick fix before I get some rest. :)
I chose to skip the official release of alpha 43 so that everyone receives this update. :)
Thanks for all your suggestions and for reporting issues. Your patience as well. :)
If you have trouble with user preferences or just want to reset everything, this should make it easier for you.
Yay for increasing the release number! It's easy to just bump it up and keep track of less numbers. I guess someone else thinks so, too, with Chrome 16. Wait, I thought it was 14, then 15 just moments ago. Oh well!
I think that some of you will like this release! :)
I have been quiet lately, but I did go back to work again, and I give you a better DISE now. :)
I'm doing some testing, and getting help from someone else with testing as well. If it goes well, I can release alpha 38 within 24 hours or so. :) Thank you for your patience!
This version should have improved support for Xbox 360 game-saves (my tests were successful but I'll test a bit more), optimizations and some other fixes.
You probably noticed that I haven't released a new version of DISE for a little more than a few days?
For the last few days, I've been trying hard to figure out exactly how the quests are read by the game.
This less-than-a-minute long video I made shows you how to do it (as the title says) quick and easy. Please pause/rewind if it's too quick. :)
I happened to come across HashIt by synmuffin of zeropair.com [broken link removed], which is a tool for resigning/rehashing e.g. the save_0 file from the Xbox 360. From the looks of HashIt's code (I had a quick peek), it can extract and replace files, and of course resign/rehash the package. It's open source and coded in C++/Qt!
Those who don't have Steam installed may find this release less annoying. For everyone else, there's nothing new this time. :)
If you used an old version of DISE to change your character and/or reset your skills and you're having problems now, then you should reset your skills again. The reason is that only half the job was done before, and DISE now relies it being done properly. :)
The icons are based on the ones on deadisland.wikia.com.
Things can't always go right the first time! This fixes some mistakes I did in the last release. :)
For now, I thought about implementing something very basic for adding skills and such. I ended up putting some extra efforts into it, so it's a little less basic than I planned. Still needs some optimizing and other improvements, though. :)
I just wanted to fix this before getting some rest. :) ((_ _))zzZZ
Some embarrassing problems were fixed and some other things were improved/added. My lame excuse is that I was really tired before releasing, and I really wanted to release before going to bed. (; -_-) Oh, that's right! I work for free! :D
This should prevent the crash caused by corrupted updates. I know it's rude to point my finger at someone, but I'm doing it at my web host because I have problems with them lately. Of course, DISE could do more to fix corruptions, though (but it shouldn't happen this often in the first place). If an update fails now, you can try to update again. It's not deal but it's better than nothing. :)
A kind of small update this time, but not completely useless. But hey, it doesn't matter since you can skip it if you don't like it! :D
I'm seeing this again right now, and I don't really know why it happens. I did however notice that the connection to my web host's FTP server timed out several times, so it makes me believe that the issue lies on their side. I hope this doesn't keep up!
This release was meant to only add a feature to assign mod blueprints for items, but I guess you don't mind that I included some more improvements. :D
I'm working on supporting the Xbox 360 format as well. It's not going to be completely straight-forward (yet), though. It's just that you'll need to extract the game-save first with Modio, Horizon or something else, then inject it again and resign the package when you're done. I don't have the time to make my own extractor/injector at the moment, so I may look into providing an addon in the future using a 3rd party program/library.
In order to get it out today, I had to leave out unlocking chapters. If you read my earlier post, you may recall that I had troubles with memory corruption and such, so it has taken some time for me to fix up things. The list of improvements and new things is a little longer this time, so I hope that makes up for the wait and that the promised chapter-unlocker this time. :)
I'll add new screenshots to show the progress with alpha 28 when I have the chance. :)
I have been struggling so much the last days and I have really burned out my energy while doing so. :(
The problem is memory heap corruption. If you know what that means, you know that it's difficult to find the exact location and it may be very time-consuming.
Another release so soon, which was mainly meant to fix an issue with date/time (after upgrading wxWidgets). However, I didn't feel good about releasing something that did nothing new for perhaps most people, so I managed to get a useful thing in here as well.
I've promised a few things before, such as changing weapons' color and required level and the other attributes (damage, etc). I've implemented the first two this time, but it would have taken some more time if it weren't for two people (Warefaroo and Daniel) who shared their knowledge about reading/writing the color and required level. :)
It may not seem like a whole lot has changed in this release, but a lot of things have changed internally and caused another bunch of problems. One problem after another. However, most of it is hopefully sorted out now. In the not-unlikely event that you find strange bugs, just spam my e-mail inbox. :)
Finally, I have sorted out all the nasty and even silly problems (I hope), and getting ready for a release shortly (hours or less). :) Things should go more smoothly from now on. :D
Well, besides a ton of problems and my GUI framework making trouble instead of helping me, etc, there are some good things as well.
I'm looking more into sorting items in DISE. I could do something simple, but I want to make something good. Something good takes time and efforts.
Since I'm updating client/server code, I'll take this chance to discontinue auto-update support for DISE alpha 14 and earlier. All versions later than alpha 14 will continue receiving updates after changing a few things on the server. :)
This release is only meant to fix the bug present in alpha 22, which deleted all of your backups and then crashed, if you deleted backups manually and then let DISE overwrite your old backup(s).
With this release, I hope to make some things a lot better for you all! Mainly a much improved backup system and more choices for you!
More choices for the user is being worked on for this release. Regarding the categories, I think I can say that the people have spoken; they want more choices! :)
I've been working on retaining user preferences for this release, but I have also been struggling a lot with canceling syncing (bugs in wxWidgets or its documentation, mulithreading + race conditons, etc). Maybe that technical stuff isn't very exciting.
A basic feature that people have been waiting for, is now here. :) Browsing available weapons and other items should be easier with the categories implemented. :)
Update: Okay, please don't freak out because of the ads. I don't like this either. Popups and everything. Nasty! Please hold on while I fix it! Also, does my blog load horribly slow now? (after adding the ads)
The next version is finally here, and it comes with some cool stuff, mainly Steam Cloud syncing!
I have been playing a bit with Open Steamworks, so that I can perhaps implement automatic sync'ing of your game-saves. If it all works out, you should (hopefully) have no more problems with "corrupted" and missing game-saves with Steam! The first tests look promising! :D
After receiving a default.pro file, I confirmed a data type to be a wide string, so I have updated this tool to support it.
Some fixes and some new things! I think what you'll find interesting is the recovery feature this time, since it's a little better. All of your (salvageable) quest progress will be recovered. It doesn't check the quest tree and try to recreate earlier quests you have completed. I am not sure if it's needed either, but I still think that it would be ideal to do it somehow.
I'm working on a nice feature for this release, mainly recovering your quest progress instead of replacing it all with a fresh one or copy it from another game-save. Of course, only the salvageable data can be retrieved, so you will still lose quests, just not everything! :) Exactly how much depends on how much is actually in the file.
An addition to my internal research tools is the read_profile tool, but why not just release it to the public in case someone can have fun with it, or just to have a better view of the default.pro file? :)
A new version, with new and cool stuff. :) Bugs as well! :D There's one I need to track down. The crash happens when you close the editor sometimes. If you are able to reproduce the problem, please let me know! Of course, please also let me know if you see other strange stuff happening. :D
As promised, I am now working on this. I hope you like the design so far! :)
Some game-saves may not be fixed properly with the editor, because of how the game sometimes seem to close up a broken section as if nothing was wrong (and the rest of the sections are missing). It makes my editor believe that it can restore more than it actually can restore, and your corrupted game-save will still be corrupted after "fixing".
I decided to work on this as well, since it has mostly been there without doing anything. Mostly working now! :D
Finally! Lots of trouble on the way, but efforts usually pays off eventually. It just takes some time. :)
This post is mostly about C++, the boost library, named mutexes and wxWidgets.
If you use Hex Workshop (like I), you can use my bookmarks. It locates and highlights sections 65 to 69 (hex) or 101 to 105 (dec). Just click on the section you want (in the list in the bottom-right corner).
Thanks for your patience! My trip back home wasn't problem-free, and I'm home a day later than planned, but I'll spare you the details. I'll be ready to make some extra efforts after resting. :D
Well, this is rather embarrassing... It's about the game-save "fixing" feature. All my testing prior to release showed that it worked fine. Then I learned that it didn't, and it was my fault as well (nothing appeared to happen in the editor). Well, I have now changed "return false" to "return true" in my code, and voilà! A brand new release!
I'm releasing this one because someone had troubles with a game-save loading in the editor.
I may be mostly unavailable for the next 1-3 days. My vacation in Japan is over, and I'm going home to Norway. :)
I tried to research how weapon level/damage/force/etc. works, but I haven't completely figured it out yet (I think). You can experiment with the values, and you'll get the result you want eventually.
A bit more cool feature this time!
I'm implementing a feature for fixing game-saves. It should be ready in alpha 11. For now, it will try to fix it by using the same method as in my tutorial. :)
Sorry, no big changes in this version, but I came to realize one thing... It's kind of annoying having to check my blog every time for updates, isn't it? At least I would think so!
Phew. After some silly problems (with moving items between lists), as well as changing a few internal things, I guess it paid off in the end. I just hope that I didn't break something important. :)
Just wanted to show a preview of the upcoming alpha 8 before I allow myself some rest. :)
I have the IDs for blueprints (weapon mods), ID cards, news and tapes now. Mapping IDs for blueprints to their real name manually, so it's a bit time-consuming! :)
If your game-save was corrupted for real (because you had too many items in your inventory, perhaps), chances are that you will lose some data, and especially your quest progress. If you want to try fixing your game-save manually, I'll attempt to explain what I have been doing.
I updated my method to sync your game-save, and this should hopefully work for you as well!
I planned to complete more features in this version, but since it shouldn't be completely bugged, I'll just release it now and finish the other things in alpha 8! After all, I wanted to release early. :)
While I work on alpha 7, I would like to show you a small preview of what you can expect in the next version(s). :)
Some more basic features are implemented now.
I'll post there whenever there are releases and perhaps also important things about my editor. :)
Phew. The next version is ready, and hopefully a little better. :)
While I was about to release alpha 5 today, I realized that I need to re-think a few things (such as how the inventory and equipped weapons are managed behind the scene, in the editor).
The game-saves I was sent earlier now appear to load a bit more correctly. :)
After breaking things and rebuilding them again, fixing some other things, and then realizing that it's 8 am in the morning already.. ((_ _))zzZZ Well, here you go. :)
I originally planned to release alpha 3 earlier since I fixed the issue causing the crash earlier, but I'm now facing some issues with loading the inventory. Currently, it appears to have something to do with mod weapons since they are stored differently in the game-save. I had not really tested this before, so now is my chance to figure out how go at it. :) I hope you didn't expect it to actually work! :D No, I am just kidding. It was my intention, actually. :( Now, I go back to work!
In this version, you may now reset skills!
Dead Island Save Editor for the PC version of the game. Eventually, there will be support for Xbox 360 as well.
Hello! For the last 2.5 weeks or so, I have been working on a game-save editor for Dead Island, which is now kind of ready to show to the public. It's currently designed for the PC version of the game, but I plan to support other versions as well (starting with Xbox 360).