With the recent shootings in America, I'd like to bring up the topic of gun laws to be discussed and debated about. If you haven't heard, here's a link to pretty much a gist of what happened: http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/america_just_had_its_third_school_shooting_of_the_day I'd appreciate if this became an actual discussion btw because this is always a topic people get very touchy about so please avoid making this a "Let's complain about everything in America" post. You can wait until some troll makes that very topic within a day or 2, but I'd like a real back and forth debate. Links for evidence would be appreciated, but this is the internet so there's no saying what will happen Make sure to at least explain your position please.
I learned a majority of this from Stevie, credits to him
Memory Limit - and what you can do about it
Overview
This will cover the "Call of duty is not responding" - followed by physical_memory.cpp error in the developer console that is open behind waw after crashing.
This, my amigos - is the dreaded memory limit...
This is not a image limit, sound asset limit, fx limit, or even a map problem ( usually ) - its the overall engine memory limit. Its telling you you've loaded that many assets, the engine literally couldn't fit it all in to its over-all total allowance of memory.
I see this question posted a lot ( and have a considerable amount more asked to me via private messaging lol ), or worse yet, I see a lot of people "assuming" they are at their limits due to "having loads of stuff" - when that's not even close to what they "could" have if memory was managed better
For example, I would contend for anyone to say "I simply have too much in my map" - and compare it to my test map, with like 100 features will full fx and sounds, plus like 80 guns, or Stevie's Oil Rig. It may seem extremely tedious - but you can always make some asset room.
So I thought id write up this little guide. Started this while at work so dont have access to my mod stuff, so for now will be a generalization. Later however, I will add some better explanations, pictures, etc.
Zone Source Files
The first thing to attempt to make some room, commenting things out of your zone_source files, this ones pretty easy
Commenting the lines in a script makes the engine completely ignore it, so assets that you comment out will not be loaded at all.
There are a number of files from this folder that get loaded into your mod, you can see which by looking in
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root/zone_source/MAPNAME.csv root/zone_source/MAPNAME_PATCH.csv root/zone_source/MOD.csv // This one is created "from" the one in root/mods/YOURMOD/mod.csv everytime you compile
You will see in these files, they load assets, but they also call other entire csvs. Which i think is where people get confused.
You can either comment out the call to that csv entirely ( meaning none of those assets will be loaded ), or go and open that csv yourself, and comment things out "one at a time".
I tend to copy the csvs and give them a new name, leaving a unedited copy, then change the calls to those csvs in the above listed files. That way, making a new map, will not be effected be these changes, as future maps will still be created with a csv calling those "original" csvs, rather than the ones you made.
Ok, this one can be a bit confusing for some people, again as there is one thing that's never really mentioned anywhere ive looked.
Soundaliases called in root/zone_source/MAPNAMEcsv or root/zone_source/MAPNAME_PATCH.csv are ONLY updated when you compile your "map" or "maps patch", not just "build mod".
Build mod compiles just the mod.csv from root/mods/YOURMOD, not the other files contained in root/zone_source.
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MAPNAME.csv is compiled when you compile map MAPNAME_PATCH.csv is compiled when you compile your patch MOD.csv ( created from the copy in your mod folder, every time you compile ) is compiled when you "build mod"
The first and most memory hogging soundalias to explore is :
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root/raw/soundaliases/weapons.csv
Almost everything in here is useless to be completely honest. Hardly anyone actually uses WaW stock sounds, and even if you do, you still dont need much of this. To comment out of "soundaliases" you would put this instead of "// "
you can easily see how much impact its had, be recompiling your map, then go to :
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root/mods/YOURMOD/
and compare the file size of :
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MAPNAME.ff MAPNAME_PATCH.ff MOD.ff
Check before and after, you will see the file size decrease as you go.
Removing Weapons
This ones pretty simple, just again not made very clear anywhere.
stock weapons are loaded from the root/zone_source files, specifically :
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root/zone_source/dlc3.csv
in here you will find every stock gun used in zombies listed like so :
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weapon,zombie_colt weapon,zombie_colt_upgraded
you would simply comment them here :
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weapon,zombie_colt // weapon,zombie_colt
and again, you've changed a "zone_source" file, and ones that's compiled when you "compile the map", not build the mod. So you will need to recompile your map for this to take effect, again effecting MAPNAME.ff file size
the DLC3 weapons IWD can come out too i'd say, all it does is increase your download size, but has no bearing on anything else. Any stock guns you "do" want, you can just copy the weapon files into your mod instead ( root/mods/YOURMOD/weapons/sp/ ) - this is a good idea to prevent "conflictions". If you had your own zombie_colt, this way ensures the one you see in game is "your" one and not the one in the DLCweapons.iwd in error.
Removing guns, also removes the anims/models/fx, as well as the weaponfile and its stats itself, that gun was loading in its weapon file. So again a pretty big impact.
Keep in mind though, some of these weapons are called through script - most obvious is pulling out a colt in last stand or if you pack a punch while only owning one weapon - these will need to be updated to reflect this, or you will get nothing when you should have been given that gun, and will prob freeze your controls from that point on.
Images
I added this just to confirm - IRRELEVANT.
if you put 2000 images in your mod, but only one of them is actually used, sure the "download" size of your mod will be larger, but those 1999 unused images will just be ignored by the engine.
Mod.csv in Launcher
Try not to load things twice, and be aware of other things loading these things else where. Example - if you placed a guns world model in the map somewhere, that model is loaded already, you do not need it in mod.csv as well. Or adding your own "zombie_colt" - its already being called in the zone_source/dlc3.csv.
Double loading a sound csv will literally annihilate your memory usage too... double loading weapons.csv is insta game explode!
Making sounds smaller
Ok, I hope a lot of you realized this, I saw it straight away lol.
So a player quote in WaW is what, 250kb?
yet...
Convert a BO2 quote, your hitting numbers like 900 - 1500kb?
The easiest and BIGGEST way to free up memory I have found to date, was by making all my custom sounds smaller, using the following method :
I open the sound in audacity.
If there are two channels of sound, you only want one. Stereo spams the developer console with errors if used in 3d for one, and increases the file size as well - there's really not much difference you'd even notice between the two. Especially if the trade off is a bunch more guns, people will happily ignore some minor degradation in some extremely quick audio.
Step 1 : Change stereo ( multi channel ) to mono ( one channel ) Step 2 : Reduce Bit rate to a acceptable but lower quality Step 3 : Consider making this sound a 8 bit, if no sound plays in game, change it back to 16
The little box in the bottom left, BitRate, should be on 48000 by default, it does not need to be this high, this is not cinema viewing
Reduce it, but listen to the sound itself to make sure it doesn't degrade too much, some sounds suffer more that others
When you export, you can also select 8 or 16 bit. 8 bit is smaller, but will not "always" work in game, so keep that in mind if a sounds suddenly "stops" working.
Using this i literally knocked about 25,000 kb off my perks download, as people really couldn't fit it all in before. This also allowed me to fit in another 20 of my guns i had temporarily removed just so I could get some work done lol.
Using downloadable FF files
I feel i must answer this question at least 4/5 times a day...
No... you cannot "combine FF files", nor can you "pull out just the part you need", nor can you use 2 with the same name, nor can you just "rename" a "localized_MAPNAME" FF to "MAPNAME_patch"...
^ These things are not possible ^
FF files are "pre-compiled", just means someone has the raw files, they compile it through Launcher, it then pops out at the end as FF files. Meaning these files will never need compiling again. As long as you put the FF in that mod, and name it correctly, those FF assets will be loaded.
There are no means to extract sounds or models from these files. You can pull the scripts and other minor things, but not the "bulk" of what you need.
When some one provides a FF, its because it contains all the assets for that particular thing, so :
The zombie model packs - contain all the xmodels for the new zombies. You do not actually "have" the raw files by using this, you have the "compiled" files
Perk packs - Well I know mine contains - weaponfiles/sounds/scripts/animtrees/models/animations/fx/rawfiles/visionfiles/ and probably way more
Entire MODs - have just about everything in them... impossible to cover, example is the UGX mod, you cannot "dis-include" parts you decide you don't want. They are loaded in that FF. So they are loaded - period
You cannot - I repeat CANNOT - combine, edit, change, remove, splice or anything else to FF files
If you need a custom version "of" a FF file, you need to go to some one who actually has the RAW files of what you need, so that they can then "compile" them again, with or without whatever else you needed/needed to cut/add.
The ONLY other way, is to get the raw assets yourself, and load them the normal way, into your mod.csv in Launcher or something.
There are limited FF file names that you can use, the most common is :
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"localized_MAPNAME.ff"
but people also "add" stuff to the patch files too, as we all have the stuff that normally goes in them, so its easy to "add" to that :
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"MAPNAME_patch.ff"
You may see in my perk download, i included copies of both patch and localized FFs. 10/15 times people have come to me over a "instant crash" its coz they were silly and included "both" in their mod DOUBLE LOADING EVERYTHING. So im gonna list some potential issues :
# Removed FF, but still crashing :
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= Go check users/appData/activision/Call Of Duty 5 World at War/mods/YOURMOD = Delete the FF files here, these are the ones actually used when you play, they may have not been removed/replaced before, or : = Delete the whole thing if your unsure if your doing the right thing, youll get it back when you compile again
# Models not loading in game, default zombie models, Moss covered perk machines, get frozen controls when i try to use whatever i added :
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= The FF has not even loaded
= If you are using a _patch, odds are you copied that to your mod folder - then compiled your patch - which then deletes it again. Then creates a standard one in its place
Literally EVERYTIME ive seen people have issues with Bams perks, that has been why. They either added it to appdata instead of "root", meaning when they "build mod" it over writes it, or they compiled their patch again, again over writing it... or added it to the root/mods, but did not "build mod" after so was never copied to "appdata"
= Youve named the FF wrong
If you map is called nazi_zombie_perktest for example :
If the name is incorrect in anyway at all, itll be ignored
= Youve overwritten two FFs with the same name
Most common example of this i see is people using the "localized" FF with my perks, with the "localized" file with the zombie model downloads you can find here on UGX. You "cannot" have both, and simply renaming one "_patch" is not going to help, as itll be missing the "other" things that are compiled into the patch files custom or regular
Another thing to consider, is that the FF files are not counted towards the asset counting app you can download here on UGX. This checks what raw files your adding, not what compiled files already exist in a FF, nor would it know how to find them.
So If you add a .ff, and then get instant crashes. That's NOT the FF files fault, you NEED to make more room if you want to use these assets. Plain and simple. Theres nothing "wrong" with the FF, its just that FF combined with your maps other resources, has taken you over the "overall" memory limit.
The only other option is to get the raw files from the OP, or have them make you a custom FF. But honestly pulling resources can be harder than you think.
I for one have the following problems
Spoiler: click to open...
* My GDT seems to be corrupted, meaning i can convert just fine, but if i "save" the GDT, it just crashes. Im copying it over to another GDT - but cannot convert those assets until i remove the old GDT, as they conflict. Imagine what a pain in the ass that is
* Its not all in one GDT, I have shit tons
* I have to go through each material, to find out the material names, I have to look in ass viewer at whats written in the bottom right... one... at.... a... time...
* there are things i have moved "since" i converted them that i need to find again
* Its really easy to miss stuff. For example, i have to actually open each fx, and go through each segment, to check for what materials are used in that fx. Without them, youll just be seeing black squares...
^ Honestly to do this right takes days, and before anyone mentions these automatic resource movers, every one ive tried has missed some aspect of what i needed, meaning i end up having to go through it anyway. I dont find them useful at all, if anything they just complicate matters for me
Tricks with models
One example of this is with duplicating meshes on the weapon models and using "hide tags" in the weaponfile to hide the irrelevant one.
one good way to reduce the amount of models your using is to add the "pack a punch camo covered parts" and "attachments" of a upgraded gun on to the normal one, so the result is just one model. Then use "hide tag" to hide those parts. Then you can use the same model, for upgraded and downgraded, and just edit the "hide tags" in each ones respective weaponfile instead. This is good for high poly guns. Pack a Punch textures are usually only applied to "parts" of the gun, rarely the entire thing.
Tricks with Weapon Files
Best example i can think of here is, why have 13 perk bottle weapon files?
Weapon files are not limited to having one set of models ( by "set" i mean view/world model ).
A weapon file can store up to 15 sets of models.
Open the weapon file in a text editor, youll find these in there somewhere :
Its "always" going to give you the first set, but if you used this instead :
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player giveWeapon( "WEAPONFILENAME", 1 );
You would give the same weapon, but using the "second" set of models in the weaponfile, etc.
If you select to use models that you didnt actually add in the weapon file, it defaults back to the first set of models in the weapon file.
so if you need a way of having multiple camos for guns, this is one method, but also loading 13 entire weapon files, takes a LOT more memory that one weapon file with 13 models in it.
Well I hope some found this helpful, Like I mentioned ill add more and more to this as and when I find stuff, or find better ways to explain. Ill add some pictures and videos and stuff at some point too. For now tho, hopefully thisll help a few of you out. I realise a lot of people are hitting memory limits with my perks, im still finding ways to reduce the FF file size, mostly using methods ive listed here. But there will be more to come
I was thinking about this quite randomly yesterday - while i was "trying" to watch a film, but my mind it seems didnt wanna let me lol. So I thought id inquire with y'all
So, do errors annoy you? Personal opinions of course
I find, if im in a good mood, and i type up some code, even minor bits, I come to expect now at least 3 crashes due to my terrible syntax :p
This doesnt annoy me, just encourages me to go and look at what I did, then go "ahhh... im a moron", and also means i tend to have a video or skype chat open to entertain me while i recompile like 4 times in a row lol
Something ive noticed these days ( after going through my skype lol ), is other people would rather not even look again, just instantly go with - "doesnt work for me", and half the time its just a missing ";"
And other people I notice, are that categorically against even looking, that they would rather just remove whatever thing it is thats not working, or "assume" they cant fix it
But further to that we see a lot of maps, where the mappers are fully aware there are problems, and just say "im not going to fix this, will do it right in my next map"
Im not moaning or nothing, I just wanted to form a mindset on these matters
"Do the errors annoy/irritate/put you off?"
"Do you just - assume - that you wont be able to find whats wrong?" - i think 90% of the time its this one, and a fair few of you are much better than you realize, I have 100% faith you can find the error if your willing to put some time into looking, hence why I want to know, is it just out of "frustration" basically?
Im curious to know, I was thinking I would write/make a video - on how to identify simple - moderate problems, but im not gonna do it if the overall idea is "nah ill just remove the feature" lol
All comments welcomed, no fighting please, its just a information gathering topic
I personally like the errors, but im a puzzle solver, I like to know what went wrong and why. I also like to know how things work anyway, hence how I got into these kind of things. Although i will admit there are times lol
very recently infact with the hells retriever, as COD 5 has no disatnce2dsquared function, and as there are like 10 different methods and theorems to calculate that, was becoming increasingly frustrating to find the right method that lined up with the black ops 2 code I was porting lol. I got EXTREMELY frustrated after like 5 hours, went and had a cup of tea, came back, and spotted a solution instantly lol
doesnt even need to be from a coding perspective, default zombies models, incorrectly displaying objects, ineffective weapons, problem anims etc, any aspect really. I for one know I was getting extremely wound up with the Shields third person anims, nearly gave up - but its against my nature lol, I cant let it go until I know why lol
If i read your insults and derogatory bullshit, and see its just that, childish derogatory bullshit from users who have LITERALLY NEVER SPOKEN TO ME then ill just leave this damn site
Its getting beyond pathetic, even when i say "i never meant to target or offend you" is met WITH MORE enticing insulting bullshit then furthered by offensive memes, then entirely different users going round other topics to slag me off?
Post your hate and hurtful comments here NOT EVERY WHERE ELSE
I do a LOT for this community, just look at my skype with its 15 damn messages from people asking for help, or my 527 messages on UGX ALSO for help
The debate in question was irrelevent anyway, others may chose to charge for their stuff? "I" dont, i merely have no problem with others doing it
GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEADS
You all wanna play the "this community is going to shit" card - maybe YOU should stop actively ATTACKING everyone who is helpful, meanwhile sticking your faces into arguments you dont understand defending your little BUDDIES
stop playing the victims while constantly attacking every new map, every new mapper, harshly judging any script or map, or mapper, stop thinking YOU have rights over what SOMEONE ELSE does or is doing because you dont
Ive just about had enough of this site, from messages from people screwing that im "ignoring them" coz i havent helped them (guess what, as i said there is a QUEUE and I have a job amongst tons of other stuff going on right now ) to people asking for features from me, just to wait like 6 weeks before adding them then reporting errors stating its MY fault your map releases are held up ( ever tried fixing something 6 weeks later? Its hard usually because i wont know what changed because you never installed it when you were supposed to or when i HAD TIME to ), to people asking for my stuff, only to then complain about a "creative choice" i made, or people comping on to my release topics just to post "this is a bit crap, over complicated and cheesy" when its the furthest thing from...
people deleting me off skype coz i was in the middle of stuff and couldnt have a proper conversation?
Insulting me just for having a opinion
Telling me I "cant" have an opinion coz im a site mod
Going round telling people i "stole their stuff" out of pure jealousy ( which that one even ADMITTED that it was coz he was jealous that my stuff will no be used over his, now you see why i chose the word "pathetic" ) Then when i call them out with photo evidence STILL go around telling everyone im the asshole when I was the damn VICTIM
Constantly slating me, meanwhile im working constantly to release more features and stuff, like i spent all of yesterday porting the hells retriever/redeemer as I WAS going to release it, just to get people to stop "stealing" piemans, now i find myself asking "why do i bother, they will still just insult me again later, or tell me i shouldnt be allowed to talk"
Seriously, post your bull crap here, i know "some" of you wont be able to resist, so i get to see exactly what you think of me, and if i deem it so, ill just damn well leave, as it seems most of you wanna target me just because i get along with people YOU chose not to, and accuse me of being their shields etc despite me ACTIVELY avoiding any argument involving said person BECAUSE it would be awkward, coz i have totally had enough now
So yea, three months ago one member of my team left
3 months ago i informed my work i have medical appointments - also in 3 months
3 months ago the "only" other person on the team informed us he would be on holiday - in 3 months
Yet I arrive to work today to find that im working on my own, and have had to reschedule not only my medical, but also my meeting with my manager
the meeting your supposed to get every month
that i havent had in 3 months
We cover 8 different banks, so right now if you call ANY OF THEM youd better hope im not "already" busy or you just aint getting through people... its all right im only the FRICKING FRAUD TEAM FOR EVERY ONE OF EM!!!!
Ontop of that, they did not do my return to work after sickness, have not answered my emails, emails ive sent concerned about things have been ignored completely or met with rude responses from my manager suggesting that he "assumed i have time" and didnt need "the basics of my job" explained to me, or that I would request such "micromanagement"
My yearly review, for my payrise - 3 months overdue
Honestly I wanna go jump of a bridge right now.... someone cheer me up!
Welcome to my cabin, which originally i made just coz "I was bored" lol
I havent fully thought out my idea yet, originally i was just testing features in a box, got seriously bored of seeing this same box ( after 14 months lol ) and threw this together in a matter of hours. Some of the features became more fleshed out, I found some awesome ways to make more memory room and now its starting to come along so thought id post this up
Incase you cant see in the images, the outside is blocked off by fallen trees, so its become a sort of survival map, see how long you can last in these small confines. May expand later but for now, you box mappers out there take note, it has 4 walls, and still managed to add one or two things and a second floor, and did this in a matter of hours lol
I will flesh out the map more, currently its barely even lit, spending a lot of times on the scripty stuff I been releasing these days so slowing my progress down a bit
Current Features
* My power ups system * Insta Kill * Double Points * Max Ammo * Nuke * Fire Sale * Zombie Cash * Zombie Blood * Death Machine * Perks * Quick Revive ( Black Ops 1 solo revive ) * Juggernog * Speed Cola * Double Tap 2.0 ( proper ) * Deadshot Daiquiri ( With a twist that ProRevenge thought up, deals more damage and additional points if you kill with a headshot ) * PHD Flopper ( With a basic D2P ) * Stamin-up Soda ( no crazy infinite run ) * Mule Kick ( Actually works - CORRECTLY and features a hud indicator when swapping your "mule kick" gun slot ) * Electric Cherry ( exact port of the BO2 gsc, fx by StevieWonder87 ) * Vulture Aid ( currently recoding it a bit ) * Tombstone Soda * Whos Who ( still in production ) * Der Wunderfizz ( With anims ) * Panzer Soldats ( RedSpace200 ) * MOTD/Origins/Tranzit animated mystery boxes * Black Ops 2 Weapons * Black Ops 1 Weapons * Modified Thundergun that has the "fourth" light when upgraded, but is a complete port of the Black Ops 1 script, including its full functionality ( knockdowns etc ) * My Craftables * Tranzit Power Switch * Tranzit/Origins/MOTD Zombie Shields ( With - finally - fixed and ported 3rd person animations ) * Tranzit Pack A Punch * Origins Pack a Punch ( with animations ) * Proper knock down anim support for the Thundergun and the Zombie Shield ( From SethNorris ) * Managed to fit most, if not all of the Origins player quotes, including gun collection quotes ( Including the Thundergun from Black Ops 1 ) * Scavenger ( Bluntstuffy ) * Claymores * Nova Crawlers ( BluntStuffy ) * Napalm Zombie ( scripts and models from RedSpace200, fx from AwesomePieman ) * Gersch Devices ( Bluntstuffy ) * Hell's Retriever/Redeemer ( Ported the BO2 gsc, really wasnt that hard to adjust to WAW ) * Dual Wield Mustang Sallys ( Thanks to RollonMath )
Lots more planned, but i wont follow the trend of a "things I want" section, I always see those pointless... might as well just put : Desired features - EVERYTHING ELSE
So let me know what you all think, I quite like how its turning out for once ( Which is a nice change lol )
So Ive been trying to reward players for 100% accuracy, like with the Jumping thingies in Die Rise
However im having real trouble detecting it, JBird recommended checking for weapon fired, and another handle on zombie_damage, problem is that doesnt detect if you hit them after they die, so with a fast burst weapon is an instant miss
The name of the perk is a play on the words "Electric Chair". When entering the Afterlife, the player can still earn points from any zombie the shockwave kills. A Grim Reaper blood stain can be seen on the machine. There is a short jingle with no words for Electric Cherry and an extremely distorted voice can be heard near it. This is shared with the other Perk-a-Colas, except in the other maps besides Origins, they have their full jingles. In Origins, the HUD icon for Electric Cherry is slightly darker.
Ive seen this brought up a load of times, everyone has different ideas, just wanted to point out this extremely good point on the wiki :
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The Thundergun is one of the most useful weapons in Zombies Mode, especially when another player is downed. It can clear huge amounts of the undead with minimum effort, which can help the player reach the downed player extremely easily. It can kill multiple zombies without hassle and can save the player's life, but the downside is its short range. Despite being unusable, the Thundergun also makes an appearance in "Five" in the weapons-testing lab, suggesting that the Thundergun was found by the United States and was being reverse engineered by the Pentagon.
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The Thundergun was originally thought by Richtofen to have been created by Dr. Maxis and that Maxis had been deliberately hiding it from him as he grew to not trust Richtofen, although this could mean that Richtofen did not trust Maxis and became paranoid. Richtofen even referred to it as the DG-3 (meaning he considered it to be the Wunderwaffe DG-2's successor). However, one of the radios in the map, Ascension reveals the true creation of the Thundergun. It was a Russian weapon codenamed "Project Thunder" and was being worked on by the Ascension Group under Gersch's direction. Gersch knew about its range problem and was trying to fix it. He also knew about its small ammo (power cell) count.
It was otherwise developed By Maxis and Yuri, so German/Russian
the wiki also states that the upgraded version does more damage and has a bigger hit radius than the normal version too, but i have the script, i cant see anything to change its values if the gun is upgraded? Just the changes in the weapon file ( ammo )
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