What is "Hard Coded"

Liquid_Cow · Post by **Liquid_Cow** » 2007-04-03 00:48

Forgive my ignorance, but I frequently hear the term "hard coded," usually following the phrase "it can't be done," and I wonder if someone can explain exactly what this means.

How does it apply to BF2? Will the EA police come knocking on my door if I mess with hard coding? Will white vans with tinted windows park outside Homer's house? Or does the game perform some sort of sumcheck then shuts down if "hard coded" is violated? If so with the last item, can you get around the self check, or is that also "hard coded?"

Thanks for your replies!
Moo

Post by **GeZe** » 2007-04-03 00:50

Hard coded mean that it can't be changed, it's complied into the exe, you can't view or modify the code...

Clypp · Post by **Clypp** » 2007-04-03 01:21

What is "Hard Coded"

Battlefield 2.

danthemanbuddy · Post by **danthemanbuddy** » 2007-04-03 01:37

If they release the source code, then we get weapon sway

No source code = prone diving, and hardcoded.

Soulja · Post by **Soulja** » 2007-04-03 01:59

Ever asked EA or DICE for the source code? Maybe offer to pay for it? lol

I'd donate toward less "Hardcoded" stuff.

Post by **Fullforce** » 2007-04-03 02:02

Hard Coded is that which is Coded into the game and cannot be changed without direct access to the original source code, hence why it is "hard" and cannot be moulded or shaped.

Liquid_Cow · Post by **Liquid_Cow** » 2007-04-03 02:04

OK, this is above my level of understanding I guess, but why can't you just use a compiler like C+ to read the code? I imagine that a lot of the stuff the DEV team is playing with is not in plain text, what's the diference. Again, please excuse my ignorance, just trying to better understand.

Post by **Fullforce** » 2007-04-03 02:06

No, it doesn't work like that. A games company doesn't make a game just so its customers can decompile it and reverse engineer it and use it to make money themselves. Once a game is put into Machine Code, there is no way of reverse engineering it or changing it.

Raniak · Post by **Raniak** » 2007-04-03 02:07

Liquid_Cow wrote:OK, this is above my level of understanding I guess, but why can't you just use a compiler like C+ to read the code? I imagine that a lot of the stuff the DEV team is playing with is not in plain text, what's the diference. Again, please excuse my ignorance, just trying to better understand.

Because it's not just coded, it's hard coded

seriously, I have no idea

Clypp · Post by **Clypp** » 2007-04-03 02:08

'[R-DEV wrote:xW0LFx']thats great! new quote right there

I'm glad you approve.

Post by **Jaymz** » 2007-04-03 02:09

They won't ever release the source code, this is how they make millions. It's the EA creed

1.Get Trauma studios to make you a million dollar selling game and then stab them in the back on their way out.
2.Hardcode unrealistic features.
3.Make your developers sign contracts stating they cannot release any source code, this means that shitty booster packs can be made and sold online with ease while mod developers, who work for free, struggle to compete due to the everlasting virginity of the source code.
4.??????????????
5.Profit

Deadmonkiefart · Post by **Deadmonkiefart** » 2007-04-03 02:17

While I agaree with you on your points, that was a very lol-able list!

Post by **Fullforce** » 2007-04-03 02:20

Lets not forget point number 6 and the ever vital 7:

6. Lay off Trauma Studios because they've done all the work they need to and you don't need them anymore
7. Forget the fact that it was modders who made DC and thusly BF2 and continue to screw over BF2 modders

Jarek Mace · Post by **Jarek Mace** » 2007-04-03 02:25

'[R-CON wrote:Jaymz']They won't ever release the source code, this is how they make millions. It's the EA creed

1.Get Trauma studios to make you a million dollar selling game and then stab them in the back on their way out.
2.Hardcode unrealistic features.
3.Make your developers sign contracts stating they cannot release any source code, this means that shitty booster packs can be made and sold online with ease while mod developers, who work for free, struggle to compete due to the everlasting virginity of the source code.
4.?
5.Profit

On number 3 you forgot to mention the shitty dev documentation and half finished tutorials which leads to countless nights of no sleep trying to reverse engineer from cruddy badly made game media to fill in the missing parts..
Then there are the half arsed, half released, badly outdated inhouse toolsets.

Buying the source code would not be economically viable, take quake source for an example when it was around same age as bf2 is now, it would cost you over 100,000 dollars. To Carmack's credit he eventually released the src free.
I don't see greedy EA doing the same in 20 yrs.

Hard coded means hard shit, live with it. Sad but true.

Rupert · Post by **Rupert** » 2007-04-03 02:26

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Post by **Fullforce** » 2007-04-03 02:28

I saw that one coming.

Liquid_Cow · Post by **Liquid_Cow** » 2007-04-03 02:38

Can't you do the Matrix thing, you know like when Cypher is looking at the source code for the Matrix and pointing out the hot girls to Neo?

El_Vikingo · Post by **El_Vikingo** » 2007-04-03 02:49

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

Jarek Mace · Post by **Jarek Mace** » 2007-04-03 02:52

There are dissasemblers like wdasm and other tools to reverse engineer code.
Have to know binary and asm as well as be uber patient and I have no idea if it would be useful to search for game functions if at all. Good for finding and NOOP9090 cdcheck subroutines tho, or used to be, I'm out of date now.
Oh I think it will also be highly illegal.