A few notes
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1. I will do this using my .exe (tra.exe sized 4.58 MB), therefore...
2. If you want to obtain the same effects as in the pics that follow, I have uploaded it here and...
3. Don't ask me to update or make a tutorial for your version of the game...
That doesn't mean you can't do it on your version of the game
Tools needed
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a. Cheat Engine 5.3 (download)
b. A spoon with lots of brains in it
Note : Cheat Engine is perfectly safe; if your Anti-Virus reports having found a possible threat, know it's due to the program's driver, used to perform certain tasks which are not available in user-mode!
Part 1 - Getting Started
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After you've installed Cheat Engine, fire it up and take a few minutes to look at the interface. In the top-most-left part of the GUI, you'll see a flashing button. That's the Process List button, from which list we'll choose tra.exe, once launched.
So, start the game, alt-tab to Desktop, get back to Cheat Engine, and click that button. Once the list appears, scroll all the way down and select tra.exe (view image). Once that has been done, click the "Memory view" button located in main window (left side) and a new window will open up (view image).
Part 2 - Core
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Next up I will refer to CodeReaver's post from long ago, in which he explained what the debug menu is and how to activate its features, which can be found here : http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showpost.php?p=1209737&postcount=146
Thanks for the heads-up, Andrew
After you've read that, you will feel disoriented, and probably won't understand much from it. Since the engine ported the debug menus from Defiance, the same features will also be available in TRA. We'll start by looking up one of the strings you read of in that post. Let me quote :
If for example you wanted to use the Light Me Up option in Legend
The accurate string is actually "Light me up". Let's get back to Cheat Engine which we left open with Memory View on-screen. Time to search for that string (Light me up).
Click in the right-bottom-side in Memory View, so that the bottom window is focused and press Ctrl+F, then type in "Light me up" (view image). Once you did all that, press the "OK" button, and CE will return the result in the lower window (view image). Address for "Light me up" is (in my case) 650F80. That's the debug menu. Feel free to scroll up or down and take note of the amount of options we can play with, hehe...
Here's a list with interesting options we can (will) tweak
Draw Health - this option will enable enemy HP in top-right of the screen without needing a cheat;
Disable Health - disable health for Lara (identical to what the SCU does);
No Move - tweaked properly, enemies will move/run/w.e. on their spot =]
Skip All Puppet Shows - want to play Natla's HQ? tweak this, hehe; option skips all cinematics;
Disable Monsters Loading - name says it all;
1-Shot-Kill - told you TRA has this option, didn't I?
Vertigo! - all vertigo options simulate the earthquake effect - fun to play with;
Player gets all weapons - name says it all;
Altimeter - hehe, with this tweaked, Lara will climb like Superman - very fast, no stops between hops;
Keep Info Between Loads - you always wondered why you can't go back to previous maps, with all those doors locked and all; this answers it =]
Disable Hints - name says it all;
Activate Gold Effect - hehe, speaks for itself, doesn't it?
...and more. Just explore the debug menu and have a quick glance. If you want it all detailed, here's a dumped .txt list » download
Part 3 - Activating Options
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In this part I'll teach you how to activate an option most of you looked for - playing Natla's HQ map
Back to Andrew's post, to enable one such option, you need to find in game's memory a pointer to the menu. Once found, pointer+4 will hold the address which contains the value that needs to be ORed in order to enable that option. Pointer+8 or +C will hold that precise value. I know it sounds tricky and cryptic, but the examples will prove it's easy to do it. Follow me.
3.a. Example 1
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The option we want to work with to be able to play Natla's HQ (yes, you need a save of St. Francis Folly level ending - that's easy to get or make one yourself) is called Skip All Puppet Shows, which will disable cinematics for the entire game.
Note: These options are active only when playing the game. Once you close the game and want to play again, you will have to redo them!
The address at which that menu is located at is 650D20 (view image). We need to find another address that points to 650D20 - which we call a pointer. To find a pointer to that menu, close Memory view and return to main window in CE.
Tick the Hex checkbox, and type in 650D20, then press First Scan. You'll get one result (view image). So, the pointer to the menu is 664124. Right click it and from that list choose "Browse this memory region" (view image). Once you do that, Memory view will open, and you'll be at 664124 in the lower window (view image).
Okay, let's analyze that piece of memory (remember Andrew's post?) :
- first 4 bytes are the menu address : 20 0D 65 00 = 00650D20 (remember?)
- next 4 bytes are the address at which we must change the value to be ORed : 48 83 83 00 = 00838348
- next 4 bytes are the value that needs to be put in 838348 so that the option gets enabled : 00 00 80 00 = 00800000
So, long story short - we need to go to 838348 and change/add to its value 80 on its 3rd byte (00 00 80 00 - count them).
Let's do that. Press Ctrl+G and type in 838348 and you'll be here, after you press OK (view image). Now, count the bytes and remember how it should look like (00 00 80 00). Good, change the data by clicking on the third byte (from right to left) and typing 80 (view image).
That's it. Now every time you get to a cutscene, that won't play. Hehe. You'll see this way you can even play cinematic levels (including Natla's HQ). Have fun!
Note: If you leave the option enabled, gates and monsters won't trigger any events. Just in case you wonder why, even though you pulled a lever, nothing happens. Use it just for playing cinematic levels...
3.b. Example 2
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Let's also enable the enemy HP to be seen in top-right of your screen. For that, we'll need to find a pointer to Draw Health menu. It would be best if you tried to do it on your own, based on the example above. But if you didn't yet get used to it, follow this.
Address for Draw Health menu is 650C34 (view image). To find a pointer, repeat the procedure - main window, tick Hex, type in 650C34, press First Scan (view image). As you can see, pointer is 66461C. Right-click it, 'Browse this memory region' and Memory view will open (view image).
- first 4 bytes are the menu address : 34 0C 65 00 = 00650C34
- next 4 bytes are the address at which we must change value to be ORed : 48 83 83 00 = 00838348
- next 4 bytes represent the value you need to change 838348 to, in order to enable the menu : 40 00 00 00
So. Ctrl+G and type in 838348. Once you get there, you'll see its value is already 00 00 80 00 (remember we changed it earlier?). Read again Andrew's post and notice how "zeroes do nothing". Given that, you don't need to change 838348 from 00 00 80 00 to 40 00 00 00, but to 40 00 80 00. Remember - zeroes do nothing
Click first byte and type in 40. Then click away and you're done. Your address should look like this - view image.All done. If you go back in game, and start a fight, you'll see enemy's HP bar in top-right of your screen
Phew, that was long! Have fun and post your problems.
Remember: These things are done with the game [u]running and targetted in CE, and not otherwise!
