B.net Map Size Limit

[PatruX]

Greetings,

As I'm currently working on a big Warcraft III multiplayer RPG-"Campaign" I've come to realize how annoying some of B.nets restrictions are.
First a little about the RPG. It basically 5 maps, each map will feature tons of custom icons, models and voices for cinematics and whatnot.
This results in relatively large maps, and I don't see toning down on the custom stuff an option.

However, as it is, B.net limits map size to 4 Mb.

My first though was that users would have to host it over LAN with listchecker/hamachi/ggc/dotaclient or a similar program.
But apparently maps were not only limited to 4 Mb over B.net, but on LAN and Custom Game aswell.

So my only option right now would be to somehow bypass this map size limit check on LAN game and then use Winpcap or a similar library to emulate the game over B.net.

My question is, do you think its possible to bypass the map file size limitations somehow?

[Dekar]

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's possible and maybe I could even make a patch for it...
(But I don't want to work on something like this atm, got other stuff to do!)
There are two ways:
-Patch Warcraft to allow more than 4mb
-Add your custom files to Warcrafts MPQ archive so they will be loaded from it and not from the map.
I would try the second way, sounds easier.
Anyway, all clients would have to modify their Warcraft in the same way!

greets Dekar

[PatruX]

-Patch Warcraft to allow more than 4mb
-Add your custom files to Warcrafts MPQ archive so they will be loaded from it and not from the map.

1) Any hints on how to do this?
Think patching Warcraft would be doable with offsets?

2) Assuming I would use this, would I have to place all custom files within the existing Warcraft .mpq files or would it be possible to create one of my own and load from the map? (Couldn't find a fitting trigger function for this)

Help is greatly appreciated.
~patrux

[PatruX]

bump~

[Durchdringen]

I highly doubt patching Warcraft would work. Even if it did, then all users that were to join your game would have to have the same patch. All I can say is either use another server which allows higher map sizes or LAN. Other than this idk.

Good Luck

[PatruX]

I highly doubt patching Warcraft would work. Even if it did, then all users that were to join your game would have to have the same patch. All I can say is either use another server which allows higher map sizes or LAN. Other than this idk.

Good Luck

As stated previously, map size limits applies to LAN games aswell.
Thank you for your reply however.

[Durchdringen]

There shouldn't be any restrictions on LAN, I have played a 16 MB map over LAN. I was using Hamachi at the time.

Only way I can see that it would be a problem is if you were using a Server that used the same map check techniques that Battle.net uses.

[PatruX]

I don't believe the map check lies within Battle.net but within Warcraft.
Today I did some testing, and made a few interesting discoveries regarding this issue.

I used 3 copies of (2)Booty-Bay.w3m.
#1) Opened with World Editor and imported a 14 MB song (Named: WE).
#2) Opened with World Editor Unlimited and imported a 14 MB song (Named: WEU Edited).
#3) Opened with WinMPQ and imported a 14 MB song (Named: Booty Bay).

What's interesting here is that when trying to save the map in instances #1 and #2 this error (click) pops up, the map still saves however.

Now to the Battle.net hosting;
When trying to host with map #1 or #2 it gets stuck in the hosting screen and I get this error (click) every single time.
When hosting with map #3 on the other hand it moves over to the "game is created - waiting for people to join screen" but I get this error instead (click).

The same errors show up when trying to create over LAN (click) or Custom Game aswell.

I also noticed a significant difference when in the host game screen.
When selecting the maps in instance #1 or #2, the teams does not show up, it's totally blank.
I selected Enfo's and then selected the WEU map it still had Enfo's teams showing (click).
This did however not occur in instance #3 (click), it could apparently bypass one of Warcrafts checks.

Conclusion:
- From what I've seen I believe that there's two protection methods against hosting large maps over Battle.net. One is triggered when you try to save the map in the World Editor and the other one is a check once you've created the map over Battle.net
- On instance #3, a friend of mine joined the game, I could see him doing this in the chat box however he got instantly kicked without any error message, this means the game actually gets hosted and shows up in the Battle.net list.
- I have yet to confirm that it works the same way as described above over LAN games. (Done below)
- I have yet to confirm that it works the same way over another server (not B.net), this would confirm that the protection lies within Warcraft and not within Battle.net.

Edit:
I tried to replicate the way described above with a friend of mine joining over Battle.net on map #3, but this time through GGC on LAN games (click). The game does in fact show up on the list, but when somebody joins it he/she immediately gets thrown out of the game without any error. I believe this is due to the fact that there are no player slots / teams showing up as you can see on the screenshot.

[PatruX]

There shouldn't be any restrictions on LAN, I have played a 16 MB map over LAN. I was using Hamachi at the time.

Only way I can see that it would be a problem is if you were using a Server that used the same map check techniques that Battle.net uses.

Any chance that you can confirm that this works?
What map were you playing, version of Warcraft etc?

[Bushido]

There shouldn't be any restrictions on LAN, I have played a 16 MB map over LAN. I was using Hamachi at the time.

Only way I can see that it would be a problem is if you were using a Server that used the same map check techniques that Battle.net uses.

Any chance that you can confirm that this works?
What map were you playing, version of Warcraft etc?

stop double posting ... i have mercy..so dont do that again or get a warning !