Zugg Software :: View topic

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:47 am

I have released a new version of ACX Server to handle the changed Turbine made to AC in the April 2004 patch.

Turbine *significantly* changed their internal data structures used to store the player location. You *must* update to ACX Server 1.30 if you want to have tracking in AC Explorer Pro.

The new server is available at: http://www.zuggsoft.com/files/acxserv130.zip
You will need some sort of unzip program such as WinZip or WinRar to extract the EXE file from the compressed zip archive.

Also, for those who might want to write their own ACX Server program in the future (or the potential Decal plugin), I have documented the operation of tracking and ACX Server in the following article:
Tracking in AC Explorer

Both of these are also linked from the main AC Explorer information page.

I *was* able to also find the new location of the Heading information as well. The Override calibration data for the NEW version of ACX Server is:

Location: 05F84B8C
Heading: 0075E798
Direct: ON

Note that the Direct checkbox MUST be enabled. This will not work in older versions of ACX Server, so be sure and get the new version.

The article on Tracking linked above discussed some of the technical details of the change from the April patch. It looks like Turbine has completely changed some of their memory structure in the client. I was unable to determine how to perform "indirect" addressing of the location so I went back to "direct" mode. Direct mode is how ACX Server worked in it's first version. Then, back in the August 2001 patch, the AC client was changed and the indirect method was used to find the "true" player location in memory, which had started to bounce around whenever you portalled.

It *looks* like they changed things back so that direct addressing works now. I tested this with my character on Leafcull and portalled around various places and it seemed to be stable. I wasn't able to test on a different server since Morningthaw appears to be down. So, I can't guarentee that this new ACX Server will work in all cases...Turbine just changed things too much to be certain.

I'm really involved in other projects right now so I really don't have time to spend messing with this much more. Hopefully with the tracking stuff documented someone will write a Decal plugin to take care of the tracking changes in the future.

I hope everyone appreciates the new ACX Server. Please post this information to the appropriate AC web forums so that everyone using AC Explorer will know about the new update. It's been so long since I played that I don't even know where to post info like this anymore.

(maybe you could even convince some friends or guild-mates to buy AC Explorer Pro to make this update worth my while. If I see that enough people are still playing AC and buying AC Explorer Pro, then I'll be much more willing to keep this more up to date. But sales this past year have been pretty poor).

Happy tracking!

Newbie Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Posts: 2

As a long-time customer (ZMud, AC Explorer), I thank you for your efforts on this, Zugg.

My question - what is the manual data for the Offset field in the calibration box?

Thanks.

Novice Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 33 Location: Colorado

Using your manual calibration locations, in direct mode, on Solclaim . . . and can't get it to work.

AC Explorer sees the server, but states that AC is not running.

Novice Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 33 Location: Colorado

Hmm, I recalibrated using the automatic method, and got totally different numbers. Worse, I am jumping around like mad on the map, and the arrow is nowhere near my real location. I am also dropping death flags all over the map as I jump, and the debug log says I am portaling around (but I am actually standing still at my location.)

[ Portal from : 87.67S, 65.45W ]
[ Portal to : 87.79S, 64.73W ]
[ Portal from : 87.79S, 64.73W ]
[ Portal to : 86.94S, 64.77W ]
[ Portal from : 86.94S, 64.77W ]
[ Portal to : 87.79S, 64.73W ]
[ Portal from : 87.79S, 64.73W ]
[ Portal to : 86.94S, 64.77W ]
[ Portal from : 86.94S, 64.77W ]

Returning to your posted manual calibration settings, I turned debug on, and get a stream of this error repeated several times a second:

Exception error reading memory at: 05F84B8C 0075E798

Novice Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 40 Location: USA

As fo me just downloaded the new server but have not tried it yet....

As for me, whether or not it works, your efforts are greatly appreciated.
I wish I knew programing so I could work on it. I, unfortunatly have n0o idea as to where to start. :(

Novice Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 40 Location: USA

Ok Tried it...... one problem, It does not work..... Is the "offset" setting needed??? cause if so, then it wasn't provided

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 8:38 am

Hmm, sounds like the location is different on different servers then, just like in the August 2001 patch. That's going to make this more difficult to fix.

Entropathic: leave the Offset fields BLANK. In Direct mode you don't want to use any offset values.

Davidge, yes, the new version had to remove a lot of the checks I was making for the location. A *lot* of location information is stored in memory and it's very difficult to determine which is the correct info.

Tips when calibrating are to do it in a location where there is nobody else around. *Any* radar blips add location entries to memory and can confuse it.

I used to have a lot of extra checks for the actual character ID field and stuff like that, but with the changes Turbine has made to their memory structure, those previous tricks no longer work.

If you turn on the Debug window you should see a list of all possible candidate memory locations. Just try each one manually until you find one that is stable and see if that works.

Also, keep in mind that I did all of this *without* Decal running, so you should try calibrating with that disabled in case that also makes a difference and changes the memory offsets.

Looks like we might have to wait for the Decal plugin because I'm not going to have a chance to update this again until next week at the earliest. Perhaps with more people playing with it someone will come up with a memory location that works.

Novice Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 40 Location: USA

Yeah, unfortunatly it isnt tracking for me either and I am on Leafcull. Followed your say so and went WAY out near the Eastern Sea and there isnt ANYTHING within 5 clicks of me Auto Calib. fails and the using the settings that you posted DOES show me online as far as AC running, but does not Trace and tells me that, A. I am in a dungeon. I am not. B. no tracking as far as following my direction of travel.... Ahh well even though I am a Paid contributer, I certainly do not expect U to drop everything to work on this exclusivly... I am patient as a rull and will wait on the side lines for further developments. Very Happy

Good Luck will be watching the Forum to see what happens

Newbie Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Posts: 1

Zugg,

Thank You!!!

It even fixed Auto Calibrate for me that hasn't worked on my PC in over one year.

Bluehawk

Novice Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 40 Location: USA

quote:
Originally posted by bluehawk

Zugg,

Thank You!!!

It even fixed Auto Calibrate for me that hasn't worked on my PC in over one year.

Bluehawk

What server are U on??? cause it doesn't work for me yet...

Beginner Joined: 02 Apr 2001 Posts: 21 Location: Germany

ok... i tried a few things and found settings that work for me...

I am on Morningthaw, just in case server is an issue

Location: 005CD404
Heading: 0075E798

No Offset
Direct Mode checked

Newbie Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Posts: 2

These settings appear to be working on Frostfell:

Location: 005DC4B0
Offset: (NULL)
Heading: 0075E798

Direct mode checked.

Thanks, Zugg.

Newbie Joined: 21 Aug 2001 Posts: 2 Location: Austria

These settings work fine for me so far on Solclaim :

Location: 005CD404
Heading: 0075E798
Direct: ON
Offset: empty

Beginner Joined: 19 Jul 2001 Posts: 15 Location: Germany

I auto calibrated on Solclaim and got the following settings:

Location: 005FF188
Heading: 0075E798
Direct: ON
Offset: empty

Peter

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 6:44 pm

Are you sure you guys are getting *stable* tracking with those addresses? I have not been able to find anything in the "005..." range that is stable. Only the stuff up in the higher "05..." range seemed to work when I was playing with it. The lower "005..." addresses seemed to bounce around and cause the portal messages that Davidge reported.

But I'll check those addresses that you posted.

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 7:10 pm

OK, I did some more checking this morning:

The addresses in the high "05..." region look like heap addresses and they *do* change between sessions, so none of these will work. So, disregard my original "Location" memory location in the first post of this topic.

I looked more into the "005..." region that ACX Server has always used. It looks like this is still where the info is stored, but the location records are not stable. I need to find out where the "Character ID" or "Object ID" value is stored so that ACX Server will know when the location information is valid and when it's not. Several of the addresses posted here are definitely candidates, so at least the addresses look stable. It's just a matter of figuring out what is causing the data to bounce around in some cases.

What's really strange is that none of the "class pointers" seem to be present anymore. The location data is in a class structure and the class ID value is consistent, but there doesn't seem to be any pointers to these data locations anymore. That's what the old "Indirect" method used to use to prevent the address from bouncing around. It just doesn't seem possible that Turbine completely changed their entire object and class structure.

If anyone has any inside links with Turbine, I'd sure be interested in knowing what they did to their code to make huge changes like this. It's very disturbing. I feel like I'll spend days trying to get this fixed this month and they'll just go change it all over again next month and waste my time.

Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2004 Posts: 3

Morningthaw locations work perfectly for me for over an hour and all over Dereth :) Thx Zugg and Vu !!!

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 9:16 pm

Location 005CD404 seems to be working for me on Leafcull, the auto calibrate worked but the setting was wrong jumped about without moving.

Beginner Joined: 02 Apr 2001 Posts: 21 Location: Germany

it seems that all the calibration functions are not working...

I figured out the right location by checking out the debug log and try and error...

Glad I could help and it seems the location i found works on more than one server...

Beginner Joined: 19 Jul 2001 Posts: 15 Location: Germany

The Location value i provided is obviously not a stable source of location information.

Tracking was 100% stable while running around the area where i did the auto calibration even after a reboot and relogin.
But when i portaled to another place, tracking was completly unstable.

I auto calibrated again and received a Location value of 005DC4B0 this time but tracking was still completly unstable.
Again i portaled to another area and tracking there was about 95% stable.

Peter

Novice Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 40 Location: USA

WooT :) I got it to work on LeafCull using the Location 0075E798 and original heading that U set on first message

THANK GOD FOR ZUGG and ACx

Novice Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 33 Location: Colorado

Peter, thats pretty much the same thing I am getting on Solclaim. I have tried calibration in over a dozen areas now. All without Decal running, and all in bare, level spots with no dots on radar, and with my buffs all expired to reduce noise on the client from clocks etc.

7 areas would not calibrate at all. The other areas gave me either a false calibration that would show me bouncing all over the map, or a local calibration that stopped working as soon as I portaled somewhere else. I got your listed addresses above, as well as a couple others.

D'Sanai is working on trying to bugfix another project. Hope to get this going again in the next couple of days . . .

Novice Joined: 14 Aug 2002 Posts: 40 Location: USA

FYI All is Well here in LeafCull Tracking Trails are not working, but for me that isnt even worth working on [IMHO]

Thx again

Novice Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 33 Location: Colorado

On Solclaim, tried Trekmans settings and they work!! :) Tracking is also working perfectly.
Direct Checked (On)
Location: 005CD404
Heading: 0075E798
Offset: Blank

/e dances for joy cause he doesn't feel lost anymore. :)

Beginner Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Posts: 15

Thank you Zugg, Davidge, D'Sanai, Trekman and everyone who helped out in any way! Trekman's settings were the 1st I tried and they seem to be working great. I'm still lost, but only IRL now.