The Lengthen Combat Mode(3xHP)
This is an awesome mode which was found by me in late 2005/early 2006. I discovered it by loading an AoK map into AoE, which, under normal circumstances is not possible, though this particular map somehow loaded. It was all glitched up however. Through .hex editing, Scenario_t_c fixed the issues with the template I made. It also features beta beach terrain tiles which from small ponds. You can download the template here.
The Lengthen Combat Mode, as it’s name implies, can be used to give units extra hitpoints (times three) and make the scenario last longer. The LCM was a special mode which was part of the AoE alpha versions, but did not make it to the final/release versions. It triples the amount of HP for nearly every unit/building, with the exception of the Gaia civilization and a few other units, which you can see below:
Unaffected are:
– Everything of Gaia
– Chariots
– Scythe Chariots
– Chariot Archers
– Horse Archers
– Heavy Horse Archers
Note: the LCM does have a nasty side effect/bug however: When you save the game, the hitpoint will increase again (times three every time you save), but the saved game file itself won’t be affected – which means you could just load the save file and continue normally in the normal 3xhp setting. Be sure to mention this in the instructions when creating works with the LCM.
Enabling the Lengthen Combat Mode
Step 1. Search for this part of the .hex file, it is located in one of the first chunks of data:
Step 2. Replace the entire blue part selected as seen above with the following Hex values below (starting AFTER the “deep water tiny.scn” text and ending BEFORE the “9DFFFFFF” hex value):
00203C4E6F6E653E200800203C4E6F6E
653E200800203C4E6F6E653E20080020
3C4E6F6E653E20000000000000000000
00000001000800203C4E6F6E653E2008
00203C4E6F6E653E200800203C4E6F6E
653E200800203C4E6F6E653E20080020
3C4E6F6E653E200800203C4E6F6E653E
200800203C4E6F6E653E200800203C4E
6F6E653E200400C048BEF70400C048BE
F70400C048BEF70400C048BEF70400C0
48BEF70400C048BEF70400C048BEF704
00C048BEF70800203C4E6F6E653E2008
00203C4E6F6E653E200800203C4E6F6E
653E200800203C4E6F6E653E20080020
3C4E6F6E653E200800203C4E6F6E653E
200800203C4E6F6E653E200800203C4E
6F6E653E200600203CB54C3E20060020
3CB54C3E200600203CB54C3E20060020
3CB54C3E200600203CB54C3E20060020
3CB54C3E200600203CB54C3E20060020
3CB54C3E20060052616E646F6D060052
616E646F6D070044454641554C540600
52616E646F6D060052616E646F6D0600
52616E646F6D060052616E646F6D0600
52616E646F6D0400C048BEF70400C048
BEF70400C048BEF70400C048BEF70400
C048BEF70400C048BEF70400C048BEF7
0400C048BEF700000000000000003A00
00002F2F0D0A2F2F2020546865206465
6661756C74206973206E6F7720736574
206F7574206F662074686520636F6465
2E0D0A2F2F0D0A454E440D0A00000000
000000003A0000002F2F0D0A2F2F2020
5468652064656661756C74206973206E
6F7720736574206F7574206F66207468
6520636F64652E0D0A2F2F0D0A454E44
0D0A00000000000000003A0000002F2F
0D0A2F2F20205468652064656661756C
74206973206E6F7720736574206F7574
206F662074686520636F64652E0D0A2F
2F0D0A454E440D0A0000000000000000
3A0000002F2F0D0A2F2F202054686520
64656661756C74206973206E6F772073
6574206F7574206F662074686520636F
64652E0D0A2F2F0D0A454E440D0A0000
0000000000003A0000002F2F0D0A2F2F
20205468652064656661756C74206973
206E6F7720736574206F7574206F6620
74686520636F64652E0D0A2F2F0D0A45
4E440D0A00000000000000003A000000
2F2F0D0A2F2F20205468652064656661
756C74206973206E6F7720736574206F
7574206F662074686520636F64652E0D
0A2F2F0D0A454E440D0A000000000000
00003A0000002F2F0D0A2F2F20205468
652064656661756C74206973206E6F77
20736574206F7574206F662074686520
636F64652E0D0A2F2F0D0A454E440D0A
00000000000000003A0000002F2F0D0A
2F2F20205468652064656661756C7420
6973206E6F7720736574206F7574206F
662074686520636F64652E0D0A2F2F0D
0A454E440D0A00000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000
Step 3. If you did it correctly the end result should look like this:
Congratulations, you have now enabled the Lengthen Combat mode in your scenario.
Next up, the Unknown Civilization!