TribesNEXT QoL patch

The current TribesNEXT patch — preview build 20250922 at time of writing. This page covers what it puts on disk, how it gets into the script VM, and everything it overrides that a mod author might collide with.

What lands on disk

Beside Tribes2.exe in GameData/:

The IFC22 hijack

Vanilla IFC22.dll is the Immersion Corporation TouchSense runtime — force-feedback hardware support. Tribes2.exe imports 11 mangled C++ symbols from it (CImmCompoundEffect, CImmDevice, CImmProject) [binary].

TribesNEXT ships a same-named DLL that:

1. Stubs those 11 exports so the import table resolves and the engine starts.
2. Adds AmdPowerXpressRequestHighPerformance and NvOptimusEnablement exports, which AMD and NVIDIA drivers read to select the discrete GPU on hybrid laptops.
3. Registers around 30 TorqueScript console functions with the engine at DllMain time.

Consequence for modders: force feedback does nothing on a patched install. EffectProfile datablocks still parse and are still referenced by AudioProfile.effect, but the effects never play. Declaring them remains harmless — see Audio.

Mss32.dll is separately replaced, for audio, and is unrelated to the IFC22 hijack.

How the patch reaches the script VM

console_client_patches.cs is a loose file at the GameData/ root. It is not inside any archive and not on the mod path stack — the same position as console_start.cs.

IFC22.dll contains the literal string console_client_patches.cs, alongside console_client_discord.cs and embedded TorqueScript fragments it evaluates directly [binary]:

exec("t2csri/serverGlue.cs");exec("console_end.cs");function dedCheckLoginDone(){$LoginName = "";$LoginPassword = "";}
exec("t2csri/serverList.cs");

So the DLL injects script into the boot chain itself, rather than relying on a file in scripts/autoexec/. [inferred] — the strings are decisive that IFC22 carries and evaluates script; the exact call site inside the DLL has not been traced.

Two things follow, and both matter:

• A mod cannot shadow or intercept console_client_patches.cs. It is off the mod path stack.
• The patch’s own script runs regardless of -mod. Your mod and the patch always coexist.

Note also that the embedded fragment redefines dedCheckLoginDone — the vanilla WON polling function from console_start.cs — to a stub that simply clears the login globals. That is how a dedicated server gets past a login step whose servers no longer exist.

The version gate

console_client_patches.cs opens with [patch-script]:

if (isPackage(console_client_patches) || getT2VersionNumber() != 25034) return;

package console_client_patches
{
   …
};

activatePackage(console_client_patches);

Two guards:

• Double-load protection — if the package already exists, bail.
• Build lock — the patch binds specifically to build 25034 and silently does nothing on any other binary. No error, no message.

This is worth copying for your own mod; see Packaging.

base/t2csri.vl2

A standard PKZIP archive dropped into base/, so it joins the normal mount:

fonts/Sui Generis.sdft
fonts/Univers.sdft
fonts/Univers Bold.sdft
fonts/Univers Condensed.sdft
fonts/Univers Condensed Bold.sdft
fonts/Univers italic.sdft
loginScreens.cs                 (+ .dso)
t2csri/authconnect.cs           (+ .dso)   auth-server lookup
t2csri/authinterface.cs         (+ .dso)   login UI bindings
t2csri/clientSide.cs            (+ .dso)   client auth handshake
t2csri/clientSideClans.cs       (+ .dso)
t2csri/glue.cs                  (+ .dso)   client-side loader
t2csri/ipv4.cs                  (+ .dso)
t2csri/loginDialogs.gui         (+ .dso)   replacement login UI
t2csri/serverglue.cs            (+ .dso)   server-side loader
t2csri/serverList.cs            (+ .dso)   server browser
t2csri/serverSide.cs            (+ .dso)   server auth handshake
t2csri/serverSideClans.cs       (+ .dso)
textures/tn_logo.png
t2csri_eula.txt

It ships no scripts/autoexec/ entries. The mod entry point documented in Your first mod is untouched by this patch. (RC2a is different — see RC2a.)

Alphabetically t2csri.vl2 sorts between shapes.vl2 and textures.vl2, so under the reverse-alpha archive scan it outranks base.vl2 and scripts.vl2 but is outranked by textures.vl2, voice.vl2, and zz_Classic_client_v1.vl2. It declares no paths that collide with vanilla content, so the ordering is academic — but it is worth knowing if you ship an archive of your own. See Mod paths and overrides.

The packages

Three packages may be active on a patched install where vanilla has one.

Plus the vanilla gametype packages, activated and deactivated per mission as normal.

listPackages();

is the way to see the live stack. See Packages.

Everything console_client_patches overrides

The complete list, from the package block [patch-script]. If your mod packages any of these, read Modding against a patched install first.

Server lifecycle

function CreateServer(%mission, %missionType)
{
   Parent::CreateServer(%mission, %missionType);
   if (!isActivePackage(t2csri_server))
      exec("t2csri/serverGlue.cs");
}

This is the one most likely to collide with a mod, because CreateServer is also the natural place for a mod to load its own datablock files. The patch calls Parent:: first, so package ordering resolves it — but see the collision guidance.

t2csri/serverglue.cs then loads the server auth stack [patch-script]:

if (isObject(ServerGroup))
{
   // load the torque script components
   exec("t2csri/serverSide.cs");
   exec("t2csri/serverSideClans.cs");
   exec("t2csri/bans.cs");
   exec("t2csri/ipv4.cs");

   // get the global IP for sanity testing purposes
   schedule(32, 0, ipv4_getInetAddress);
}

Client and connection

UI and video

The rebuilt Video panel offers framerate limits of 60/90/120/144/165/240/288/360/480/500/640/720/1000, a render scale of 5–200 %, FOV 45–120°, a UI scale slider, and a UI aspect selector (Stretch / 16:9 / 16:10 / 4:3 / 5:4) [patch-script].

The DXGI interop toggle has a 15-second confirmation timer that auto-reverts if you do not confirm — a sensible pattern for any risky graphics option.

Audio

$pref::Audio::drivers = "Miles\tOpenAL" — both are offered [patch-script].

Input

Chat

Login

StartLoginProcess is overridden to delete the vanilla LoginDlg and CreateAccountDlg and exec loginScreens.cs — the TribesNEXT login UI — then position the TN branding [patch-script].

Mission editor

EPainter::setup, EPainter::onAdd, and EPainterChangeMat extend the terrain painter from six material slots (0–5) to eight (0–7) [patch-script].

Client-side defaults it changes

initClientPatches(), scheduled 32 ms after GM_WarriorPane::onAdd [patch-script]:

Globals it sets at load

After the package block [patch-script]:

$Font::Substitute["Univers"]                = "Saira Regular";
$Font::Substitute["Univers Condensed"]      = "Saira SemiCondensed Medium";
$Font::Substitute["Univers Bold"]           = "U001 Bold";
$Font::Substitute["Univers Condensed Bold"] = "Univers LT 57 Condensed";
$Font::Substitute["Univers italic"]         = "Univers LT 57 Condensed Oblique";
$Font::Substitute["Sui Generis"]            = "SuiGenerisRg-Regular";

$OpenGLTextureFilter[0] = "TRILINEAR";
$OpenGLTextureFilter[1] = "BILINEAR";
$OpenGLTextureFilter[2] = "NEAREST";

if ($pref::Net::PacketRateToClient < 32)
   $pref::Net::PacketRateToClient = 32;
if ($pref::Net::PacketSize < 450)
   $pref::Net::PacketSize = 450;
$pref::Net::CheckEmail = false;

addMaterialMapping("terrain/default", "color: 0.46 0.36 0.26 0.4 0.0", "sound: 0");
setFramerateLimit($pref::Engine::FramerateLimit);

Three of these are worth noting:

• $Font::Substitute reroutes every vanilla font name to a shipped .sdft. A .gui asking for fontType = "Univers Condensed" transparently gets Saira SemiCondensed Medium. Your GUI code needs no change; it just renders differently. See GUI system.
• $pref::Net::PacketRateToClient is clamped to ≥ 32, matching V12’s 32 Hz tick rate.
• addMaterialMapping("terrain/default", …) supplies a fallback for unmapped terrain materials — relevant if you ship custom terrain.

New console functions

Registered by IFC22.dll at DllMain [binary]. See Console functions for the full list; in summary:

Plus no-op stubs for the vanilla WON entry points (WONInit, WONServerLogin) so vanilla scripts that call them do not error.

What it does not change

Worth stating explicitly:

• No changes to datablock semantics, the mod path stack, or setModPaths.
• No changes to gameplay content — weapons, armors, vehicles, damage are all vanilla.
• No anti-tamper check on Tribes2.exe. The patch coexists with community mods by design.
• The scripts/autoexec/ mod entry point is untouched.

Related

• RC2a — the predecessor, with different collision surfaces
• Modding against a patched install — the practical consequences
• Packages — the mechanism the patch is built on
• Boot sequence — where the patch inserts itself