Datamining Thread

[sarcovyn]

[3D]:

This one's for the more technically inclined FriendZoo players. Here's the thread for things found via digging through the code.

Keep in mind this game is really obscure, so there's not a lot of datamining tools available for the game yet. I'd love to hear from anyone else who feels up to the task

[Lilium Mortem]

[VOID_COWBOY]: Ok so, first off, I fucking forgot that I was a beta tester. I forgot about that part, just me asking dumb questions about how the game works in the beta test group chat.

Secondly it was mentioned offhandedly, can't remember who, that stuff keeps happening even when you close down the game. so I got curious and pulled up some diagnostic tools for my pc.

Now I run a smooth operation. I don't have any crap I don't need running in the background, so it was simple enough for me to look up any processes I didn't recognize to eliminate them as possible FZ background processes. And that's what I did. as far as I can tell FriendZoo does not run any processes once it is closed.

The one theory I have for the passage of time, if it does happen(Haven't had the game long enough to tell), is that the game checks the device's clock, and then simulates the intervening time during startup. This should be fairly easily testible, if you know some way in game of tracking the time, but like I said jsut got the game so who knows.

[queenie]

[POEME_ELECTRONIQUE]:
strange that this has not been a more heavily discussed topic for such a fascinating little simulation. well, just so that it is public knowledge, raster files can be observed and modified through the use of a hex editor. there are no specialized tools necessary if you know what you are doing.

you should be warned though, raster files are a little... unique. i have not seen anything like them before. they have this quirk that even when their simulation is off, their file appears to be constantly updating itself and ever-changing. i believe this to be the reason why hosting a raster on your system can cause such immense slowdowns. raster files may not be particularly large in size, but they deceptively take up a lot of processing power.

i have attached an image. if you see the numbers oscillate like this, that seems to be the normal state...



a raster's simulated sentience seems to be made up of several parameters acting simultaneously, to sell the illusion of life. in hex view, it is all numbers. deciphering what this all may mean is a tedious, but certainly not impossible task -- i have not been able to sink that much time into it yet, but there's a few sections i'm pretty certain on thus far... this likely is not the place to give a concise run-down of what affects what so i will spare the details, but the bits of the file that are static and unmoving are what seems to determine the way they act. that is what you would be looking for to reverse-engineer and document how this simulation works, i think.
modifying the rest is quite futile anyway, considering these areas of the file are constantly updating. but when adjusting the static parameter bytes, their behaviour appears to change accordingly. i was able to change a raster programs demeanor when talking, and smaller aspects like their favourite room. of course you should note down what these values were before, so you can be able to change them back... creating back-up files does not seem to be an option, as raster files have some sort of copy protection on them. they are really quite odd.

[astariaisagoner]

[DANGEROUS_CALLING] do you have zero regard for life? this all seems like quite a stretch..

[astariaisagoner]

[V_GORE] c'mon now. this is a bit much. also, couldn't modifying their file be really harmful? you could be hurting them!

[queenie]

[MALLORY_HEART]:
what
whose raster is that elfried...

[Pichi2214]

[GLITCHING_LULLABY]: uh @[DIGITAL_HORROR] @[CRITTER_CATCHER] @moderators

[astariaisagoner]

[GLITCHING_LULLABY]: uh @[DIGITAL_HORROR] @[CRITTER_CATCHER] @moderators

[DANGEROUS_CALLING] thanks for pinging them! this is crazy..

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]:

we have seen this thread and are going to discuss actions with the moderators, as well as make a public statement very soon. i think it goes without saying that we didn't want rasters being...modified like this and we're going to make steps to help this from happening again soon, as best as we can.

[astariaisagoner]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]:

we have seen this thread and are going to discuss actions with the moderators, as well as make a public statement very soon. i think it goes without saying that we didn't want rasters being...modified like this and we're going to make steps to help this from happening again soon, as best as we can.

[DANGEROUS_CALLING] thank you!! this was quite disturbing to see.. the fact that someone could modify solace without her permission.. makes me feel sick. your hard work is appreciated.

[skinstealer]

ADMIN [SLUMBER]:

Hi, stepping in- we do not want promotion of this kind of modding here on the forums. We'll be banning [POEME_ELECTRONIQUE] for safety's sake, at the very least for a month or so while I talk with him privately about this matter. To everyone else, I recommend talking to your rasters and looking up the devs' official statement on this topic.

Stay safe!

[queenie]

[MALLORY_HEART]:
sorry evryone especialy raster