2Danyael

Lost · Post by **Lost** » Wed May 11, 2005 19:56

First of all, what can you do?
We need artists, programmers, testers

Danyael · Post by **Danyael** » Thu May 12, 2005 10:02

I'm currently studying for my MCAD-certificate so I'm familiar with C#, HTML, etc.

Could you also explain what exactly is happening with Equilibris, how you are working on this, how many people are on the team, how long you have been working on Equilibris, etc.?
I mean assembler, disassembler and debugger are (as far as I know) generic names. Are they specific programs as well (and if so where can I get them)? I've got MS Visual Studio 2003 if that helps.

By the way: only this section is in English, is there a way that i could be able to read all the sections, topics, etc. in English?

And is everyone (but me) Russian?

Lost · Post by **Lost** » Thu May 12, 2005 11:47

2 Danyael:

only this section is in English, is there a way that i could be able to read all the sections, topics, etc. in English?

There are hidden forums for Artists, Translators and other. It that forums we manually translate all posts to and from English.

Could you also explain what exactly is happening with Equilibris

Equilibris is unofficial mod, developed by volunteers without any funding.
Unofficial means that Ubisoft allow us to work, but wouldn't support us in any way.

You can there some background of what we do, and what we want:
http://equilibris.celestialheavens.com/eng/about.html

It is now in "pre-final" state, when balancing is almost finished, and now we focus on some non-balancing features (like AI, or campaign editor)

how long you have been working on Equilibris

Equilibris (old name Balance Mod) have been developing for more than two years. I personally have been developing Equilibris for 2 years.
The Project started with minor edition of some game tables, and eventually grow to its current state.
It is international project, now it is translated to 3 languages.
3.6 version would have translations for 8 languages.

how many people are on the team

Core team is listed on our site in "Team section". It includes 11 russian-speaking members from 4 countries of ex-USSR.

We also have some newcomers, they aren't listed on site.

Non-russian part of team includes 2 Artists (from Spain and Argentina), 7 translators, and some beta-testers (don't know their number)

how you are working on this

We use forums, ICQ and email for communication and development coordination.

Artists and mapmakers works all the time, and bring new content to game.

Theoretics and balance experts consider every suggestion we receive, and make tasks for researchers.

Researchers (assembler programmers) explore disassembled code of Heroes IV in search for way to complete a task. Then they make a patch (mostly in assembler, but sometimes in C) and test it. If it works, it's great and patch is included into development version

We also have some utility programmers, which do not explore disassebled code, but write utilities in high-level languages with certain purpose - for example, convertor of graphics (from common graphics formats to Heroes 4 graphics format), sound convertor, skin editor, Face Tool etc. This can be really helpful.

When we (core team) decide we made enough changes, we release next version. Formally, this is beta-testing (because our goal - balance - is not reached yet).

Are they specific programs as well (and if so where can I get them)?

Yes, certainly.
I personally use this as debugger:
http://home.t-online.de/home/Ollydbg/odbg110.zip

and this as disassembler.

http://www.idapro.ru/files/freeida43.exe

And Mingw-gcc as compiler of my C code. (www.mingw.org)

I've got MS Visual Studio 2003 if that helps.

This certainly can help. Some of programmer's task need no assembler skills, but ability to write program in C or Pascal or Delphi or something...

And is everyone (but me) Russian?

Translators, testers and artists mostly non-Russian

Danyael · Post by **Danyael** » Thu May 12, 2005 12:53

Equilibris is unofficial mod, developed by volunteers without any funding. Unofficial means that Ubisoft allow us to work, but wouldn't support us in any way.

So you have contacted Ubisoft about support and they refused? Why? And did they give permission to edit the code or is this kinda illegal?

I hope I don't ask too many irritating questions. I'm just trying to get an idea of where you guys are and what happened up to now. I'm trying to read up on the subject and have read most of the forums (at least the parts in English) and the Equilibris site. However most of the information is rather vague.

I've downloaded the debugger and disassembler, and have opened the exe-file in both of them. However I can't make heads or tails of the code. I'm not that good at programming/hex-editing/or whatever it's called.

So I think I could be of most use as a tester, but I'd like your opinion.
And if you agree: what's next?

Danyael · Post by **Danyael** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:34

Lost or anyone,

I'd still like to help if you guys can use me. And if you can't I'd still like to know so I can focus on other matters.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Crusard · Post by **Crusard** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 16:44

They're usually busy with things. I'm sure they'll reply soon, though.

Danyael · Post by **Danyael** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 17:09

Thanks for the quick reply, Crusard.

I can imagine they're busy, but it's been three weeks..

But you're right, they'll get to it when they have time.

Post by **Dalai** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 18:30

2 Danyael:
Hi, sorry for keeping you waiting. Thanks, Crusard, for covering our back

I suggest we make you beta-tester so you'll have time to look around, and then discuss any ideas about the future work, ok?

Danyael · Post by **Danyael** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 21:09

Sounds good to me!!

I'll look around and post any questions I have here, is that OK?

Lost · Post by **Lost** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:05

2 Danyael:
Of course!