Hexing modified by Brynner

Brynner — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 05:04:31 -0000

--- v1
+++ v2
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-{{Outdated}} {{Incomplete}} As **hexing** is considered the process of
-modifying raw contents of a file on byte-level with a [Hex Editor](hex
-editor), regardless of the actual purpose of the file (text, image or another
-application). Such modifications may require exact knowledge of the files'
-format for the modification to succeed, as opposed to a high-level editing
-application such as an image editor.
+{{Incomplete}} As **hexing** is considered the process of modifying raw
+contents of a file on byte-level with a [Hex Editor](Hex Editor), regardless
+of the actual purpose of the file (text, image or another application). Such
+modifications may require exact knowledge of the files' format for the
+modification to succeed, as opposed to a high-level editing application such
+as an image editor.

 [TOC]

@@ -15,9 +15,11 @@
 Although it is possible to use an unmodified client with Hercules (up to
 2010/08/04), it is typically modified using a DIFF patcher.

-Each new client requires [Shin's Diff
-Patcher](http://rathena.org/board/topic/53420-shins-diff-patcher/) and the
-[Wee Diff Gen plugin](http://rathena.org/board/topic/53421-weediffgen/2).
+Each new client requires [Wee Diff Gen plugin/Shins Diff
+Patcher](http://herc.ws/board/topic/827-weediff-aka-shins-diff-patcher-
+weediffgen-continuation/) OR
+[xDiffPatcher](http://herc.ws/board/topic/852-xdiffpatcher-xdiffgen2-packet-
+parser-and-packet-extractor/).

 ### Diffing your client

Hexing modified by Brynner

Brynner — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 05:01:49 -0000

{{Outdated}} {{Incomplete}} As hexing is considered the process of
modifying raw contents of a file on byte-level with a Hex Editor, regardless of the actual purpose of the file (text, image or another
application). Such modifications may require exact knowledge of the files'
format for the modification to succeed, as opposed to a high-level editing
application such as an image editor.

Creating custom RagRE client using a DIFF patcher
- Diffing your client
  - Download your client
  - Diffing
- Follow-up modifications to diffed clients
Find-Replace Hexing
- Application
- Variable Codes
Low-Level Hexing

Creating custom RagRE client using a DIFF patcher

RagRE is the abbreviation for Ragnarok Renewal client (ragexeRE.exe), which is
normally updated by Gravity weekly, to add new items or features, to fix bugs
and the like. This is also the client, which is currently used for Hercules.
Although it is possible to use an unmodified client with Hercules (up to
2010/08/04), it is typically modified using a DIFF patcher.

Each new client requires Shin's Diff
Patcher and the
Wee Diff Gen plugin.

Diffing your client

Download your client

Download a client from
here. Extract the
executable from the zip file, extracting requires
7zip. I recommend making a folder and
naming it "RagRe Exes" and in that folder create a folder with the name being
your client's date. For example if my RagRe exe was "2011-04-27aRagexeRE", I
would name the folder I am extracting it to "2011-04-27a", this is just to be
organized and makes your exe easy to find.

Diffing

Download Shin's Diff Patcher and the Wee Diff Gen plugin located above. If you
did not download the Plain Diff Plugin, ignore the following sentence, as
WeeDiffGenerator will be the main plugin. From the drop down menu under
"Select patch engine" select "WeeDiffGenerator". For "Source Executable" click
"Select" and navigate to your RagRe exe's location, then select the
executable. It will ask if you want it to auto-select recommended patches,
click yes. Now a list of diffs will show up, with check boxes to the left.
Simply decide what diff you would like to apply to your client, and click the
check box. For some diffs like "Fix camera angles" you can select more than
one, but its recommended that you only select one. This may change in the
future. Some diffs like "Increase Headgear View ID" will have a text box pop
up prompting you to enter a value. Once you are done selecting what diffs you
would like to apply, make sure the "Output executable" location is alright
with you, you only need to change it if you want the output executable to be
saved somewhere other than the folder of the source executable's location.
Click "Patch it!" and your diffed exe will now appear in either the folder
where your source executable is, or where you chose to save it.

Follow-up modifications to diffed clients

These modifications are usually applied to already DIFFed clients for finer
customization, which is not possible with a DIFF by itself.

Custom Window Title

Requires a client, which has been patched to allow custom window title and
HxD, or any other hex editor.

Steps:

First, you need to know what the current window title is.
Start your client in Windowed mode to check.
After closing the client, load it inside the hex editor.
When the file loads, it should look something like this:
Image:Hxd-main.png
Press Ctrl+F to open the Find window and input the window title. As the window title is usually stored at the beginning of the hexed client, a partial title will do.
When you find the section, it will look something like this:
Image:Hxd-custtitle.png
Now, on the right side (ASCII text), start where the current Window Title starts and begin overwriting it with your NEW window title.
If there are leftover words after you have typed your NEW window title, switch to the left side (Hexadecimal) and over-write the rest of the title with 00 (zeros).
Save.

Custom data.ini

{{EntirePage|DATA.INI#Other Names}} You can rename the [DATA.INI] file to
any name that is 8 characters long (including the extension). Then, just edit
your client with a Hex Editor. Find DATA.INI and replace with your new
filename.

Custom clientinfo.xml

You can rename the [Clientinfo.xml] file to any name that is 15 characters
long (including the extension). Then, just edit your client with a Hex Editor.
Find clientinfo.xml and replace with your new filename. Note, that for newer
and non-[Sakray] clients, this file is called clientinfo.xml.

Find-Replace Hexing

This technique is used for single features, rather than a collection of
features, and is often applicable across different client versions. Such edits
are distributed as a single or a set of two line edits, which specify what
should be found and what should the found character sequence be replaced
with, and mostly retain the length (both lines specify same amount of
characters).

The character sequences are applied using a hex editor and represented by
hexadecimal values of bytes, optionally each byte (two hexadecimal numbers)
separated by a space. A typical find-replace hex looks like this (anti-quake
patch for certain client
versionshttp://www.eathena.ws/board/index.php?showtopic=249328...):

F: C390909090558BEC8B4508568BF1894604
R: C390909090C214008B4508568BF1894604

Application

Image:Hxd-findreplace.pngThe first one is copied and pasted into hex editor
find/replace window's find field, the latter is pasted into the replace
with field. The search is set to be case-sensitive and then all occurrences
are replaced.

The author of such hex may want to specify the correct amount of hits for
verification. If the search does not yield any result, the hex is
incompatible. The hex must never be applied partially , such as omitting
first two bytes, as that can lead to undefined behavior.

Variable Codes

In some instances the hex requires some variable bytes, whose value is either
adjustable (replace line only) or varying among clients (both lines). This
kind of wild card is expressed with:

XX - more common for adjustable values
?? - is recognized as wild card in some hex editors
Description of the bytes in <BBGGRR> for little-endian RGB color values

Example (vending max. sell price unlocking):

F: 3DF1B9F505
R: 3DXXXXXXXX

Low-Level Hexing

Low-Level Hexing is an Ultimate Hexing Sakexe by using OllyDbg. This is
Advanced technique. You need some x86 Assembly language knowledge for using
this technique in order to discern the runtime order of the EXE you're looking
at. The more Assembly you know, the better, as you'll be more adept at seeing
what is going on.

It's necessarily quite apt to point out that in more recent times, the EXEs
Gravity has put out have made things a little harder. As an example, a recent
EXE, 2012-10-17bRagexeRE includes
Themida protection,
which includes anti-debugger measures. Fortunately, these anti-debugging
measures aren't wholly preventative, but still provide an additional
challenge; StrongOD and Phant0m allow for skipping of the anti-debug
challenge, however, the other features of Themida mean that someone without
experience in assembly language would be incredibly confused about the output.

Programs needed

Loading the Sakexe

Run OLLYDBG.EXE and select menu File > Open. Then choose the Sakexe you want
to Hex. If your Sakexe needs some parameters to launch (ex: 1sak1). Enter that
parameter in Arguments field. Then press Open Button.

Finding WinMain function

WinMain is an entry point in Windows GUI ( G raphical U ser I
nterface) applications, that is, where an application's code starts executing.
This applies to the Ragnarok client as well, thus it is important to know it's
location. Different compilers produce different WinMain locations.

Note: If you have the Windows platform SDK installed, scan the import
libraries first to resolve names of a lot of common functions, such as
WinMain, before hexing. This will make things easier, because you do not have
to deal with plain addresses. To scan the libraries, press Ctrl+O , browse
for the *.lib files, and then click scan. Analyze (Ctrl+A) the client
afterwards, to apply the scan results.

2010-08-10aRagexeRE and older (Visual C++ 6.0)

All clients before 2010-08-18aRagexeRE (this includes all Sakexe clients) are
compiled with Visual C++ 6.0 and their WinMain can be found as a CALL after
the first CALL to GetModuleHandle. You can find it by a scroll down 10 - 20
lines from current position after loading Sakexe.

PUSH    ESI
CALL    DWORD PTR DS:[

Recent changes to Hexing

Hexing modified by Brynner

Hexing modified by Brynner

Creating custom RagRE client using a DIFF patcher

Diffing your client

Download your client

Diffing

Follow-up modifications to diffed clients

Custom Window Title

Custom data.ini

Custom clientinfo.xml

Find-Replace Hexing

Application

Variable Codes

Low-Level Hexing

Programs needed

Loading the Sakexe

Finding WinMain function

2010-08-10aRagexeRE and older (Visual C++ 6.0)