Talk:SOLDIER.DAT - Revision history

FrederikHertzum: /* Offset 64/0x41 Promotion flag */

2011-01-24T22:22:08Z

Offset 64/0x41 Promotion flag

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:22, 24 January 2011
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	I was just checking a soldier listing and had a rookie with this field flagged. Does this field get flagged if the soldier was eligible for promotion even though there was no room? -[[User:NKF\|NKF]] 08:46, 19 July 2009 (EDT)		I was just checking a soldier listing and had a rookie with this field flagged. Does this field get flagged if the soldier was eligible for promotion even though there was no room? -[[User:NKF\|NKF]] 08:46, 19 July 2009 (EDT)
			: Sounds reasonable: the flag could be a signal for geoscape.exe to promote the soldier, rather than a flag that tells whether or not a soldier was promoted after his last mission (which really is useless information).[[User:FrederikHertzum\|FrederikHertzum]] 17:22, 24 January 2011 (EST)

	== the NAME field ==		== the NAME field ==

Renegrade: /* the NAME field */

2010-08-16T11:40:25Z

the NAME field

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:40, 16 August 2010
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	Thus, although one can get away with using that last byte, it's definitely not 'best practice' in any way.		Thus, although one can get away with using that last byte, it's definitely not 'best practice' in any way.

			Meh..forgot to sign. ~ [[User:Renegrade\|Renegrade]] 07:40, 16 August 2010 (EDT)

Renegrade: New section: the NAME field

2010-08-12T12:35:24Z

New section: the NAME field

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:35, 12 August 2010
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	I was just checking a soldier listing and had a rookie with this field flagged. Does this field get flagged if the soldier was eligible for promotion even though there was no room? -[[User:NKF\|NKF]] 08:46, 19 July 2009 (EDT)		I was just checking a soldier listing and had a rookie with this field flagged. Does this field get flagged if the soldier was eligible for promotion even though there was no room? -[[User:NKF\|NKF]] 08:46, 19 July 2009 (EDT)

			== the NAME field ==

			I've just been testing with TFTD, and ran the same tests here.

			The NAME field is a cstring, or "ASCIIZ" field. Care must be taken not to overwrite the last character of the name with anything but a 0 (NUL) character, otherwise the game will happily continue loading and rendering bytes past that point. Fortunately, the transfer fields (which follow name) are usually 0 as the soldiers are not usually transferring, so those ''usually'' act as a terminating null.

			Thus, although one can get away with using that last byte, it's definitely not 'best practice' in any way.

Bomb Bloke at 08:03, 27 June 2010

2010-06-27T08:03:23Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:03, 27 June 2010
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	The units which sound like tanks, aren't. The reason they makes those noises is because each unit has it's own movement [[SOUND\|sound set]], which is determined by some value in [[UNITREF.DAT\|UnitRef]]. It's one of the values I've been meaning to hunt down but never got around to...		The units which sound like tanks, aren't. The reason they makes those noises is because each unit has it's own movement [[SOUND\|sound set]], which is determined by some value in [[UNITREF.DAT\|UnitRef]]. It's one of the values I've been meaning to hunt down but never got around to...

	Furthermore, some units slide, and some units walk. This is another value I've yet to hunt down, but it's important, because sliding units (snakemen, tanks) sound the same regardless of the terrain they're moving over. They also incur different TU costs as per [[~~TERRAIN~~\|MCD[39]-[41]]].		Furthermore, some units slide, and some units walk. This is another value I've yet to hunt down, but it's important, because sliding units (snakemen, tanks) sound the same regardless of the terrain they're moving over. They also incur different TU costs as per [[MCD\|MCD[39]-[41]]].

	So obviously one or both of those values are also being determined by Soldier[63]. That'll make them easier to find in UnitRef.		So obviously one or both of those values are also being determined by Soldier[63]. That'll make them easier to find in UnitRef.

NKF: New section: Offset 64/0x41 Promotion flag

2009-07-19T12:46:09Z

New section: Offset 64/0x41 Promotion flag

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:46, 19 July 2009
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	Oops! It was XcomUtil that was interfering with the behaviour you deduced. Probably Scott Jones did not understand this behaviour? When I remove XcomUtil (actually I used a virgin re-install), I can see the changes you are reporting in Soldier.Dat - offset 6 is set to the craft number, offset 4 is FFFF. I've used different craft to confirm it is the craft number that gets written to offset 6. However, when the soldier recovers from wounds, they are still assigned to NONE - they don't get reassigned to the previous craft. Even with the correct values in offset 4, placed there by the game, there doesn't seem to be any behaviour that uses that data. So it seems like this is a half-implemented feature? [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 16:18, 12 November 2008 (CST)		Oops! It was XcomUtil that was interfering with the behaviour you deduced. Probably Scott Jones did not understand this behaviour? When I remove XcomUtil (actually I used a virgin re-install), I can see the changes you are reporting in Soldier.Dat - offset 6 is set to the craft number, offset 4 is FFFF. I've used different craft to confirm it is the craft number that gets written to offset 6. However, when the soldier recovers from wounds, they are still assigned to NONE - they don't get reassigned to the previous craft. Even with the correct values in offset 4, placed there by the game, there doesn't seem to be any behaviour that uses that data. So it seems like this is a half-implemented feature? [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 16:18, 12 November 2008 (CST)
	:They probably removed it because it is too error prone: as you mentionned, if the craft is full when the soldier comes back, it must not be reassigned to the ship. Also the ship may no longer exist (the entry could even be reassigned to another craft, which could be fighter only or worst: a UFO). That must be why the feature was not kept. [[User:Seb76\|Seb76]] 16:45, 12 November 2008 (CST)		:They probably removed it because it is too error prone: as you mentionned, if the craft is full when the soldier comes back, it must not be reassigned to the ship. Also the ship may no longer exist (the entry could even be reassigned to another craft, which could be fighter only or worst: a UFO). That must be why the feature was not kept. [[User:Seb76\|Seb76]] 16:45, 12 November 2008 (CST)

			== Offset 64/0x41 Promotion flag ==

			This generally flags as 1 if the soldier was last promoted in the last combat.

			I was just checking a soldier listing and had a rookie with this field flagged. Does this field get flagged if the soldier was eligible for promotion even though there was no room? -[[User:NKF\|NKF]] 08:46, 19 July 2009 (EDT)

Seb76: /* Offset 6 */

2008-11-12T22:45:16Z

Offset 6

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:45, 12 November 2008
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	Oops! It was XcomUtil that was interfering with the behaviour you deduced. Probably Scott Jones did not understand this behaviour? When I remove XcomUtil (actually I used a virgin re-install), I can see the changes you are reporting in Soldier.Dat - offset 6 is set to the craft number, offset 4 is FFFF. I've used different craft to confirm it is the craft number that gets written to offset 6. However, when the soldier recovers from wounds, they are still assigned to NONE - they don't get reassigned to the previous craft. Even with the correct values in offset 4, placed there by the game, there doesn't seem to be any behaviour that uses that data. So it seems like this is a half-implemented feature? [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 16:18, 12 November 2008 (CST)		Oops! It was XcomUtil that was interfering with the behaviour you deduced. Probably Scott Jones did not understand this behaviour? When I remove XcomUtil (actually I used a virgin re-install), I can see the changes you are reporting in Soldier.Dat - offset 6 is set to the craft number, offset 4 is FFFF. I've used different craft to confirm it is the craft number that gets written to offset 6. However, when the soldier recovers from wounds, they are still assigned to NONE - they don't get reassigned to the previous craft. Even with the correct values in offset 4, placed there by the game, there doesn't seem to be any behaviour that uses that data. So it seems like this is a half-implemented feature? [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 16:18, 12 November 2008 (CST)
			:They probably removed it because it is too error prone: as you mentionned, if the craft is full when the soldier comes back, it must not be reassigned to the ship. Also the ship may no longer exist (the entry could even be reassigned to another craft, which could be fighter only or worst: a UFO). That must be why the feature was not kept. [[User:Seb76\|Seb76]] 16:45, 12 November 2008 (CST)

Spike: /* Offset 6 */ Seb76 is correct, but XcomUtil overwrites the data, and the potential functionality is not implemented.

2008-11-12T22:18:59Z

Offset 6: Seb76 is correct, but XcomUtil overwrites the data, and the potential functionality is not implemented.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:18, 12 November 2008
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	Hmm. Even if I hack the craft value (copied from the unwounded soldiers) into offset 6 of the wounded soldiers, they still don't re-assign back to the craft once they are recovered from their wounds. [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 15:23, 12 November 2008 (CST)		Hmm. Even if I hack the craft value (copied from the unwounded soldiers) into offset 6 of the wounded soldiers, they still don't re-assign back to the craft once they are recovered from their wounds. [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 15:23, 12 November 2008 (CST)

			Oops! It was XcomUtil that was interfering with the behaviour you deduced. Probably Scott Jones did not understand this behaviour? When I remove XcomUtil (actually I used a virgin re-install), I can see the changes you are reporting in Soldier.Dat - offset 6 is set to the craft number, offset 4 is FFFF. I've used different craft to confirm it is the craft number that gets written to offset 6. However, when the soldier recovers from wounds, they are still assigned to NONE - they don't get reassigned to the previous craft. Even with the correct values in offset 4, placed there by the game, there doesn't seem to be any behaviour that uses that data. So it seems like this is a half-implemented feature? [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 16:18, 12 November 2008 (CST)

Spike: /* Offset 6 */

2008-11-12T21:23:33Z

Offset 6

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:23, 12 November 2008
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	Maybe something changes between tactical.exe and geoscape.exe, I'll go back and check. By the time they get back to base, the wounded soldiers are indistinguishable from other unassigned soldiers, apart from Offset 0xC (wound recovery time). - No, in the tactical save, the offset 4, 6 and 12 values are unchanged from what they were pre-mission. So the update to these fields is done at the end of combat - as you have probably found out. I will check if I'm using XcomUtil, that might be interfering with the files somehow. Also, I checked and recovered soldiers don't get reassigned to a craft, they are assigned to NONE. This does sound like you have discovered the intended behaviour, but it's failing due to a bug. There would be a logical difficulty - if the craft is already full when you try to re-assign a recovered soldier to that craft, how would the game handle that situation? (I made sure I had enough free slots on my craft but still no re-assignment). [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 15:07, 12 November 2008 (CST)		Maybe something changes between tactical.exe and geoscape.exe, I'll go back and check. By the time they get back to base, the wounded soldiers are indistinguishable from other unassigned soldiers, apart from Offset 0xC (wound recovery time). - No, in the tactical save, the offset 4, 6 and 12 values are unchanged from what they were pre-mission. So the update to these fields is done at the end of combat - as you have probably found out. I will check if I'm using XcomUtil, that might be interfering with the files somehow. Also, I checked and recovered soldiers don't get reassigned to a craft, they are assigned to NONE. This does sound like you have discovered the intended behaviour, but it's failing due to a bug. There would be a logical difficulty - if the craft is already full when you try to re-assign a recovered soldier to that craft, how would the game handle that situation? (I made sure I had enough free slots on my craft but still no re-assignment). [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 15:07, 12 November 2008 (CST)

			Hmm. Even if I hack the craft value (copied from the unwounded soldiers) into offset 6 of the wounded soldiers, they still don't re-assign back to the craft once they are recovered from their wounds. [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 15:23, 12 November 2008 (CST)

Spike: /* Offset 6 */

2008-11-12T21:07:49Z

Offset 6

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:07, 12 November 2008
Line 123:		Line 123:
	:This is quite unfortunate indeed because the code is crytal clear: offset 4 is copied into offset 6 before being cleared (offset 0xc is set inbetween but it is a detail) :( Maybe there is a bug in the game and the craft is already cleared elsewhere? What happens when the soldiers recover, do they get back to their original craft? [[User:Seb76\|Seb76]] 14:37, 12 November 2008 (CST)		:This is quite unfortunate indeed because the code is crytal clear: offset 4 is copied into offset 6 before being cleared (offset 0xc is set inbetween but it is a detail) :( Maybe there is a bug in the game and the craft is already cleared elsewhere? What happens when the soldiers recover, do they get back to their original craft? [[User:Seb76\|Seb76]] 14:37, 12 November 2008 (CST)

	Maybe something changes between tactical.exe and geoscape.exe, I'll go back and check. By the time they get back to base, the wounded soldiers are indistinguishable from other unassigned soldiers, apart from Offset 0xC (wound recovery time). - No, in the tactical save, the offset 4, 6 and 12 values are unchanged from what they were pre-mission. So the update to these fields is done at the end of combat - as you have probably found out. I will check if I'm using XcomUtil, that might be interfering with the files somehow. [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 15:02, 12 November 2008 (CST)		Maybe something changes between tactical.exe and geoscape.exe, I'll go back and check. By the time they get back to base, the wounded soldiers are indistinguishable from other unassigned soldiers, apart from Offset 0xC (wound recovery time). - No, in the tactical save, the offset 4, 6 and 12 values are unchanged from what they were pre-mission. So the update to these fields is done at the end of combat - as you have probably found out. I will check if I'm using XcomUtil, that might be interfering with the files somehow. Also, I checked and recovered soldiers don't get reassigned to a craft, they are assigned to NONE. This does sound like you have discovered the intended behaviour, but it's failing due to a bug. There would be a logical difficulty - if the craft is already full when you try to re-assign a recovered soldier to that craft, how would the game handle that situation? (I made sure I had enough free slots on my craft but still no re-assignment). [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 15:07, 12 November 2008 (CST)

Spike: /* Offset 6 */

2008-11-12T21:02:42Z

Offset 6

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:02, 12 November 2008
Line 123:		Line 123:
	:This is quite unfortunate indeed because the code is crytal clear: offset 4 is copied into offset 6 before being cleared (offset 0xc is set inbetween but it is a detail) :( Maybe there is a bug in the game and the craft is already cleared elsewhere? What happens when the soldiers recover, do they get back to their original craft? [[User:Seb76\|Seb76]] 14:37, 12 November 2008 (CST)		:This is quite unfortunate indeed because the code is crytal clear: offset 4 is copied into offset 6 before being cleared (offset 0xc is set inbetween but it is a detail) :( Maybe there is a bug in the game and the craft is already cleared elsewhere? What happens when the soldiers recover, do they get back to their original craft? [[User:Seb76\|Seb76]] 14:37, 12 November 2008 (CST)

	Maybe something changes between tactical.exe and geoscape.exe, I'll go back and check. By the time they get back to base, the wounded soldiers are indistinguishable from other unassigned soldiers, apart from Offset 0xC (wound recovery time). [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 14:53, 12 November 2008 (CST)		Maybe something changes between tactical.exe and geoscape.exe, I'll go back and check. By the time they get back to base, the wounded soldiers are indistinguishable from other unassigned soldiers, apart from Offset 0xC (wound recovery time). - No, in the tactical save, the offset 4, 6 and 12 values are unchanged from what they were pre-mission. So the update to these fields is done at the end of combat - as you have probably found out. I will check if I'm using XcomUtil, that might be interfering with the files somehow. [[User:Spike\|Spike]] 15:02, 12 November 2008 (CST)