tutorials/tips for finding offsets? : FFXI General Discussions

well not sure where to start. i know some scripting language (php, pascal, c++) but i am a total noob when it comes to game hacking. but im wanting to learn more about it and want to be able to write tools and stuff like that.

i know a little how to use the lolcheatengine... but i guess that thing doesnt help much with ffxi? lol i tried but cant find anything using that application

so i guess this is what i should ask

- if i want to find off sets for carious things (delivery box wait, fish stamina, movement speed) what should i know? what tools do i need?

- if i want to further learn more about writing applications to work with any games in general not just ffxi, what aspect of programming should i be studying? just keep learning more c++?

any input appreciate guys

time to jump in. hold onto your butts.

I know a little how to use the lolcheatengine... but i guess that thing doesnt help much with ffxi? lol i tried but cant find anything using that application

true, although CE does offer some nice 1 time sort of things, its not anygood for advanced botting or whatnot. given SE's antidefense system sucks, id suggest using artmoney, seeing how its way easier to use for beginners. http://www.artmoney.ru/ (theres a free version)

- if i want to find off sets for carious things (delivery box wait, fish stamina, movement speed) what should i know? what tools do i need?

bassically, you can search for different types of values in artmoney, which i will not list here, so, depending on what your searching for you can change the value accordingly (sounds like it would be a problem but its not). its a pretty painstaking process if you dont know what your looking for, which is the case a lot of time. if you want, you can also try olly debugger, but i can give much info, seeing as i have never used it before.

ok, whenever pol.exe starts, it has to initialize, and reserve, a spot in memory just for itself. now, once pol.exe is initialied, ffximain.dll initializes (ffximain.dll is where all the memory values are stored that your generally looking for), and reserves a memory block much like pol.exe, this, as i call it, is the ffximain.dll memory block. the very first memory addres in this memory block is known as the base address of ffximain.dll. The base address is pretty much the most important thing youll need to have because this simple equation:

Base address + offset = memory address

really, an offset is just, well, an offset. it tells the distance between the base address and the address your trying to read. the beaty of offsets is that the address will always be in the same place relative to the base address (aka the offset value), as long as there isnt an update. in the event of an update, the address will relocate to another place relative to the base address, and you will need to find the new offset for the updated version.. This is all known as code shifting, and not DMA.

the only tools you need are artmoney, and an offset finder ( http://www.ffact.org/forums/viewtopic.p ... ght=offset )

- if i want to further learn more about writing applications to work with any games in general not just ffxi, what aspect of programming should i be studying? just keep learning more c++?

youll get better by writing code, simple as that. a lot of games are the same, but there are minor variations. the best advice i can offer is read a book on a programming language, and gain a vast base knownlege: this will help A LOT. now, as for what language, thats personal preference. C++ is the most powerful language youll ever find, hands down, however, if you try to use other's code, its possible your going to run into a massive amount of code incompatabilities, which can make developing a major headache. im actually starting to move into C# just because of code incompatabilites. IMO, c++ is starting to die off, and java and c# are starting to take the spotlight.

the biggest challenge your going to have is getting the base address of ffximain.dll, but once you can do that, its pretty much smooth sailing from there.

well, i hoped that helped, and if you have any questions, dont hesitate to ask, because it is a very, very complicated subject. i may have forgot some things, and i will probably be updating it throughout the next few days, to improve it. i may have even gotten some info wrong, so if i did, feel free to correct me.

now, here are some link that may help you:
http://www.ffact.org/forums/viewtopic.p ... ght=offset
http://www.ffact.org/forums/viewtopic.p ... ght=offset (this provides an example of how to find the base addres of ffximain.dll in c#)
http://www.ffact.org/forums/viewtopic.p ... ght=offset
http://www.ffact.org/forums/viewtopic.p ... ght=offset
http://www.ffact.org/forums/viewtopic.p ... ght=offset
http://www.taultunleashed.com/phpbb2/vi ... hp?t=34392 (very nice guide here, provides how to find the base address of ffximain.dll in c++ and some nice basic info)


im sure there are others, but i didnt feel like really diggin in ATM, feel free to add your own favorite links!

thanks very much for such detailed reply kourath! i've heard about c# before. from what you suggested it might be a good idea to get started on it.

im curious about the incompatibility issues. you mean newer applications aren't made with c++ anymore? how does c# fix that problem? from what i read, for ffxihelper.dll at least you cant call it with java?

so any generic programming books should be fine for starting off?

i'm going to check out all links you provided. thanks again

your very welcome! btw, merry christmas everyone!

im curious about the incompatibility issues. you mean newer applications aren't made with c++ anymore? how does c# fix that problem?

well, people still develope in c++, and even businesses do, but the problem is that different coders have different ways of programming, and sometimes it doesnt all click in c++, plus code that works in MSVC++ 2004 will sometimes not work in MSVC 2005 (which is what im using), which is, at the very least, annoying. Lets take a good look at c++: it was made back in 1983 at Bell Labs by Bjarne Stroustrup, which ultimately ended up as a superset of C. although it has had updates and whatnot, the fact remains it is still a 20 year old language. Things get outdated, as we all know, and newer and better things come out everyday. C++ is the most unique language ive ever seen, its shaped the programming world in ways we can not even comprehend, the thing is now, that theres programming languages, with just as much power a c++, theyre much easier to use, and they have much, much, much, better support. The biggest reason everything is starting to move out of c++ is because microsoft didnt make it, and therefore they dont control it, and therefore its not always going to work. thats where c# comes in. microsoft made c# to be like c++, except for the fact that they own it, and they can do whatever they want with it, thus its going to work. ive never had any problems with c#, and code incompatablilities are a thing of the past. Im really impressed with microsoft, theyve made an amazing language where you can focus on developement, and not code compatablitly and fixing errors. MS started to develope their OSs in C# begging with XP. notice how many less bugs there are?

whoops, i accidentally forgot to mention VB, its a lot like c# in the fact that MS makes it, blah blah blah. same goes for java, just replace MS with sun microsystems.

from what i read, for ffxihelper.dll at least you cant call it with java?

probably. ive never seen anyone do it though.

so any generic programming books should be fine for starting off?

yeah, id sugest reading a UML book, then reading a programming language book, then reading a .net book (if .net applies to the language your learning), then reading a "how computers work" book, then learn some basic ASM. however, most people dont want to do taht (even i dont) so reading just a programming book will suffice for your purposes.

what does UML mean?

oops, sorry for not clearing that up.

UML = Unified Modeling Language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Modeling_Language

bassically its the framework for OOP (object oriented programming) and the languages mentioned here are all Object oriented. under standing UML will help you understand OOP better, and help you progress and learn faster. im looking for the right words to say, but i cant cough them up...

oh np you've already been a great help ^^ thanks for all the answers and links!

A little question. Can C# do memory allocation? Most books I was looking at don't mention about this.

i think you may be a little confused, memory allocating refers to the freeing/reserving of a memory block for/to an application, which is done automatically in at initiation of an application (at least with the languages were dealing with here)

are you refering to memory reading/writing?

Oh I see. So what I want to do is reading/writing existing memory I think.

ah, well, heres an article that can explain it better for you than i can http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/minememoryreader.asp

there arnt really any great guides out there except that one

kourath is so hot sometimes. kickass

hah, im not exactly sure what to say to that. thanks

that's really nice tutorial. thanks.

I could Sure use some updated offsets as well for FleeTool