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Map Deprotecting tools

Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:48 pm
by BugMeNot
Hello there, i started playing warcraft 3 again after many years and downloading random maps i found this one called "Hero of the empire", wich has a recently updated version http://hero-empire.com/load/download_he ... c/1-1-0-73

The thing is, a great map indeed, there are hundreds of items and combinations and secrets to discover, BUT! i play it in single player mode, each game takes about ~3 hs and 1 mistake can make you loose easily, no cheats allowed, no much info shared...was trying to obtain that info with xdep, wich crash automatically just to know how to play it and not wasting entirely weeks making mistakes. Tried a few maps with xdep and all of them generates the listfile, but not this map
Are there other tools to at least read the units, items, skills contained in the w3x file?
Since xdep gets nothing, mpq master, mpq recovery, etc gets nothing too. I m not pretending to get the map unprotected (i dont care about the code, triggers, etc) but at least to know the units and items pointing me which programs can i use; most things u can learn are from replays, wich are also 2 or 3 hs wasted to discover 1 or 2 item combination or something else.

Regards,

Re: Map Deprotecting tools

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 3:20 pm
by 3ICE
Hi,

I'll take a look tonight. (In a separate post from this one.)

p.s.: Sorry for the two weeks wait, didn't see this thread until now.

Also, if anyone ever feels ignored this long... Please PM me sooner, like within 2 days.
Then I'll get a separate email notification for that PM and react to it immediately (as I usually do).
You can also email me, literally any address (username) under this website (3ice.hu) works and is automatically and immediately redirected to my gmail (secret) address.
Posting a comment on my blog also works to get my attention.
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to something meaningful and unique like
"It's me Regards from your Warcraft website. I have a map deprotecting question"
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Re: Map Deprotecting tools

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 8:38 pm
by 3ICE
Welcome to the realm of deprotection by hand. No automated tool can handle very well protected maps. Thankfully most people only use the Optimizer which is the main target of deprotection tools so they're good at reconstructing it. Not this map though.

I was able to extract all files from the map with an old (version 1.10 I think) MPQ Editor. Most of the unknowns are skins, they don't interest us.

I can read unit, item, and ability data (and many other tables besides these main ones) as slk files. (What is slk? Basic Excel is an oversimplified answer, but true. There are more columns than fits on my screen though. The contents are not simple, nor easy to understand. It's just the things you can do with the slk format is what is simple/limited.) If you really can't stand slk files and need w3a (w3u w3i w3o and the like) data object files, the DeWidgetizer tool is your friend.
I see the full minimap (from war3map.blp) but no usable GUI region data, so no looking around in World Editor for secret areas of the Terrain. Zepir to the rescue. It eats a war3map.wct file and outputs graphical tiles that look almost like in Warcraft.
Triggers are accessible in ugly JASS format, readable as obfuscated source code in the war3map.j file. Any scripted event in the map is laid bare there. The tool I use here is Notepad++ but JassCraft is a more beginner-friendly one, built specifically for working with these script files.
Trigger strings are in a separate text file. Connect the string to the trigger that use them by the TRIGSTR_X ID. Every line of text said in the map, all the hidden quests, boss dialogue, character interactions, ability and item tooltips are in there. Happy reading.

Re: Map Deprotecting tools

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:30 am
by BugMeNot
How could I generate the w3i file?

Re: Map Deprotecting tools

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:59 pm
by 3ICE
What's wrong with the original?