3. Down and Dirty

Ok, actual-ish haxx!!! It's time to get into the game files. Now, you might point out here I could just use a network sniffing tool to see where it's phoning home to; sure, yes (and this does end up happening). However, I also want to see if I can edit my favorite character (Starch)'s secret skin to be even more epic than it already is... because admittedly I'm a bit disappointed that getting S+ on every level with at least one character just unlocks a funny skin for one specific character I do not play). So here we go!

Unity Decompiling

So, first, I downloaded the game onto my laptop because I haven't played a game not on the Steam Deck (or bullshit phone games, I do periodically go through what I call an "iPad Kid Game Phase") in well over a year now (cannot recommend that hardware enough, btw, if nothing else it is an emulation powerhouse). I launched it to the main menu of the game once to make sure everything file-wise was settled (this is good practice, for anyone interested in doing this sort of thing). I then closed it and browsed to the game files using the handy little right click link in steam. As soon as I opened the folder, I immediately recognized it as Unity from other games I've modded (it does have a file with Unity in the name, but still, the structure is the same).

I'd like to mention real quick before these screenies, I have been using Ubuntu for years now, and really come to hate windows. Every time I see another news story about dumb spyware shit, get interrupted by windows update, or grit my teeth that we only have end task and not kill, I am glad I have been on linux for a while now. If nothing else, dev work is a million times easier (especially for me, as I'm not a compsci, I just have a measly psych Master's). But I'm in Canada traveling with my wife right now, so only have one of my many ThinkPad T430 machines on me and it is on Windows 11. I switched to dark mode just to save your eyes! So:

THESE WILL BE UPLOADED WHEN I'M BACK FROM CANADA

File structure:

So some quick things.

• The .exe is, in a sense, the game itself. This is a bit of a stretch, though, because unlike a lot of applications it is a mere 624KB, which is less than 1MB, and about 1/2000th of a GigaByte. Essentially, it is just pointing at the rest of the game files, which are a hefty (lol)... 1.39GB. I think the latest Call of Duty was like 200GB??? I don't care enough to check right now. But don't forget the 2013 release date. It is shockingly pretty on max graphics settings, though.

...gotta nap. Will come back to this a bit later!!!