Infinite Flashlight mod for F.E.A.R.

I've said before, I'm terrible at explaining technical details like this, but I'll try my best:
(Parts of the following are copy/pasted from comments I wrote years ago. Also, I haven't modded FEAR in years so none of this is fresh in my mind - I wanna apologize up front if some my advice is wrong or misremembered.)

Tools I used(I don't have links handy for any of these):
FEAR SDK
HxD Hex editor (free)
Ultra Edit (paid software) **
Ultra Compare (paid software, free with Ultra Edit) **
**(Ultra Edit/Compare have free alternatives. See the Notes section below.)**

**When doing the process below, back up your gamdb files(particularly a 'clean' one), take notes, and be patient.**

The way I modded the expansions was to compile an unmodified gamdb file for the base game using GDBEdit.exe from the SDK tools, open it in a hex editor and copy all the 1s and 0s into a text file. Then create a new gamb file, make ONE change, compiled it then open it in a hex editor and copy all the data into a second text file.

Then I opened each text file in Ultra Edit and set the line wraps at specific intervals(column mode) to 47(this gives you 16 rows, important for hex comparisons!). I then compared both files side by side in a program designed for comparing text files(I used Ultra Compare, free with Ultra Edit) to see which line the changes occur on and then search for and edit that line in the dlc gamdb files with a hex editor.

Using the process above you can edit all the basic stuff in the expansion gamb files(like ammo max carry, clip sizes, weapon dmg, etc.) as long the data/values are already present in the base game's gamb.

You can even edit values for the new dlc weapons too, even though they aren't in the base SDK. Honestly, it's easy, but hard to explain how...

Basically, the way the weapon data(or any other data) is stored in hex code is just a numeric representation of what you see in the editor(more or less.) So, in a hypothetical example, if in the editor the data for the weapons is listed in this order in a drop down list: Pistol, Shotgun, AR.... That's the order they'll be in in hex aswell.(Once you start editing multiple values that are within the same 'tree' in the editor, you'll start to pick up on this, quickly. If you keep playing with the weapons hex data long enough, you may eventually notice a specific hex value at the start of each weapon's data block. You can use this value to cycle through each weapon's data in the 'tree'. -- same thing goes for items. Basically, each drop down list in the editor has it's a unique hex value which you can use to cycle through each item in that specific drop down list, if you follow me.)

(Hint: Look for patterns. Once you know where say the Pistol clip size, Shotgun clip size, and AR clip size are in hex, look for repeating values above each. There should be unique line of hex somewhere behind the value(could be close, could be far away, gonna be hard to spot, ngl) Once you find it, you can Ctrl+F to search and cycle though the clip size value for the other weapons, including the dlc weapons. There should another repeating value near each weapon's max ammo, dmg, etc. These different repeating hex codes will always be a set distance away from their corresponding values.)

Notes:
**HxD(and possibly other hex editors) has built-in file compare features. So, strictly speaking, you may not need to use separate programs for file comparing.** -- The version of HxD I used while making this mod was really, really old so I didn't know this at first.

When pasting the raw hex in prep for comparing, you'll need a text editor that can set line wraps at specific intervals(column mode). You need rows of 16 for proper hex comparisons, like so:

00 11 00 11 00 11 00 11 00 11 00 11 00 11 00 11
11 00 11 00 11 00 11 00 11 00 11 00 11 00 11 00

I use UltraEdit for this which costs $$$. For a free alternative, you could try notepad++, sublime text or maybe open libre.

Also, don't use Diff-Merge for comparing the files. It crashes with large files. I use UltraCompare(free with UltraEdit). If you need a free program, you could try Win-Diff or Win-Merge. Maybe. (You need one with a 'go to conflict' feature that will allow you to see the lines above and below the conflict. This is important for searching for the proper line.)

That's about all I can remember. Good Luck!

PS: Here's some old stuff I found in private msg I wrote to someone a few years back. It may help you get started modding the dlcs. It's mostly useful so can find the offsets easier. You probably won't be interested in the changes(this wasn't for my mod, btw - just something I was doing for someone else's mod.) = Numbers on left are the offsets to search for, numbers on right are hex values on that line to change:

(How to use: in the example below, for making the flashlight battery infinite in Extraction Point:
Extract the Extraction Point gamdb file from the arch file, open it in a hex editor search for offset 0011BC90, and on that line change A0 41 to 00 00)

Don't forget: to see the changes to take effect in-game, you have to re-pack the gamdb file into an arch file and install it like any other mod and start a new game. (Just FYI for anyone reading all this and wants to try it out....)
===========================
<Previously Mapped Offsets>

<Extraction Point>
Gear:
0011BC90 -> A0 41 to 00 00 -> Infinte Flashlight
00082DA0 -> 0A to 05 -> Medkit Max: 5
00081AA0 -> 0C to 20 -> Light Armor: 40

Explosives:
00072C80 -> 05 to 0A -> Frag Grenades Max: 10

Weapons:
00083B90 -> SECOND 03 to 04 -> Weapon Slots: 4
00079660 -> F4 to 90 -> SMG Max Ammo: 400
000796A0 -> 0F to 19 -> SMG Pickup Ammo: 25
00092570 -> 2D to 28 -> Assault Rifle Clip Size: 40
00070E40 -> C2 to 40 -> Assault Rifle Max Ammo: 320
00070E80 -> 0F to 14 -> Assault Rifle Pickup Ammo: 20
0009F280 -> 19 to 1E -> Nailgun Max Ammo: 30
=============
<Perseus Mandate>
Gear:
001599C0 -> F0 41 to 00 00 -> Infinite Flashlight
000987E0 -> 0A to 05 -> Medkit Max: 5
000974D0 -> 0C to 20 -> Light Armor: 40

Explosives:
00086330 -> 05 to 0A -> Frag Grenades Max: 10

Weapons:
000995D0 -> SECOND 03 to 04 -> Weapon Slots: 4
0008DAD0 -> F4 to 90 -> SMG Max Ammo: 400
0008DB10 -> 0F to 19 -> SMG Pickup Ammo: 25
000AE240 -> 2D to 28 -> Assault Rifle Clip Size: 40
00084070 -> C2 to 40 -> Assault Rifle Max Ammo: 320
000840B0 -> 0F to 14 -> Assault Rifle Pickup Ammo: 20

I basically stopped working on this back in September, 2019 and haven't played FEAR since. To be honest, I'll probably never mod FEAR again as I no longer use the PC I made this mod with and some of the req. tools don't work on my other PCs - or they do work, but act strange.(I stripped my old PC for parts but I still have the HDD...)

To answer your question though - yes, it's absolutely possible to mod weapons in the DLCs using any hex editor. If you'd like to attempt it yourself, send me a PM and I'll write up a brief tutorial for you. ( It's super easy and requires ZERO prior knowledge of hex. I've helped a few people mod their own files via PMs - never got around actually posting a step-by-step tutorial, though )

Btw, I state this in the readme but anyone is free to further mod these files, or any mod I upload anywhere, and do whatever they wish with them(rework, rename, reupload, whatever) no permission or attribution required. ( If I still had my modified uncompiled game.db for the base game, I'd upload that too, but I never thought to save it. )

Yes, but I'll probably never do this myself. I no longer have my modified uncompiled game.db file for the base game so I'd have to rebuild the whole mod from scratch or, preferably, alter the value with a hex editor. If you'd like to do this yourself, PM me and I'll tell you how.

Sorry for late reply, I don't really do much modding anymore. Tell me specifically how you want slomo altered and I'll take a look at it.