.diff file format

[metchsteekle]

so i found a patch thay looks like itd be cool ... but
its in a .diff format so i tried frik decompiler, but that seems to only work on progs.dat files, so imanages to get it open and it looks like a bunch of chopped up files put together so, how do i decompile it

any help is apprecated, because i want to see some monsters drown

[Baker]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diff

I've never found occasion to use a .diff file, but a lot of programs support them.

They don't have anything to do with Quake, but are typically used for programming languages or technical documents or what not.

They are instruction files on change to change file 1 into file2 (i.e. add this here, remove that there, etc.)

[metchsteekle]

http://incolor.inebraska.com/jepler/quake/

this site had somthing on it but the stuff i need seems to be lost :{

----------------------------------------------------------

http://asgard.actrix.co.nz/ms-dos/games/

has it, but how to use... howtopatch.txt i think has soluition

[Spirit]

You just need the same source files the author used. Then it is a simple "patch" command on Linux, no idea about Windows.
Or do it by hand, Baker's link should include all necessary information.

[MH]

Diff isn't a file format, as the others said. It's just a binary snapshot of the differences between one file and another; in this case the differences between 2 progs.dat files.

In the old days mods which just consisted of progs.dat differences were released as diffs because the file size was substantially smaller: very important if you're on a 14k or 28k modem. There may also have been an element of the authors wanting to keep their source code private.

[metchsteekle]

Diff isn't a file format, as the others said. It's just a binary snapshot of the differences between one file and another; in this case the differences between 2 progs.dat files.

i understand that now and can see where to add the diffrences in most parts, but some parts gets fuzzy around a bit

differences were released as diffs because the file size was substantially smaller: very important if you're on a 14k or 28k modem.

point taken and under stood [what stress it would to wait 2 hours for a small patch]

There may also have been an element of the authors wanting to keep their source code private.

but it was releasd as a patch only, watermon came as a .diff and txt in a zip :/ ... perhaps he just felt like being a jerk and make u screw up 9 times before getting it half right

9 times

[Lardarse]

Right...

You will probably want to install a windows version of patch. If you don't want anything other *nix tools, then I would recommend this version.

You will also need the source code which usually goes under the name of progs106.zip. I don't know where the recommended place to find it is, but someone here will probably be able to provide a link.

And you'll need a QuakeC compiler. I generally recommend FTEQCC these days. This page is the best palce to get this.

Once you have installed patch, unzip the source code and the comuler into the same folder, copy in the .diff (sometimes you may see it called .pat or .patch instead, but these days, .diff is the prefered extension), and then open a command window (Win+R then cmd ) and navigate to the folder.

Now the fun begins. Start by typing patch --dryrun --verbose -i filename.diff. This will do a test to see what would happen if it were to actually do it, and also tell you something about the .diff file. If the output of that mentions that it is a context diff (the readme may mention this as well), then do diff -c -i filename.diff. It it says that it is a unified diff, then do diff -u -i filename.diff. In the highly unlikely event that neither is mentioned, just do diff -i filename.diff.

You may get some errors. One possible one is mentioned on the download page for patch I linked to. If there are any others that you can't figure out, then post them here. If however, the patching went fine, then just type fteqcc to compile. Note that the default location to output the progs.dat (as specified in the first line of progs.src) is the folder above the current one. If you change that line from ../progs.dat to ./progs.dat then it will put it in the current folder. Finally, just put this progs.dat in a folder in your Quake folder and run it in the normal way.

[Baker]

You will also need the source code which usually goes under the name of progs106.zip. I don't know where the recommended place to find it is, but someone here will probably be able to provide a link.

Yeah, but that's assuming the QuakeC patch is for progs 1.06. Although I am sure most of them are, 1996-1997 era stuff that isn't a guarantee.

(Hello mods without impulse 12 support? Or is it impulse 10?)

Did I mention I hate .diff files?

Ugh.

Right or wrong, in the age of WinMerge/ExamDiff and broadband and easy file hosting, I think .diff files suck for code.

In part because if someone just includes the whole thing, you can really look over the changes and don't have to worry about versions, for the most part.

so i found a patch thay looks like itd be cool ... but

http://incolor.inebraska.com/jepler/quake/

This page, what was it you wanted off that? Just curious.

(Not the utility, I mean what mod interested you?)

[metchsteekle]

oh it was "watermon" patch from the pub/idgames2/quakec site thing. it is supposed to make the monsters react to water by drowning and swimming up for air, but looking throught it i dont think they can be burned by slime or lava, so i guess i can go throught the patch and see what to do and spamm inside 3d again for help""

[Zop]

the diff file is really telling you what to take out and what to add to every qc file. If you have the source that the watermelon people started with, you can manually change the files as described in the .diff.

[Lardarse]

But most people generally use patch because it's easier than doing it manually, although sometimes, manual editing is needed.