How to build an interface plugin on Windows using Fear and a Hex Editor

Introduction

Paladin Maik asked me to build an interface plugin for him because he didn't know how to do it. This ability is built into Fear on Mac, but are us poor, lowly Windows users to do?

We can hardly blame Maik for not knowing, since I'm pretty sure the information hasn't been documented anywhere... until now! That is the purpose of this page.

Step 1.

Build your interface as a regular plugin using Fear


Figure 1. Fear's Build Plugin Dialog.

Step 2.

Use your favorite Hex Editor (I like HxD) to alter the first 4 bytes of the plugin to 00 05 00 00. The first 2 bytes determine what type of plugin the file is. See the table below. The second two bytes are the version field, which should be set to 00 00 for interfaces.

First 2 BytesInterpretation
00 00Local Folder
00 01Normal Plugin
00 02Patch
00 03Foundation
00 04Cache
00 05Interface
00 06Addon
00 07Metaserver
Figure 2. The different types of plugin files.



Figure 3a. Hex editor (before).



Figure 3b. Hex editor (after).

Step 3.

Enjoy your new interface.


Give a man an interface, and he will be happy for a month. Teach a man to hex edit an interface, and he will have interfaces for a lifetime. Ancient Myth Proverb