[OFFICIAL] Battlefield 3 File Tweaker

[Frankelstner]

Liability Statement
MordorHQ (MordorHQ.com) and it's staff, alongside it's affiliates, are not responsible for the content of this modification. While we do not directly support the program it self, we respect the author's and the community's right to freely express themselves.

The tweaker once more. As the other thread has been hijacked here is a new one.

After 50% of the community bashed me for making it public, then the other 50% bashed me for taking it down, I've decided to upload it again. A lot is said on bfeditor already: http://www.bfeditor.org/forums/index...howtopic=15732

I realized that I should not have taken it down in the first place as it is simply a mod tool. Still, please mod responsibly.

The sad reality is that DICE did not code Battlefield 3 properly. In this instance of the franchise, with comparison to previous games, the majority of configurations were established on the client side of the game. To make matters worse, DICE did not configure the game’s iteration of Punkbuster to check the MD5 hash.

This gives us the ability to modify content to our wishing through simple Python scripts, while having the ability to freely implement such modifications on ranked multiplayer servers.

The modification tool I am presenting you today is relatively simple and limited tool. So far, it has been optimally used to modify graphical settings originally set by DICE. However, it does have the ability to do more; something I will not get into.

Currently, the worst thing I can see occurring is being kicked from a server while using modified files, as it was handled in Battlefield 2. On the other hand (As far as I know) injectors might get you banned instantly, though I am fairly ignorant when it comes to hacks.

The intent of this tool is for players to modify settings in the singleplayer campaign, allowing them to enjoy the potential of the Frostbyte 2 engine. I am also working together with the staff at Symthic, allowing them to do controlled testing.

With the release of this toolset, I am making a statement that I will not deprive the community of their rights to enjoy the game. Most importantly however, I want to bring to light the flaws that DICE has created in part due to laziness and arrogance. If you are willing to modify values, make sure to read the instructions below.

I will however, not take responsibility for anything that can be done with these tools. The ability to modify these files has been there since day one. While it might not have been as simple as I am making it by providing a GUI, something as simple as a Phyton script was able to extract and modify these values. The Python script can be found here: http://www.bfeditor.org/forums/index...pic=15531&st=0

As a matter of fact, the ability to use these values to alter multiplayer settings were not brought to light until I realized that Battlefield 3’s anti-cheat system did not check for modified file content. Testing modifications on live multiplayer was something I never even dreamed of.

There's one thing I ask of you however, and that is documenting your changes. E.g. when you post a video or screenshots with some color tweaks I'd appreciate it if you at least tried your best to document these changes to make life easier for everyone.

Battlefield 3 File Tweaker Requires .NET 4.5.

Instructions:
1) Either create a new cat or open the existing cas.cat. Note that the cat in the Update folder overwrites most of the original entries so it is highly recommended to look there first. Also note that DLC uses sbtoc archives and is affected only peripherally (it might be not affected at all).
2) Modify any value written in bold.
3) Save and activate the cat.

The tool will not write into the original assets (the cas archives) but instead create new cas archives in the range 50-99. It will make a copy of the original file to be tweaked in the new cas archive and apply changes there. The game uses a cat file containing the file hash, offset, size and archive number for each entry. I just tell the cat that the asset to look for (via hash) is not in archive 1-10 but instead in archive 50 so the cat file has to be overwritten to make any changes. However, the tool will make a backup of the cat. Also, the information contained is purely redundant as the cas archives themself have all the information to create a cat file from scratch (the tool is capable of that too if you delete all cats).

To unmod the game just select the appropriate "Restore Cat". You can add a new cat in case you don't want to lose all changes when reverting to the unmodded game. Also, if you directly change cas.cat, change a few things so a new cas archive is created and then restore the cat, that cas archive has just become useless. If you keep doing that you might end up with lots of cas archives that are not used anymore so you will probably want to manually delete them. I recommend making a new cat instead of tweaking cas.cat. Basically you alter the new cat when making tweaks and when you press "Activate" the new cat will be copied to cas.cat.

[MadDog]

Yes this thread should be used specifically for the changes people are making and they should state the changes that they are making when providing screenshots and videos so the rest of us can use or try them to.

[Serologic]

Yea so by some around here, its our fault those chimps from DICE, dont implement a simple ON/OFF button or enable a console command line to disable colour grading.

This was already achievable when the game was released, by modifying the exe. Posted on bfeditor back then too. But some rat from DICE was monitoring the thread and took action against it.

So i wont be surprised if a small update will "fix" this too. Hey you rat (DICE employee) ? do you see my post? are you gonna take down this small mod too?

[Wiidesire]

Google chrome says virus?

[Frankelstner]

Google chrome says virus?

And EA will probably say illegal. So?

[DeltaHawk5]

Google chrome says virus?

https://www.virustotal.com/file/f488...ee0d/analysis/

[TehStuzz]

I know I'm a leecher, so you probably don't care what I say, but I'll say it anyway

I'm not sure what to think about releasing the file, ofcourse we can mod now, but massive amounts of players now have free cheats at their disposal. It's a hard choice.

[Frankelstner]

I know I'm a leecher, so you probably don't care what I say, but I'll say it anyway

I'm not sure what to think about releasing the file, ofcourse we can mod now, but massive amounts of players now have free cheats at their disposal. It's a hard choice.

Just as I predicted, 50% of the community will go hard on me no matter what I do.

[the_dan]

Google chrome says virus?

Your google chrome is drunk, frankensteiner is legit!

[Wiidesire]

remove this tweaker please , we will have 1000000% more cheaters than before

[TehStuzz]

Mehh, it stops responding whenever I try to open cas.cat, possibly because I have the edited version?

[Whipgeezbrut]

it'll be interesting to see DICE's reaction and actions about this

in 3 months time of course

[SpirosRonto]

i'm such a newbie here lol
how do i save it?

[TehStuzz]

i'm such a newbie here lol
how do i save it?

Does it work for you? For me the editor crashes when I try to open the file.

[SpirosRonto]

yep it works
perhaps you need framework 4.5 or something?

[TehStuzz]

yep it works
perhaps you need framework 4.5 or something?

I'll try updating it. ty

[thebamsco]

I was playing earlier and haccusations were flying all over the place.

When i told my clan about haccusations were going back to a game a couple of nights ago, which i laughed at since it was well before this came into the bf3 communities.

Now I believe with you releasing this, rather than keeping to modifying custom files with colour correction or non advantage giving mods, this will absolutlly ruin BF3


Good job mate, very well done. Your name will live on in infamy for the guy that brought down BF3.

Been enjoying it latelly as well .................... sigh

[SpirosRonto]

it depends by how you use it
most people use it to remove blue tint or fix things that DICE failed at
now there are also the n0bs that will use it for cheating

[Wiidesire]

obviously most people will use it for cheats, because it is undetectable ,easy and free.....

[Crystal Dragon]

[the_dan]

yep it works
perhaps you need framework 4.5 or something?

Oh god, even the greek guy is here

[Chico]

Good thing you guys put up a disclaimer , this isnt going to end well

[rukqoa]

Shitstorm hitting DICE HQ in 3...2...1...

[xnorb]

* Removed color correction
* Removed lens flare
* Removed Surpression blur
of course i did that for all maps.

@thebamsco:
I'm the last one to defend cheaters, but what currently happens (and i really hope this spreads
throughout the whole community) could be the one thing that made DICE wake up.
I can't see them changing anything as they are too close-minded to realize community wishes
and too stubborn to take out features they thought were cool.

Client Side Hit Detection in 2011 ?
Not our fault.
With a proper hit detection system the BF3 File Tweaker would be what we use it for:
A tool to remove the fail art direction.

Sure, it can be used as a hacking tool, and that's why sadly it will be removed / banned
when the next DLC comes out.

[SpirosRonto]

Oh god, even the greek guy is here

i have been here for like 1 year since EAUK
-.-