Well, i finally succeeded to get an ANTAG.LE out of that by unbinding. LE means linear executable, and these LE are bind by a DOS Extender to increase memory.
The "DOS/32 Advanced DOS Extender" seems to be made by idiots, and didnt work for me at all. Every time i tried to use the included SB.EXE to unbind my ASCEND.EXE, the DosBox told a "fatal error", that "it is not installed properly", and internet told that i would have to "set the DOS/32" blah blah blah bullshit. Why easy, or even complicated, when its better to make it malfunctional.
@jordos had the luck, that he was able to just grab the SB.EXE and get results by SB /U ANTAG.EXE - for me, it did not work at all and that whole software was just a numb idiot - no matter what and how i tried.
But i had the genius idea to grab PMODE/W, another DOS Extender, and i had to grab PMWBIND.EXE to get my ANTAG.LE by PMWBIND /U ANTAG.EXE - so, i had the luck one software later.
Then i opened by IDA Pro Free 5.0 the ANTAG.EXE and > Load file > Additional binary file > search for all files > ANTAG.LE, and tada! i got just an even huger pile of gibberish. I would have been lucky to find something like "if if if" but no. Just an even huger pile of fucking gibberish.
I am sooo close to lose my virginity! lol
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Perhaps i should just suggest three things to change in .EXE perhaps:
- 2 ships per solar system
- AI colonizes ALL planets or, just much more
- better ship building
i am just a poor modder and no programmer! and i wont beat the shit out of me just to crap around.
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I d even bet, that @jordos didnt even download / play my Mod actually, and that tienk didnt succeed in playing it! What has to be made clear is definitely: That the special weapons shoot, and the tec tree is much better, and the game is much better, just to tweak the ASCEND00.COB by Notepad++, nothing more needed! Not even to extract the .COB files, not even to tweak the .exes.
I ll see, to finish my Mod, but i want it to do, just... DONE once and for all, i ll see!
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Another problem seems to be for me, with the IDA 5.0, that i dont get by type F5, the pseudo code. A plugin for IDA 5.0 to decompile into pseudo code and opening that option in software itself, works just version 6.4 and not for the Free 5.0, so, i dont get any pseudo code out of it.
Dont know how to find some "if orders", i understand a bit more now, after opening some .exes, how that is meant to be and meant to work, i even began to understand hex code a bit more now, but my hope to "just get" some true "if orders" out of that gibberish cake, crashed totally.
The good thing is, that, as i told, just my Mod is needed.
@jordos
You dont have to tweak the .exe at all, if you use Notepad++ and tweak the ASCEND00.COB, you can do nearly EVERYTHING. To let the special weapons shoot, to change the tec tree, to change how the ships are built, to change diplomacy, all there! It is a really modern created DOS game, with open files to mod at all! Even if the AI is crap often, but if you tweak the ASCEND00.COB well, promise, it is much less crap at all!
FIRST download my Mod, and use Notepad++ to check out my ASCEND00.COB, to find out, easy, to tweak that stuff, THEN tweak the rest .exe! My suggestion.
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8.6. / EDIT 21.7.
I did stop modding, right before i finished up my new version of ASCENDELYXE 2.0 - a kind of a good thing, cause a german fellow called "Franky", the guy who found out how to let specials actually shoot, tweaks around still, and gave me some ideas which i could implement now, or later. I could tweak the special weapon of the cannibalizer, to actually being used on friends or enemies! Looking forward to try that out.