Xpilot : Newbieguide  : Hacks & patches

Sometimes the official server just isn't enough. You want more!

The rankingpatch is a nice example of this. It remembers the scores of players and keeps statistics about them. These statistics are outputted in a HTML-file. This patch is most commonly used on teamplay-servers, since it keeps a record of treasures too. However it does have difficulties with the names of robots and tanks. It also takes options in a rather odd way.

ranking.diff
To apply it type
patch -p1 < ranking.diff
When you are in the xpilot-4.5.4 directory.
The instructions on how to use it are in the README.rank after that.

I have also made some patches myself. They are on this part of my website.

You can always hack yourself, making your own hacks & patches.
It's not as hard as it seems, even I can hack about.

When you are using an hacked server, you can change Local.config and type something for the VERSION_STATUS.
Not totally necessary, but it lets people know that this server has been altered.
When I run a server it's usually 4.5.4J, since I have made a few hacks.

To find out if a hack is socially acceptable, a post in rec.games.computer.xpilot or in xpilot-hacks will suffice.
And of course hacks, which gives players an advantage without earning it, will probably not be socially acceptable :-).



Added comments

like peeps autothrow hack, which lets him throw the ball from a mile away straight into his tresureand all those hacks that the expirenced players like Preach use :)
    By Am I responsible for this comment? No

Yes, you are responsible, Drunken Russian! :-)
You need to trust other players some more, and stop scaring the newbies!
    By J-a-r-n-o

As long as you give all players the same advantages, it is cosially acceptable!
    By Zemyla

And whenever you add a patch, MAKE SURE you use the -b option in patch. It will save you a lot of grief if you don't want to keep it. Trust me on this one!
    By Zemyla

??? I don't understand ???
    By WhirlWhind Lord of the winds (Sometimes RJ depends on mood)

The -b flags backs up your original sourcecode before it gets patched. That way if things get ugly you can go back.
    By J-a-r-n-o

Should mention how to make a patch in the first place, simple enough.
1) Move the hacked xpilot source dir to another name
~$ mv xpilot-4.5.4 xpilot-4.5.4-mod
2) Reinflate the original tarball
~$ tar -xf xpilot-4.5.4
3) Run diff!
~$ diff -ru xpilot-4.5.4 xpilot-4.5.4-mod

Correct me if I'm wrong, most likely I am. :)
    By GXTi

Nah, it's right. I just use 'diff -ruN', but that's only necessary if you have created new files. (I think).
    By J-a-r-n-o