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Client modding

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:15 am
by AntV
I know client modding is illegal, but I would like to know what is illegal and what not (or at least hear some opinions on that by senior members).
For example: is providing a gameguard disabler illegal?
What about providing a l2.exe to start the game instead of a .bin?
I also read that you can make a custom .ini and then have the l2.bin run with that (through a .bat file) and that is not illegal.
What about a custom system folder which simply resides within the L2 root folder?
Finally if I read the EULA correctly, it is not illegal to distribute any modded file, it is illegal to apply them and create them, so the ones breaking any rules are the players who join a server that requires a system patch, right?
Personally though, i think that all of the above are not legal, sine according to EULA:
You may not:
  1. b. modify, adapt, reverse engineer or decompile the Software, or otherwise attempt to derive source code from the Software;
PS: I do not care about how you can modify a client and this topic has nothing to do with that. I know talking about it is not allowed, but I think talking about what is modding, is allowed. If this topic is consider to conflict with the forum rules, please delete it!

Re: Client modding

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:13 am
by jurchiks
gameguard disabler is usually a modded client file.
l2.exe is actually unpacked l2.bin.
custom system folder - copy of original with modded files in it.

Using custom .ini should not be illegal though as you only copy the original, decode it, and provide it to the l2.exe/bin by using (-INI=custom_l2.ini -USERINI=custom_user.ini)
The l2.ini part is especially useful, because l2 doesn't recognise the correct gamma for LCD monitors, I have to set it manually in l2.ini to make it look ok, otherwise dark places turn from black to grey (i.e. inversed colors). They also haven't bothered making such a setting ingame (who said NCZ0ft thinks about players?), so there is no other way to fix the damn gamma.

All in all - I don't care about any of it, if I need smth changed and I can easily do it - I will. Nobody's going to put me in jail for changing a few lines in a .ini file.