Unofficial patch

An unofficial patch is a non-commercial patch for a piece of software, created by a user community instead of the original developer. Similar to an ordinary patch, it alleviates bugs or shortcomings. Unofficial patches do not usually change the intended usage of the software, in contrast to other third-party software adaptions such as mods or cracks.

Motivation

A common motivation for the creation of unofficial patches is missing technical support by the original software developer or provider. Reasons may include:

  • the software product reached its defined end-of-life[1] and/or was superseded by a successor product (planned obsolescence)[2]
  • the software was originally designed to operate in a substantially different environment and may require improvement/optimization (porting)
  • the developer has gone out of business and is not available anymore (abandonware)[3]
  • support is not economically viable (e.g. localization for small markets)
  • a fast solution for a time critical problem (e.g. security holes) when an official one takes too long[4][5][6]
  • the official developer is unable to cope with the problems[7]

Types

In the computer game domain, where unofficial patches are most common, unofficial patches are also sometimes called Fan patches, especially if produced by an individual person. Combined patches, including the work of several developers and authors from the community, are also called Community Patch. They are aiming typical for critical bugs in the program flow which could lead to program crashes and technical compatibility fixes, e.g. for newer operating systems, increased display resolutions[8][9] or new display formats.

While unofficial patches are most common for the PC platform, they are also existing for console games e.g. in context of the emulation community.[10]

Translations

As another kind of unofficial patches are fan translations of software, especially games, to local languages.[11] Fan translations are most common for Japanese role-playing games which are often not localized for Western markets.[12][13]

Another variant of unofficial patches are slipstream like patches which combine official patches together, which are only available online or as small incremental patches.

Methods

The most common case is that the source code and the original development tools are not available for the software. Therefore, the faulty software's binary must be analyzed at run time by reverse engineering and debugging. If the problem is found, a fix to the program must be applied. Sometimes only small changes in configuration files or the registry are required, sometimes binary hacks on the executable itself are required to fix bugs. If a software development kit (e.g. for modding) is available, fixes to the content can be easily produced, otherwise the community would need to create their own tools. These found fixes are typically packed to user deployable patches (e.g. with NSIS, Innosetup).

If the source code is available, support can by provided most effectively. Sometimes the source code is released intentionally,[14][15][16] sometimes by leaking[17][18][19] or mistake,[20] such as what happened with the game engine of the Thief series.[21][22] Sometimes fans even completely reverse-engineer source code from the original program binary.[23] With the source code available even the support of completely different but recent platforms with source ports becomes possible.

Law

While court cases directly involving unofficial patches are not existing, there were similar cases in court. The case of Galoob v. Nintendo found that it was not copyright infringement by a user to apply an unauthorized patch to a system (while the scope was very specific to the Game Genie). On the other hand, the case Micro Star v. FormGen Inc. found that user-generated maps were derivative works of the original game. In Sega v. Accolade, the 9th Circuit held that making copies in the course of reverse engineering is a fair use, when it is the only way to get access to the "ideas and functional elements" in the copyrighted code, and when "there is a legitimate reason for seeking such access". According to Copyright law of the United States 17 U.S. Code § 117, the owner of a copy of a program can modify it as necessary for "Maintenance or Repair",[24] without permission from the copyright holder; an argumentation also raised by Daniel J. Bernstein professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.[25] Similar user rights are given also according to European copyright laws. The question if and which copyright holder unauthorized changes of lawfully obtained software are fair and beneficial, is a long-standing debate among academic scholars.[26] An article of Helbraun law firm remarks in the context of fan translations that redistributing complete games with adaptions most likely does not fall under fair use, but in patch form it might fall under fair use, while this was never tested in court.[27]

Reception

Reception of unofficial patches is mixed, but by large, copyright holders are ambivalent. When the software is not considered commercially viable unofficial patches are ignored by the copyright holder as it is not seen as a source of lost revenue.[11][28] There have been seldom cases of cease and desist letters to unofficial patch and fan translation projects.[29][30]

Sometimes the copyright holder actively support the patching and fixing efforts of a software community,[31] sometimes even by releasing the source code under a software license which allows the software community the continued software support by themselves.[16][14][15][32][33][34] Examples for such software are in the List of commercial video games with later released source code.

The free and open source software movement was founded in the 1980s to solve the underlying problem of unofficial patches, the limited possibility for user self-support in binary only distributed software due to missing source code. Free and open source software demands from distributed software the availability of source code, which prevents the technical problems and legal uncertainties of binary only user patching of proprietary software.

Examples in video games

Computer gameType
AnachronoxBug fix patch[35]
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick ObscuraBug fix patch,[36] fan translation
Battlezone IIBug fix patch[37][38][39]
Civilization IVBug fixes and extensions,[40] (with SDK source code[41][42] and accessible XML configuration and Python files)[43]
Civilization VBug fixes and extensions (based on source code)[44][45][46]
Chrono TriggerFan translation, bug fix patch[47]
Command & ConquerBug fix patch, resolution fixes, added support for language packs[8][48][49]
The Elder Scrolls DaggerfallBug fix patch,[50] fan translation
Dark Souls IIBug fixes[51]
Deadly Premonition: The Director's CutResolution fix[9]
Ecco the DolphinBug fixes, ports for newer OSes[52][53]
E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialBug fixes[54][55]
Fallout 2Bug fix patch,[56] resolution fixes
Fallout 4Bug fix patch[57][58][59]
FreelancerBug fix patch[60]
Galactic Civilizations IIScript corrections, corrections of database mistakes, engine fixes[31]
Gothic 3Bug fix patch[7][33][61]
Infinity Engine (Baldur's gate series, Icewind Dale etc.)Bug fix patch, resolution fixes[62]
IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Doverfix mod based on source code (which later became an official release as "Blitz Edition")[63]
Jagged Alliance 2 (now JA2-Stracciatella)Bug fix patch, resolution fixes, ports[64][65][66][67][68][69]
Legacy of Kain seriesBug fix patch[70][71][72]
LucasArts adventures (Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, etc.)Fan translation[73]
Master of MagicFan patch[74][75][76]
Master of Orion 3Fan translation,[77] bug fix
MinecraftFan fixes implemented to latest patches[78][79][80]
MVP Baseball 2005Fixes, support continuation[81][82][83]
Nier: AutomataResolution fixes, performance fix[84]
Nuclear ThroneVarious bug-fixes for co-op mode, as well as addition of online co-op[85][86]
Paradroidbug fixes, speed fixes[87]
The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimBug fix patch,[88][89] translation fixes[90]
RollcageBug fix patch[91]
Silent Hunter II / Destroyer CommandBug fix patch (Ubisoft endorsed with source code)[16][92][93][94]
Star OceanFan translation[12]
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith LordsBug fixes,[95][96] restored content,[97] widescreen support[98]
Supreme CommanderBug fixes, multiplayer client and server replacement (Server emulator)[99][100][101][102]
Dark Engine (Thief 1, Thief 2, System Shock 2)Bug fix patch[21][22][103]
Titan QuestBug fix patch[104][105]
Ultima seriesBug fix patch,[106] fan translation
Ultima 4Bug fix patch, remaster[107][108]
Vampire: The Masquerade – BloodlinesBug fix patch, restored content, widescreen and modern OS support[109][110][111]
XenonautsBug fix patch and support continuation[112][113]

Examples in general software

SoftwareType
3dfx driversdriver fixes, continued support[114][115]
Adobe Acrobatfast security fix[116]
Socket 7 boards' Award BIOS32GB+ HDD support, AMD K6-2/3+ support[117][118][119]
Javafast security fix[120]
Windows 7, Windows 8unlocking of hardware support[121]
Windows 98Slipstream patch, Bug fix patch,[1][122] support for harddrives > 137GB,[123] support for 2k API[124][125][126]
Windows XPUpdate pack[127][128]
Internet Explorerfast security fix[129]
Nvidia nForce Chipset Device driverSupport for older Chipsets on newer Windows OSs[130][131][132]
Palm PreFunctionality extension[133]
Windows Metafile formatfast security fix[4][5][6]
Windows URI problemfast security fix[134]
Mac OS X 10.3Daylight saving time patch[135]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Dirscherl, Hans-Christian (2005-11-29). "Nicht tot zu kriegen: Win 98 Service Pack 2.1" (in German). PCWelt.de. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
  2. ↑ Cassia, Fernando (2007-03-28). "Open Source, the only weapon against "planned obsolescence"". theinquirer.net. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  3. ↑ g4tv staff (2011-05-30). "The Lost History of System Shock". g4tv.com. Retrieved 2012-05-30. Looking Glass Studios closed in 2000, a year after System Shock 2's release, and the copyright to the series went into the hands of an insurance company. That left EA with only the System Shock name, but no actual development rights.
  4. 1 2 Naraine, Ryan (2006-01-04). "IT Security & Network Security News - Another Unofficial WMF Patch Released". eweek.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07. Security vendor ESET, makers of the NOD32 anti-virus program, on Wednesday shipped an interim patch for the bug, almost a week before Microsoft Corp. is scheduled to release a properly tested security update.
  5. 1 2 Espiner, Tom (2006-01-06). "Firms urged to use unauthorised Windows patch". ZDNet.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  6. 1 2 CNN Staff (2006-01-03). "Huge virus threat rocks Microsoft". CNNmoney. Retrieved 2012-01-29. Because of the severity of the threat, the SANS Institute, a computer security group, has released a patch for the vulnerability until Microsoft's fix is available next week.
  7. 1 2 Sebayang, Andreas (2009-03-23). "Gothic 3 Community Patch soll fast alle Fehler beheben - mehr als 700 Veränderungen im letzten Community Patch" (in German). Golem.de. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  8. 1 2 Sebayang, Andreas (2008-05-27). "High-Res-Patch für Command & Conquer 95 - Klassiker lässt sich nun in höherer Auflösung spielen" (in German). Golem.de. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  9. 1 2 Moore, Bo (2013-11-19). "Is Your Game Crap? This Fan Will Fix It for You". Wired. Retrieved 2014-01-25. Thoman had uploaded “DPfix 0.1 alpha,” a patch that allowed Deadly Premonition players to manually adjust the game’s resolution. [...] The most recent DPfix release fixed pixel offset errors that occurred at higher resolutions, fixed anti-aliasing when it was not being correctly applied, added improved depth-of-field effects, and added an option for screen space ambient occlusion.
  10. ↑ "Hacks - Bugfix". romhacking.net. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  11. 1 2 Löding, Torge (2003-09-09). "Infogrames toleriert Fan-Übersetzung für Master of Orion 3" (in German). heise.de. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  12. 1 2 Parkin, Simon (2008-12-26). "You Say Tomato: A Pro on Fan-Translating Nintendo's Mother 3". gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  13. ↑ Szczepaniak, John (June 2006). "Japanese ROM Translation". Retro Gamer. 25: 102–105.
  14. 1 2 Wen, Howard (2004-06-10). "Keeping the Myths Alive". linuxdevcenter.com. Retrieved 2012-12-22. [...]fans of the Myth trilogy have taken this idea a step further: they have official access to the source code for the Myth games. Organized under the name MythDevelopers, this all-volunteer group of programmers, artists, and other talented people devote their time to improving and supporting further development of the Myth game series.
  15. 1 2 Largent, Andy (2003-10-08). "Homeworld Source Code Released". insidemacgames.com. Retrieved 2012-11-24. With the release of Homeworld 2 for the PC, Relic Entertainment has decided to give back to their impressive fan community by releasing the source code to the original Homeworld.
  16. 1 2 3 Trotter, William (May 1, 2003). "Submarine marries Destroyer: The long vaunted union of SSI naval-sims is complete - thanks to fans". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2017-05-06. gave source code to subsim.com [...] a fund raising drive netted more than $7000 to jump-start Project Messerwetzer [...] Skilled volunteers and playtesters rallied to the call [...] a free 5MB to 6MB patch that will be finally polished and playtested. The original crippling flaw, multiplayer instability, has been dramatically minimized
  17. ↑ Bertolone, Giorgio (2011-03-12). "Interview with Kevin Klemmick - Lead Software Engineer for Falcon 4.0". Cleared-To-Engage. Archived from the original on 2011-03-18. Retrieved 2014-08-31. [C2E] In 2000 the source code of Falcon 4.0 leaked out and after that groups of volunteers were able to make fixes and enhancements that assured the longevity of this sim. Do you see the source code leak as a good or bad event? [Klemmick] "Absolutely a good event. In fact I wish I’d known who did it so I could thank them. I honestly think this should be standard procedure for companies that decide not to continue to support a code base."
  18. ↑ xray on github.com (August 2014)
  19. ↑ xray-16 on github.com
  20. ↑ Smith, Quintin (2010-12-14). "Dark Engine Source Code Found In A Bag". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2011-04-15. As of this weekend, Christmas has come early for the Through the Looking Glass community. A CD’s been discovered containing the source code for the Dark Engine, aka the engine used by Thief, Thief II and System Shock 2 (not to mention Irrational and Looking Glass’ cancelled cold war spy game Deep Cover).
  21. 1 2 Grayson, Nathan (2012-09-26). "Hooray! – System Shock 2, Thief 2 Get Usability Patches". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2012-11-16. Double Fine’s Chris Remo (via Kotaku) tweeted out word of the abruptly unearthed hunks of unofficial patching gold, pointing the way to a French forum called Ariane4ever.
  22. 1 2 "Le Corbeau" (2012-09-25). "Thief 2 V1.19 & System Shock 2 V2.4". ttlg.com. Retrieved 2012-11-10. This is an unofficial patch for Thief II: The Metal Age (T2) which updates the game from v1.18 to v1.19, providing improved support for modern hardware and correcting many known bugs.
  23. ↑ "Dune Dynasty". Dune Dynasty is a continuation of the classic real-time strategy game Dune II by Westwood Studios. It is not a remake. It builds upon the original game engine as reverse-engineered by the OpenDUNE project.
  24. ↑ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/117
  25. ↑ softwarelaw on cr.yp.to
  26. ↑ MODIFYING COPYRIGHTED SOFTWARE: ADJUSTING COPYRIGHT DOCTRINE TO ACCOMMODATE A TECHNOLOGY by Pamela Samuelson, Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law (1988)
  27. ↑ Reviewing the Questionable Legality of Fan-Made Translations of Video Games on helbraunlaw.com (accessed May 07, 2017)
  28. ↑ Boulette, Bryan (2007-12-07). "E3 - Front Mission Interview". rpgamer.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2011-04-03. […]we told Mr. Sakamoto that a fan translation had been done some years ago for Front Mission 1, and asked how he felt about such efforts. The producer replied that he actually found them very encouraging -- it's something the developers should be doing, but because they're not, the fans are doing it instead. He stated that he'd like to be able to give something back to the fans, and would like to thank personally each of the fans that worked on the translation.
  29. ↑ "Chrono Trigger Retranslation". chronocompendium.com. 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2011-04-03. As of May 9, 2009, the patch is no longer hosted due to a cease & desist letter from Square Enix.
  30. ↑ Adamczewski, David (2001-11-21). "Infogrames lässt Übersetzung von Civilization 3 untersagen" (in German). heise.de. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  31. 1 2 Community-based update to GalCiv 2 Ultimate Edition by MarvinKosh on September 25, 2014
  32. ↑ Bell, John (2009-10-01). "Opening the Source of Art". Technology Innovation Management Review. Retrieved 2012-12-30. [...]that no further patches to the title would be forthcoming. The community was predictably upset. Instead of giving up on the game, users decided that if Activision wasn't going to fix the bugs, they would. They wanted to save the game by getting Activision to open the source so it could be kept alive beyond the point where Activision lost interest. With some help from members of the development team that were active on fan forums, they were eventually able to convince Activision to release Call to Power II's source code in October of 2003.
  33. 1 2 Schramm, Peter (2010). "About MVG". madvulture.de. Archived from the original on 2011-03-26. Retrieved 2011-04-03. Being part of the “Community Patch Team” formed to fix the great but bug-baiten “Gothic 3″ game, Mad Vulture Games was taking care of major coordination work, 3D model fixing and lots of other work for the Gothic 3 Addon “Forsaken Gods” Enhanced Edition, also being the producing company.
  34. ↑ Blue Saga's Source Code Has Been Released by Matt Chelen on mmos.com (July 30, 2016)
  35. ↑ "Anachronox - inoffizieller Patch" (in German). pcgames.de. 2003-05-27. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  36. ↑ "Unofficial Arcanum Patch v091225 Released". gamebanshee.com. 2009-12-27. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  37. ↑ Battlezone Magazine Volume 1 Issue#5, p. 3 (online copy Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine.)
  38. ↑ battlezone-ii-its-alive-er-still on Rock, Paper, Shotgun (2009/09/08)
  39. ↑ matesfamily.org/bz2
  40. ↑ Civ4: Better AI on sourceforge.net "Major improvements to AI naval and air unit handling [...] Well over 100 bug fixes"
  41. ↑ Product_2K_Games_Firaxis_Release_Civ_IV_SDK on gamasutra.com
  42. ↑ civ4 downloads on 2kgames.com
  43. ↑ Kosak, Dave 'Fargo' (27 October 2005). "GameSpy: Civilization IV". GameSpy. pp. 1–3. 662218. Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
  44. ↑ civilization-v-dll-source-code-coming-with-fall-patch on forums.civfanatics.com (2012)
  45. ↑ Samuel Wicks (2016-04-26). "Wondrous: The Civilization V Community Patch Project". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. there’s another big new release expected, but it’s not an official expansion. It’s the Community Patch Project (CPP; to be named Vox Populi on release), a community-made mod that overhauls and improves a majority of the game’s systems in an attempt to make Civilization V the best game it possibly can be.
  46. ↑ Patrick Klepek (2017-04-26). "The Modders Who Decided to Overhaul the AI in 'Civilization V'". Vice.com. Community Patch was actually built upon another mod. Since development began in 2014, it's become its own thing, prompting a rebranding: Vox Populi. Besides improving upon the game's AI, Vox Populi tweaks the game's balance, and fixes bugs that were left behind after Firaxis moved on. [...]we have to respect them for giving us the source code, and that must have taken some courage
  47. ↑ Charisius, Manuel (2010-07-20). "Chrono Trigger deutsch" (in German). manuloewe.de. Archived from the original on 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  48. ↑ Smith, James E. (2010-02-22). "Command & Conquer retrospective part I - We take a look at the series that put RTS on the gaming map". www.mygaming.co.za. Retrieved 2011-04-12. Special Operations was unique to the Nintendo 64 and Playstation versions of the game, but the maps have since been extracted and included in unofficial fan patches.
  49. ↑ "Command & Conquer Gold: Project 1.06". Nyerguds. 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  50. ↑ theelderscrolls.wiwiland.net. "DaggerfallSetup". Retrieved 2011-02-25.
  51. ↑ Klepek, Patrick. "Annoying Dark Souls 2 Glitch Has Gone Unfixed For Nearly A Year". Kotaku. There’s no excuse for the durability bug to be part of Scholar of the First Sin. It’s not limited to the PC version, either. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions run at 60 frames-per-second. From Software and Bandai Namco have not yet responded to my request for comment. You might not be surprised to learn that fans have decided to rescue the game again, however. DS2fix removes the durability bug from the game, in addition to addressing a few other issues.
  52. ↑ Ecco PC - Fixed and Enhanced Edition on orcaserver.de
  53. ↑ True Fan Hack Stories: Ecco PC Fixed & Enhanced Edition on radiosega.net (August 2014)
  54. ↑ Baumgärtel, Tilman (2013-11-14). "Timothy Leary, der Games-Entwickler - Wie erhält man historische Computerspiele? Das Internet-Archive streamt Dutzende Klassiker" (in German). Die Zeit. Retrieved 2013-11-14. Beim Internet Archive ist nun nicht nur das Originalspiel [E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial] von 1982 zu finden, sondern auch eine Version, die seine schlimmsten Programmierfehler korrigiert.
  55. ↑ "Fixing E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600". Neocomputer. 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  56. ↑ Sines, Shawn (2008-01-08). "Fallout 2 Restoration Project". gamefront.com. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  57. ↑ Fallout 4's unofficial patch nukes dozens of bugs by Christopher Livingston on PC Gamer (April 24, 2016)
  58. ↑ Fallout 4's Unofficial Patch Tries To Fix Everything Bethesda Can't on kotaku.com.au by Alex Walker (Apr 26, 2016)
  59. ↑ Chalk, Andy (2016-07-11). "Fallout 4 Unofficial Patch runs into a bug even it cannot fix". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  60. ↑ Reindl, Walter (2004-06-29). "Freelancer - Großer Community-Patch erschienen" (in German). gamestar.de. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  61. ↑ Zandr (2014-04-20). "Release Gothic 3 v1.75 Update Pack". worldofplayers.de. Retrieved 2014-09-02. a new Gothic 3 Enhanced Edition v1.75 Update Pack (International)
  62. ↑ Bradshaw, Dave (2011-11-25). "Baldur's Gate II Fixpack". gibberlings3.net. Retrieved 2012-02-03. The BG2 Fixpack is a WeiDU compilation of fixes for Baldur's Gate II. […] This collaborative effort, including the work of modders from several different modding communities and assistance from BG2 lead writer David Gaider, has resulted in a fixpack that currently includes all of the fixes addressed by Baldurdash (including the Game Text Update) and several hundred new bugfixes. The project is ongoing, and we're working through a substantial list of bugs culled from various sites, the old Baldurdash forums, and our own research.
  63. ↑ Luke Plunkett (2018-02-28). "Mods Saved A Game, So They're Now An Official Product". kotaku.com.
  64. ↑ Ancheta, Justin (2012-06-01). "Bringing Good Old Games To Modern Macs". Inside Mac Games. Retrieved 2014-03-29. Jagged Alliance 2 [...] and maintains both a tutorial for getting GOG games to run on Mac OS X, and a list of games he has personally tested to work on Mac OS X through CrossOver, Wineskin, and open source ports.
  65. ↑ Mac Friendly GOG Games Jagged Alliance 2 [...] Source ports available at: http://ja2.monkeyphysics.com/home/osx, and at https://bitbucket.org/gennady/ja2-stracciatella/downloads
  66. ↑ OSX Stracciatella Port
  67. ↑ JA2 Stracciatella Feedback » Jagged Alliance 2 Android Stracciatella Port RC2 Release - please test Archived 2012-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. on the Bear's Pit Forum, October 3, 2011
  68. ↑ ja2-stracciatella on bitbucket.org
  69. ↑ Gennady (2013-03-04). "JA2-Stracciatella Continued". www.ja-galaxy-forum.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-06. Retrieved 2013-03-22. Update 2013-03-13: Added support for high video resolutions. For example, game can be started in 1024x768 mode like this: ja2.exe -res 1024x768. Any reasonable resolution should work. Some bugfixes from this forum have been integrated. [...]
  70. ↑ "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - XP-Patch" (in German). pcgames.de. 2004-02-12. Retrieved 2011-07-17.
  71. ↑ Raul, Cuban (2009-11-29). "Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain 2000/XP Update v2.0". comcast.net. Retrieved 2011-07-17.
  72. ↑ wrace (2010-12-03). "Bink-support for BO1 (Video-Patch)". nosgothica.org. Retrieved 2011-07-17. […]now you can play in BO1 under Windows-7 without any problems with video.
  73. ↑ Gantner, Michael (2010-12-23). "Lucasarts-Patches" (in German). gandimann.de. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
  74. ↑ Robert Stiehl (June 8, 2010). "Master of Magic: Fanpatch behebt KI-Mängel". gamersglobal.de. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
  75. ↑ kyrub (2011-10-24). "MoM insecticide patch (latest version) - 28/06/2012 Latest version here: MoM unofficial patch 1.40n". realmsbeyond.net. Retrieved 2012-07-14. What the Insecticide patch is all about? to make the MoM game as bug-free and as AI-challenging and as user-friendly as possible without modifying the content. The patch now features more than 200 bug-fixes, AI improvements and interface changes.
  76. ↑ New year, New Master of Magic! v1.5 fan patch on realmsbeyond.net
  77. ↑ Wiesner, Thorsten (2003-09-10). "Deutsche Fan-Übersetzung zu Master of Orion 3 ist fertig" (in German). golem.de. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  78. ↑ "ZipCode: Endportal Malfunction (Fixed Version: 1.6)".
  79. ↑ "ZipCode: Netherportal Malfunction (Fixed in 1.7)".
  80. ↑ "ZipCode: Inconsistent Timing Bug (Fixed in 1.8)".
  81. ↑ Nine Years Later, Latin America's Leagues Keep MVP Baseball Alive on Kotaku by Owen Good (12/22/13)
  82. ↑ Lindbergh, Ben (April 14, 2015). "'MVP Baseball … 2015'? How the Best Baseball Video Game Ever Has Refused to Retire for 10 Years". Grantland.com. Another factor in MVP’s favor: The game allows greater access to its innards than most titles. [...] 2K’s failure to match MVP’s approval rating despite several years of running unopposed on the PC market, made MVP the go-to game for modders even as it lost its looks relative to 2K and The Show. The community’s support peaked from 2005 through the first PC edition of 2K in 2009, tailed off for a time, and then ramped up again once Take-Two abandoned the PC market in 2013 and canceled 2K entirely last year. A decade of EA development made MVP the best baseball game on the PC market in 2005, and a decade of amateur development has helped it keep that title in 2015.
  83. ↑ Open-Source-Breathes-New-Life-Into-MVP-Baseball-2005-Video-Game on protecode.com by Sara Purdon (on Sep 15, 2015)
  84. ↑ Sherif Saed (March 23, 2017). "Modders fix Nier: Automata's resolution bug on PC, drastically improve frame-rate in unofficial patch". vg247.com.
  85. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (2016-06-25). "Nuclear Throne Mod Adds Online Co-op". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  86. ↑ Fenlon, Wes (2016-06-27). "Nuclear Throne online co-op mod is just as fast and deadly as playing offline". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  87. ↑ Paradroid Redux Project home page
  88. ↑ Sharkey, Mike (2012-03-14). "Unofficial Skyrim Patch Fixes Myriad Skyrim Bugs - Fan created uber patch designed to fix Skyrim's many problems". gamespy.com. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
  89. ↑ Quarn and Kivan (2013-08-20). "Unofficial Skyrim Patch Version: 1.3.3c". nexumods.com. Retrieved 2013-10-03. [...]the goal of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch (aka USKP) is to eventually fix every bug with Skyrim not officially resolved by the developers [...]Hundreds of gameplay, quest, NPC, object, item, text and placement bugs fixed already
  90. ↑ "Skyrim - Director's Cut" (in German). scharesoft.de. Archived from the original on 2012-11-13. Retrieved 2012-12-22. Die Erweiterung Skyrim - Director's Cut hat es sich zum Ziel gemacht, die deutsche Version von The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim so gut es geht zu verbessern. Vorrangig geht es darum, fehlende Übersetzungen nachzuholen und Texte und Begriffe so anzupassen, dass sie auch zu den vorherigen Teilen der Reihe passen. Mit dem beiliegenden inoffiziellen Skyrim-Patch werden zudem eine Vielzahl Fehler des eigentlichen Spiels, die die offiziellen Patches noch nicht korrigiert haben, behoben. Mit der Erweiterung könnt ihr außerdem alle englischsprachigen Texturen nun in deutscher Sprache vorfinden.
  91. ↑ Luke Reilly (2015-11-30). "Rollcage Spiritual Successor Grip Is a Blast from PlayStation's Forgotten Past". ign.com. former Attention to Detail programmer Robert Baker, who also still had a candle burning for Rollcage. Baker had been contacted by hardcore Rollcage fans asking for his help to keep Rollcage running on drastically newer PC hardware, 15 years down the track. “I can’t speak for other developers, but for myself, I’ve worked on a dozen games and Rollcage is the only game that I’ve personally supported after release,” says Baker. “I don’t hold the source code to many games as that belongs to the company that develops these games of course, but Rollcage was a bit different.”
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  102. ↑ You're in charge! - From vital patches to game cancellations, players are often intimately involved. by Christian Donlan on Eurogamer "The same thing happened at the end of last year, actually, when Supreme Commander fans released Forged Alliance Forever and gave the game the online client it could otherwise only dream of. I haven't played it much, but I still got a tear in my eye when I read about the extents these coders had gone to. There's nothing quite so wonderful to witness as love, and this is surely love of the very purest order." (2013-11-02)
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  112. ↑ "Community Coder Program!". goldhawkinteractive. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  113. ↑ "What is Xenonauts: Community Edition & how do I get it?". goldhawkinteractive.com. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  114. ↑ Treiber-Quellcode von 3dfx im Netz aufgetaucht - Von Nvidia offenbar geduldet by Christian Klaß on Golem.de (7 May 2003, in German)
  115. ↑ NuAngel.net Drivers on nuangel.net
  116. ↑ Leyden, John (2009-02-24). "Unofficial patch plugs 0-day Adobe security vuln. - Mind the gap". The Register. Retrieved 2013-07-09. Updated Security researchers have developed an unofficial patch for a zero-day Adobe Acrobat and Reader vulnerability that's become the subject of hacker attacks. Adobe acknowledged the vulnerability last week but said an official patch wouldn't be available until 11 March.
  117. ↑ These BIOSes are fixed to support HDDs over 32GB (up to 64GB) or over 64GB (up to 128GB) and are tested to work. by Ondrej Zary on rainbow-software.org
  118. ↑ Award BIOS Modifications by Petr Soucek on ryston.cz
  119. ↑ K6plus by Jan Steunebrink on inter.nl.net
  120. ↑ Kaplan, Dan (2012-08-27). "New Java exploit on the loose, unofficial patch may help". scmagazine.com. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
  121. ↑ DLL patch unlocks Windows 7, 8.1 updates on Ryzen, Kaby Lake by Gareth Halfacree on bit-tech.com (19th April 2017)
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  125. ↑ KernelEx by xeno86 Sourceforge.net
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  128. ↑ "Inoffizielle Patch-Pakete für Windows 2000 und XP (Update)" (in German). Golem.de. 2005-11-10. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
  129. ↑ "Another unofficial IE patch offered to counter critical flaw". Computer Weekly. 2006-03-30. Retrieved 2013-07-09. Another unofficial patch has been released to counter a critical flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser.
  130. ↑ Abazovic, Fuad (2006-11-17). "Nvidia cuts Vista support for Nforce 2 chipset - Fare thee well, old friend". www.theinquirer.net. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
  131. ↑ Fernando (2011-02-07). "XP: Optimized nForce Driver Packs". Archived from the original on 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2011-05-28. Many users with an nForce chipset mainboard, who are running or going to install Windows XP (32/64bit), are searching for actual nForce chipset drivers, which are suitable for their special chipset and will give them the best possible performance and stability of their system. NVIDIA itself doesn't offer them.
  132. ↑ AdvModDev (2008-01-13). "nForce 123/WinXP Chipset Drivers and Remixes". Retrieved 2011-05-28.
  133. ↑ Unofficial patch lets you hang up Palm Pre calls by closing the slider on engadget.com by Donald Melanson (10.19.09)
  134. ↑ Barwise, Mike (2007-10-16). "Unofficial patch for Windows URI problem". The H Security. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  135. ↑ Kennedy, Erik (2007-01-28). "An unofficial Daylight Saving Time fix for Mac OS X 10.3". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
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