7 ms·

Cactus – A Modern Diablo II Version Switcher, Character Isolator, & Mod Manager

108 points by fearedbliss 3y ago

Solvency 3y ago
Is there some significance to the word cactus in D2?
- washadjeffmad 3y ago
  I don't know whether this the reason, but the project is 1) written in C# and 2) cactuses have an enduring spirit. For a project that aims to make all version of D2 available (and a lot more), it seems to fit.
  - fearedbliss 3y ago
    Lol you are funny. I'm having fun reading everyone's comments on the theory of how the name came to be.
- gertlex 3y ago
  Just musing, but I can definitely picture a D2-art-style cactus, and haven't played in 15 years or so...
- johnloeber 3y ago
  As a former D2 player, I don't think so.
  - Solvency 3y ago
    I don't remember it being relevant either. Honestly kind of a huge creative miss to not use SOMETHING from the game lord/items.
    - fearedbliss 3y ago
      Sometimes the name an author gives to a project doesn't need to be related to the thing itself, but can be a name inspired by other life factors. In this case I decided to call it Cactus.
- Medea 3y ago
  You can find cacti in act 2: http://classic.battle.net/images/battle/diablo2exp/images/maps/act2/RockyWaste.jpg http://classic.battle.net/images/battle/diablo2exp/images/ma...
EchoChamberMan 3y ago
The long tail on this game is absolutely amazing and should be an example to others.
- treme 3y ago
  good ol' days when Blizzard wasn't a public company that needed a way to generate on going revenue via some sort of game pass system.
- cortesoft 3y ago
  > should be an example to others. I am curious to know what sort of example it should be, and to whom. Video game developers and publishers will look at this as an example of leaving money on the table, since people continue to enjoy the game without having to pay them any more money. Yes, the tail is long, but it doesn't end up with more money for the game company so they will see it as waste.
  - EchoChamberMan 3y ago
    They've sold it continuously over the last 20+ years, and continue to do so. I bought a copy this past year to try out Project Diablo 2[A], my second or third purchase of it, personally. They remastered it and sold that too, while selling D2, side by side. I also bought that to play with a friend. Quality sells. It should be an example to all companies that a game made with passion can produce money for a long time. Diablo 2 was also one of the games that launched Blizzard into the stratosphere of popularity (which can be turned into wealth directly and indirectly). Awards. Prestige. The obsession with cash is out of control. It might actually be a fat tail, if that's a thing, given how long it's been selling.[B] In fact, blizzard has probably made more money on me from D2, than D3, which I bought once, and I have not purchased D4 for a number of reasons. [A] https://www.projectdiablo2.com/ https://www.projectdiablo2.com/ - a lot of fun [B] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_II#Sales https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_II#Sales [Edit] Wait, what exactly is a waste? Not charging a rent? aka a subscription?
    - sharken 3y ago
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
ecshafer 3y ago
There are some really great mods for Diablo 2. Project Diablo 2 is mod with an active online community that has a season system, plus new abilities and balancing. Its a fantastic mod. Some others exist like Path of Diablo.
- RainaRelanah 3y ago
  PD2 is absolutely amazing. Season 9 is estimated to be released in a few weeks to a month. If any of you are D2 fans, you simply must try it. I've purchased several copies of D2R and it pales in comparison. Do note that we are currently in a crafting league (a non-standard gameplay mode). If you try the game, you'll need to do it in single player and downgrade to s8[0], or wait until s9 is released. 0. https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectDiablo2/s/o2hkXE6mue https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectDiablo2/s/o2hkXE6mue
StillBored 3y ago
This is the first time I've heard running windows in an internet restricted sense as a "dark island" but I like it. I've been doing something similar for quite a while, by default blocking windows machines from having internet access, except for a tiny subset of programs. A dark island with a boat dock if you will. Turns out its a real PITA with "modern software" much of which can't even install itself without internet access and programs that actually provide self contained installers becoming fewer and fewer.
- csdreamer7 3y ago
  Yep. GOG is one of the few places you can get old school offline installers for new and old games. https://www.gog.com/ https://www.gog.com/
  - Unfrozen0688 3y ago
    GoG is really great, especially sice old games are patched and working to modern Windows systems usually. They have some good sales going now too.
- hnben 3y ago
  I wonder if his Dark Island Strategy would also work for lan-multiplayer, or maybe even steam-multiplayer (maybe via steamemu?). Maybe it's enough to setup some good firewall rules before starting.
  - fearedbliss 3y ago
    It would work for lan gaming since you are within your network, but not for Steam since Steam essentially is a form of DRM and you'll need to "check in" eventually. I know Steamworks is their actual DRM library and that developers can decide if they want to use it or not, but Steam essentially made DRM flourish in the industry. As much as I love Valve and the games they've made early on, they definitely have hurt the industry in this respect.
- fearedbliss 3y ago
Sakos 3y ago
> However, since Cactus is written in C#, it behaves as a native Windows application and allows it to integrate natively with the system. On the other hand, Bliss Version Switcher was written in Java and there were many limitations that lead to the Cactus rewrite. I have no idea what any of that means that or why a rewrite from Java to C# was necessary. It's also unfortunate, because C# GUI applications can be a real pita to run on Linux (particularly my Steam Deck).
- fearedbliss 3y ago
  Cactus and Diablo I / II were exclusively made for Windows (even though I use FreeBSD as my primary OS, and used to be a Gentoo Linux developer). Thus I wanted full and seamless integration with the OS that the game was originally made for. Since Diablo II can run on UNIX-like systems through Wine (fairly well - at least for the Vanilla game, not too sure how mods would interact given specific uses of OS behavior, hard to say without actually testing every single mod made), and also because all of the Cactus platforms are self contained and independent (even independent from Cactus itself), it would be easy for someone to implement a Cactus like type of system on UNIX-like systems. You would just need to do the same file switching that Cactus does, and update the "registry" which would actually be located in a WINEPREFIX. I will leave that exercise for someone else since I'm just interested in maintaining Cactus on Windows 7 and Windows 10 exclusively.
Unfrozen0688 3y ago
>Due to Microsoft mandating people to have an online connection and a Microsoft account for Windows 11 (at the OOBE stage), any version over Windows 10 will not be supported. No they don't, bullshit. I agree with the sentiment that MS should just have a button but don't lie like this. I mean it's hidden, but there is a sign in method or OOBE\BYPASSNRO or burn the ISO with Rufus. https://www.ghacks.net/2023/01/26/how-to-bypass-the-microsoft-account-requirement-during-windows-setup/ https://www.ghacks.net/2023/01/26/how-to-bypass-the-microsof... Use the email address no@thankyou.com. Type any password on the next screen. Windows will display "Oops, something went wrong" on the next screen. Clicking Next opens a screen that allows you to create a local account.
- BlueTemplar 3y ago
  We shouldn't have to jump through Microsoft's hoops that might or might not work. I wouldn't support any Windows version other than 7 (and even that one, only for legacy software). (Not to mention that Windows 11 requires specific hardware : a "Trusted Platform Module", which comes with its own ethical can of worms, and which the previous generation of desktop AMD processors doesn't have.)
  - Unfrozen0688 3y ago
    I agree. But 7 is outright dangerous to have internet connected, I hope you are not using it or recommending others to use Win7 my god. The TPM shit can also be bypassed but yes I don't like it either.
    - BlueTemplar 3y ago
      Why wouldn't I use it (for games) ? BTW Microsoft still does monthly security updates for it.
      - Unfrozen0688 3y ago
        No ESU has ended. https://www.zdnet.com/article/say-goodbye-to-windows-7-as-microsoft-ends-extended-support/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/say-goodbye-to-windows-7-as-mi...
mapcars 3y ago
It's nice to see as a pet project but really D2 is just too old in every single way. At this point you could have just joined some game studio and help making a modern aprg.
- stuartjohnson12 3y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4693920 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4693920
  - mapcars 3y ago
    If PG doesn't like my comment he can delete it or ban me. I am saying what I am thinking based on my experience with arpgs. Sure this tool would be useful for some, and I know there are people still modding the game, running seasonal ladders and so on trying to keep it up for some time. And with all respect to the original it's time to move on and clearly this person has skills and passion so I suggest a way use it.
    - fearedbliss 3y ago
      I love the original Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 and I don't want to work on newer stuff. It's like saying "Why you still playing Chess? That game is like 1500 years old". Sometimes you need to do what you love, it doesn't matter what other people think or do. Enjoy your own life and do what you like. Simple as that.
      - mapcars 3y ago
        I don't fully agree with a chess analogy, because chess has certain completeness and perfection to it so there isn't really much to improve or innovate on. Where arpgs went a long way (paved by D1 and D2) in terms of user friendliness, content, entertainment and so on. One example that you know for sure is that respecs were not in the first versions of D2 and were added later in a limited form of quest reward and later on became farmable items in unlimited quantities and is a universally accepted improvement which all other arpgs do today. And of course you enjoy what you do, my suggestion is to iterate on that, not to remove that aspect. This tool is a job well done from what I can see anyway.
IE6 3y ago
Thanks - I actually used cactus and llama years ago when I got interested in playing diablo 2 again and it was really cool to try out the older versions of the game and to play around with the larger stash. Curious - I remember thinking about this a few times after using it - I don't see the binaries in git anymore, was this done for performance reasons or did Blizzard reach out?
- fearedbliss 3y ago
  Yup it was a combination of factors, but nothing legal related, Blizzard didn’t reach out. It was easier for me to maintain and provide a better experience by just hosting the main file archive itself on my server directly since all of the binaries live there anyways. I use GitHub primarily as a markdown rendering frontend for the project. Of course the Cactus Core itself is publicly available and the source code can be found at the https://github.com/fearedbliss/Cactus-Core https://github.com/fearedbliss/Cactus-Core page. Edit: By “llama” I’m guessing you mean Alpaca (my simple stash extension based on PlugY 11.02)?

108 points by fearedbliss 3y ago

Solvency 3y ago

Is there some significance to the word cactus in D2?

washadjeffmad 3y ago
I don't know whether this the reason, but the project is 1) written in C# and 2) cactuses have an enduring spirit. For a project that aims to make all version of D2 available (and a lot more), it seems to fit.
- fearedbliss 3y ago
  Lol you are funny. I'm having fun reading everyone's comments on the theory of how the name came to be.
gertlex 3y ago
Just musing, but I can definitely picture a D2-art-style cactus, and haven't played in 15 years or so...
johnloeber 3y ago
As a former D2 player, I don't think so.
- Solvency 3y ago
  I don't remember it being relevant either. Honestly kind of a huge creative miss to not use SOMETHING from the game lord/items.
  - fearedbliss 3y ago
    Sometimes the name an author gives to a project doesn't need to be related to the thing itself, but can be a name inspired by other life factors. In this case I decided to call it Cactus.
Medea 3y ago
You can find cacti in act 2: http://classic.battle.net/images/battle/diablo2exp/images/maps/act2/RockyWaste.jpg http://classic.battle.net/images/battle/diablo2exp/images/ma...

EchoChamberMan 3y ago

The long tail on this game is absolutely amazing and should be an example to others.

treme 3y ago
good ol' days when Blizzard wasn't a public company that needed a way to generate on going revenue via some sort of game pass system.
cortesoft 3y ago
> should be an example to others. I am curious to know what sort of example it should be, and to whom. Video game developers and publishers will look at this as an example of leaving money on the table, since people continue to enjoy the game without having to pay them any more money. Yes, the tail is long, but it doesn't end up with more money for the game company so they will see it as waste.
- EchoChamberMan 3y ago
  They've sold it continuously over the last 20+ years, and continue to do so. I bought a copy this past year to try out Project Diablo 2[A], my second or third purchase of it, personally. They remastered it and sold that too, while selling D2, side by side. I also bought that to play with a friend. Quality sells. It should be an example to all companies that a game made with passion can produce money for a long time. Diablo 2 was also one of the games that launched Blizzard into the stratosphere of popularity (which can be turned into wealth directly and indirectly). Awards. Prestige. The obsession with cash is out of control. It might actually be a fat tail, if that's a thing, given how long it's been selling.[B] In fact, blizzard has probably made more money on me from D2, than D3, which I bought once, and I have not purchased D4 for a number of reasons. [A] https://www.projectdiablo2.com/ https://www.projectdiablo2.com/ - a lot of fun [B] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_II#Sales https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_II#Sales [Edit] Wait, what exactly is a waste? Not charging a rent? aka a subscription?
  - sharken 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

ecshafer 3y ago

There are some really great mods for Diablo 2. Project Diablo 2 is mod with an active online community that has a season system, plus new abilities and balancing. Its a fantastic mod. Some others exist like Path of Diablo.

RainaRelanah 3y ago
PD2 is absolutely amazing. Season 9 is estimated to be released in a few weeks to a month. If any of you are D2 fans, you simply must try it. I've purchased several copies of D2R and it pales in comparison. Do note that we are currently in a crafting league (a non-standard gameplay mode). If you try the game, you'll need to do it in single player and downgrade to s8[0], or wait until s9 is released. 0. https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectDiablo2/s/o2hkXE6mue https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectDiablo2/s/o2hkXE6mue

StillBored 3y ago

This is the first time I've heard running windows in an internet restricted sense as a "dark island" but I like it. I've been doing something similar for quite a while, by default blocking windows machines from having internet access, except for a tiny subset of programs. A dark island with a boat dock if you will. Turns out its a real PITA with "modern software" much of which can't even install itself without internet access and programs that actually provide self contained installers becoming fewer and fewer.

csdreamer7 3y ago
Yep. GOG is one of the few places you can get old school offline installers for new and old games. https://www.gog.com/ https://www.gog.com/
- Unfrozen0688 3y ago
  GoG is really great, especially sice old games are patched and working to modern Windows systems usually. They have some good sales going now too.
hnben 3y ago
I wonder if his Dark Island Strategy would also work for lan-multiplayer, or maybe even steam-multiplayer (maybe via steamemu?). Maybe it's enough to setup some good firewall rules before starting.
- fearedbliss 3y ago
  It would work for lan gaming since you are within your network, but not for Steam since Steam essentially is a form of DRM and you'll need to "check in" eventually. I know Steamworks is their actual DRM library and that developers can decide if they want to use it or not, but Steam essentially made DRM flourish in the industry. As much as I love Valve and the games they've made early on, they definitely have hurt the industry in this respect.
fearedbliss 3y ago

Sakos 3y ago

> However, since Cactus is written in C#, it behaves as a native Windows application and allows it to integrate natively with the system. On the other hand, Bliss Version Switcher was written in Java and there were many limitations that lead to the Cactus rewrite. I have no idea what any of that means that or why a rewrite from Java to C# was necessary. It's also unfortunate, because C# GUI applications can be a real pita to run on Linux (particularly my Steam Deck).

fearedbliss 3y ago
Cactus and Diablo I / II were exclusively made for Windows (even though I use FreeBSD as my primary OS, and used to be a Gentoo Linux developer). Thus I wanted full and seamless integration with the OS that the game was originally made for. Since Diablo II can run on UNIX-like systems through Wine (fairly well - at least for the Vanilla game, not too sure how mods would interact given specific uses of OS behavior, hard to say without actually testing every single mod made), and also because all of the Cactus platforms are self contained and independent (even independent from Cactus itself), it would be easy for someone to implement a Cactus like type of system on UNIX-like systems. You would just need to do the same file switching that Cactus does, and update the "registry" which would actually be located in a WINEPREFIX. I will leave that exercise for someone else since I'm just interested in maintaining Cactus on Windows 7 and Windows 10 exclusively.

Unfrozen0688 3y ago

>Due to Microsoft mandating people to have an online connection and a Microsoft account for Windows 11 (at the OOBE stage), any version over Windows 10 will not be supported. No they don't, bullshit. I agree with the sentiment that MS should just have a button but don't lie like this. I mean it's hidden, but there is a sign in method or OOBE\BYPASSNRO or burn the ISO with Rufus. https://www.ghacks.net/2023/01/26/how-to-bypass-the-microsoft-account-requirement-during-windows-setup/ https://www.ghacks.net/2023/01/26/how-to-bypass-the-microsof... Use the email address no@thankyou.com. Type any password on the next screen. Windows will display "Oops, something went wrong" on the next screen. Clicking Next opens a screen that allows you to create a local account.

BlueTemplar 3y ago
We shouldn't have to jump through Microsoft's hoops that might or might not work. I wouldn't support any Windows version other than 7 (and even that one, only for legacy software). (Not to mention that Windows 11 requires specific hardware : a "Trusted Platform Module", which comes with its own ethical can of worms, and which the previous generation of desktop AMD processors doesn't have.)
- Unfrozen0688 3y ago
  I agree. But 7 is outright dangerous to have internet connected, I hope you are not using it or recommending others to use Win7 my god. The TPM shit can also be bypassed but yes I don't like it either.
  - BlueTemplar 3y ago
    Why wouldn't I use it (for games) ? BTW Microsoft still does monthly security updates for it.
    - Unfrozen0688 3y ago
      No ESU has ended. https://www.zdnet.com/article/say-goodbye-to-windows-7-as-microsoft-ends-extended-support/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/say-goodbye-to-windows-7-as-mi...

mapcars 3y ago

It's nice to see as a pet project but really D2 is just too old in every single way. At this point you could have just joined some game studio and help making a modern aprg.

stuartjohnson12 3y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4693920 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4693920
- mapcars 3y ago
  If PG doesn't like my comment he can delete it or ban me. I am saying what I am thinking based on my experience with arpgs. Sure this tool would be useful for some, and I know there are people still modding the game, running seasonal ladders and so on trying to keep it up for some time. And with all respect to the original it's time to move on and clearly this person has skills and passion so I suggest a way use it.
  - fearedbliss 3y ago
    I love the original Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 and I don't want to work on newer stuff. It's like saying "Why you still playing Chess? That game is like 1500 years old". Sometimes you need to do what you love, it doesn't matter what other people think or do. Enjoy your own life and do what you like. Simple as that.
    - mapcars 3y ago
      I don't fully agree with a chess analogy, because chess has certain completeness and perfection to it so there isn't really much to improve or innovate on. Where arpgs went a long way (paved by D1 and D2) in terms of user friendliness, content, entertainment and so on. One example that you know for sure is that respecs were not in the first versions of D2 and were added later in a limited form of quest reward and later on became farmable items in unlimited quantities and is a universally accepted improvement which all other arpgs do today. And of course you enjoy what you do, my suggestion is to iterate on that, not to remove that aspect. This tool is a job well done from what I can see anyway.

IE6 3y ago

Thanks - I actually used cactus and llama years ago when I got interested in playing diablo 2 again and it was really cool to try out the older versions of the game and to play around with the larger stash. Curious - I remember thinking about this a few times after using it - I don't see the binaries in git anymore, was this done for performance reasons or did Blizzard reach out?

fearedbliss 3y ago
Yup it was a combination of factors, but nothing legal related, Blizzard didn’t reach out. It was easier for me to maintain and provide a better experience by just hosting the main file archive itself on my server directly since all of the binaries live there anyways. I use GitHub primarily as a markdown rendering frontend for the project. Of course the Cactus Core itself is publicly available and the source code can be found at the https://github.com/fearedbliss/Cactus-Core https://github.com/fearedbliss/Cactus-Core page. Edit: By “llama” I’m guessing you mean Alpaca (my simple stash extension based on PlugY 11.02)?