Playwrite, the fine wine of game design » Tools and utilities http://www.theplaywrite.com Fine wine of game design Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:39:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Dead Island Helper: Automatically improve performance and apply tweaks without having to edit files http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/dead-island-helper-automatically-improve-performance-and-apply-tweaks-without-having-to-edit-files/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-island-helper-automatically-improve-performance-and-apply-tweaks-without-having-to-edit-files http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/dead-island-helper-automatically-improve-performance-and-apply-tweaks-without-having-to-edit-files/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:46:36 +0000 Logan http://www.theplaywrite.com/?p=1155 Download the Dead Island Helper:

http://downloads.zafehouse.com/deadislandhelper/dih_latest.zip.

Simply extract it anywhere convenient (it doesn’t have to be your Dead Island folder), and run the program.

UPDATE #15 22/09/2011: v1.94 beta, out now for the brave! I finally managed to track down the crash problem that was causing issues for so many people.

This update also fixes a crucial bug with the save game backup feature – it is strongly recommended you update to v1.94 beta if you use this feature and please, DO NOT use any of the save backups you’ve created with versions of the tool before 1.94 beta because they won’t work!

  • Fixed a critical bug with the save game and backup feature. This now also backs up the “remotecache.vdf” file, which contains important size and timestamp data.
  • Fixed a bug that would cause Dead Island Helper to crash on non-Administrator accounts and accounts without application compatibility enabled.

UPDATE #14 22/09/2011: v1.93 beta is available for download. Hopefully people will have less (or no) issues with this version. Changelist below:

  • Added extensive error handling – hopefully we’ll get more constructive information when something goes wrong.
  • Added “Create diagnostic file”. This option will produce a simple text file on your desktop that contains some useful debug information. I can use this info to help troubleshoot problems, so please use it when you contact me!
  • Added “Launch via Steam” checkbox, under “Play Dead Island”. When this checkbox is set, Dead Island Helper will launch the game using the Stream protocol (steam://) when you click “Play Dead Island”. Movies will still be enabled (unless you disable them with “-nologos” in the launch properties). Use this option if things don’t work quite right when running the game directly via “Play Dead Island”.
  • Added “Clear all settings” option. This will clear the settings folder, game directory and all non-tweak related settings from Dead Island Helper’s memory and restart the program. This will give you a clean slate to work from when using new versions.
  • Dead Island Helper will automatically exit on startup unless it detects the correct settings folder, or you’re able to manually select the correct settings folder.
  • Dead Island Helper will no longer demand administrative privileges when it runs. However, you may need to use “Run as Administrator” if some features do not work.

UPDATE #13 19/09/2011: v1.91 beta has just been uploaded. Here’s what’s new:

  • Added a save game and profile backup and restore. Once activated, you can press F5 in-game to create a backup of your save game and profile (up to a maximum of 10, at which point, the Helper will replace the oldest backup with a new one). Important: This is not a quick-save! It only backs up what the game has saved, in case it becomes corrupted.
  • Added black screen fixes – one changes the “Monitor” value in Video.scr, while the other disables Desktop Composition while Dead Island is running. These aren’t guaranteed to fix every black screen issue under the sun, but it should help with those caused from having more than one monitor.
  • Slight bug fix for the vertical synchronization tweak. Shouldn’t have cased problems for a majority of cases.

UPDATE #12 18/09/2011: Released v1.9 as a beta! It contains some experimental features that have been tested as much as possible on a single machine. However, to make sure it’s as good as possible, I’ve released it as a beta. Changelist follows:

  • Removed the process priority enforcement from v1.8.
  • Reverted to the old keyboard hook-based micro-stutter fix as it is more reliable. The way it works has been tweaked so it should consume less CPU cycles (not that it was ever processor-intensive).
  • Settings restore points: It is now possible to set restore points for your settings. This feature will take a snapshots of your “Documents\DeadIsland\out” folder, compress them as a ZIP file, and store them in “Documents\DeadIsland\Restore Points”. Note that snapshots must be taken / restored manually. The snapshot feature at this stage does not save “Disable event logging” or “Enable micro-stutter fix”
  • Added “Fix auto-equip delay” tweak.
  • Added “Rebind hardcoded instances of the Use key” tweak. If you’re using “F” for something other than “Use”, this is the tweak for you. Limited to alphanumeric keys for now.

UPDATE #11 17/09/2011: Changes in v1.81:

  • Replaced the keyboard hook-based micro-stutter fix with a FilterKeys one. Should fix any issues people have been having with weird sound or framerate issues when this tweak is active.
  • Updated the disable bloom, weapon refraction and dust tweaks to use the files in Data02.pak. This should hopefully fix the issues people have been having where effects seem to disappear while these tweaks are active
  • The auto-update feature can now be disabled
  • Laid some groundwork for an in-game save feature. Should be in for v1.9
  • Added a periodic check for the Dead Island process that will set the process priority to “Normal” if it ever drops to “Below Normal” or “Low”

Because of the updated code for the bloom, weapon refraction and dust tweaks, you will need to reapply them using the tool.

UPDATE #10 15/09/2011: Changes in v1.8:

  • Split up the categories a bit more. FOV and motion blur moved to “Camera Tweaks”
  • “Disable in-game audio” removed. I had so many reports of it not working, and I can’t provide support for it, so it’s gone
  • Added an option to force the max refresh rate. Settings for 59Hz, 60Hz, 100Hz and 120Hz are available
  • Auto checks for updates. The tool now checks to see if a new version is available and, if so, lets you know. That’s the call it’s doing to the internet. It does it once on start-up. I’ll add an option to disable the check in the next version

I added the head bob tweak, but it didn’t seem to do anything for me, so I’ve disabled it for now.

I should note I’m no longer providing support for people who can’t get the tweaks working because the configuration folder is “apparently” wrong. It seems to be an issue only with less-than-wholesome versions of the game, and being a developer myself, I have no interest in supporting that behaviour.

UPDATE #9 14/09/2011: Minor bug fix release, v1.7a. It addressed a crash on program start-up. This would happen if the Dead Island registry settings could not be found.

UPDATE #8 14/09/2011: New version, we’re up to v1.7 now. No new tweaks, but some significant structural changes and a few bug fixes.

  • Smart tweak detection: Dead Island Helper now reads edited files for changes and intelligently sets the enabled / disabled state of each tweak. Now you can see exactly what tweaks you’ve set – even ones you didn’t activate with Dead Island Helper!
  • Alternate configuration folder option replaced with custom folder selection. Users can now hunt down the exact directory configuration settings are stored. Don’t worry, it still tries to autodetect them if it can
  • Autodetection of the game’s main directory via the registry
  • Fixed a bug that would require the user to constantly re-enable the micro-stutter tweak in order for it to work
  • Added a “Start with Windows” option
  • Added a “Play Dead Island without intro movies” option. Start the game directly from the Helper! This option will also set Dead Island’s CPU priority to “Normal”
  • Dead Island Helper now starts on the lowest possible CPU priority setting to minimize any interference with the game while it’s running

UPDATE #7 13/09/2011: Version 1.6 is now available! I’ve made quite a few changes under the hood to make the program more powerful and user-friendly. Here’s a changelist for the curious:

  • Tweaks have been split up and categorised. The result is a cleaner interface and an easier time finding the tweaks you want
  • Alternate settings folder support. You can now switch between My Documents and your game folder, if you’re finding that the tweaks aren’t working
  • Added the following tweaks: Disable event logging, Disable in-game voice and Enable simple shadows
  • Small reminder when Video.scr is read-only or writeable and the ability to easily switch between these settings
  • The program should now prompt the user for administrative privileges
  • Renamed the keystroke repetition feature to make its usefulness more obvious
  • Corrected a typo with the field of view settings
  • Added a Close menu option along with Exit program
  • Various checks and balances for missing files and directories
  • Added a passive check for the micro-stutter fix so it only limits keyboard repetition while Dead Island is running.
  • Fixed a potential memory leak in the file extraction rountine

UPDATE #6 12/09/2011:It seems some people are having trouble getting the tweaks to work. I’ll be investigating the issue the moment I have the opportunity. FYI, I can’t, and won’t, be troubleshooting issues with pirated or cracked versions of the game.

If tweaks don’t seem to be applying, you may need to run the program with administrator privileges. To do this, please see the following guide: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11841-run-administrator.html.

UPDATE #5 11/09/2011: Okay, last update for today, I promise. Changelist follows:

  • The tweaks menu no longer closes automatically when you check/uncheck an option
  • Shadow maps: You can now set the shadow map resolution to 512, 1024, 2048 or 4096
  • Field of view: Expanded selection of values ranging from 62.5 (default) to 90 degrees
  • Added an option to enable overcast weather
  • Fixed a bug that could cause the program to crash when selecting non-option menu items

UPDATE #4 11/09/2011: The fun never stops. Version 1.4 is available now, and allows you to change the weather to overcast. You can now also reselect your Dead Island folder, if you somehow managed to choose the wrong one initially.

UPDATE #3 11/09/2011: Yet another update! We’re now at version 1.3. Here are the changes:

  • Added an option to enable vertical syncronization
  • Added an option to disable dust
  • Added an option to disable the desaturation effect
  • Disabling bloom and weapon refraction now affects front30.ppfx and indoor30.ppfx

Thanks to the hard work of the folks over on the Dead Island Steam forum for isolating the files and locations for these changes.

UPDATE #2 11/09/2011: I’ve uploaded a new version, which removes the routine that detects if Dead Island is running in the foreground. So the program is no different to something like X-Mouse (actually, it’s even less intrusive than X-Mouse). I’ve done this to minimise any chance of this resulting in a VAC ban.

UPDATE 11/09/2011: People have been asking a few questions about the tool, here’s what I can say.

Will it get you VAC banned? It’s highly unlikely. The tool doesn’t modify any of the game files directly, which is what VAC looks for. It simply extracts the required files from the game’s data packs, puts them in the Dead Island folder in “My Documents” and makes the necessary alterations.

Now, the game does install a keyboard hook and does run a routine to detect if Dead Island is running in the foreground. If it does detect DI, it prevents multiple keystrokes from being processed, otherwise, it lets them through. It doesn’t send keystrokes, inject code or do anything else bot-like, so I’d be very surprised if it resulted in a VAC ban.

Does the helper need to be running while I’m playing? Only if you use the “Prevent keystroke repetition” option, as it installs the keyboard hook. All the other options, like overriding the field of view, disabling motion blur, etc., work without the helper running once they’ve been set.

Any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

UPDATE 10/9/2011: I’ve uploaded a new version, 1.1, which allows you to also disable bloom and weapon refraction.

So, Dead Island.

It’s 6:30AM in the morning here and I have yet to sleep, so I’m going to make this quick and bed-shaped. Spent the last couple of hours putting together a little helper app for the game to address some of the problems people have been complaining about.

Here’s what it can do:

  • Remove stuttering / jerkiness caused by repeated keystrokes… without using Filter Keys
  • Fixes sluggish mouse in menus
  • Disable / enable SSAO shader for increased performance on some configurations (NVIDIA only)
  • Disable / enable motion blur, as some people just don’t like it
  • NEW in v1.1: Disable / enable bloom and weapon refraction

Depending on how popular this tool proves to be, I might add in more stuff like removing bloom and weapon refraction. For now, it addresses the bigger issues. Well, the ones that bothered me.

Grab it below, and extract it wherever you like. Run it, and then right-click the little green tree that appears in the notification area (near the time and date). To enable the advanced options, the Helper needs access to the data packages to extract and alter the required config files.

Don’t worry, if you’ve already extracted some and made your own tweaks, the app is smart enough to just edit those, rather than overwrite them. It can also undo any changes it makes, so you’ve got nothing to lose, other than your sanity from not trying it.

Requires the .NET 2.0 Framework, which anyone running Windows XP SP3 and above should have.

Download Dead Island Helper V1.4 [downloads.zafehouse.com]

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/dead-island-helper-automatically-improve-performance-and-apply-tweaks-without-having-to-edit-files/feed/ 278 Best Dominion random card picker? Let’s find out http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/best-dominion-random-card-picker-lets-find-out/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=best-dominion-random-card-picker-lets-find-out http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/best-dominion-random-card-picker-lets-find-out/#comments Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:51:23 +0000 Logan http://www.theplaywrite.com/?p=992 I’ve been playing Rio Grande’s Dominion for a few weeks now and it’s rather awesome. Donald X. Vaccarino’s deck-building card game features one of the most elegant mechanics I’ve ever seen – unlike Magic: The Gathering or Legend of the Five Rings, players construct their decks during the game and the base set (and expansions) come with all the cards you need so you’re not shelling out megabucks every six months for boosters.

Once you’ve gone through the recommended setups, you’ll hunger for a random draw of kingdom cards. Now, you can shuffle and use the included template cards to come up with a fresh combination… or you can jump online and have a website do it for you in seconds.

Sure enough, more than a few people have constructed online Dominion card randomisers and, inevitably, not all turned out equal. I’ve written a couple of short reviews of the ones I’ve found, and ranked them from worst to best.

So, if you’re curious as to which randomiser you should be using, hit the jump!

#5: Card Picker – Dominion
Website: www.irkeninvader.com/cardpicker/dominion

Going to have to mark this one down immediately for only providing the base set, Intrigue and a few of the promo cards and options. Without Seaside, it’s a little useless for those with all of the currently released sets.

It’s definitely phone-friendly, in terms of bandwidth and presentation, but on a proper PC it’s spartan. The text-only presentation is alright, but the images on other sites makes recognition that much quicker. I do appreciate the small icons to the left of the cards that identify attack, victory and normal kingdom cards; at a glance you can see what the general mix is and reshuffle if necessary.

If you scroll down, you can select the type of randomisation and whether reaction cards should be picked if an attack card is chosen. There’s also an option not found on other sites – making sure cards with costs of 2, 3, 4 and 5 are available for a good distribution of prices.

Sadly, that’s about all it has going for it and, as I said, the lack of a Seaside checkbox hampers it severely.

#4: Dominion: Random Card Selector
Website: www.craftycoder.com/randomDominion.htm

Well, it should look great on a phone but, otherwise, this one ain’t so hot. While all the current expansions are included, you can’t combine more than two. This means it’s either the base set plus Intrigue or Seaside, or Intrigue plus Seaside. Yes, those are “ors”; the randomiser won’t let you combine the base set, Seaside and Intrigue together.

It’s fast to generate cards, and there’s a text summary followed by the card images. But the lack of configuration options kills it as a realistic choice.

#3 Dominion Deck Builder
Website: www.dominiondeck.com

Here’s a site dedicated to Dominion decks. Sweet, I say, but how’s your random generator?

Presentation is good, as good as other sites which provide image results. All the sets are available for inclusion, as are card types. It’s confusing at first glance – am I selecting card types to include or exclude? Playing around with these checkboxes determined it’s the former, so only selecting say, reaction cards, results in an unplayable set of two cards. Not the best default behaviour.

There’s a save button if you’re willing to register, and hitting back on your browser gives you the previous set, but the actual card generation feels sluggish. It’s not painful really, but compared to the other sites, it’s slow. There’s also no way to apply rules to set generation, so you can’t depend on reaction cards being available for attacks or trash cards for disposing of curses.

A nifty, but not amazing feature found here is the ability to hover over cards and get a clear text description of the card in question.

Conclusion? Competent, but not snappy enough if you want to charge through random sets. The lack of filtering options and the silly combos you can produce on initial usage put it behind Zack’s generator and the Dominion Card Picker.

#2: Dominion Card Picker
Website: www.chrisdouglas.ca/games/dominion

This randomiser is of similar appearance to Zack’s; in fact, the page says Hiwiller’s effort was an inspiration. Functionally though it’s a bit different, but not wildly so.

The most notable addition is the pre-generated set dropdown, which throws up a selection of cards that should play well together. It even includes the recommended sets from the manuals. I’m not sure where the rest are sourced from (some are from BoardGameGeek), but there’s an extensive range of excellent choices.

While it allows you to select which sets to include in the random generation, the only specific condition you can set is whether reaction cards should be included if at least one attack card is chosen. It’s better than Zack’s generator, in that it allows for reactions other than Moat, but Moat is probably the strongest reaction in that it prevents the effects of an attack completely. So it’s more of a side-grade in terms of features.

The outputted card images are a little on the small side, but it’s not like you’re playing with them. The resolution is more than good enough to see what cards have been selected, so it’s a minor complaint, if one at all. What I love is that it’s by far the snappiest generator – once all the images have been cached results appear straight away when you request a reshuffle.

Overall, it’s nice, slick and quick. I’d like more options to filter the cards, but I’m sure there are players that will appreciate the simplicity.

#1: Dominion Card Randomizer
Website: www.hiwiller.com/dominion

Zack Hiwiller (or more accurately, his blog) introduced me to Dominion, and for that I am massively thankful. It should come as no surprise then, that his Dominion Card Randomizer was the first kingdom card selector I came across and used.

It’s served our group well and for a while, we thought it was the only selector that existed. It was only disappointment with a few of its capabilities that made us search for a better one.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Zack’s randomiser has a lot going for it. You can select any combination of sets, including the unreleased Prosperity expansion and the promo cards. Cards can be ordered by cost or alphabetically, with the former handy for quickly placing cards on the table sensibly. Low-bandwidth or image-averse users can choose to display titles only in the final result, and if you’re after a playable set, you can make sure cards with extra buys, actions and attacks are available. There’s also a checkbox to make sure Moat is included if one or more attack cards are.

The output produced is to the point, with images displayed for all the cards. A nice touch is coloured borders so you can easily see which sets the cards are from. Buttons allow you to deal another ten cards, or start over with new options.

The randomiser is also phone-friendly, but I’ve only read this anecdotally.

What lets the randomiser down is the inability to use the back button to review a previous selection, a side-effect of using code to update the page without refreshing. The “provide a trash card” option also doesn’t guarantee a card that trashes other cards, just one that has trashing as part of its functionality (like Feast or Mining Village).

Besides these niggles, it’s great. Implementing a “save set” option, or at least the ability to hit the back button to see the previous set of generated cards, and an option to have a trash card that can get rid of unwanted cards would make it perfect. As it stands, it’s still the best of the lot.

Conclusion: I’m going to go with Zack’s generator (#1) for creating random sets. However, if you’re after a compiled list of custom-made sets that play well, check out the Dominion Card Picker (#2).

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/best-dominion-random-card-picker-lets-find-out/feed/ 1 Singularity automated streaming texture patch http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/singularity-texture-patch/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=singularity-texture-patch http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/singularity-texture-patch/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:48:12 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=918 Update #5: Raven has released a patch that fixes the streaming texture issue. Yet from what I hear, the FOV is still not as good as it could be and cannot be edited.

Update #4: Raven is looking into the problem!

Update #3: Grab v1.3. I’ve fixed a bug that was preventing backups from being created. I also added detection routines to make sure the Singularity path in the registry is correct. Thanks to those who were brave enough to test the patch and find this one for me.

Update #2: v1.2 is available now. I’ve added an undo capability (basically a glorified file copy). It requires backups of the original files created by the program.

Update #1: So some testing revealed that v1.0 had a minor problem… minor enough to make it not work. I’ve uploaded v1.1 which seems to do the trick.

Inspired by this hacktastic workaround for Singularity’s texture streaming issues on PC, I decided to whip up a tool to automate all that byte-changing and hopefully rectify the problem.

I don’t have the game, but I’ve tested the tool as well as I can with dummy files. It should work, but I’m not quite ready to release this to the world at large. If anyone wants to give it a go, I’d love some feedback. Mainly on whether it does anything. Don’t worry, it makes backups of the files before modifying them so it’s easily reversed if something goes wrong.

What it should do is open up Coalesced_INT.bin and increase the texture streaming pool size to 400. It will then calculate the SHA1 hash for the new file and write it to Singularity.exe. That’s it!

Note: I’m sure Raven will get round to fixing this fairly soon… but then, I thought the same thing about Mass Effect 2′s processor affinity problems.

Download Singularity Texture Streaming Patch v1.32 [Playwrite]

And, if you’d like to do it manually, here are the instructions.
Singularity Texture Streaming Fix [DEAR WANDY]

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/singularity-texture-patch/feed/ 27 Mass Effect 2 1.01 patch released, dual-core slowdown still present? http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/mass-effect-2-1-01-patch-released-dual-core-slowdown-still-present/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mass-effect-2-1-01-patch-released-dual-core-slowdown-still-present http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/mass-effect-2-1-01-patch-released-dual-core-slowdown-still-present/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:46:09 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=844 BioWare’s pushed out Mass Effect 2 1.01 for PC users. It comes with a solid collection of fixes, which you’ll find below:

* Fixed video hitching and crashes related to single core machines.

* Single core users may experience short periods of black screen that may last up a few seconds between level loads, cinematic transitions or movies.

* In rare cases, some single core users may notice dialog lines in certain conversations may be delayed up to a few seconds.

* Fixed an issue where it appears ammunition can be picked up, but can’t.

* Fixed an issue where all Codex entries were marked as ‘viewed’, even if the player chose not to view them.

* Fixed an issue where weapon icons are re-organized after downloadable content is used.

* Fixed an issue where pressing F9 after the mission completion screen reset Shepard to Level 1.

* Fixed an issue where remapping the right mouse button blocks camera control in the command HUD.

* Fixed an issue where remapping the ‘use’ command affects the decryption minigame.

* Fixed an issue where users were not prompted to restart when logging in to a different EA Online account.

* Fixed an issue where movies do not play in DLC.

* It is recommended that players reset their keyboard mapping to default values to ensure proper vehicle control.

* Added useful messaging during the ME1 save game import.

* Weapon icon for henchmen never changes from Collector Assault Rifle.

* Czech language – Issues with Czech localization (subtitles) were amended, all text was corrected and improved.

* Fixed an issue where the Mass Effect 2 launcher was being associated with files that have no extension.

* Fixed an issue where uninstalling the game under Windows Vista or Windows 7 might uninstall Mass Effect 1.

I’ve emphasised the fixes that relate to CPUs. While none of them explicitly state that the slow dual-core loading times (that MassAffinity nicely addresses) have been rectified, it’s not entirely insane to think one of the aforementioned singe-core tweaks may have done the trick.

Sadly, I haven’t found any conclusive evidence to suggest this is true. So far, I’ve only found this thread on BioWare’s Social Network, which seems to indicate that the slow load times are still present. It’d be great if any ME2 players out there could confirm whether they’re still encountering the problem, so I can update the original MassAffinity post.

On an unrelated note, I found the following bug hilarious:

Fixed an issue where uninstalling the game under Windows Vista or Windows 7 might uninstall Mass Effect 1

According to ME2 Technical Director Derek French, Windows itself is to blame for this nasty blighter:

That is actually a bug that Microsoft introduced in Vista and 7. We keep our uninstallers in a common location and if you don’t encase the full path to the Uninstaller in double-quotes, Windows will just pick another random executable from that directory and run it, instead of the executable the you explicitly entered. It is pretty crazy when you tell Windows to run ‘Uninstall Mass Effect 2.exe’ and Windows decides to run ‘Uninstall Mass Effect.exe’

Best. Feature. Ever.

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/mass-effect-2-1-01-patch-released-dual-core-slowdown-still-present/feed/ 5 MassAffinity v0.2 released http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/massaffinity-v0-2-released/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=massaffinity-v0-2-released http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/massaffinity-v0-2-released/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:51:20 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=826 Well, MassAffinity has done an extreme amount of pleasuring in the last 24 hours, which hopefully means a lot of happy Mass Effect 2 gamers.

Several requests for improvements prompted me to update the app to v0.2. Here’s a list of what’s new:

  • Allows you to use an executable name other than the default (for those who have renamed MassEffect2.exe to enable anti-aliasing);
  • Automatically detects your ME2 path via the registry;
  • Shuts down immediately if ME2 is closed before MassAffinity can apply the fix (previously it would wait ten seconds);
  • Added some graphics. Okay… one graphic;
  • Added a “Help” button.

That’s it! The functionality remains unchanged, so no need to update if it’s working peachy already. No harm though if you do download it.

Download MassAffinity v0.2

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/massaffinity-v0-2-released/feed/ 14 Auto-set processor affinity for Mass Effect 2 PC with MassAffinity, fix those load times http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/auto-set-processor-affinity-for-mass-effect-2-pc-with-massaffinity-fix-those-load-times/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=auto-set-processor-affinity-for-mass-effect-2-pc-with-massaffinity-fix-those-load-times http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/auto-set-processor-affinity-for-mass-effect-2-pc-with-massaffinity-fix-those-load-times/#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:39:49 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=816 UPDATE: Version 0.2 is now available!

I caught wind of the fact Mass Effect 2 was causing PC users with dual-cores some grief, in the form of extremely long load times going between decks of the Normandy. Which is odd, as venturing into an entirely new planet loaded just dandy.

More than a few smart people figured out it had to do with the game’s processor affinity. Simply setting it to one core and then back to two cores fixed the problem. But having to do this every time you play ME2 sounds like a chore we could easily do without.

Hence, I coded up MassAffinity, a tiny app that takes the hard work out of it. Just place the app on your desktop (or somewhere else convenient), run it, select your ME2 directory, and hit “Run game”. After that, every time you double-click the MassAffinity app, it’ll automatically start ME2 and fix the issue.

No doubt this bug will get patched eventually, but for now, this should do the job. It should be noted this problem doesn’t affect everyone – it seems to be isolated to people running a certain combination of CPU and operating system. So, if you’re not experiencing long load times between decks, then this program is not for you.

If you ever need to change the directory, you can run the app with the “/config” switch, or run the “SetupMassAffinity.cmd” file that comes with the program.

Any questions or feedback, just leave a comment. Otherwise, enjoy! Thanks goes out to my brother, Chris, for testing the application.

Download MassAffinity v0.1

PS. If you like zombie games, be sure to check out Zafehouse and Zafehouse 2, my little side projects.

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/auto-set-processor-affinity-for-mass-effect-2-pc-with-massaffinity-fix-those-load-times/feed/ 40 Modern Warfare 2 class creator? http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/modern-warfare-2-class-creator/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=modern-warfare-2-class-creator http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/modern-warfare-2-class-creator/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00:19 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=744 Lately I’ve noticed a lot of Google searches hitting my blog have been via the keywords “modern warfare 2 class creator”. For obvious reasons, those searches end up at the 4e Power Toolkit, formerly known as the 4e Class Creator.

I haven’t played Modern Warfare 2 yet, but is a class creator something people are desperate for? I’d be happy to investigate building one… though I get the impression people are looking for info on the class designer in the game, rather than an external planning tool. But I can’t be completely sure.

Drop a comment if you have some input, I’d love to hear from you.

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/modern-warfare-2-class-creator/feed/ 11 4e Power Toolkit v0.5 Beta brings custom class uploading, commenting and voting http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-0-5-beta-brings-custom-class-uploading-commenting-and-voting/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=4e-power-toolkit-0-5-beta-brings-custom-class-uploading-commenting-and-voting http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-0-5-beta-brings-custom-class-uploading-commenting-and-voting/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:32:58 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=511 A searchable database of custom 4e classes made by people around the world? That’s what dnd.playwrite-blog.net aims to be – with your help!

Version v0.5 of the 4e Power Toolkit is the first step towards this objective. Along with a boatload of general improvements, including proper class feature support and feat powers, you can now upload your classes and allow people to comment and vote on your work.

A lot has been crammed into v0.5, so I’m expecting it to be a little rough around the edges. But I have spent the last week bug-testing, and I’m feeling confident.

Here’s a complete list of changes:

* Added class upload. Visit dnd.playwrite-blog.net for more details or try out the feature in the Class Creator

* Added class feature support

* 4EC and 4EP files can now be opened directly by double-clicking on them

* Increased the size of the class modifier dialog

* A few miscellaneous tweaks to various dialogs

* Cancelling a Save dialog for the Class and Power Creator will no longer save a file to the application directory

* “Feat” is now available as a power type

* Switched order of “Keywords” and “Action” modules in Power Creator

* Fixed issues with newlines not being correctly converted and displayed in HTML and XML

* Class Creator and Power Creator windows now resize their controls in a more useful fashion

* Added new version update window with changelog

* Corrected version typo in changelog

* Merged EXE and DLLs into single file with ILMerge

* Added DotNetZip v1.8 (dotnetzip.codeplex.com)

Check out the 4e Custom Classes website (it’s a little empty right now, but I’m sure that’ll change soon), and be sure to download v0.5!

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-0-5-beta-brings-custom-class-uploading-commenting-and-voting/feed/ 4 4e Power Toolkit v0.4 Beta released http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-v04-beta-released/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=4e-power-toolkit-v04-beta-released http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-v04-beta-released/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:10:57 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=498 Found a few hours to pour into the 4e Power Toolkit. After my brief tangle with integrating 4ePT powers into CrawlNotes, I decided to make the process easier. As a side effect, it’s also cake now to post powers into blogs and forums (where HTML is permitted).

A full list of improvements below:

* Added right-click menu to power preview window. Menu options will show windows for the original source, inline source and image preview. Both the source text and image can be copied from these windows.

* Added new power HTML export options:
– Embedded CSS, when the power will be displayed by itself on a single web page
– Inline CSS, for use in blog and forum posts and CrawlNotes

* Added new power image export options:
– BMP, provided for maximum compatibility with other applications
– PNG, for web use and reduce file size. Note PNG is a lossless format, and should be the one used most of the time

* Changelog window now uses Courier New font for improved readability

* Fixed an additional bug with the Class Creator window that would cause it to scroll when it shouldn’t

* Fixed some error checking quirks with Save/Load dialogs

No need to dilly-dally now! Pick v0.4 up over at the apps page.

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-v04-beta-released/feed/ 1 Putting powers into your CrawlNotes printouts http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/putting-powers-into-your-crawlnotes-printouts/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=putting-powers-into-your-crawlnotes-printouts http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/putting-powers-into-your-crawlnotes-printouts/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:09:13 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=483 Update: No need to go to all this trouble! The process has been streamlined from version 0.4 Beta of the Power Toolkit.

A handy feature I’d like to build into the Power Toolkit and CrawlNotes. Until I find the time, here’s how you can do it manually:

1) Load your power into the Power Toolkit, and export it to HTML.

2) Open the HTML file in Notepad and look for a line starting with <style type="text/css">. Copy this line, and all the lines below it until you hit </style>. Alternatively, copy the below text:

 <style type="text/css">
    .InternalPowerContainer {
    text-align: center;
    width: 375px;
    margin-left: -10px;
    margin-right: -10px;
    margin-top: -16px;
    }

    .PowerContainer {
    text-align: center;
    width: 375px;
    }

    .PowerHeader {
    height: 18px;
    text-align: left;
    padding-right: 4px;
    padding-left: 6px;
    color: #FFFFFF;
    }

    .At-Will {
    background-color: #669966;
    }

    .Encounter {
    background-color: #993333;
    }

    .Daily {
    background-color: #404040;
    }

    .PowerHeaderLeft {
    padding-top: 1px;
    font: bold 10pt Verdana;
    float: left;
    }

    .PowerHeaderRight {
    padding-top: 4px;
    font: 7pt Verdana;
    float: right;
    }

    .PowerText {
    color: #000000;
    text-align: left;
    padding-top: 2px;
    padding-left: 6px;
    padding-right: 4px;
    padding-bottom: 2px;
    background-color: #FFFFFF;
    font: bold 7pt Verdana;
    }

    .Flavour {
    background-color: #E6E3C9;
    font: italic 8pt Times New Roman;
    }

    .Alternate {
    background-color: #E6E3C9;
    }

    .AlternateNonPrimary {
    background-color: #E6E3C9;
    padding-left: 14px;
    }

    .NonPrimary {
    padding-left: 14px;
    }

3) Open “main.html” (found in the CrawlNotes directory) in Notepad. Paste the text you just copied just below the line that starts with <title>. Make sure the entire pasted region ends just before the line that starts with </head>.

4) Go back to the HTML of your power. Copy everything below </head> (but not the tag itself).

5) Remove the whitespace from the text you copied using this website. Copy the cleaned text.

6) Paste the text into any of the room description boxes in CrawlNotes. When you export as HTML, your power will appear correctly formatted on the page.

There’s no reason why CrawlNotes and the Power Toolkit shouldn’t have better synergy. Something else on the giant list of things to code. :P

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/putting-powers-into-your-crawlnotes-printouts/feed/ 1 The 4e Power Toolkit in action: The Necromancer http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/the-4e-power-toolkit-in-action-the-necromancer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-4e-power-toolkit-in-action-the-necromancer http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/the-4e-power-toolkit-in-action-the-necromancer/#comments Tue, 12 May 2009 06:39:50 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=477 Matt, a user of the 4e Power Toolkit, was kind (and brave) enough to send through a link to his take on the Necromancer class. The output was created entirely within the app (with some tweaking of the class description).

Thanks Matt for showing just what can be accomplished with the program. I desperately want to get the Upload feature of the Toolkit working so there’s a central repository of user-created classes and powers, but I need to do some work on the backend. My knowledge of PHP is a little, well, disappointing, so it’s taking time.

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/the-4e-power-toolkit-in-action-the-necromancer/feed/ 4 4e Power Toolkit v0.3 Beta released http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-v03-beta-released/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=4e-power-toolkit-v03-beta-released http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-v03-beta-released/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 17:27:05 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=472 This is one of a few incremental updates to the 4e Power Toolkit – rather than release a massive update after a long delay, I’ll just get the juicy bits in and push out new versions quickly. Mind you, this is the grand plan. It might be a little less grand in practice.

Anyway, here’s a list of changes:

* Added class modifiers to Hit, Effect, Miss and Sustain boxes. A class modifier can be used to include modifiers to powers based on classes, feats and other factors

* Fixed a bug with the Class Creator window that would cause the scroll position of the left hand window to constantly reset while a power was being dragged

* Added Melee 2, Melee 3 and Melee 4 to possible ranges

* Added scroll bars to a number of text boxes

I know it’s not huge… I’m working on it as I can.

If you’d like to grab the latest version, just head over to the apps page. Again, thanks to everyone who has made suggestions and reported bugs!

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-v03-beta-released/feed/ 2 4e Power Toolkit v0.2 Beta released http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-v02-beta-released/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=4e-power-toolkit-v02-beta-released http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-v02-beta-released/#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:40:43 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=447 Just over a week since the 4e Power Toolkit was released and close to 1150 people have checked it out already! I’d hate to leave them hanging for an update.

So, I won’t.

Here are the changes you’ll find in v0.2 Beta of the Toolkit:

* Fixed bug with Power Creator that would cause the “Attack type” combo box to fill forever

* Power names may now be 36 characters, up from 30

* Hit, Miss and Effect text now correctly formats carriage returns and multiple spaces

* The Auto-detect target function now uses “creature” and “creatures” instead of “enemy” and “enemies”

* A power card template based on the power layouts in the PHB is available under “Templates\Power cards”

* HTML exported via the Class Creator will no longer add titles for levels or frequencies that have no powers

* Added “Melee or Ranged” option to attack types

* Added NYI text to power card HTML export

* Fixed a typo in the “Classes” help tab

* Added changelog to Help window

Thanks to everyone who’s provided feedback and bug reports so far, every bit of help is appreciated! I’ll look to add the Upload feature next version so everyone can start checking out the awesome classes and powers being cooked up out there!

To grab the latest version, head over to the Downloads section.

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/4e-power-toolkit-v02-beta-released/feed/ 0 CrawlNotes v2.0: The only dungeon planning tool a DM needs? http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/crawlnotes-v20-the-only-dungeon-planning-tool-a-dm-needs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=crawlnotes-v20-the-only-dungeon-planning-tool-a-dm-needs http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/crawlnotes-v20-the-only-dungeon-planning-tool-a-dm-needs/#comments Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:23:43 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=305 Drag, resize, pattern and colour rooms, and attach descriptions, monsters and items to them. Embed URLs to link quickly to information online (or locally), add levels to inject a bit of multi-dimensional flavour and, best of all, export it all to a nice, customisable HTML page with maps of each dungeon floor.

A handsome (and big) screenshot can be found here.

It’s crazy how much I’ve packed into version 2. It’s a rewrite, basically. Oval rooms join the plain old square ones and the resize function is less fiddly. The canvas performance is magnitudes faster, and there’s a semi-real time preview map if you don’t mind a small performance hit. All the program’s windows can now be maximised.

The canvas is now 2048 x 2048 pixels, and you can scroll around it by holding down the right mouse button and dragging the cursor.

The app is smart enough to check for new versions too, so you’ll never be out-of-date.

The HTML templates included with the executable allow you to customise the output. There are special tags embedded in the templates that you can move around to get the pages looking exactly how you want them to. I’ve got a very basic set of templates built into the program, so feel free to tweak.

Version 2 is not compatible with maps made in versions prior to it. If enough people request it, I’ll code an import feature, but you should be able to manage. That, or you’ll explode. Please don’t though!

A few features didn’t make it into this version: room linking being the major one. It’s next on the implementation list, as soon as I figure out a nice way of doing it.

Special thanks to At-Will for providing me with some incentive.

Considering the amount of work that’s gone into this, I’ve got it down as a beta. If you find any bugs or have suggestions, please post them in the CrawlNotes forum.

Download CrawlNotes v2.0

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/crawlnotes-v20-the-only-dungeon-planning-tool-a-dm-needs/feed/ 11 CrawlNotes TV http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/crawlnotes-tv/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=crawlnotes-tv http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/crawlnotes-tv/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:51:13 +0000 Logan http://www.playwrite-blog.net/?p=268 Role-playing blog At-Will has posted a video that steps through the plunderable depths of CrawlNotes. It’s like watching a usability test, which is always an incredibly useful thing as it usually translates into less bad products.

Thankfully, Quinn was handing out props for the most part, which fills me with happy. He puts forward a couple of great suggestions that I’ll look to implement in the next version – specifically the maximise function, better corridors, HTML support for the text boxes and a print button. A suggestion from the CrawlNotes forum – a room-linking function so the app can be used to build dungeon flowcharts – will also get some attention.

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/crawlnotes-tv/feed/ 2 Conslide… it’s like a Quake console for your Desktop http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/conslide-its-like-a-quake-console-for-your-desktop/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=conslide-its-like-a-quake-console-for-your-desktop http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/conslide-its-like-a-quake-console-for-your-desktop/#comments Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:08:27 +0000 Logan http://playwrite.wordpress.com/?p=279 Easiest way to explain it. If you don’t get the reference, then Conslide probably isn’t for you.

If you do, well, download the program and give it a try! Pressing Ctrl+~ will cause a Command Prompt window to slide down from the top of the screen. To hide it, just press Ctrl+~ again.

It’s basically a text box that sends commands to a hidden instance of CMD.exe, monitors it for output, and sends anything it spits out back to the text box. The usual DOS commands work – copy, del, mkdir, rmdir and so on – but not everything is supported. It won’t run programs, but it will happily process stuff like ping and netstats.

Definitely needs a lot of work, and is more a proof of concept than anything else. If you’re interested in seeing the source, drop me an email or comment and I’ll fire it your way.

Note that it needs the .NET 2.0 Framework.

Download Conslide

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]]> http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-and-utilities/conslide-its-like-a-quake-console-for-your-desktop/feed/ 5