Warcraft III - Patch 1.28

[StoPCampinGn00b]

Warcraft 3 Patch 1.28 comes out on April 4th
Link to Patch 1.28 battle.net post
Current status: Patch is live
Help with specific, detailed feedback here: [Feedback] Compiled List of 1.28 Bugs & Issues

The publicized patch notes by Blizzard is to the left.

As stated in previous posts on Hive and Blizzard forums, patch 1.28 would not be about any drastic gameplay or modding changes. One of the most significant things patch 1.28 does bring, however, is a new modern day patching system which paves way for those major changes to come at quicker and more efficient rates. It's basically the equivalent to fixing the old broken road (Windows '98 road -> 2017) before getting to the destination. What is desired by many is priority and will come.

Important: If you are one of the few modders that has modified any of the official game files, make sure to back up your files so they are saved as they will be erased without warning when applying the patch. The information about this is here: Warcraft 3 1.28 Pre-patch PSA

We'll make sure to keep the thread updated when more info arrives, especially at the time of release. Happy classic gaming!

Recent statements from Blizzard:
- On patching system and bug fix patch notes
- On alt tab issues
- On matchmaking issue and resolve
- On loading screen issue and resolve
- On broken order IDs breaking some custom maps
- [WC3] Frozen Download Troubleshooting
- [WC3] 1.28 Mac Troubleshooting

 

[StoPCampinGn00b]

Hey folks. Last patch thread, we know most of you were abiding by the site rules. However, this needs to be said regardless:

Follow the Site Rules.
They apply to everyone, no matter your status, your opinion or stance on something, everyone. You can be passionate, but do not let that lead to harassing other users in a toxic and nonconstructive manner.

We will not be deleting posts for having an unpopular opinion. But we will delete posts if you are clearly breaking the site rules, more so severe and behavioral rules. Repeated offenses will result in infraction warnings, and ultimately a ban. We are for free speech, but we aren't anarchists.

This is about Warcraft 3. The favorite game of nearly everyone on this forum. Stay on topic, respect the rules and each other, and you will be fine.​

 

[Shar Dundred]

Another day, another patch that no one cares about since it adds nothing interesting.

How surprising.

 

[Kam]

Good to see the foundation for new battle net services being placed. =)

 

[MyPad]

Reporting an error in the thread:

Hidden

Warcraft 3 Patch 1.28 comes out on March 4th, 2 pm PDT.

It should be April.

Error Fixed!

Anyway, this is good news

 

[WhiteFang]

Can't even get the date on their own post right

 

[KILLCIDE]

Another day, another patch that no one cares about since it adds nothing interesting.

Yeah because being able to hide icons again isn't interesting ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[StoPCampinGn00b]

Can't even get the date on their own post right

Hah. Thanks for helping me realize why I initially put March as well.

 

[Eat_Bacon_Daily]

Whats native full screen? Is it anything similar to true widescreen or is it more like windowed?

 

[Drayen]

I figure it's the current resolution we've had, so basically we get windowed and windowed fullscreen as new features in-game rather than manipulating the game to do it.

 

[WhiteFang]

Not sure about Native Fullscreen,have never been able to find a definition of it or what it actually does,but I assume it's a sort of 'true fullscreen' only in your native resolution.Ill try and find something online

 

[Tal'Rarity]

"Fixed various bugs and exploits"

Right... Since they don't mention them then most likely yay more fun for us modders to be disappointed at and saddened by. Besides that, it is looking good. Maybe Blizzard will be different and hopefully better this time around... The ability to hide command card while retaining control over multiple units/heroes again is a nice feature to have back.

 

[DracoL1ch]

totally worthed another 6 monts of development
totally not a shame for a group of developers
totally make sense to put "fixed various bugs and exploits" line just to make mapmakers wonder what else did they broke this release

what now, 18 months to add a new native?

 

[Chaosy]

Feelsbadman

Yeah because being able to hide icons again isn't interesting ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It worked before, there was no patch needed for this.
Considering how long it took..

 

[KILLCIDE]

It worked before, there was no patch needed for this.

Yeah it worked, but it also had the potential to crash the game. Ergo get rid of the thing that crashes game.

Considering how long it took..

It would be pointless to have a hotfix patch just to whitelist some values. Given how shitty the WC3's patch system works, it would be stupid and pointless.

 

[StoPCampinGn00b]

Feelsbadman

FeelsDisappointingMan. That Lannisters send their feels.

It worked before, there was no patch needed for this.
Considering how long it took..

Yeah, to add on to KILLCIDE's point, here's brad's post that briefly mentions and explains it (one of the Blizzard employees)

The patching system is the foundational method for delivering content to the players and the old system has been causing significant problems (The BNUpdate patcher was written in the 1990s with very different architectural goals compared to today's world). For example I fixed the command bar button problem a long time ago (about the same day the community found it) but the old system is so unstable that we couldn't release it without breaking other things. It's like putting on roofing shingles on a house with a nail gun vs a manual hammer; sure the result is the same in the end but one will produce better results much faster.

 

[Kyrbi0]

Whew! I missed all the hubbub in the Pre-Patch Notes thread (thank goodness), but when I went looking for it lo and behold, I find this!

Better go backing up my custom Troll-filled MPQ, it seems. xD

Since I have drunk the Kool-Aid, I'm totally on board for these "do-nothing" (emphasis on the 'quotes') which pave the way for faster & more responsive patching.

Don't forget, guys; the same "classics team" that is working so diligently on this is also the same team working on pumping out Starcraft Remastered (and possibly some other stuff; IIRC), so I fully expect things to slow down until the release of SCR. Take a breather & keep on modding.

 

[DracoL1ch]

Yeah it worked, but it also had the potential to crash the game. Ergo get rid of the thing that crashes game

wrong, 0,-11 had issue, whie big numbers have 100% success rate, no exceptions at all. but nobody ever asked those who used this feature, as usual

 

[chusrubi2]

He wrote March? xD

 

[KILLCIDE]

@DracoL1ch Cool. Now we have 2 coordinates that we know for sure work. Thumbs up from me.

 

[Cokemonkey11]

Whats native full screen? Is it anything similar to true widescreen or is it more like windowed?

I figure it's the current resolution we've had, so basically we get windowed and windowed fullscreen as new features in-game rather than manipulating the game to do it.

Not sure about Native Fullscreen,have never been able to find a definition of it or what it actually does,but I assume it's a sort of 'true fullscreen' only in your native resolution.Ill try and find something online

Native full screen is what we currently have for full screen: the screen redraws to match the picked resolution, and alt-tab is kind of slow to change.

Windowed-fullscreen is more like a big window with no borders. So a window that covers the whole screen, which is not the same thing.

 

[Apheraz Lucent]

Onwards

First stepping stone to cross the river. Looking forward for future updates!

 

[TheSilverWolff]

Well, at least now I don't have to create a direct access to play in windowed mode

 

[Kazeon]

It worked before, there was no patch needed for this.
Considering how long it took..

It didn't work on 1.27b, they returned it so it's going to work on future patches as well. Which is a good thing.

This patch was quite interesting actually, but some people have good points too. Considering how long it took for this patch, we could've actually expected more. But anyway, since they have fixed their patching system, then I assume they will make progress much more rapidly from now on. I will take aside the disappointment and keep my hopes up for now.

 

[DracoL1ch]

PSA: patching system have NOTHING to do with patching (writing changes, applying fixes) itself. It's just how files get replaced.

 

[Fruit Forest]

I can't see adding the hotkeys for inventory... Is it so hard to implement?

 

[Kyrbi0]

PSA: patching system have NOTHING to do with patching (writing changes, applying fixes) itself. It's just how files get replaced.

So you say. Others, in positions of authority, tell us that it has a lot to do with patching.

Let's ignore all the hype & opinions & hyperbole & focus on this one simple element: do you believe that a more robust patching system (i.e. one akin to what many modern games have, rather than the existing/previous one from 2001) to be beneficial to the game being patched? Do you accept that certain/many 'back-end' changes must be made before (m)any 'front-end', desired changes are?

 

[Kazeon]

Yep, you are a bit too soon to be disappointed. Let's wait for their next patch (1.29 or maybe 1.30) and see if they actually make any significant change. If not, then it can probably mean they are just toying with us. Since I think they have no more reason not to work on those desired changes (we are such hungry modders aren't we? ).

 

[DracoL1ch]

So you say. Others, in positions of authority, tell us that it has a lot to do with patching.

Let's ignore all the hype & opinions & hyperbole & focus on this one simple element: do you believe that a more robust patching system (i.e. one akin to what many modern games have, rather than the existing/previous one from 2001) to be beneficial to the game being patched? Do you accept that certain/many 'back-end' changes must be made before (m)any 'front-end', desired changes are?

Are you developer? I dont care about 'authority' who have no idea what they're talking about.
Well, how do things change for ya if you're patching game? Before: fix a line, test, it works. Not: fix a line, test, it works. IT ONLY CHANGES THE WAY UPDATE GET ONLINE, not updating process ffs. Is it hard to understand?

 

[StoPCampinGn00b]

PSA: patching system have NOTHING to do with patching (writing changes, applying fixes) itself. It's just how files get replaced.

Seriously now. What is the point of just making false-hoods like this? There's literally no proof on this.

DracoL1ch, as I've said before, if you don't like the patch, don't download it. Hell, you could even try to not even be bothered by it. You don't even use battle.net and you said that you're only interested in DotA for online play. So you don't even have to be affected by it that much. We're not stopping you from leaving, nor are we forcing you to stay. We're not forcing you to like the patch either. But seriously, quit dicking around. You were already temp banned for harassing other users. And while you haven't got that far yet, this behavior often leads to it.

You can sulk or protest all you want, but this is Hive. Yes, we have connection to Blizzard, but if you want to protest Blizzard, do it at their place.

 

[DracoL1ch]

Wow. Where's your proof it ANYHOW helps to PATCH the game in terms of DEVELOPMENT? Tell me, enlighten me. I know this kitchen, I learned this stuff hard way, and I also well know about marketing boolsheet. So go on, give your proffs.

E: ya know, it's impossible task for you anyway. So just explain, with words, how.

 

[StoPCampinGn00b]

Wow. Where's your proof it ANYHOW helps to PATCH the game in terms of DEVELOPMENT? Tell me, enlighten me. I know this kitchen, I learned this stuff hard way, and I also well know about marketing boolsheet. So go on, give your proffs.

Well you're the one trying to prove us wrong with no evidence. But whatever you say.

Statement from a Blizzard employee, Brad on the PSA thread. I also reposted it here. Kam, PurgeandFire, and Ralle all have signed NDAs with Blizzard. If you want some detailed visual evidence, go get an arrangement with Blizzard or something. I doubt they'll want to share the code with you to prove how the patching system works in detail. I hope this answers your question, and you can get the courage to agree to disagree.

 

[Apheraz Lucent]

And where is your proof that it won't, dear?

Stop being a sour bitch. I understand the point of having an attitude, or a point of having an opinion. I, for one, am well known for having both of those in any given moment.

But, one's to be a QQing kid which doesn't want to comprehend or at least try to step out, and another thing's to be fully passive aggressive not towards just the thing that's currently going on, aka the patch, but towards other users as well.

You can be mad all you want at Blizzard and I kindly suggest you to express your concerns directly towards them, instead of spilling your rage on top of other normal users who, may I notice, didn't even ask for "a piece of you". Trouble is, when you lend one too many pieces of you, you tend to get left with none.

Tl;dr: Just stop, will you? Nobody quite cares.

 

[Chaosy]

It didn't work on 1.27b, they returned it so it's going to work on future patches as well. Which is a good thing.

They fixed something they broke themselves.
It is not praiseworthy.

If this was a minor side note in a frequently patched game - no problem. But when it is the -only- feature I remotely care about in the patch, I have a problem.

Blizzard take notes, this is how a patch should look:
Patch 7.1 notes | League of Legends

 

[DracoL1ch]

So far I can see both of you caring, so I shall continue.

I have proofs - statement "patching improved" doesnt affect coding itself. You know, if only blizzard populated with retards who calls "development, source code refactoring, optimizations" with "patching" - that's only explanation you can get along with.

Meanwhile you're callikng for "authority" of blizzard (who has no authority in terms of truth-speaking (check patches history for any of his words - did it become true)) and some community members whoare binded with DNA. Wait a second, how common-sense "patching process improved" can be DNA'd ? Isn't it so common? You just instantly assumed it helps in development, and I wanna know how you get it. If it's not common knowledge, then it's even more bullshit, because, ya know, it's retarded to put a line which noone will understand in PSA.

 

[KILLCIDE]

You know it's okay to express your opinions here, but have you ever heard of using a civil tone? You have zero reason and authority to be calling anyone retarded. Not that you care, but I would generally take the time to read your rants, but when its carried with a juvenile tone, I stop reading. I can't imagine a company like Blizzard taking us seriously when we have posts like that here.

Anyway, while all the impatient folks moan about things that haven't been implemented, I'll come back with party hats and cupcakes once Blizzard implements multi-screen support for the editor.

 

[Chaosy]

I'll come back with party hats and cupcakes once Blizzard implements multi-screen support for the editor.

Agreed.
-When- that happens I will party too.

 

[DracoL1ch]

You know it's okay to express your opinions here, but have you ever heard of using a civil tone? You have zero reason and authority to be calling anyone retarded. Not that you care, but I would generally take the time to read your rants, but when its carried with a juvenile tone, I stop reading. I can't imagine a company like Blizzard taking us seriously when we have posts like that here.

Anyway, while all the impatient folks moan about things that haven't been implemented, I'll come back with party hats and cupcakes once Blizzard implements multi-screen support for the editor.

I said "if". It's Camp who tries to set up things like Blizzards are retarded or even I am, using tone he calls 'authority'. You guys probably forgot that this company made nothing yet which could save wc3.

mutli-screen seems to be a fucking luxury. Just imagine they didn't even implement part of NewGen features while broke the fuck of compatibility

 

[KILLCIDE]

True that they haven't really done anything for the WC modding community, but you'd be a fool to think that WC3 is the Classic Team's primary focus. Just keep doing you Draco, and when they break something else like the command buttons, make a post in the Patch Discussion as you have always been. I appreciate the amount of work you have done for this modding community, and I would be upset to see you go because of anger.

 

[Chaosy]

Oh yeah, they did say that Starcraft would be their focus for a good while.
Pretty sure they more or less confirmed that they would look at other games 2018~

 

[DracoL1ch]

True that they haven't really done anything for the WC modding community, but you'd be a fool to think that WC3 is the Classic Team's primary focus. Just keep doing you Draco, and when they break something else like the command buttons, make a post in the Patch Discussion as you have always been. I appreciate the amount of work you have done for this modding community, and I would be upset to see you go because of anger.

im not going anywhere, still have good niches around intact. I just want to see WC3 having bright future and hopeful "today", and can't even get a fucking silver line through all this shit. I just wanna wc3 to have possibilities like any modern "sandbox-included" game has, LUA and shit. Why can't we simply have things other people takes for granted? I can't get it.

 

[KILLCIDE]

im not going anywhere, still have good niches around intact. I just want to see WC3 having bright future and hopeful "today"

^.^

 

[Kyrbi0]

Are you developer? I dont care about 'authority' who have no idea what they're talking about.

No, I'm not a developer. When I say "authority", I'm talking about either A) Blizzard themselves (as represented by the people officially posting on their official forums & sites & such), or B) Users (here & elsewhere) that have some reasonable claim to a connection with them (i.e. @brad_c6 being a Blizzard employee, Kam/PurgeandFire/etc as Hive scions who have visited with & signed NDA about the upcoming Warcraft patches).

Are talking about the same thing here, then, when we say "authority"? I mean, I'm working from a baseline expectation that you & I respect the same meaning of the word. If you don't truly believe that the Blizzard employee posting on the Blizzard forums is who he says he is, or that Kam/Purgeandfire actually visited Blizzard, talked with them, signed NDA's... Well then I don't see how you can continue in this line of conversation.

You gotta start somewhere; take something(s) on faith. "Are these guys who they say they are", and "Are they doing as they say they are doing"? I choose 'yes' in both instances.

Well, how do things change for ya if you're patching game? Before: fix a line, test, it works. Not: fix a line, test, it works. IT ONLY CHANGES THE WAY UPDATE GET ONLINE, not updating process ffs. Is it hard to understand?

I'm not qualified to answer that... However I don't have to. The aforementioned brad_c6 (an "authority" by my earlier definition) already made it clear:

The patching system is the foundational method for delivering content to the players and the old system has been causing significant problems (The BNUpdate patcher was written in the 1990s with very different architectural goals compared to today's world). For example I fixed the command bar button problem a long time ago (about the same day the community found it) but the old system is so unstable that we couldn't release it without breaking other things. It's like putting on roofing shingles on a house with a nail gun vs a manual hammer; sure the result is the same in the end but one will produce better results much faster.

(emphasis mine)

Seems pretty straightforward to me. Now you can choose not to believe him/them. But I do (see above), and his explanation, even to a layman (i.e. me), seems pretty straightforward & sense-making; the old patching system is old & built for a different time, where even small changes can have unintended consequences and take a lot longer to get out. The new patching system fixes all/most of those problems, making the fixing of actual problems (& the eventual promised addition of functionalities) feasible, if not simple.

 

[DracoL1ch]

I'll tell you more once I find this func myself and debug it using disassembler.

 

[Alok]

"there is going to be a lot of changes for the World Editor"

 

[DracoL1ch]

I'm not qualified to answer that... However I don't have to. The aforementioned brad_c6 (an "authority" by my earlier definition) already made it clear:
(emphasis mine)

so it was GameDLL+36D3E0 for 1.26, who draws command card and decide where to put the icon. In 27b it becomes 3AA430 offset. Guess what? Neither 26, neither 27b has SECURITY CHECKS, meaning functions been intact. Whos been changed is the constructor of ability icon.

Ability button constructor for 26: 3777D0

a7 & a8 keeps X & Y
Ability button constructor for 27b ("fixed"): 3CA1A0

which basically just filter the value AT CONSTRUCTING STAGE.

For example I fixed the command bar button problem a long time ago (about the same day the community found it) but the old system is so unstable that we couldn't release it without breaking other things. It's like putting on roofing shingles on a house with a nail gun vs a manual hammer; sure the result is the same in the end but one will produce better results much faster.

I call bullshit on this as I cannot see anything breaking because of this 2 checks. Didn't put my hands on 27c patch yet (hardly worth 28 index), but guess there's yet another simple check for the value in display unit's card function or even in constructor again.

I know, congrats to the guy who managed, through all the pain, add this 'fix' at 27b, you're real hero, we need more devs like you. But, like, really?


Blizz, can you fucking hire a guy who KNOWS a shit about wc3 finally? It's painful to hear this.

 

[Paillan]

I am really curious how you can call yourself a developer with only one resource wich is substandard. Hmmmm...

 

[DracoL1ch]

I am really curious how you can call yourself a developer with only one resource wich is substandard. Hmmmm...

oh, famous quote of EA games towards Bill Gates. Love it

 

[PurgeandFire]

I can't see adding the hotkeys for inventory... Is it so hard to implement?

Yeah, I'd love that too. It was one of the things highlighted in SC:Remastered (keybinding in general), so I imagine wc3 will get a similar treatment in due time.

Wow. Where's your proof it ANYHOW helps to PATCH the game in terms of DEVELOPMENT? Tell me, enlighten me. I know this kitchen, I learned this stuff hard way, and I also well know about marketing boolsheet. So go on, give your proffs.

E: ya know, it's impossible task for you anyway. So just explain, with words, how.

Both sides are sorta correct depending on which way you see it. You're correct in that it doesn't help with developing a patch from a dev standpoint, i.e. physically fixing the bugs (although there might've been dev-side changes too, we just don't know about that), but that isn't the point of the patch. The changes are intended to reduce the # of problems on the user's end.

As you said, it just changes how it replaces/syncs files. But just a simple change like that can change the number of people who need to reinstall/run as admin/go through hoops just to update (after all, reinstalling is basically like resetting your mpq's as the new patch system would).

Because of a logistical barrier like that, you can't really release hotfixes or small changes (you can, but there'll be a lot of grief); instead you have to defer to a large patch. But if you take the grief out of patching, (think of old battle.net vs the battle.net desktop client) then devs can release more often. It shortens the feedback loop as well.

Either way it is a good quality-of-life change for the future. When something breaks in whatever changes come in the future (things will always break), it will be more convincing for blizz to release a patch sooner than later.

View attachment 264436

Hey, that wasn't us who said that--that was Neo. But yeah, I think people mistakenly got hyped for the "a lot" part (it is probably technically "a lot" of changes, but not the "a lot" people had in mind). This wasn't meant to be a huge editor patch. In my opinion, the focus is the new patch system.

 

[Alok]

Hey, that wasn't us who said that--that was Neo. But yeah, I think people mistakenly got hyped for the "a lot" part (it is probably technically "a lot" of changes, but not the "a lot" people had in mind). This wasn't meant to be a huge editor patch. In my opinion, the focus is the new patch system.

I didn't say you said it, he said a developer told him that.