A challenge to all Outlaws Players

[OGB_Hooter]

Howdy all you Outlaws!

I have been kicking this around in my head for some time now and I finally decided it was time to move on it. I challenge everyone to uninstall their Outlaws and then reinstall it trying to stay as stock as possible. The idea is to remove any stray files that may be affecting the way your game behaves. Now before anyone blows a gasket, I can tell you a way to do this and then return to your game as it is now. First copy your Outlaws folder to somewhere(like in My Documents), this will have all your maps and whatever in it. Now go to your control panel and then to add/remove programs. Uninstall the Outlaws program. It will tell you it couldn't delete all the files. Now go to your program files and delete the LucasArts folder. Now empty the trash can and reboot. Get out your Outlaws #1 CD and install the game(if you will custom install and add the voices taunts wont lag you). After you apply the patches and the D3D update(for us non-voodoo players) along with your custom crosshairs and whatever you must have to make the game like you like it[the idea here is to try to stay as close to stock as possible]. Now go to the Zone and play a quick game with hopefully someone you know and is maybe doing this experiment too. Does the game play differently than you are used to seeing it?
If so, then you may have been hacking and not even have known it or intended it.
Ok after this experiment and you want your game back to the way it was, go to My Documents and copy the Outlaws folder and then paste this folder into you LucasArts folder and when it asks to overwrite files choose Yes to All. Everything will be just as it was before this mad experiment of mine.
I remember reading about some trouble people were having after playing some single-player maps, they would see stuff in a normal map that had characteristics of the single-player maps they had played earlier. A quick reboot and it was gone, so I therorized the same thing could be happening with some of the mod maps. Once a file gets changed in your Outlaws folder it is gonna affect your game until it is removed. Now this isn't science, just one guys idea of how it works.
You dont have to do this, but I would appreciate your trying it, and if you do I would be interested in hearing your comments on what happened. With all this talk about hacking and cheating and all, I kinda thought this would be a way to help eliminate it. Thanks for you time and trouble, I am much obliged! :{D

[OGB_Hooter]

Well I must say that I have been more than a little disappointed in the response to my challenge. I can only be saddened by the apathy I have seen from this. Seems everyone wants to point fingers and name names about who is hacking, but no one wants to take the time to see if it might be them. A big Hoorah! to my great friend WAW_Molycoat, it seems he is the only one who took the time to honor my request. So I guess it will just be you and me in 1 vs 1's from now on...LOL

[Dog_Holliday]

Dern, Hooter! Ya has to give me more than two days to mull over something as radical as this! Heheheh, truth is, I've been pretty busy here, and just haven't had the time to mess with it .... but I think ya have a valid point.

Anyhow, I did a brand new, full install not that long ago, and there ARE a couple of "orphan" files that have been left in my OL folder from maps that weren't properly LAB'ed. Now, most of these are stray PCX files that won't cause any problems, but your point is made. It'd be a major undertaking, but if a couple of people were to go through OLDads files and re-LAB the maps in there, we could clean it up in fairly short order. Problem is, we'd have to make sure the new LAB files were sent to everyone that keeps an archive, Paleface, Bone, etc.

[OGB_Hooter]

Sorry to rush you Holliday! I was actually sort of frustrated by the apathy I sensed on this topic. I actually reinstall Outlaws on a fairly regular basis. I like to format my machine from time to time so I get it running like I want it to. I have a pretty large map archive of my own(in fact I helped OutlawDad by sending him maps that he didnt have on his site that I had here at home), so I am not worried about putting maps back into my game. Also with the fine Outlaws sites available, almost every map ever made is available at most any time. But this has made me think maybe we need a new type of ML, like Pure Outlaws. Pure Outlaws would signify that there are no hacks involved. But it also seems to me that we all need to be more honorable in our actions and play fairly. It is only a game and it is supposed to be fun! IF YOU ARE NOT HAVING FUN, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!

[Mr. Bone88]

Hi Hoots!

Just wanted to let you know that I just completely uninstalled Outlaws and reinstalled it. ;D

Cya,
~Mr. Bone88

[Molycoat]

When Hooter brought this up I uninstalled TheOutlawDads Outlaws Map Editors Pack, uninstalled OL, went through the OL folder and got rid of odds and ends, and anything other than a map (NWX's and WAV's and ITM's) I deleted them or renamed them (so they were null) then I emptied all my temp folders, history, clipboard, trash bin and all, then I shutdown and started it (hard boot) and scandisked and defragged, then hardbooted again and installed OL, then I installed the Outlaws Editor Pack that the OutlawDad made, then I associated NWX files with NWX Editor and LAB files with ConMan.

Looks like The World's Longest Sentence. lol

[OGB_Hooter]

Thanks to all who tried my little experiment!

I merely wanted to have everyone see that this game can be changed without one's even knowing it or purposely doing it. But the idea was fro one to remove Outlaws put it back in and then go play a game and see if it was different than before. If it was then some files in your game had been changed and your game had been compromised. If it was no different then congratulations, but it should run perhaps a bit smoother because it is a fresh install. Additionally my aim was to get everyone on a level playing field and to have more fair games again. At any rate I certainly thank you my friends who tried it. Carpe diem

[Lanky]

I know this thread is a little old now, but I had to uninstall OL the otherday because I was having mucho problemos getting into a game and if I did get in, getting out was a whole 'nother story. So, i uninstalled, reinstalled, went on the Zone an d actually had much better luck in games. Hmmmm.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I did it Hoots. And it does show, in my opinion, that the game can change without my even knowing it. I may have to do this everytime I think I'm getting my butt kicked more than usual.

Take Care All,

Lanky

[OGB_Hooter]

Howdy Lanky!

Sorry it took me so long to respond to your post. Thank you for trying my little experiment! I didnt realize it would be viewed as such a large undertaking, but I suppose we all have differing levels of expertise when it comes to working on our computers. Besides clearing out unwanted files, I was hoping we might see how certain mod maps effect our entire Outlaws game. Some time ago people were complaining about certain single-player maps affecting their Outlaws game and if I remember correctly the answer was to shut down Outlaws and the problems would go away. So that lead me to think that after playing in a mod map, maybe we ought to shut down Outlaws before playing another game. That way there would be no residual effects from playing a mod map in the next map. At any rate, I am glad you did it and I am glad your game is playing more like you want it to. My main point in all of this was that Outlaws is a game designed for fun. Cya in the Zone Lanky!

[Blondie007_DR]

Hey YOU!!!! I just read this,so I have't tried your experiment,though I recently had to reinstall Windows,so I think I'm ok for now.

You stated in a above post,that a person could be hacking without knowing it? HUH? or did I misread that.
How in the He!! could you hack and NOT know it?

anyhoo,
Good to see you all! It seems everytime I go on Zone,noone is on there So maybe I can chat with you all on here.
TTFN,
Blondie

[OGB_Hooter]

Howdy Blondie!

When I said folks could be hacking and not be aware of it, I was referring to loose files getting into your Outlaws game and overwriting game files. It was also an attempt to allow folks to get away from hacking without having to make too much of a big deal out of it. At any rate, it was pretty much a big bust and I doubt that more than 10 people tried it. But I am glad to see you back in Outlaws Blondie and I hope we can play a game sometime soon.