How to force client to read a certain GRF first?

[angryrestie]

Can someone help me about this? I want to restrict players from using modified grf. Thanks

[GreenMagic793]

Why not just use a single grf? Go to conf/grf-files and under the "GRF List" header just add a line for your grf of choice and that's it. That should be the only grf that the server recognizes. There's no point in using more than one, so if you haven't already then just merge your grfs. You're never going to completely prevent people from using a custom grf so I wouldn't worry much about it, nothing they can do will really effect the game that much, just the aesthetics of their personal experience.

[angryrestie]

Why not just use a single grf? Go to conf/grf-files and under the "GRF List" header just add a line for your grf of choice and that's it. That should be the only grf that the server recognizes. There's no point in using more than one, so if you haven't already then just merge your grfs. You're never going to completely prevent people from using a custom grf so I wouldn't worry much about it, nothing they can do will really effect the game that much, just the aesthetics of their personal experience.

If that's the case, I can list all my grf there and it will work? I think the bypass is that they will rename their grf to the one that is registered server side. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Also, "grf: C:\Program Files\Gravity\RO\data.grf"  is the sample format inside conf/grf-files, is this format right -> "*\data.grf"? Lol, idk what I'm doing xD

[GreenMagic793]

Yes, you can list multiple grfs in grf-files, so just add all your relevant grfs and it should work fine. Additionally, yes, that format is correct. Let me show you something:

//-----------------------------------------
// GRF List
//-----------------------------------------

grf: C:\Program Files\Gravity\RO\data.grf
grf: C:\Program Files\Gravity\RO\sdata.grf

^ That's literally my entire grf-files.txt. Plain and simple. If anyone tries to use anything but data.grf or sdata.grf, they'll be out of luck.

 

Also, you are correct, all anyone has to do is rename their grf to whatever the standard grf's name is and bam, they've got a custom client. Unfortunately, there's really no way to prevent this. There are some minor defenses you can use but trust me, when there's a will, there's a way, and if someone has the knowledge of what a grf even is, they'll have the knowledge to use their own. This is just one of those things you kind of have to accept IMO.

[angryrestie]

Yes, you can list multiple grfs in grf-files, so just add all your relevant grfs and it should work fine. Additionally, yes, that format is correct. Let me show you something:

//-----------------------------------------
// GRF List
//-----------------------------------------

grf: C:\Program Files\Gravity\RO\data.grf
grf: C:\Program Files\Gravity\RO\sdata.grf

^ That's literally my entire grf-files.txt. Plain and simple. If anyone tries to use anything but data.grf or sdata.grf, they'll be out of luck.

 

Also, you are correct, all anyone has to do is rename their grf to whatever the standard grf's name is and bam, they've got a custom client. Unfortunately, there's really no way to prevent this. There are some minor defenses you can use but trust me, when there's a will, there's a way, and if someone has the knowledge of what a grf even is, they'll have the knowledge to use their own. This is just one of those things you kind of have to accept IMO.

But what if the directory I set is not the directory they are using?

[GreenMagic793]

Let's say you place your data.grf in Program Files\Gravity\RO, and that's where you point your grf-files.txt. If a player decides he wants to install your server software to Program Files\RO instead, they'll be shit outta' luck- the game won't work. The same goes for any piece of software really. Unless you have a program that automatically detects where a file is, it's not going to work. For example, take a random .dll file out of your RO folder and place it on your desktop- you'll quickly find that the game no longer works. Every file has to be pointed somewhere. In my past servers, I always had a big red warning sticker on my installation tutorials that said something along the lines of "WARNING: Make sure to extract the client to [insert directory here] or the game won't work!". As long as you let people know that in advance, it shouldn't be much issue for you.

[15peaces]

Why not just use a single grf? Go to conf/grf-files and under the "GRF List" header just add a line for your grf of choice and that's it. That should be the only grf that the server recognizes. There's no point in using more than one, so if you haven't already then just merge your grfs. You're never going to completely prevent people from using a custom grf so I wouldn't worry much about it, nothing they can do will really effect the game that much, just the aesthetics of their personal experience.

 

This will only configure the server-emu to use this grf file(s). This won't change anything on clientside. To configure grf files clientside you'll need to modify the data.ini in clientfolder.

 

Structure is:

[Data]
1=first-grf-to-load.grf
2=second-grf-to-load.grf
...
99=99th-grf-to-load.grf

There is also a diff to embed this file into your gameexe, so you can protect it.

[GreenMagic793]

Interesting. I'm using an older client where I don't need to edit data.ini at all to point my server towards grfs- are you saying you're actually required to edit the data.ini for the server to recognize the grf files in modern servers? In my past experience I've only ever messed with the grf-files.txt, what's the purpose of having to point grf files client side? Isn't that sort of like pointing it to itself?

Edited September 18, 2015 by greenmagic469

[15peaces]

[...] To configure grf files clientside you'll need to modify the data.ini in clientfolder. [...]

 

 

to configure Clientside ...

 

He wants to manage the clientside. So there is no point in changing a server related configuration file.