@DrMonaLisa
Just want to say huge thanks for all the time and efforts!
It is a great project!

Is there any plans to go open-source?
I suppose opening/moving code to GitHub will bring a lot of positive contributions as well as maintenance benefits e.g. better issue tracking.
Also there is some sponsorship options on GitHub AFAIK.

Hi. I'm happy that you like the patch.

I'm not sure which part of the code you're talking about, because the modding-part is accessible by exploring the game files. If you're talking about the source code of the Launcher, DLLs, etc. then it's a terrible idea.

The Launcher itself is over 70 000 lines of the code. Obviously it could be rewritten, since I started it when I was 14, but that would be an extreme waste of time. I am not even sure what sites I copied some functions from. Not so many, but that could be a reason for takedown by copyright hunters.
Recently, files encryption was added in order to protect purchased audio files for ambient sounds. It was required by sounddogs.com. Sharing the source code would reveal which (unique) method was used, and possibly break their rules.

The Launcher is also connecting with EE2.eu Multiplayer services, contains players protection functions, unique authorization and banning system which sometimes might be very needed in order to protect our "little" server performance and stability. It would be stupid to share how the whole communication with the server looks like and then hope that "bad people" won't use it.

Besides that, it's a few years of my work. There are not only nice people in the World, but also these who could steal, monetize or do other harmful things with it, which would demotivate me completely from the further development. I have read some messages from "angry" players how they would make things better themselves. So why should I give them thousands of hours of my work for free?

If there's someone interested in viewing the source code, I am able to "share it" for a huge donation (talking about thousands of dollars). So if someone really cares, or wants to use the Launcher for some other things - I'm open minded, but I won't give it for free to everyone.

Most of features, development details are anyway shared public on forum.ee2.eu, example: https://forum.ee2.eu/viewtopic.php?p=26324#p26324

So if someone is looking for information on a specific feature / bug fix then can always ask on the forum. I don't see a reason why somebody would need to look at the whole thing other than to annoy me with criticism or ideas "how it could be done better". The Unofficial Patch shows my vision of the game / changes, and I don't need others to attempt to improve it or teach me what would be better. I am also against any forks of the multiplayer community which would completely ruin the activity and kill the activity / reputation which I've built for years.

And yes, I'm a bit against Open-sourcing everything, because I've been robbed in the past and I know how toxic the open source communities can be. However, I still share some tools as Open source, for example:
- Mouse ClickLock For Games: https://github.com/HerMajestyDrMona/MouseClickLockForGames
- Windows 11 Drag & Drop to the Taskbar (Fix): https://github.com/HerMajestyDrMona/Windows11DragAndDropToTaskbarFix

So if you're interested in how my programming "skills" (or rather lack of them) look like, you can always look up these projects :)

Wow, thank you for sharing your thoughts!
So it's basically one man project for the most part?

No problem, please feel free to ask if you have specific questions.

When it comes to the programming stuff, servers management, website, etc. then yes, it's one-man project.

However, there are a few players who're creating the content for the patch (maps, scenarios, additional content). They are very helpful. Also there are players who help testing features / bugs, but still 99% of tests I do alone.

Even though I care about security of the software (there are methods that confirm if the configuration comes from the real EE2.eu server), I can never be 100% sure that there are no parts that would allow "hackers" to access the Multiplayer Lobby or flood the other scripts with requests. This is way safer when the software is not open source, because for such a small community / project there is a lower risk of being the target of attacks. Sharing the source code would require to be 100% sure that everything works as expected, and in my opinion checking all these lines of code would be a waste of time. It's better to focus on new things than complicate existing ones just to get "proud" of showing the code to others. I started UP1.5 mostly for myself, to continue playing my favorite game, with the active multiplayer community. I never left somebody with problems (the Support Chat in the Launcher exists), but it doesn't mean that I'm that open for changes / ideas from others. I prefer to decide myself what's needed and what I personally like. I think this attitude worked pretty well, and thanks to the kept original game balance everyone likes UP1.5 just as it was the vanilla game. There are no breaking changes that would make anyone stop playing, and ideas from other players usually are like this.

GOG just pushed an update that *supposedly* improves Windows 10/11 compatibility. Any relation to your fixes?

I had to reinstall the UP. It needed updated anyway. The Gog update disabled the UP launcher. So I updated to be safe.

Hi.

Gog broke the screen resolution detection on EE2: AOS with UP1.5. I prepared a fix for that and I will release it with UP1.5 update soon.

They modified some of game files, but they kept the files modification time unchanged. They replaced some of the original 4:3 resolutions with 16:9 ones in the game executables. They edited the file that decides about settings.cfg values, that's why UP1.5 have some problems understanding them now, and is keep asking to set the correct resolution on game start.

From what I see, they added some DirectX 8 wrapper, and the configuration executable for it: dxcfg.exe.

Obviously their update doesn't support 4k resolutions and other aspect ratios. They are also missing dozens of game-related performance improvements from UP1.5 Directx 8 to 9 converter. They also don't have the Auto Fonts Size for the newly added screen resolutions. So it's still recommended to use Unofficial Patch 1.5, even if you only wanted to have screen resolutions changed in game.

And yes, it's needed to install Unofficial Patch 1.5 from: https://ee2.eu/patch because Gog Galaxy overwritten EE2.exe and EE2X.exe which are the Launcher files in UP1.5, so no UP1.5 updates can be installed then, and the installation in general seems to be broken.

Hello everyone.

Minor Update 158023 for Unofficial Patch 1.5 has been released. You can read about the changes here: https://ee2.eu/patch/changes/#158023

It fixes compatibility with the Gog version (54517), and has a new method of detection if the installation was damaged by GOG GALAXY updates (so users will see a message box asking to re-install UP1.5 if problems are detected).

I would also like to recommend testing a new feature which is available in this update: Advanced Cache Preloading.
You can enable it by UP1.5 Settings. Since forums are usually read by more players who like to test things, I would love to read the feedback about this feature from you.

Please provide the following information for me:
- RAM usage after EE2 start (main menu) with "Advanced Cache Preloading" disabled.
- RAM usage after EE2: AOS start (main menu) with "Advanced Cache Preloading" disabled.
- RAM usage after EE2 start (main menu) with "Advanced Cache Preloading" enabled.
- RAM usage after EE2: AOS (main menu) with "Advanced Cache Preloading" enabled.
- Did it crash on startup, or everything worked fine?
- Did you notice the improved performance in game (less freezes) or it feels the same?

Thank you!

Thanks! Does it work with the GOG EE Gold Edition? :)


.

Do you mean EE2 Gold Edition? Then obviously yes, since this thread is posted on the Gog forums.

So, did author fix his khm... attitude... and remove bad adwares?
(that mean: move it from additional service to launcher itself, as banner\url button like everyone else do)

You know, usually this is not allowed to post anything have patreon-else donations links on forums. Someone here point to it. I just point it come in most ridiculous way.

Unofficial Patch 1.5 does not contain adware. You have been already corrected by multiple users, since this post:

https://www.gog.com/forum/empire_earth_series/empire_earth_2_windows_881_fix_and_empire_earth_ii_unofficial_patch_14/post50

If there's any donation message, it's always displayed in the Launcher's News window (if we're currently collecting funds), or a Launcher message after-game which appears one time per 48 hours, only if a player spent more than 5 minutes in game. By definition "adware" displays unwanted ads. The donation message that helps keep multiplayer services running is strictly related to our services, and isn't related to any third party ad. You can educate yourself about it on our GDPR page: https://ee2.eu/help/gdpr/#ee2eu

I would recommend you to stop posting hate messages towards this beautiful project. The bad karma likes to return, and I guess you wouldn't like to be called for mobilization to fight in Putin's "special military operation".


EDIT:

For interested users, the recent UP1.5 updates have some nice changes / fixes. One of the important fixes is "EAX" option on EE2: AOS. It has never worked before due to multiple bugs. Now this option can be used for the first time ever :) You can read all changes here: https://ee2.eu/patch/changes/#158025

You again instead if simple answer try excuse your vision of donations. Service installable to Windows and pop-ups (that by your words is indeed a pop-up and not pop-up at same time, with some more strange words next about it is better to track and show it once per day (better than what? you didnt tell it)).

Did that happened or not? More you post about how it is actually 'normal' - worse it looks. it really worked as you describe it here? Service to track time and pop-up after game closing?
In that case it is NOT normal. Even for such open-soft remakes. Many things i saw in them, but this one most strangest. Clickable links in launcher is normal
(and not for everyone too, eg. Steam Community prohibit links to donations and downloadables that have links to patreon included) (in case if sometimes Steam Community give us such game hubs for EE)

I'm tied of responding to your retarded messages, so treat it as the final summary. All the further nonsense from you will be reported to moderators:

- You are insulting me and my project in MY TOPIC, related to THIS project. You call a very limited notification (with especially reduced times) an adware. Users download the patch from the official EE2.eu website. They install the software and agree to the license. They know exactly where it comes from, so you have no rights to call donation message an ADWARE, because it is not a third party notification. It's a notification from the program / software which users downloaded and installed consciously.

- You are asking if it's "better than what?" then maybe scroll up to previous messages where everything was explained. I am 100% sure that a non-invasive notification is better than not having the multiplayer services with the relay servers running at all. I am not interested in covering the costs myself. As I mentioned earlier, it was tested to have a message disabled fully, and the donations amount was close to 0. It's a small community, and I'm doing what I can do keep it on the highest possible standards. If you can't appreciate it, then stop spamming the same thing over again. Nobody is interested in your nonsense anymore, and there were also other people asking you to "shut up". So maybe take their advice to heart.

- You're a hypocrite of the highest order. In your previous posts you also recommended "GameRanger" as alternative to our built-in multiplayer services, claiming it contains "no popups". Your lies were proven to be wrong in this post: https://www.gog.com/forum/empire_earth_series/empire_earth_2_windows_881_fix_and_empire_earth_ii_unofficial_patch_14/post58
with a screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/Qpy3OJn.png

You seem to be incapable of providing any serious arguments. All you do is posting a collection of random, faulty or totally unrelated things (not to mention your twisted facts). Maybe you are watching too many Russian propaganda channels thinking that the repeated lies will become true, and that people will believe it. However, EE2 players know exactly what UP1.5, how long this project was developed and how much effort was put in it. Your hostile attempts won't change their vision.

You again? how many times you were told that you had no clue what your talking about and stop spreading lies


this is also a lie , steam community and steam workshop both allow links to patreon and donations services