VT's Blog

W3DR lives on

2010-12-19T12:08:00.002+11:00

Allows DR (packet send delay) values between 10ms and 500ms (default is 250).
Includes MouseTrap.
Includes Countdown Modifier.

Phoenicks has released his own version and you can find it here: http://www.w3dr.com/.
Not exactly my W3DR but it does the job (I havent tested it personally so let me know how it goes).

Hot Sauce

2010-03-16T09:07:00.002+11:00

Here is the source for W3DR. It has like 5 lines of comments so good luck deciphering my code. Even for anyone seriously interested, you have to know Warcraft pretty well, i don't use any injection or stuff like that, its pretty much all thinking outside of the square so you probably have to trace it line by line to figure out what's going on.

Download

Heroes of Newerth

2009-11-15T15:06:00.005+11:00

Defense of the Acients... x1000

First of all I'd like to say I'm not going to update any of my programs anymore. I no longer have any interest in Warcraft 3/Defense of the Ancients.

I'm now playing HoN. It's so much better on every level. For those that dont know, it's pretty much DotA in its own engine. All the third party tools that you use with Warcraft 3 such as DR, WMC, Banlist etc are all built into the game. The graphics are so much better, game play is better and it doesn't use that outdated Battle.net system.

Check it out here: http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/

W3DR 1.8.3.0

2009-08-09T10:51:00.007+10:00

Reduce Warcraft III's Battle.net delay of 250ms and LANs 100ms to any value you wish.

Decided to make a new post, the old one had nearly 100 comments and is too hard to track.

1.8.3.1

Fixed bug where window would not appear.

Download

1.8.3.0

Updated for 1.24.
Removed NIC drop down box.

Download

W3DK 1.3.1.0

2009-05-19T19:44:00.001+10:00

This program will allow you to drop players from your game for whatever reason whether it be feeding, behaviour etc.
Kicks people on LAN and Battle.net and is compatible with Vista.

1.3.1.0

Fixed errors under 1.23

Download

1.3.0.0

Changed update method
Fixed a problem where not all players would show up
Added minimize to tray

Download

W3DR CLI

2009-03-30T19:49:00.000+11:00

Heres a CLI version of W3DR. It is a basic cut down version of W3DR and is compiled natively.

The main purpose of this is for users running Warcraft in WINE. This will also work on Windows however i recommend the original W3DR for Windows users.

Features:

Displays current delay value (in game and before game).
Changes current delay value (in game and before game).
Supports all versions of Warcraft.

Advanced usage:
To change the delay and immediately return;
W3DR_CLI.exe delay
W3DR_CLI.exe 50

Updated for 1.23

Download

Changed file hosts

2009-03-21T20:02:00.004+11:00

So more and more people are complaining about MediaFire. I've decided to switch to Easy-Share, hopefully it works as intended...

I've uploaded the newest DR, if anybody needs other files then please email me or try google for mirrors.

W3DR 1.8.2.0

2009-03-20T20:43:00.006+11:00

Reduce Warcraft III's Battle.net delay of 250ms and LANs 100ms to any value you wish.

1.8.2.0

Stopped DR from appearing in ALT-TAB while minimised.

Download

1.8.1.0

Updated for Warcraft 1.23.

Thanks to SCV.MuSa for his assistance. Good luck to the competitors in the Korean Chaos tournament.

Added translation for Finnish users.

Download

1.8.0.0

SharpPcap seems to be buggy for some users so i've removed it, !dr command disabled for players, only host can use it.
WinPcap is no longer required
NIC setting is currently not used

Download

XtoDVDbot 2

2009-01-17T20:42:00.007+11:00

Have ConvertXtoDVD automatically batch convert all your video files to DVD while you're at work or outside or watching TV or etc.

I've received a few emails asking for XtoDVDbot 2 to be brought back, well here it is...

Brief list of features:

Drag and drop video files
Supports multiple files -> single DVD
Delete original upon completion
Create ISO's
Supports full menu's chapters, etc (through CXD)

Instructions

Errors while trying to start the application?
Then you need .Net Version 2 Framework.

XtoDVDbot and ConvertXtoDVD both need Administrator permission on Vista.
Right click the .exe of both programs and go to compatibility and tick Run as Administrator.

Adding files

To add files you can drag and drop the files into the list, each file will be converted into invidual DVD's.
IE. Files a.avi and b.avi are added, 2 DVD's are created, one containing a.avi and one containing b.avi
If you hold CTRL while dropping the files, all the files will make a single DVD.
IE. Files a.avi and b.avi are added, 1 DVD is created, the DVD will contain a.avi followed by b.avi

Changing preferences/order

If you want to change a files preference such as priority, select the files you wish to change and right click, a menu will open allowing you to change the preferences. Pressing the up and down keys with an entry selected will move it accordingly.

Editing a multiple file DVD

If you have added a multi DVD and wish to change the files within, double click on the entry in the list and a window will open allowing you to do so.

Starting/stopping the conversion

Click Process -> Start/Stop to begin/stop the conversion.

Creating XtoDVD projects

Open up ConvertXtoDVD and change the menus/chapters/etc and add the video files. Press CTRL-S to save then quit.
Add the project to XtoDVDbot 2 for conversion.

Download

W3DR Test

2008-12-19T11:28:00.004+11:00

1.7.0.2 is causing problems for some so if you're one of those people, try this version. Please try it for a few days before reporting success, if you encounter problems, let me know.

Download

W3DR 1.7.0.2

2008-12-06T20:17:00.006+11:00

Reduce Warcraft III's Battle.net delay of 250ms and LANs 100ms to any value you wish.

1.7.0.2

Prevented messages from being sent when you're not the host and you change your own delay. Hosts were tricked into thinking that their delay was being changed by other players.
Errors are now additionally logged to a file.

Download

1.7.0.1

Fixed minimizing issues.
Fixed a problem with DR not being able to detect Warcraft if it was opened after DR was opened.
Updated Latvian translation.

Download

1.7.0.0

Switched to WinPcap for chat scanning, DR is alot faster now (WinPcap is now required).
Added a GUI to handle settings.
Added some new languages.

Download

DR vs DC vs LC vs GGC vs LE

2008-12-06T19:40:00.005+11:00

There is a lot of crap floating around the Warcraft community with claims X program reduces ping or X program is better than Y, hell, i've seen somebody ask if LC is better than Banlist. There's even people who think that it reduces delay to 0 because it creates a "LAN".

I will put forward my thoughts. This is all theory so feel free to discuss.
The term ping will be used interchangeably with latency. Ping is just a measurement of latency. Delay will mean the total of command delay and internet delay.

There are three different classes of delay reducers:

1. Game modifiers: DC and DR
2. VPN: LC and GG
3. Client emulator: LE

Class 1 and 3 are the only ones that reduce delay. They can also increase delay in the case of somebody having problems.

Class 2 does not reduce delay, you're probably thinking, but why does it feel like it does? Well that’s because you are playing Warcraft in LAN mode. Technically the Warcraft game client is setting the delay to 100ms; LC and GG just provide a means to let other players connect to your game over the internet. Just because you are playing in LAN mode, you dont not have 0 delay. You still have to send the packets over the internet to your friend in South Arabia.

Class 1 is technically a hack. They modify the game the same way as shadowfrench modifies the game to remove fog. These aren't considered "bad" hacks so you won’t get banned (unless your DC or whatever anti-cheat program cant distinguish it).

Class 3 emulates the game client. You can think of it as a rewritten Warcraft game client with the graphics removed and all it can do is host.

None of these (except LC, but read on) reduce your ping. Your ping is simply a measurement of how long it takes a packet to be sent over the internet to the receiver and back i.e. latency; which is determined by physics. LC on the other hand measures this differently; it halves the value for no apparent reason so your real ping is actually double the value. Unless you have invented teleportation or subspace communications then the time it takes for a packet to travel from England to Russia cant be changed.

Using DR, DC, GG or whatever will not reduce these values; they will stay exactly the same.
You get delay reduction because your total delay is command delay + internet delay.

I.e. You have 50ms internet delay (latency/ping).
On Battle.net the default command delay is 250ms.
Your total delay is 50 + 250, a total of 300ms.
Now reduce the command delay (using DR/DC) to say 50ms.
Your total delay is now 50 + 50, a total of 100ms.
100 compared to 300 is a very big difference.

How does it work?

Warcraft would look something like this:

There will be a thread or something for handling packets. This thread will constantly loop. Every time you issue a command it sends a packet to the host, the host receives it and stores it somewhere. There is a loop which will then send it to every other player. As you can see, it sends the packets then waits 250ms before sending again. If your packet arrives after it has finished sending, you will have to wait 250ms which results in delay.

If you set your delay to a very low value such as 1ms. This thread will require more CPU time, the other threads will get less (such as game world) and the threads will freeze and fight over CPU. In my opinion, spikes are caused by CPU, Warcraft uses very little bandwidth (like 3kb/s), a low value increases it a small ammount however the biggest factor is CPU.

DC/DR modifies that value for the loop.
LE creates that loop, and has control over the value.
GGC/LC uses the value specified by Warcraft, which is 100ms as they are usually played through LAN.

Which method is better?

First off; there is no difference between LAN and Battle.net whatsoever for when you are playing in the game, both modes use TCP. Both are client/server in the sense that you send game packets directly to the host. You do not send game packets to the Battle.net server. The Battle.net server is only used for things such as announcements and friends list.

If you set DC or DR to 100ms, you will have the exact same latency as LAN mode. As I said earlier, GG and LC does not reduce delay, it is the Warcraft client in LAN mode. So if anything, LC and GG add more delay and spikes. Why? The extra overhead of monitoring and resending the packets and the overhead of encapsulating the packets, this all takes extra CPU.

Which is for me?

I would recommend LE if the extra features are appealing to you e.g. the ability to swap slots. It has downsides though; you must have an observer slot and an extra CD key. LE has the ability to set any delay value.

I would recommend GGC if you cant afford Warcraft 3 (but then theres PVPGN) and you can put up with the bad English (from the community and GGC itself), if your from Asia then it will be fine. More CPU is needed for encapsulation. GGC doesnt have the ability to reduce delay, therefore it is limited to LAN's 100ms.

I would only recommend LC only if you require it, e.g. Leagues. Again, more CPU is needed. LC doesnt have the ability to reduce delay, therefore it is limited to LAN's 100ms.

I would recommend DC if the anti-hack or stats tracking is appealing. It has downsides; the anti-hack only works for the player using DC. So if only the host is using DC then everyone else can hack. Unless you’re playing in a league which requires all players to use DC then the anti-hack is useless. It also requires more CPU. DC has the ability to change the delay to predefined values.

I would recommend DR if you only need delay reduction. DR also reduces delay for LAN mode (which means it works with GGC and LC). It is also compatible with all versions of Warcraft. DR has the ability to set any delay value.

W3DR 1.6.1.2

2008-11-13T10:41:00.003+11:00

Reduce Warcraft III's Battle.net delay of 250ms and LANs 100ms to any value you wish.

1.6.1.2

Alot of optimizations, alot better on older systems now
New command /dri, prints W3DR info
2 more translations added:

Ukrainian by Ca4ok
Latvian by HX_unbanned

Download

1.6.1.1

Bug fixes

Download

1.6.1.0

Added a new command to check delay while in game; !dr. Usable by hosts and other players (refer to instructions)
Updated ping and location checker to work with all versions of Warcraft
Tweaked some things to help prevent "Could not retrieve pre-game delay value (-2)" error,email me if you're still having problems

Added new translations
Portuguese by Peixao
Russian by Lexer
Swedish by Coeco
Polish by Frodo
Italian by kidmar

Changed some error messages, translators please update here

Pudge's curved Hook

2008-11-12T22:54:00.010+11:00

For quite some time anybody who claimed they saw a hooked curve was violently flamed by the internet heroes. They would be dismissed by 'pros' and 'gosus' etc etc claiming it's an optical illusion caused by Warcraft's terrain.

Not so long ago somebody posted on the DA forums that they have mastered the curve hook, it was indisputable, pretty pictures and step by step instructions that even a 3 year old could understand.

However this post was deleted a few minutes after it was posted, who knows why? perhaps bug abuse, perhaps to try keep the secret hidden amongst pros (kidding, it was bug abuse).

Anyway, I decided to try it out myself, unfortunately I only briefly looked at the post so I cant remember how to exactly pull it off.

The only thing I could remember from the post was; to curve the hook in the direction you want to curve it, you walk in that direction after hooking.

However I tried it out and my results were quite random, sometimes it would curve just a tiny bit, some times massively as you can see in this pic:

In the next series of pictures, I curved the Hook and they all hit, perhaps they were going to hit regardless of the curve or not?

My initial thoughts is that it's pretty useless, in all the pictures I could of picked a better line to launch the hook.

What do you think? If anybody knows how to do it exactly, please let me know!

Bancraft: The Java Banlist

2008-11-12T21:50:00.011+11:00

A Java client for the Banlist community to use on Mac or Linux or as a Windows alternative to WC3Banlist.

Just a heads up here.

If you aren't aware, there's a clone of Banlist available that will work on *nix and Macs. It's still in its early stages so no doubt there are bugs to be found.

Check it out here: link

While on the subject of *nix and Macs, there's a version of W3DR here: link

WMC 1.2.3.3

2008-11-12T20:00:00.006+11:00

WMC is an extended version of Warcraft III Mouse Capture.
It allows you to lock the mouse within a specified window (not just limited to Warcraft III).

The primary use of this program is to have a game (in window mode) on one monitor and applications such as IM and internet browser on another.
Without WMC if you move your mouse to the edge of the screen while playing your game, your mouse will just leave the game. You wont be able to aim!

Only one message box appears when WMC is already running
Changed update check frequency to once every 24 hours

Download

W3AR 1.5.4.3

2008-11-12T19:47:00.002+11:00

This program will automatically refresh your Warcraft III game (to put it on top of the list) so people join faster.
Supports custom colors and multiple names.

Fixed crash when refreshing using command

Download

My new home

2008-11-12T19:03:00.005+11:00

I want to say thanks to Ottechnology for providing me with a free webhost. They cant continue to provide me with hosting because I am generating too much traffic, im putting too much strain on the servers causing the whole server to come to a stop.

I've decided to set up camp here where I can announce new versions of my software and you guys can check back regurly to see what's happening.

Feel free to subscribe to this blog.

WMC Instructions

2000-01-01T20:40:00.000+11:00

Instructions

Errors while trying to start the application?
Then you need .Net Version 2 Framework.

Specify window
Right click the icon on the taskbar, click specify.
Now left click inside the window you want to specify (not on the taskbar).

Enable Capture/Release mode
Press your set hotkey to enable/disable capture mode.
The icon will change color to indicate the status:

White: WMC is not enabled for capturing
Yellow: WMC is enabled for capturing but window isnt active
Red: WMC has captured the mouse

To switch windows either alt-tab or press the hotkey to disable capture mode.

Change hotkey
Right click the icon on the taskbar, click inside the text box and press your hotkey.

W3AR Instructions

2000-01-01T20:36:00.000+11:00

Instructions

Errors while trying to start the application?
Then you need .Net Version 2 Framework.

This program is very simple to use.

Set your hotkey (default F7) in preferences.
Set your port (if it detected an incorrect port) as the one set in game (Options -> Gameplay) in preferences.
Choose either simple or advanced names (selected tab will be used).
Fill in names and color (type color code in or double click on the color boxes).
Select a leave direction
- Up: refreshers leave from bottom to top.
- Down: refreshers leave from top to bottom.
- Randomised: refreshers leave randomly.
- Random: Randomly chooses one of the above 3.
Press your hotkey to autorefresh.

Autorefreshing
Type /refresh x in game to refresh every x seconds.
The value x must be greater or equal to 5 seconds.
Type /refresh 0 to disable auto refreshing.
A sound will be played if the command is detected and if the value is valid.

Notes

You do not have to save your colors, this is automatically done when you close the program. The "Save Colors As" is for saving the current setup so you can try different setups without having to remember all the color codes.
Using the color grey (AAAAAA) will allow you to have 15 characters.
Using the color white (FFFFFF) will allow you to have 13 characters.
Using any other color will allow you to have 5 characters.
Entering a value which has less than 6 characters into the color box will result in the value being padded to the right with F's. eg. "99" becomes "99FFFF"

W3DK Instructions

2000-01-01T20:31:00.000+11:00

Errors while trying to start the application?
Then you need .Net Version 2 Framework.

Right click the player list and Click Refresh to get the names.
Right click on a name and click Drop to drop a player.

In game command
Type /dk "partial name" to kick a player
eg.
Player 1 called "[lol] player"
Player 2 called "(lol) player"

You can type /dk [ and it will kick Player 1
Typing /dk lol will not kick anyone as there is more than one match.

A sound will be played if there's more than one match or no name is supplied.

W3DR Instructions

2000-01-01T20:26:00.001+11:00

Instructions

Errors while trying to start the application?
Then you need .Net Version 2 Framework and WinPcap.

Changing Delay
Right click the icon in the task bar.
Enter your desired value into the text box and press Enter.
If the text box is disabled it means the program cannot find Warcraft III.

Switch Languages
Right click the icon in the task bar.
Click Options then click on the desired language from the drop down menu.

Change NICs
Right click the icon in the task bar.
Click Options then click on the your primary NIC from the drop down menu.

In game Commands
To use in game commands type the command then wait ~0.5s then press enter. A sound will be played to indicate the command was detected. Depending on the command, another sound may be played to indicate the command has finished processing.

Checking delay
!dr

Usable by players and host (in the game lobby and whilst in the game).

Changing delay
!dr 70

Pinging
/drp
Use /drlp to get the last results (it will be put in the clipboard)

Country checks
/drc
Use /drlc to get the last results (it will be put in the clipboard)

Notes

You dont have to remake the game if you forget to open W3DR, you can just open it while in game and change the latency.
You dont have to have W3DR open the whole game. Change it once and all future games will be delay free (until you close Warcraft).
This is only for the host, if the host is not using W3DR then you will have delay, if the host is using W3DR then all players will have reduced delay (even if players dont have W3DR).
Players using GGC, LC, Hamachi and LAN can reduce delay using W3DR.
Vista users need admin privileges.
My ping method uses the same method as ping.exe (32 bytes), for reference; banlist uses 18 bytes so my pings will probably be a little bit higher. Times out at 1000ms.
If you only use English and dont want the Language menu to appear or dont want the language folder then just delete the Language folder in your W3DR directory.
It might be a good idea to put [DR] in the title of your games so others will know they are joining a delay free game, it also allows players who only join delay free games to easily identify games.
eg. [dr] ap pros, banlisted, USA