"The universal table converter" (Coming soon)

[Itchigo]

Rascal has found this free program. To best explain it, well, I'll try. Someone makes a mod. They then make a "diff" file using this program. This file keeps track of all the differences between the mod, and the original. Everything. The user takes this "diff" file, along with the original version of the table, runs the program, and bam. Out pops the mod!! Is it magic? Well, I have this, and I've seen it work. It's just that easy.

Now VPU is redoing this program with a nice gui. We can host the original form of this from sourceforge. Really, imo, this original form works just fine to me. But out of respect for VPU, I'm going to wait until they have theirs ready before I bring ours out. No word on that yet, all I know is it's being worked on.

[ndiniz]

Would this only be for Mods, or would it be able to also convert VP8 tables to VP9 tables? Just throwing that out there.

[Itchigo]

You would have to have already converted a copy of the game to  vp9.
This can be used for more than that. Picture this:

Table 1 in (original),   Diff file  Table 2 out.

You could literally turn Addams Family in Firepower with this. Without posting a mod. No more looking for dead/left the scene authors permission. You wouldn't be posting the mod, only the diff file.

This is how it works:
1. Extract this package to a new directory.
2. Download table at the following link and extract from zip file into the directory.
http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=3181
3. Run jptch.bat
4. You should now have a new table called TAF VP91X 2.0WSsingle.vpt


jptch "TAF VP91X 2.0.vpt" "TAF VP91X 2.0WSsingle.dif" "TAF VP91X 2.0WSsingle.vpt"
pause

^^^^^^^                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^               ^^^^^^^
Table in:                              diff file                                  Table out:

Since this is the table             List of changes.                  New table.
listed you have to start
with this exact one.
That's why you get a link to it.

[faralos]

okay I am still lost on this thing
 how does one go about changing a table from one to another?
 the layout is still of the first table so anything going into it in theory won't work
 since the table is let's say a black knight and the diff is for firepower
so the diff file should only work with the table it is made for right?
I can't grasp how this works without insulting or ignoring the original builder also
and if anyone drops these into my pins they sure as hell better still give me credit for the initial build of said pin
 otherwise it is just another case of author ripoff

[Shockman]

Is this the thread to discuss hacking VP websites too, or just table files?

[Itchigo]

I was talking about the Sourceforge program Rascal found. I was excited at first (even though I had concerns), now I'm on the fence about it. My first intuition about this, is that it was an end run around the modding rules because the .diff was the same as a mod imo. Also since you're not technically posting the mod, but the .diff, it's not against the rules, technically. Also since the user is doing the modding it's also not technically against the rules. But the more I think about it posting the .diff is like posting the mod.

I wouldn't know about hacking, I'm not that good.

[Shockman]

okay I am still lost on this thing
 how does one go about changing a table from one to another?
 the layout is still of the first table so anything going into it in theory won't work
 since the table is let's say a black knight and the diff is for firepower
so the diff file should only work with the table it is made for right?
I can't grasp how this works without insulting or ignoring the original builder also
and if anyone drops these into my pins they sure as hell better still give me credit for the initial build of said pin
 otherwise it is just another case of author ripoff

Think of a .diff as a patch file (as .vbs .bat .exe. etc) That's basically all they are. It's an extension and can be any number of file types. Yes it could change one file to a completely different one, but the only logic in using it that way is to be tricky. In this case the file would be a .vpt and nothing more or less, but with an added inconvenience of having to apply it to a designated (another arbitrary, but designated) file.   

[Itchigo]

After a lot of thought, I have decide not to use this. It's a cool tool, but I really don't see the difference between posting the diff file, and posting the mod directly. Yeah, I know, it doesn't have a .vpt on the end. So technically it isn't a mod. But it all reality, it IS the mod.