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Elite Plus - Hit Points

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First post, by gumpy

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I've been playing Elite Plus (runs great near 1000 cycles on DosBox).

I'm trying to figure out how many points I've gotten so far. (1000 will get you Elite in this version of the game)

According to this info - the hit points in saved games are stored in bytes 0091-0092 in the save game file.
http://ffeartpage.com/util/elpinfo.zip

Sorry to be a noob, but I'm having trouble using a hex editor to come up with the result.

I've attached my .CDR saved game file.

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  • Filename
    DEROCHER.zip
    File size
    306 Bytes
    Downloads
    79 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

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Reply 3 of 8, by Gernot66

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If it wouldn't have been David Braben....

I didn't think you are near Elite, i don't know Elite to well but therefore it's sequel FE2 from in and out.
I could already guess thast this counter counts only up to a value and gives then one point to elite, it's pretty like this in FE2.
255 in general for a shot vessel (why is not to clear to me refering to the models data all ships will give you 255 so it could be 1 already but who knows...) = 1 point in FE2. 255 of them you need to get one single elite point in FE2, 1000 points of that will make you elite, i never got to this you need to shoot down many thousends of ships. In fact 1000 ships to get to elite would be far to less 255'000 is quite a lot.
Just by this i assume it's pretty sleek the same for Elite (or Elite plus)

But ask somewhere else Elite and FE2 is something special and there are special dudes who will know it.
Ask Steve:
https://www.frontierastro.co.uk/
He knows almost anything about Elite and it's sequels.
Or ask simply at Frontier Forums

Or i can ask in your place because i have full access to the forum and this Q belongs to "off topic / games of frontier dev" whre newbies have no full access to (to avoid spamming).

I decided to do so 😀

Wait erm what about if you hack the savegame? if the value at this adress will make you to elite it will be easy to notice then, i will give it a try.

maintainer of "Phoenix" (Pioneer Space Sim derivate)
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Reply 4 of 8, by Gernot66

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I compared Hoopers savegame with yours. Hoopers savegame shows 00 02 which shows clearly that it is to read "common" as longword else it would be 02 00 for 2 points

Your Elite rating is based on the number of kills you obtain. The ratings increase quickly at first, then slowly later on. PATIENCE is being tested here, as it takes a lot of kills to become Elite.

the quote let's me smell something sleek one of the values could be a divisor or something which alters the value for a shot ship.

let's see...

looks really like the previous adress is in relation to it Elite doesn't likes if i alter here something so i assume the value at 0x90 0x91 is in relation 0x92 0x93. The Hoopers savegame shows 00 02 00 002 as you see the values are at start the same and alter while you play which explains the above statement that it's harder as longer you play to reach the next point.

But i guess i will ask for it just made me curious.

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Reply 5 of 8, by Gernot66

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OK i won't have to ask the solution was to find in frontier forums.

Elite Plus determines the text for for combat rating using two lists. The first list contains the maximum number of hit points a rating applies to (0, 2, 4, 9, 20, 35, 90, 155, 1000, 60000) and the second list contains the text (Harmless, Mostly Harmless, Poor, Average, Above Average, Competent, Deadly, Dangerous, Elite). If you are counting, you will notice the first list has 10 entries, and the second list only 9. So the "Elite" rating only applies up to 60000 hit points. After 60000, the text becomes whatever random gibberish happens to be in memory at the location calculated by looking up random gibberish!

Any more questions?

but read youself, reading is always allowed
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/elite-p … 02/post-4865116

Nonetheless i asked i would like to know how it's to interprete proper.
as i look at it i would say you are a long time deadly but half of the way to elite, i'm not sure i still can't get a grip on it whatever i do it refuses to accept the hacked savegame except i reset that to 0002 0002. number of shot ships and points for ranking aren't the same that's already obvious.

BTW the savegame is else very simple it can't be a very complex game.

But hey why play "Elite plus" if there is FFED3D or even better "Pioneer" or best of all "Phoenix"? 😀
Nah, i understand i neither can't let off the games i played 25 years ago like FE2 or stupid Lords of the Realm.
Or even more stupid my old Intellivision games.
Such addicted to FE2 that i became the first co-dev to Pioneer (but i'm out, i was to egoistic i guess - or vice versa, it depends how you look at it).

And yes i could need some help or support even if that is just a little interest in it or to ask "stupid things" like when we started because the "stupid questions" was the most fertile.

---

OFF TOPIC (or not as)!

screenshot-20190125-031331.jpg
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File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Could it be closer?
Yes it's simple because it's simply the exact geometry of FE2 and it's made "simple" in the manner of v0 = v(1,0,0) v2 = v(-1,0,0) v3 = v(0,0,0) draw triangle v1,v2,v3. project on texture coordinates so and so and use this material.

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Reply 6 of 8, by Gernot66

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I hope you still watch this gumpy.

As usual confusions prince made some mistakes 😉
Formost i mixed up the two adresses, i assumed the lower value is your rank and the higher the hit count but it's vice versa.

YOU ARE ALMOST ELITE thats true.
I asked like i promised on frontier forums and received the proper answer from AndyJ who maintains FFED3DAJ, we are meanwhile quite close and he helped me a lot in the past weeks (i'm responsible to fill the game with the missing models).

details (ment for hacking the savegames but it will tell you also the meaning of):

        * * * Elite Plus v3.1 for IBM/PC Savegame Editing * * *

by George Hooper

Although limited in ship and equipment as compared with later versions
of the game, Elite Plus still has alot to offer in the editing of the
savegame files.

The procedure is to edit the savegame file using a standard hex editor
program. These editors are widely available as freeware and shareware
on BBSs and the Internet. By editing, you change the code at a
specific address in the file, using hexadecimal numerical entries.

Conversion between decimal and hexidecimal values is best accomplished
by using an inexpensive calculator which will convert between decimal,
hexadecimal, and binary values.

When entering hex values, remember to reverse the most and least
significant bits. So a hex value of 03 E8 will be typed in as E8 03.

The savegame files use a checksum at the end of the coding to verify
that the file has not been tampered with. This is defeated by using
Steve Critchlow's ELCHKSUM.EXE program. Place the checksum files into
the same directory as the savegame file. After editing a file called
JAMESON.CDR type:

ELCHKSUM JAMESON.CDR

The checksum program will edit the file, calculate and enter the
correct checksum, and save the file. The savegame file will now load
correctly for gameplay.

Editing is easy, but mistakes will always be made. So copy that
important savegame file to another directory for safekeeping while you
edit the original.

Graphics Identification: These colors and descriptions will aid you
in verifying the settings in your gamesave file when you load it into
the game.

Pulse Laser Red/yellow, 2 red lines
Beam Laser Red/grey, 2 red lines, green dot
Mining Laser Red, 2 brown lines, brown triangle
Military Laser Blue/white, 2 brown lines

Cargo Bay Extension Brown bumps on bottom of ship
Extra Energy Unit Two Duracell batteries
Energy Bomb Red rectangle
Escape Capsule Gray square
Docking Computer Two blue/white squares
Galactic Hyperdrive Added to icon panel
ECM Blue radio waves

Mission Notes: A few key facts about the missions. I don't reveal all
as I don't know some items, and don't want to spoil the mission on
others.

-5000 cd Offer to sell you some Tribbles. They will overrun the ship.
4000 cd Destroy stolen Police ship - galaxy?
1000 cd A star is going supernova and a ship is needed to transport
Show last 182 lines
          refugees to the nearest system.  Accepting the mission  will
dump all cargo to make room for the refugees.
5000 cd Deliver Thargoid invasion plans - galaxy?
6000 cd Destroy asteroids before they reach a planet - galaxy?
Destroy a masked ship - obtain the masking device.
Destroy a Thargoid Base (A Coriolis station) and obtain
the Anti-ECM device and Archangel status. A fuel leak will
develop which drains all the hyperspace fuel.

* * * The Hacks * * *

0015-001D "COMMANDER " portion of the player name at the top of the
status screen. Values are for ASCII characters. This will
change to "ARCHANGEL " upon the completion of the Invading
Thargoids mission. It can also be changed to any other title
using 10 ASCII characters (includes a space).

0020-002A Credit display upon start of a savegame, and is updated with
a transaction. Values are for ASCII characters.

008C-008F Credits. Maximum value is FF FF FF FF = 429,496,749.5
credits. Add 1 to this and the credits = 0.

0090 Legal status. 00 = Clean, 01 or greater = Offender. As you
can only save a game while docked, and cannot get a Fugitive
status while docked, no value will = Fugitive.

0091-0092 Number of kills, entered at both addresses. The game will
0093-0094 calculate your Elite Rating from these values. Here are the
values required for each rating.

Hex Dec Rating

00 02 2 MOSTLY HARMLESS
00 04 4 POOR
00 09 9 AVERAGE
00 14 20 ABOVE AVERAGE
00 23 35 COMPETENT
00 5A 90 DANGEROUS
00 9B 155 DEADLY
03 E8 1000 ELITE (NICE GRAPHIC!)

0095-009B "JAMESON" portion of the player name at the top of the
status screen. It is also the name of the savegame file.
Values are for ASCII characters. It can also be changed to
any other title using 7 ASCII characters. Hacking also
allows the next two addresses (009C, 009D) to be used as
characters in the name. However, only the first 7 will be
used as the filename.

00C5 Activate Special Missions - Note that certain missions will
require the ship to be in a specific galaxy.

00 = default value
01 = Sun going Supernova. Transport refugees.
02 = Retrieve Masking Device.
03 = Invading Thargoids, destroy Coriolis station.
04 = Destroy stolen Police ship. Galaxy?
05 = Transport Thargoid invasion plans. Galaxy?
06 = Destroy asteroids before they reach a planet. Galaxy?

00C9 01 = Activate Witch Space. Upon exiting the station, the
ship will enter Witch Space, where a group of Thargoids
await.

00CF 01 = Activate Thargoids. Upon exiting the station, a group
of Thargoids await. This seems to coincide with the
Thargoid Base mission as the Coriolis station can be
destroyed.

00D3 01 = Max out cabin temperature. Upon exiting the station,
the cabin temp goes to max and the ship is destroyed.

00D4 01 = Max out cabin temperature. Same as above, but a occurs
slower with a few seconds before destroying the ship.
Suspect 00D3-D4 are a combined value.

Equipment: The following list gives the addresses for each item, and
their addition to the ship will be listed on the equipment page. Note
that you can have more than one item as is normal for lasers. However,
this also applies to all the other items as well, although you will
not see a quantity listed on the equipment page. Some changes do not
work as buying more than one Galactic Hyperdrive results in 0 drives
while in flight.

Addr Item Notes

007B Fuel hex 00-FF = 0 - 7.0 ly of fuel
007C Missile hex 00-04 = number of missiles
007D Cargo Bay Extension
007E ECM System
0081 Fuel Scoops
0082 Escape Capsule
0083 Energy Bomb
0084 Extra Energy Unit
0085 Docking Computers
0086 Galactic Hyperdrive

007F Pulse Laser hex 00-04 = number of pulse lasers
0080 Beam Laser hex 00-04 = number of beam lasers
0087 Mining Laser hex 00-04 = number of mining lasers,
also requires a fuel scoop
0088 Military Laser hex 00-04 = number of military lasers
008A Laser positions hex 00-0F = inputs all 16 laser
position combinations on the ship
008B Laser graphics hex 00-FF = inputs all 255 laser
graphic combinations on the ship

Note: All three laser addresses must be set correctly,
or the game will crash when you buy or sell them.

0089 Masking Device adds "square frame" icon to F8. Uses
alot of energy, but good for dealing
with Thargoids.
00D1 Anti-ECM device adds "A-ECCM" icon to f12. Toggles on
and off. Suspect it dumps all the fuel
on nearby ships, but not sure.

Commodities: Values from hex 00 - FF (0-255). As the ship cargo space
is limited, the values would never be exceeded with commodities
measured in tons. However, items in grams and kilograms can exceed the
values, and you can lose the original 255. For example, you have
255 kg of gold. Buying one more kg results in your ship quantity = 0.

When the game is saved, the Market quantities for all the commodities
are also saved. Reloading the game will return the same quantities as
previous. The prices are not saved, so it appears they can change
upon a reload.

The selling of Slaves, Narcotics and Firearms will change the Legal
Status at address 0090. The value will equal the quantity of illegal
items you sell.

00C1 = Total cargo space used in the ship (tons). Items not measured
in tons are not counted.

Ship Market Ship Market
Commodity Unit Qnty Qnty Commodity Unit Qnty Qnty

Food t 009E 009F Firearms t 00B2 00B3
Textiles t 00A0 00A1 Furs t 00B4 00B5
Radioactives t 00A2 00A3 Minerals t 00B6 00B7
Slaves t 00A4 00A5 Gold kg 00B8 00B9
Liquor/Wines t 00A6 00A7 Platinum kg 00BA 00BB
Luxuries t 00A8 00A9 Gem-Stones g 00BC 00BD
Narcotics t 00AA 00AB Alien Items t 00BE
Computers t 00AC 00AD
Machinery t 00AE 00AF Refugees t 00C0
Alloys t 00B0 00B1 Tribbles ea 00DA

Refugees: The 00C0 address will display "Additional Cargo: Refugees"
on the status screen. Accepting the mission adds 14 tons of refugees,
although the amount will not be displayed. All cargo onboard will also
be dumped to make room for the refugees.

Tribbles: The 00DA address will display "Additional Cargo: 1 Tribble"
on the status screen. The number = the hex value at 00DA.

Stuff not worth hacking: Both the System and Hypersystem information
are stored in the file, but it appears alot easier just to goto the
system, and save the file.

Clock: It appears that no internal clock information is saved in the
savegame file. This is important in that special missions are not
triggered by a time setting.

More Hacks: Hacking a game is a never ending quest. There is always
another secret to be revealed. Most of the time hacking ends when the
time expended on the code is high and few additional discoveries are
found. However, a fresh look from another hacker has uncovered many a
hex code, so feel free to e-mail me with your discoveries. Here are a
few items to look for in both the savegame and EXE files:

How to gain access to the 9th galaxy.
What "initiates" a special mission?
Is there a built-in hex editor? (Some previous versions had one.)
Is there a master password?

George Hooper
elite@hooplatec.com

The checksum generator (elchksum.zip) you find here if interested:
http://ffeartpage.com/utility.htm

Nah it's not very hard to get used to a hex-editor, if i'm able to do that....
The very first i used "a couple of years ago" was for the miggy and you edited the data directly on the floppy this needed anyway after each editing a generation of the checksum for the file, a very difficult procedure one mistake and the file was broken.

In despite that i posted this already "Tiny Hexer" is a quite comfortable hex editor i use no else since many years, mostly because you can send files to it with rightclick "send" this is very comfortable if you often hack, examine or compare files.
Hacking games is a game of it's own and i'm not sure what i like better playing games or hacking them.
You wouldn't be the first which came from a simple hack to developing or co-developing.
An interesting fact you can read in hoopers text above, "certain releases was shipped with a hex editor" also for FE2, they liked to advice hacking.
https://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Miscella … iny-hexer.shtml
Or wherever else, "although its development is halted for some years now" but i see no reason to develop it further.
"any flawless working program is obsolate" 😀

Cough, mostly you get away because you do this only for research purposes...
Literally or legally i would be a criminal, i derived a couple of my conversions of models directly from the games data but no i never ran into troubles with Frontier. A third party could start a lawsuit nonetheless, but lucky me i live in switzerland where no third party can start a lawsuit. Also we didn't agreed to the U.S copyright act because it counteracts to our constitution (and literally seen also to their own (yours) we have almost the same constitution).
It's a shame how we mistreat our founders, it is even in switzerland a lot not like it was planned by them and they would start a civil war if they still would live imho.

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https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/phoenix … erivate.506984/

Reply 7 of 8, by Gernot66

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Prepped a savegame for you:
DEROCHE1:
cleared legal status, left anything else as it was
DEROCHE2:
cleared legal status, rating Elite, 50'000 credits.

Filename
DEROCHElite.zip
File size
593 Bytes
Downloads
80 downloads
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

maintainer of "Phoenix" (Pioneer Space Sim derivate)
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/phoenix … erivate.506984/