"Restraining Bolt"
This software is still in alpha testing and is not necessarily complete. It has not been tested very throughougly at this point and unexpected bugs can and probably will crop up.
While this mod makes every attempt not to screw things up, it is provided without any warranty. No technical support is provided.
If it does screw up, please use the 'repair' option in the game's launcher and try to use the force to choke me.
This mod will modify the game files so that the ship companion droids (specifically C2N2 and 2VR8) will no longer use audio messages.
Their text will continue to appear in the game chat window (if enabled).
You will need to reapply this patch if the audio files are updated after a game update.
The software will create backups of the original files. (Unless ```-nobackup`` is specified.)
This is a command line program, as such to run it you'll need to open a command prompt.
A quick way on Windows to do this is to hold the Windows key and press R, in the "Run" box type "cmd" and press enter.
Alternately, you can create two shortcuts to the executable.
One should be labeled "Patch". The second should be labeled "Restore" and given the "-restore" argument.
Unfortunately you won't be able to see any messages the program displays, although you could add > %homepath%\Documents\restraining_bolt.txt to the shortcut's path as a parameter.
If you wish to use the shortcut method, I would recommend doing the initial run in a command window to see if there are any issues.
This software is written in Strawberry Perl and compiled with PAR::Packer.
The source is included.
I'm using Perl v5.18.4 for development.
Perl modules used:
Env
Switch
Digest::MD5
File::Copy
Getopt::Long
File::Spec
Win32::TieRegistry
This software is freeware, if you make money on it - I'll be very sad and will try to force choke you to death.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| -restore | Restore from Backup Folder |
| -nobackup | Don't Make Backup Copies (*) |
| -nodatafile | Don't Make/Update a Data File (*) |
| -version | Show Version Number and Exit |
| -help | Show Command List and Exit |
| -debug | Show Debug Messages |
| -trace | Show Debug Trace Messages (implies -debug) |
| -data folder | Specify Data Folder |
| -backup folder | Specify Backup Folder |
| -game folder | Specify SWTOR Folder |
| -debug_nopatch | Don't actually update the asset file (**) |
(*) Not recommended
(**) Not recommended for general use. This is for debugging purposes where it will go through the motions of patching the asset file (and report that it has done so) but will not actually write to it. It is largely useless without -trace.
The tool will try to locate your Star Wars: The Old Republic installation, it does this by reading the registry.
The registry value it is lookign for is Install Dir.
The search order of keys is as follows:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BioWare\Star Wars-The Old RepublicHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\BioWare\Star Wars-The Old Republic
If this fails, for whatever reason, you can use the -game option to specify the folder. Unless -nodata is used, it will remember the folder on subsequent runs.
e.g.
swtor_restrainingbolt -game "D:\My Games\SWTOR"
By default, the tool will backup assets in a folder called "SWTOR_MOD\Backup" in the system's "TEMP" folder (whatever is defined in the "TEMP" environment variable).
If it's not defined or accessible, it will use the current folder instead.
You can override this by using the option -backup.
e.g.
swtor_restrainingbolt -backup "D:\Temp"
A backup folder will still be created, D:\Temp\SWTOR_MOD\Backup in this case.
Once you specify a backup folder (and unless you are using the -nodata option), the program will remember the location on subsequent runs and operations.
By default, the tool will store some data in a folder called "SWTOR_MOD" in the current user's APPDATA folder under "Local".
(The specifics are listed below under "Data File Format".)
If it's not defined or accessible, it will use the current folder instead.
You can override this by using the option -data
e.g.
swtor_restrainingbolt -data "D:\Temp"
A SWTOR_MOD folder will still be created, D:\Temp\SWTOR_MOD in this case.
If you specify -nodata, a data file will not be created, used or updated. (If it already exists, it will not delete it.). Obviously, specifying -data and -nodata at the same time means that -data is ignored.
You can use multiple switches at the same time, for example:
swtor_restrainingbolt -data "D:\My Data" -game "C:\Games\SWTOR" -backup "E:\Backup"
The switch -debug will enable debug level messages. Any DEBUG messages will be prefixed with "[DEBUG]" as shown in this sample:
Restraining Bolt v201511181736
Star Wars: The Old Republic (Ship Droid Mod)
[DEBUG] Attempting to read data file at 'C:\Temp\SWTOR_MOD\swtor_restrainingbolt.dat'
[DEBUG] Checking stored backup root
WARNING: Game location not detected or specified, using current folder.
[DEBUG] '.' is the current folder.
[DEBUG] Using '.' as the location for Star Wars: The Old Republic.
[DEBUG] Using 'C:\Source\swtor_restrainingbolt\Backup\Backup' for the backup folder.
[DEBUG] Using 'Assets\assets_swtor_main_version.txt' for the asset version.
The switch -trace shows debug level messages and extra debug messages from function calls. Trace level messages are prefixed with "[TRACE]" as shown in the following sample. When compared with the above sample you can see how much more detail is shown.
Restraining Bolt v201511181736
Star Wars: The Old Republic (Ship Droid Mod)
[TRACE] Building Data File Path
[TRACE] Using Default Data File Path
[DEBUG] Attempting to read data file at 'C:\Temp\SWTOR_MOD\swtor_restrainingbolt.dat'
[TRACE] readDataFile 'C:\Temp\SWTOR_MOD\swtor_restrainingbolt.dat'
[TRACE] 'C:\Temp\SWTOR_MOD\swtor_restrainingbolt.dat' is open as READ ONLY
[TRACE] 'C:\Temp\SWTOR_MOD\swtor_restrainingbolt.dat' is closed
[TRACE] Data File created with version 201511181736
[TRACE] ***
[TRACE] DATA FILE READ at 'C:\Temp\SWTOR_MOD\swtor_restrainingbolt.dat':
[TRACE] Data File Version: 201511181736
[TRACE] Game Location: .
[TRACE] Backup Location: C:\Temp\swtor_restrainingbolt\Backup
[TRACE] Asset Patch: 218
[TRACE] Asset Data: 1596.1.0
[TRACE] Republic MD5: f24e73989ab2b0abc2d7a3999c4e4ca4
[TRACE] Imperial MD5: ec25016cb2ec69772fc2132234bff0a4
[TRACE] Assets Are Patched: 1
[TRACE] ***
[DEBUG] Checking stored backup root
[TRACE] Using stored backup location
WARNING: Game location not detected or specified, using current folder.
[TRACE] Building Asset and Backup Paths
[DEBUG] '.' is the current folder.
[DEBUG] Using '.' as the location for Star Wars: The Old Republic.
[DEBUG] Using 'C:\Source\swtor_restrainingbolt\Backup\Backup' for the backup folder.
[DEBUG] Using 'Assets\assets_swtor_main_version.txt' for the asset version.
Finally, the switch -debug_nopatch will go through the motions of patching the asset files but won't actually write to them. You'll want to have -trace on if using this as the actual patching is done in a function call.
The asset files are actually archives containing many small sound files.
The tool simply takes three of the asset files (swtor_en-us_cnv_comp_chars_rep_1, swtor_en-us_cnv_comp_chars_imp_1 and swtor_en-us_cnv_misc_1) and replaces the internal filenames
where the ship droid names appear with XXXX.
When the game tries to play one of those sound files, it can't find it so instead of hearing C2N2 drone on, you instead hear blissful silence instead!
example:
cnv_location_companion_characters_multi_republic_c2n2_c2n2_98_m.wem
becomes
cnv_location_companion_characters_multi_republic_XXXX_XXXX_98_m.wem
It gets the asset version information from the assets_swtor_main_version.txt file in the game's "Assets" folder.
Some Star Wars: The Old Republic installations do not appear to have these version files. In this case, the following method will be used:
- It will look for
swtor.exeinswtor\retailclient - It will do a file stat on the file and use the atime value for the "patch" version.
- It will do a MD5 digest on the file and use that value for the "data" version.
If neither of these methods produces versioning, it should still work ok but backups/restores won't be as clever.
The data file format has changed between v201511161613 and v201511181736, and again with v201511221732.
Any existing data file will be automatically updated when the new version of the program is run.
| Value | Comment |
|---|---|
| PROGRAM NAME | Identification |
| PROGRAM VERSION | Identification |
| DATA FILE | Literally "DATA FILE" |
| Game Installation Folder | Star Wars: The Old Republic location |
| Backup (Root) Folder | Where Asset Backup Files are Stored |
| Patch Applied Flag | 0 = No, 1 = Yes |
| Assets Patch Version | Game Asset Patch Level |
| Assets Data Version | Game Asset Data Level |
| Asset File | This pair alternates... |
| Asset File MD5 Hash | ... for each file. |
The MD5 hash values should always be for the original, unmodified file.
Sample Data File:
Restraining Bolt
201511211848
DATA FILE
C:\Games\SWTOR
D:\Backups\SWTOR_MOD
1
1448242126
9334e5591d53df738cebca0cd0b8322f
swtor_en-us_cnv_misc_1
2b6fc9c471311facf90280d13d1498e5
swtor_en-us_cnv_comp_chars_imp_1
ec25016cb2ec69772fc2132234bff0a4
swtor_en-us_cnv_comp_chars_rep_1
f24e73989ab2b0abc2d7a3999c4e4ca4
v201511181736 adds the "Backup Folder" field and all the other data is now actually used. v201511221732 moved the patch flag and now asset files and hashes alternate for the rest of the data file.
201511221732
- Revised the data file (it will automatically upgrade the data file)
- Realized there is a third asset file needed to be patched for trade skill missions
- Some SWTOR installations do not have asset version files, made some fallback code to handle this.
- Redesigned a number of functions.
201511181736
- Revised the data file (it will automatically upgrade the data file)
- Now uses Game Installation and Backup Root locations
- Added
-nobackupoption (not recommended but for those who like danger) - Added
-nodataoption (keeps it from using a data file) - Added
-traceoption for those that like lots of debug text - Improved logic on when to update backups and other validations
NOTE: Unless you use -nodata, you only need to specify things like -game and -backup the first time you run the software (if you're not using the defaults). It will remember those locations after that.
201511161613
- Initial Version