In Game Ads (Changing them).

2006-11-16 13:08:02

#1

Dex Luther: Member; +32|6886|Canukastan

Story:

As we all know EA has decided to put ads in BF2142. These ads will change from time to time and generate income for EA. I can only hope that this would mean that we get something out of it in the end (free booster/expansion packs, etc). One can only hope.

My Idea:

After reading up on a way to change the in game ads myself I decided to give it a try. The problem is when I opened photoshop to work on some images, I have a complete lack of inspiration. Then I thought that it would be a good idea to get the people at BF2S.com forums in on this (gives the added bonus of more people will see the same images which is cool).

The Plan:

The parties interested create 512 x 256 pixel Jpeg images (to start with) post them here and I'll gather them and include them in a single BF2142 ad file (much like the modded localization files) and distribute it on the forums when it's done.

The Rules:

I think we should stay away from nudity (if it's not something you'd see on the beach (not including nude beaches) then it's not going to be in the file), personal messages (ex: no "so and so ownez!" or "so and so is a noob!"), no racist/hateful messages, etc (just use some common sense).

Final Thoughts:

I don't know how well this will work out, but I'm willing to give it a shot. There are other image file sizes (for smaller boards, etc), but I'll get to those if/when I get enough images for the billboards. I'm going to try doing them all in an orderly fashion.

Get Creative!

UPDATE!:

Nov. 16th - Beta - Download Here

REMEMBER! ALWAYS BACK UP THE ORIGINAL FILE!

Last edited by Dex Luther (2006-11-16 20:48:23)

2006-11-16 13:11:10

#2

NooBesT: Pizzahitler; +873|6917

I doubt EA will approve this...

Sounds good.

2006-11-16 13:16:43

#3

Dex Luther: Member; +32|6886|Canukastan

NooBesT[FiN] wrote:
I doubt EA will approve this...

Sounds good.

I doubt they approve the modded localization files, but people do them anyways.

I've already replaced a couple of the billboards to test them out, and it works perfectly. It's not scanned by PB so there's no problem there.

The only thing I'm worried about is how well will it work when the ads really start. Does EA replace your old file with a new one to update the ads, or do they append to the old one? If it's the later, then I don't see what their problem would be. You'd still see their ads every once in a while, so they'd still get their money (maybe just not as much). However, if they replace the file each time, it might cause some problems (mostly hassle of replacing their file with the modded one all the time).

Last edited by Dex Luther (2006-11-16 13:17:49)

2006-11-16 13:37:58

#4

Deader: Member; +7|7240|TN, USA

Barring a patch that includes the icontent.cache file in the PB scan (infeasable since it changes with the ad rotation from EA) there is no way that EA can tell if you are doing real ads or your own. See my sig for an easy way to block the ads from updating and an easy tool to use to insert your own ads.

2006-11-16 13:53:54

#5

TheEternalPessimist: Wibble; +412|7068|Mhz

https://img484.imageshack.us/img484/2770/waaaahyv1.jpg

https://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6069/dudemv9.jpg

I might do some serious ones... don't count on it though lol.

Last edited by TheEternalPessimist (2006-11-16 13:55:58)

2006-11-16 13:56:55

#6

2tuff: Positive Karma Here!; +357|7224

Can ya tell us HOW to do this on our own? How to edit it?

2006-11-16 14:01:59

#7

tF-voodoochild: Pew Pew!; +216|7295|San Francisco

I would also prefer to have a link to the article you read about modding these files manually. It sounds like making a modification of this file and then following the port/ip blocking steps to prevent ads from updating would be a good way to make sure your altered ads are never messed with.

2006-11-16 14:06:34

#8

Deader: Member; +7|7240|TN, USA

tF-voodoochild wrote:
I would also prefer to have a link to the article you read about modding these files manually. It sounds like making a modification of this file and then following the port/ip blocking steps to prevent ads from updating would be a good way to make sure your altered ads are never messed with.

Check my sig.

2006-11-16 14:08:19

#9

tF-voodoochild: Pew Pew!; +216|7295|San Francisco

Deader wrote:
tF-voodoochild wrote:
I would also prefer to have a link to the article you read about modding these files manually. It sounds like making a modification of this file and then following the port/ip blocking steps to prevent ads from updating would be a good way to make sure your altered ads are never messed with.
Check my sig.

Ahh, I didn't bother since it said, "Don't like In Game Ad's? Block them." I figured it was the article about blocking ports that I had read previously. Thanks for the link!

2006-11-16 14:13:38

#10

Deader: Member; +7|7240|TN, USA

Guess I could add to my sig that you can also change them.

2006-11-16 14:48:44

#11

Dex Luther: Member; +32|6886|Canukastan

Yeah it's all on the total BF2142 forums.

2006-11-16 15:06:54

#12

AmbassadorofPain: Member; +34|7105|Devil's Perch

Dex Luther wrote:
Yeah it's all on the total BF2142 forums.

That main thread has 54 pages or something, filled with lots of happy nonsense comments making it almost impossible to find the few things worth being found.

Proud member of a dead community.

2006-11-16 15:14:42

#13

FesterTheMolester: BF2s US Server Admin, IRC>Forums; +157|7088|The Mind Of A Cereal Killer

https://img398.imageshack.us/img398/8959/bf21421jm6.jpg

https://img484.imageshack.us/img484/4137/bf21422kg7.jpg

https://img489.imageshack.us/img489/8661/bf21423zh4.jpg

I may do some more later... maybe not

2006-11-16 15:16:50

#14

Dex Luther: Member; +32|6886|Canukastan

The file editor can be found here: https://sourceforge.net/project/showfil … _id=181663

All you need is a program to convert image files into DDS (or Bik for videos) and use the above program to insert them into the .cache file the ads are in.

2006-11-16 15:19:24

#15

FesterTheMolester: BF2s US Server Admin, IRC>Forums; +157|7088|The Mind Of A Cereal Killer

oh... do you want to do that. If your compiling the picture you should be bale to change the image type right

*flutters eyelashes*

2006-11-16 15:29:01

#16

stryyker: bad touch; +1,682|7168|California

https://img167.imageshack.us/img167/512/obeyeahx5.gif

/bored.

2006-11-16 15:43:29

#17

stryyker: bad touch; +1,682|7168|California

Wait, you can actually CHANGE the ads?

2006-11-16 16:18:02

#18

Dex Luther: Member; +32|6886|Canukastan

Created a "beta" version of the file. Check it out. Download Here - Place this in your "My Documents/BF2142" folder (back up the old icontent.cache file!).

and yeah you can actually CHANGE them. Take a look:

I was messing around with it last night. you don't even have to do any special effects on the images to make them look like old billboards there's an overlay that's put on them automatically.

https://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2429/screen032fc6.jpg

From:

https://img380.imageshack.us/img380/6428/testth4.jpg

(that's Scarlett Johansson if you're wondering)

Note: that image is not/will not be included in this file.

Last edited by Dex Luther (2006-11-16 20:49:02)

2006-11-16 16:21:03

#19

Hurricane: Banned; +1,153|7078|Washington, DC

By doing this, does EA not get any revenue from the ads?

2006-11-16 16:28:05

#20

FesterTheMolester: BF2s US Server Admin, IRC>Forums; +157|7088|The Mind Of A Cereal Killer

that is the point you know.....

also, i want some pr0n on my bf2142

2006-11-16 16:29:33

#21

Dex Luther: Member; +32|6886|Canukastan

Hurricane wrote:
By doing this, does EA not get any revenue from the ads?

Depends on how they are handled.

You see every entry in the icontent.cache file is on a sort of "rotation." All the billboards (the big ones) use the same set of images, yet sometimes one will show a ER logo (WTF is ER anyways?), and others will show some "Join EU/PAC" poster. So basically if they're just adding images to the end of the file then their ads will just be added to the rotation.

You'll see our pictures sometimes on some boards and ads on others. So in theory, we're not cutting of their income, just reducing it. Unless you've blocked the ads completely, then it'll be our pictures all the time.

Then again if they replace the file when updating the ads (adding to/changing the rotation), then the images are whiped. That's something I'm not yet clear on. Do they append or replace the icontent.cache file? Only time will tell I guess.

Until then, try out the file I uploaded to see if it works.

Last edited by Dex Luther (2006-11-16 20:55:04)

2006-11-16 17:49:30

#22

_j5689_: Dreads & Bergers; +364|7165|Riva, MD

Do the regular ads even work yet? Mine don't.

2006-11-16 18:04:32

#23

Dex Luther: Member; +32|6886|Canukastan

_j5689_ wrote:
Do the regular ads even work yet? Mine don't.

some people are getting/have gotten some Intel ad. I've never seen it except in screenshots

2006-11-17 00:53:30

#24

Rubix-Cubes: Member; +123|7103|UK

dont know if anyone else has seen the the posters for WANTED i saw one with simonemoons stas over it in berlin, got a screenshot as i was mythed as to why it was even there

2006-11-17 02:39:09

#25

Machine_Madness: Madness has now come over me; +20|6884|Brisbane, Australia

i need a file converter for the DDS iv tried DDS converter 2.1 but it doesnt work.... anyone got anything that will do the job?

BF2S Forums In Game Ads (Changing them).

NooBesT[FiN] wrote:

tF-voodoochild wrote:

Deader wrote:

tF-voodoochild wrote:

Dex Luther wrote:

Hurricane wrote:

_j5689_ wrote:

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