Diff Compare Patch Files (Unpatched .ips Files)

This page enables low-level analysis of mod files, accessed here through a browser-based hex editor. Two files (from the complete collection of .ips format patch files) can be selected for byte-level "diff" analysis. In comparison with the Tableau-based "diff" maps, which reveal only the location of modifications, this tool further enables identification of modified contents. As a tool for "close reading" of a pair of files, it is best used in conjunction with the broad "distant reading" of the other tools, in order to zero in on correlations and differences previously identified in a cursory manner. Beyond this, however, the tool can be used on its own to compare files with a known relation (e.g. different versions of the same mod or various mods by the same modder).