So any ETA on the order ID fix?

The issue has already been resolved and will be included in the next patch, which will be soon.

 

Restored order ID's.

 

You can't expect Blizzard to support JNGP forever. @MindWorX is updating WEX and it already much more future proof.

 

Yeah I'm not sure why everyone is clinging onto JNGP so hard. JNGP will always be stuck on 1.21, so every new patch is going to break it somehow. It's going to get to the point where it will flat out stop working. Rather than having MindWorX work on an editor that is stuck in the past, it is much better overall having him work on a new editor that will automatically update itself to the new editor changes Blizzard brings.

 

Lets first cover how Blizzard initially broke JNGP, or more specifically, Grimoire which is what makes JNGP work. This happened already in version 1.22, when they decided to change compiler. To figure out why this is a problem, we'll take a look at how Grimoire works exactly. This is the information stored for the ObjectId hack, the little box that pops up when you create a new object, which lets you set the id you want.

Code (C):

const char NewObjectIdPattern[] = {
   0x89,0x50,0x04,
   0x89,0x08,
   0xC7,0x43,0x24,0x01,0x00,0x00,0x00,
   0x8B,0xC2,
   0x5B,
   0x8B,0xE5
};

const char NewObjectIdMask[] = {
   0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,
   0xFF,0xFF,
   0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,
   0xFF,0xFF,
   0xFF,
   0xFF,0xFF
};
 

Grimoire works by scanning the memory for patterns. The mask is included so some bytes can be wildcards. This isn't used in this case. So, for the ObjectId hack to work, it needs to be able to find one match for the byte array in NewObjectIdPattern. As you can imagine, this approach is rather sensitive to changes in the source code, but if done correctly, it could theoretically be version agnostic for the most parts.

This wasn't the case when Blizzard changed the compiler. The change resulted in tiny, but breaking changes. Instead of using the EAX register, it might now use the EDI register. Nothing that would affect the editor, but it broke JNGP completely.

JassHelper relies on Grimoire to start it when the map saved. With Grimoire broken, this couldn't work anymore. TESH is a bit more lenient in this way. It simply detects when a window is created by hooking the windows API, and then overlays the existing editor with it's own functionality. It still has to be injected though, and with Grimoire dead, it wasn't going to happen.

So now you can see, the version matters very much, which is why version 1.21 of WorldEdit.exe has been bundled with JNGP ever since.

You're correct that the NewGen collection took a lot of time. It was only possible through the collaboration of dedicated people in the community. WEX is lacking, only because the tools created for JNGP are broken or outdated or haven't been deemed necessary yet. It's a process that takes time. The core functionality IS working. It can launch custom compilers, it can inject custom menus. It even comes with the object id hack, which was a royal pain to port.

By now you obviously know this isn't the case. A minor change in their code can break everything.

Blizzard aren't responsible to making sure our third party parsers will continue to work. They're concerned with making the actual JASS work, without compromising security. And when they break things like order ids, they're going to fix it as soon as they can.

 

To be more explicit Blizzard isn't going to be maintaining any third party software. JNGP has been discussed thoroughly including when Purge and I were there. They are aware of it's importance and speak with a number of community members including MindWorX so that the community may maintain or upgrade it's own software as it sees fit.

 

It's fine, I just wanted to make sure people understood the process. These hacks are far from simple. I'm not sure which version of WEX you got. Both are bundled with it.

 

Patch is basically ready. I'll try and nail down a date for you.