An unofficial patch, sometimes alternatively called community patch, is a patch for a piece of software, created by a third party such as a user community without the involvement 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.
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- the software product reached its defined end-of-life[1] and/or was superseded by a successor product (planned obsolescence)[2]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[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]
Unofficial patches are also sometimes called fan patches or community patches, and are typically intended to repair unresolved bugs and provide 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 can also be found for console games e.g. in context of the emulation community.[10]
Translations
Unofficial patches are not limited to technical fixes; fan translations of software, especially games, are often created if the software has not been released locally.[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, when individual patches are only available online or as small incremental updates.
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.
While no court cases have directly addressed the legal ramifications of unofficial patches, similar cases have been tried on related issues. 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 of whether unauthorized changes of lawfully obtained copyright-protected software qualify as fair use is an unsettled area of law.[26] An article of Helbraun law firm remarks, in the context of fan translations, that while redistributing complete games with adaptions most likely does not fall under fair use, distributing the modifications as a patch might be legally permissible; however, that conclusion has not been tested in court.[27]
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, 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.
More information Computer game, Type ...
| Computer game | Type |
|---|
| Anachronox | Bug fix patch[35] |
| Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome | Bug fixes, balance fixes, stability fixes, UI and sound improvements, resolution fixes including support for more higher definition resolutions[36] |
| Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura | Bug fix patch,[37] fan translation |
| Battlezone II | Bug fix patch[38][39][40] |
| Civilization IV | Bug fixes and extensions,[41] (with SDK source code[42][43] and accessible XML configuration and Python files)[44] |
| Civilization V | Bug fixes and extensions (based on source code)[45][46][47] |
| Chrono Trigger | Fan translation, bug fix patch[48] |
| Command & Conquer | Bug fix patch, resolution fixes, added support for language packs[8][49][50] |
| Dark Souls II | Bug fixes[51] |
| Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut | Resolution fix[9] |
| Ecco the Dolphin | Bug fixes, ports for newer OSes[52][53] |
| The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall | Bug fix patch,[54] fan translation |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Bug fix patch,[55][56] translation fixes[57] |
| Empire Earth 2 | Bug fixes, unhandled exception crash fixes, Windows 8 / 10 / 11 support, more screen resolutions (including 4k and the custom screen resolution generator), DirectX 9 support, G-Sync / FreeSync and high monitor refresh rate fixes, unlimited camera zoom settings, changed low-quality sounds, new options in game (e.g. more population, cycle time of day, disable crowns system and leaders), integrated language changer, integrated private multiplayer server and many more new features (fully customizable), frequently updated.[58] |
| E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Bug fixes[59][60] |
| Fallout 2 | Bug fixes,[61] resolution fixes |
| Fallout: New Vegas | Bug fixes,[62][63] stability and performance fixes (especially for modern systems)[64] |
| Fallout 4 | Bug fixes[65][66][67] |
| Freelancer | Bug fix patch[68] |
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | Engine, graphics and quality-of-life fixes[69] |
| Gothic 3 | Bug fix patch[7][33][70] |
| Infinity Engine (Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale etc.) | Bug fix patch, resolution fixes[71] |
| IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover | Fix mod based on source code (which later became an official release as "Blitz Edition")[72] |
| Jagged Alliance 2 (now JA2-Stracciatella) | Bug fix patch, resolution fixes, ports[73][74][75][76][77][78] |
| Jazz Jackrabbit 2 | Bug fixes, stability fixes, new features for client side and server side[79] |
| Legacy of Kain series | Bug fix patch[80][81][82] |
| LucasArts adventures (Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, etc.) | Fan translation[83] |
| Master of Magic | Fan patch[84][85][86] |
| Master of Orion 3 | Fan translation,[87] bug fix |
| Minecraft | Fan fixes implemented to latest patches[88][89][90] |
| MVP Baseball 2005 | Fixes, support continuation[91][92][93] |
| Nier: Automata | Resolution fixes, performance fix[94] |
| Nuclear Throne | Various bug-fixes for co-op mode, as well as addition of online co-op[95][96] |
| Paradroid | Bug fixes, speed fixes[97] |
| Rollcage | Bug fix patch[98] |
| Silent Hill 2 |
'Enhanced Edition' rehaul, including bug fixes, enhanced and remade graphic assets, full widescreen support, HD cutscenes, and numerous modern improvements[99] |
| Silent Hunter II / Destroyer Command | Bug fix patch (Ubisoft endorsed with source code)[16][100][101][102] |
| Star Ocean | Fan translation[12] |
| Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords | Bug fixes,[103][104] restored content,[105] widescreen support[106] |
| Supreme Commander | Bug fixes, multiplayer client and server replacement (Server emulator)[107][108][109][110] |
| Dark Engine (Thief 1, Thief 2, System Shock 2) | Bug fix patch[21][22][111] |
| Titan Quest | Bug fix patch[112][113] |
| Ultima series | Bug fix patch,[114] fan translation |
| Ultima 4 | Bug fix patch, remaster[115][116] |
| Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines | Bug fix patch, restored content, widescreen and modern OS support[117][118][119] |
| Xenonauts | Bug fix patch and support continuation |
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More information Software, Type ...
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g4tv staff (30 May 2011). "The Lost History of System Shock". g4tv.com. Retrieved 30 May 2012. 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.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CNN Staff (3 January 2006). "Huge virus threat rocks Microsoft". CNNmoney. Retrieved 29 January 2012. 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.
Moore, Bo (19 November 2013). "Is Your Game Crap? This Fan Will Fix It for You". Wired. Retrieved 25 January 2014. 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.
Wen, Howard (10 June 2004). "Keeping the Myths Alive". linuxdevcenter.com. Retrieved 22 December 2012. [...]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.
Largent, Andy (8 October 2003). "Homeworld Source Code Released". insidemacgames.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2012. 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.
Bertolone, Giorgio (12 March 2011). "Interview with Kevin Klemmick – Lead Software Engineer for Falcon 4.0". Cleared-To-Engage. Archived from the original on 18 March 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2014. [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."
xray on github.com (August 2014) Smith, Quintin (14 December 2010). "Dark Engine Source Code Found In A Bag". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 15 April 2011. 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).
Le Corbeau (25 September 2012). "Thief 2 V1.19 & System Shock 2 V2.4". ttlg.com. Retrieved 10 November 2012. 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.
"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.
Boulette, Bryan (7 December 2007). "E3 – Front Mission Interview". rpgamer.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011. […]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.
"Chrono Trigger Retranslation". chronocompendium.com. 9 May 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2011. As of May 9, 2009, the patch is no longer hosted due to a cease & desist letter from Square Enix.
Bell, John (1 October 2009). "Opening the Source of Art". Technology Innovation Management Review. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2012. [...]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.
Schramm, Peter (2010). "About MVG". madvulture.de. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011. 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.
"UPatch - Unofficial Patch for AoE RoR". 27 January 2017. The classic Age of Empires – revived in HD! This is the unofficial (HD) patch for Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome, a complete revamp of the original game – with HD resolution, HD quality interface graphics, hundreds of bug fixes, new gameplay options and many other enhancements.
Civ4: Better AI on sourceforge.net "Major improvements to AI naval and air unit handling [...] Well over 100 bug fixes" Samuel Wicks (26 April 2016). "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.
Patrick Klepek (26 April 2017). "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
Klepek, Patrick (15 April 2015). "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.
Quarn and Kivan (20 August 2013). "Unofficial Skyrim Patch Version: 1.3.3c". nexumods.com. Retrieved 3 October 2013. [...]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
"Skyrim – Director's Cut" (in German). scharesoft.de. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012. 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.
Bradshaw, Dave (25 November 2011). "Baldur's Gate II Fixpack". gibberlings3.net. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2012. 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.
Ancheta, Justin (1 June 2012). "Bringing Good Old Games To Modern Macs". Inside Mac Games. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 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.
Gennady (4 March 2013). "JA2-Stracciatella Continued". www.ja-galaxy-forum.com. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013. 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. [...]
"JJ2+ Mod for Jazz Jackrabbit 2". 11 May 2020. JJ2+ is a patch, with a lot of fixes for bugs and lots of new features, both clientside and serverside. [...] One major JJ2+ feature is the implementation of the AngelScript scripting language, which allows you to write your own scripts that manipulate various parts of the game and are run either by specific levels or by multiplayer servers.
Gantner, Michael (23 December 2010). "Lucasarts-Patches" (in German). gandimann.de. Retrieved 28 May 2011. Lindbergh, Ben (14 April 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.
Luke Reilly (30 November 2015). "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."
Scott Parrino (24 May 2003). "Behind the LInes #5". The Wargamer. Archived from the original on 30 November 2005. Retrieved 6 May 2017. Subsim Review served as the gathering place for Projekt Messerwetzer, the project that brought Silent Hunter II – Destroyer Command computability to full fruition
Projekt Messerwetzer "Silent Hunter II/Destroyer Command DirectPlay, Conversion and Multiplayer Upgrade, THIS UNOFFICIAL PATCH IS AUTHORIZED BY UBISOFT, HOWEVER, UBISOFT OFFERS NO SUPPORT." on subsim.com Hafer, T.J. (19 November 2012). "Community-made Forged Alliance Forever keeps Supreme Commander multiplayer alive". PC Gamer. Retrieved 28 August 2014. The official multiplayer servers for Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance have been decommissioned for a while now, but fortunately [...] the community-driven Forged Alliance Forever has emerged. The self-patching multiplayer client allows players of the epic real-time strategy title to continue blowing things up in massive quantities. It even adds new units, a new faction, and some game modes that weren't available on the official servers, such as 6v6.
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." (2 November 2013) Meer, Alec (15 July 2011). "Undying: Vampire Bloodlines Patched Anew". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. rockpapershotgun.com. Retrieved 2 August 2011. Bloodlines […] was essentially abandoned by its publisher after its developer closed a few months after release, but the fans have just kept on going, fixing things, improving things, digging up locked away extra content […]
Leyden, John (24 February 2009). "Unofficial patch plugs 0-day Adobe security vuln. – Mind the gap". The Register. Retrieved 9 July 2013. 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.
"48-bit LBA Tools & Drivers". fryeware.com. 2005. Retrieved 6 April 2011. Win98: Enable 48-bit LBA patch for Windows 98 posted on MSFN.ORG – Implements 48-bit LBA support into Windows 98's default IDE driver to support hard drives larger than 137GB.
Tiensivu, Aaron (9 April 2009). "KernelEx – run XP/2K apps on Win98 and WinME". Aaron Tiensivu's Blog. tiensivu.com. Retrieved 6 April 2011. This is a fascinating project from a technical standpoint. They are implementing missing API calls used by newer applications that are missing from Windows 98 and Windows ME.
Fernando (7 February 2011). "XP: Optimized nForce Driver Packs". Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2011. 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.
