Hotfix vs Patch- What's the difference?

[StevoSuprem0]

So in light of recent event, a lot of things have been said regarding what is possible via hotfix vs patch, and why things have to be done certain ways to avoid having to perform a patch because that's "just not happening".
Reading all this, I realized that I, and likely many of the people making claims one way or the other, don't really understand the difference between the two, beyond simply that hotfixes are applied automatically upon connecting to the internet, while patches require a download.

Thus, I wanted to pose a couple questions:
1. What are the restrictions for adjustments that can be made via hotfix vs those that are possible through patching?
2. Why is it the case that another patch is something that needs to be avoided/isn't going to happen? Is it a money thing? A time thing? Both? Neither?

Please refrain from speculating in answers; I don't wanna see "I think it's [this way] because boogers."
I'm genuinely curious why patching persisting bugs is so taboo and why hotfixes that can't get the job done selectively enough are so preferable.

 

[EnergyKD]

Hotfixes are changing small values of something without the need of making a patch. Where a patch is to completely change a certain aspect of the game and requires a download to do so.

Pretty much smaller fixes and changes = Hotfix

Bigger changes and adjustment to the core of the game = Patches

I doubt you can decrease the range of certain moves through a hotfixes but decrease/increase damage scale on a hotfix sure.

Then again i could just be talking out of my ass.

 

[NRF CharlieMurphy]

hotfix:
some text/xml file that they can change values like "standing 2 damage value: 9.3" to "standing 2 damage value: 2.4"

 

[StevoSuprem0]

I curious, then, what the extend of the values in these files would be.
Damage seems pretty straight forward, but what about qualifiers for high/mid/low/overhead attacks, frame data, etc.?

 

[DarthArma]

either way, joker is fucked in the ASS!

 

[OnlineRon91]

They hotfix by editing one file's values whereas they patch by going into the core files themselves.

 

[StevoSuprem0]

They hotfix by editing one files values whereas they patch by going into the games files themselves.

Right. So what is possible to be adjusted one way vs the other? I'm trying to figure out what the parameters that are accessible via hotfix.

 

[dotunderscore]

Right. So what is possible to be adjusted one way vs the other? I'm trying to figure out what the parameters that are accessible via hotfix.

Hopefully it is encrypted or we will eventually have Injustice:Los Santos Gods Among Us

 

[trufenix]

Patch = Actual new code.
+ Can (theoretically) be put together at the drop of a hat and feasibly add / remove anything from the game.
- Cost prohibitive, disruptive to consumers.

Hotfix = Modification of existing files.
+ Quick, easy, don't require any actual code changes to the game (less staff resources).
- Restrictive, Capabilities will have been planned for and set in stone long before release.

I curious, then, what the extend of the values in these files would be.
Damage seems pretty straight forward, but what about qualifiers for high/mid/low/overhead attacks, frame data, etc.?

This is not a question you're ever going to get an answer to. You're basically asking how the game actually works under the hood, which just about nobody who knows is going to give up. Anyone on this side of the equation would have been sworn to NDA, and anybody on that side of the equation would want to protect their jobs.

Edit: You could probably analyze the "hotfix" notes vs the patch notes to find out just what they are capable of doing. A really really poor mans explanation would be anything that could be resolved by increasing a number or decreasing a number could be hotfixed, provided NRS thought (or could) to build it into the game in advance. Anything more would require an actual patch.

 

[StevoSuprem0]

Patch = Actual new code.
+ Can (theoretically) be put together at the drop of a hat and feasibly add / remove anything from the game.
- Cost prohibitive, disruptive to consumers.

Hotfix = Modification of existing files.
+ Quick, easy, don't require any actual code changes to the game (less staff resources).
- Restrictive, Capabilities will have been planned for and set in stone long before release.



This is not a question you're ever going to get an answer to. You're basically asking how the game actually works under the hood, which just about nobody who knows is going to give up. Anyone on this side of the equation would have been sworn to NDA, and anybody on that side of the equation would want to protect their jobs.

Edit: You could probably analyze the "hotfix" notes vs the patch notes to find out just what they are capable of doing. A really really poor mans explanation would be anything that could be resolved by increasing a number or decreasing a number could be hotfixed, provided NRS thought (or could) to build it into the game in advance. Anything more would require an actual patch.

Hmmm. Alright that helps to clarify things a bit more. Thank you sir!

 

[THTB]

Right. So what is possible to be adjusted one way vs the other? I'm trying to figure out what the parameters that are accessible via hotfix.

Things like some parts of frame data, damage values, damage scaling, maybe hitboxes, and some situational switches can be altered. Anything like bugs or additional moves and whatnot require patches.

It seems there's a situational value for damage taken during pushblock animations. And there might be a switch that ended up affecting the bola glitch.

 

[chemist4hire]

For the bola glitch, I wonder if they changed how long bola last before you break out.

 

[4x4lo8o]

I'm genuinely curious why patching persisting bugs is so taboo and why hotfixes that can't get the job done selectively enough are so preferable.

I think part of it has to do with the business and bureaucracy side and not just that a patch is harder from the technical side.
I don't know for sure, but a patch possibly has to go through Microsoft before being allowed to go on XBL and there may be internal stuff that makes a patch harder to get out. Like maybe Paulo can just go to Ed Boon for a hotfix whereas someone at WB needs to approve a patch. Stuff like that probably makes it difficult to impossible to get a patch out, even if from a technical standpoint they could quickly and easily patch the issue in question

 

[NRF CharlieMurphy]

Patch = Actual new code.
+ Can (theoretically) be put together at the drop of a hat and feasibly add / remove anything from the game.
- Cost prohibitive, disruptive to consumers.

Hotfix = Modification of existing files.
+ Quick, easy, don't require any actual code changes to the game (less staff resources).
- Restrictive, Capabilities will have been planned for and set in stone long before release.

It isn't so much a modification of existing files.....as that the base code reads FROM the file as a variable to how it works. Non of the existing code changes except for the variable that is passed in through the file. So anything they deemed necessary to be "hotfixable" was just tossed in there.

A patch would be an actual code change.... no matter how small.

 

[OnlineRon91]

Hopefully it is encrypted or we will eventually have Injustice:Los Santos Gods Among Us

It is encrypted. You can still hex the values but it's like throwing darts in the dark, I was hoping someone with some cryptography experience would be able to decrypt the file but no such luck as of yet. It's not like you can play someone online with a hacked version anyways since the files would be different, so there is no concern there.

 

[OnlineRon91]

Right. So what is possible to be adjusted one way vs the other? I'm trying to figure out what the parameters that are accessible via hotfix.

There is one member who messed with the size of aquamans FTD, changed many colors in the background and on aquaman (different from creating a different skin), changed the amount of time the character hit by FTD float, etc. He gave me an explanation on how it is done, read my previous post.

 

[StevoSuprem0]

There is one member who messed with the size of aquamans FTD, changed many colors in the background and on aquaman (different from creating a different skin), changed the amount of time the character hit by FTD float, etc.

Yeah I saw that stuff, but that's mostly aesthetic right? What about things that actually effect the gameplay?

 

[OnlineRon91]

Of course it affects gameplay yo, btw the file that NRS tweaks is appropriately named tweakvars, the name was escaping me so I didnt name it lol Here is his vids

 

[StevoSuprem0]

Yeah I remember this now lol. So yeah... there has to be a way to edit Sinestro's trait during the pushblock without fucking Joker and Lex... no?

 

[OnlineRon91]

Absolutely. The problem is they made it globally because they probably didn't see it fit for one character to not have it and the others to have it. Sure the other characters needed it, but from a game designing standpoint, why should the setup not work for only one character? That's what I think was their thinking.

 

[NRF CharlieMurphy]

Yeah I remember this now lol. So yeah... there has to be a way to edit Sinestro's trait during the pushblock without fucking Joker and Lex... no?

No
I'm sure the logic is based on the recovery of pushblock... and when an input can actually happen. And since its makes less than zero sense to let the person being push blocked to have even 1 frame of advantage they just upped the scaling.

They would have to re-work the logic of how inputs respond off pushblock, or rather, if any inputs outside of directions should count. That probably isn't just a numerical value or a boolean switch (true/false)

 

[StevoSuprem0]

No
I'm sure the logic is based on the recovery of pushblock... and when an input can actually happen. And since its makes less than zero sense to let the person being push blocked to have even 1 frame of advantage they just upped the scaling.

They would have to re-work the logic of how inputs respond off pushblock, or rather, if any inputs outside of directions should count. That probably isn't just a numerical value or a boolean switch (true/false)

So they would probably need to add a new line(s) of code specifically for the pushblock + trait situation, meaning a patch would be required?

 

[OnlineRon91]

Since your using "when an input can actually happen" then it's safe to assume you can rework the logic from the file by using "when Sinestro makes an input actually happen". Neither of us can see the code though to confirm it sadly, all I know for certain is that every character has their own variables. What they did was definitely modify the % of the damage though as you mentioned since every hit does damage.

 

[OnlineRon91]

So they would probably need to add a new line(s) of code specifically for the pushblock + trait situation, meaning a patch would be required?

I could tell you 100% if they could or couldn't if I could see the file but I cant :/
Check the hotfixes to see if they have ever messed with a universal move (mb stuff, wagers, etc) for only one character, if they have then it leans towards yes.

 

[NRF CharlieMurphy]

So they would probably need to add a new line(s) of code specifically for the pushblock + trait situation, meaning a patch would be required?

That is how I see it.
Since the tweek they did is universal for everyone, technically everyone can hit "4" when sinestro can..... it is just that his trait (among others) are not connected to the character model... and therefore seem to not be bound by the recovery frames. So you get the effect of an attack being able to hit you before your inputs can register. The easiest solution would actually be to just simply let the directional inputs happen during pushblock recovery. That would, however, require new logic. New logic = patch
sorry bud.

Unless they've somehow rigged a tweekvar to something like "canInputDirectionsOnRecovery" = false.
but that seems rather risky.