The bad cracks / 100% working games thread

[MethodGit]

Game: Tower of Babel
Cracker: M.A.D.
Trainer: -
Files & CRC/MD5:
Tower of Babel v1.0 (1990)(Rainbird)[cr MAD].adf (71793412)
Notes:
Not all checksum checks have been patched out. Try accessing the options during the game or quitting back to the main menu, for instance. The QTX release gets round the checksum issues by undoing all its crack modifications just as the manual check is passed. Another, more minor note about the MAD crack is that the mouse cursor is permanently stuck in "Zzz Cloud" mode after the initial loading process.

[tygre]

Originally Posted by MethodGit

Game: Tower of Babel
Cracker: M.A.D.
Trainer: -
Files & CRC/MD5:
Tower of Babel v1.0 (1990)(Rainbird)[cr MAD].adf (71793412)
Notes:
Not all checksum checks have been patched out. Try accessing the options during the game or quitting back to the main menu, for instance. The QTX release gets round the checksum issues by undoing all its crack modifications just as the manual check is passed. Another, more minor note about the MAD crack is that the mouse cursor is permanently stuck in "Zzz Cloud" mode after the initial loading process.

Hi there!

I am new in this thread so I am not sure what it is for but I have a working version of Tower of Babel, on a disk with two other games (Castle Master and Hammerfist) by Triangle. ToB works, I am even able to save games The only thing is that I cannot change the display because ToB asks for "Please put the Tower of Babel Game Disk in DF0:". I guess that the disk should have a specific name, any idea?

Cheers!
Tygre

[MethodGit]

Alas, I wouldn't really know, tygre. I'm not very good at the game at all!

On a different note, I decided to playtest the old Fairlight crack of Hook again despite the existing knowledge that it isn't cracked properly and therefore a few key items will disappear from the rooms they're supposed to be in.

Well, the first one to make a disappearing trick is one of the mugs in the Crossed Swords, but this is kind of made moot by the fact you can take advantage of the "inventory glitch" in the Bait and Tackle to get an extra mug regardless. What's even more worrying is that it always - and I do mean always - freezes before loading the Jolliest Roger's Place - i.e. the Tavern room - so you can't even put those mugs to good use. I can only assume that however Gaston cracked the first copylock on Disk 2, it tripped one of the game's hidden checksums, of which Galahad said there are "lots". (And another thing I noticed is that - if loading from Disk 1 - once the intro has finished, it freezes/goes into a permanent RTE loop. Another sneaky checksum, no doubt.)

Lord knows why no-one spotted all of this and complained in their hundreds back then - we could've had a fixed version a lot sooner than over a decade later!

(Curiously, the JST HD version can load the tavern just fine, but on the other hand it always quits back to WB after Peter walks the plank - evidently Jeff didn't nip another of the game's copylocks back then!)

[Methanoid]

Originally Posted by MethodGit

Game: Tower of Babel
Cracker: M.A.D.
Trainer: -
Files & CRC/MD5:
Tower of Babel v1.0 (1990)(Rainbird)[cr MAD].adf (71793412)
Notes:
Not all checksum checks have been patched out. Try accessing the options during the game or quitting back to the main menu, for instance. The QTX release gets round the checksum issues by undoing all its crack modifications just as the manual check is passed. Another, more minor note about the MAD crack is that the mouse cursor is permanently stuck in "Zzz Cloud" mode after the initial loading process.

Yaaaay Quartex

[lesta_smsc]

QTX does it again!

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by MethodGit

Alas, I wouldn't really know, tygre. I'm not very good at the game at all!

On a different note, I decided to playtest the old Fairlight crack of Hook again despite the existing knowledge that it isn't cracked properly and therefore a few key items will disappear from the rooms they're supposed to be in.

Well, the first one to make a disappearing trick is one of the mugs in the Crossed Swords, but this is kind of made moot by the fact you can take advantage of the "inventory glitch" in the Bait and Tackle to get an extra mug regardless. What's even more worrying is that it always - and I do mean always - freezes before loading the Jolliest Roger's Place - i.e. the Tavern room - so you can't even put those mugs to good use. I can only assume that however Gaston cracked the first copylock on Disk 2, it tripped one of the game's hidden checksums, of which Galahad said there are "lots". (And another thing I noticed is that - if loading from Disk 1 - once the intro has finished, it freezes/goes into a permanent RTE loop. Another sneaky checksum, no doubt.)

Lord knows why no-one spotted all of this and complained in their hundreds back then - we could've had a fixed version a lot sooner than over a decade later!

(Curiously, the JST HD version can load the tavern just fine, but on the other hand it always quits back to WB after Peter walks the plank - evidently Jeff didn't nip another of the game's copylocks back then!)

Incorrect. The checksums only activate if you modify any of the main game code, which neither i nor gaston did.

[MethodGit]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Incorrect. The checksums only activate if you modify any of the main game code, which neither i nor gaston did.

Does 'main game code' include any/all of the copylock routines themselves? I remember doing some hardwire testing with the game a while back and noticed that although a hardwire of Disk 2's first copylock would go swimmingly (and yes, said hardwire even included adding that hidden flag needed for objects to appear later on), it would cause the game to freeze after entering the Bait and Tackle.

[Galahad/FLT]

There is a good deal more than 1 copylock. The freeze you refer to is either a damaged.disk or checksum fault.

[MethodGit]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

There is a good deal more than 1 copylock.

This I know, hence why I said Disk 2's first copylock.

The freeze you refer to is either a damaged.disk or checksum fault.

I reckon WinUAE's debugger and its read/write monitoring function might help confirm any checksum issues...

[Methanoid]

Any of the bad cracks that get identified also need to be fed into TOSEC Dats... is someone doing that?

[dirkies]

interesting thread
But I don't understand those trying to put Fairlight in a bad light here, these guys were a monument in the C64 and Amiga scene in Belgium and most likely everywhere else too! (on Amiga together with Defjam & The Band my 3 fave groups), and thanks to their hard work I spent many hours of unforgettable fun.
Nobody's perfect, and they never pretended to be, and if a crack was bad, nothing prevented you to go buy the original.
Some respect for these guys would not hurt.
My only bad crack pain I had was Lords of the Rising Sun (QTX) but then I got my hands on the originals for cheap to ease the pain, and since a while somebody did a correct crack here. So I have peace of mind on personal experiences with bad cracks

[brett71]

Originally Posted by brett71

If my .DMS file of disk 2 of Leander was done by Melnok, the file size looks reasonable. I'll check it out and get back to ya.

I sadly can confirm that my disk 2 of Melnok's crack of Leander is also bad. When trying it on my A500, it guru's when trying to read from disk 2 and on my 3000, it does seem to read some from disk 2, but the graphics are corrupt and the game never actually plays. I've tried Kickstart 3.1 and 1.3, NTSC and PAL, had disk 2 in DF0: and DF1: but haven't found a working combination. I suspect that when I created the .DMS, either the disk was already corrupt or the DMS got corrupted. I did play it back in the day on a fairly stock A2000 and believe it did work then. Unfortunately, I am no longer in contact with Melnok, and have no idea where the disk went that I used, so this crack may be lost.

[Methanoid]

Originally Posted by dirkies

interesting thread
But I don't understand those trying to put Fairlight in a bad light here [SNIP}

No idea why you think anyone is trying to diss FLT here - EVERY group without exception has made the odd mistake. This is just about identifying and fixing them!

[StingRay]

Kick Off 2 German cracked by Starlight and Kick Off 2 - The Final Whistle German cracked by Tarkus Team (as uploaded by Mussahi 9 in this thread) are both non-working cracks since all checksum checks were left intact.

[mai]

Originally Posted by StingRay

Kick Off 2 German cracked by Starlight and Kick Off 2 - The Final Whistle German cracked by Tarkus Team (as uploaded by Mussahi 9 in this thread) are both non-working cracks since all checksum checks were left intact.

Is the german "Black Monks" version fully cracked?

[StingRay]

I don't have a Black Monks version of KO2, if you upload it I can check.

[mai]

Originally Posted by StingRay

I don't have a Black Monks version of KO2, if you upload it I can check.

zoned.

[StingRay]

Thanks, this is yet another crappy non-working KO 2 crack, none of the checksum checks has been removed! But there was some hidden message in the binary:

"- cracked by GADLER T.G. for LISA B. -"

[mai]

Originally Posted by StingRay

Thanks, this is yet another crappy non-working KO 2 crack, none of the checksum checks has been removed! But there was some hidden message in the binary:

"- cracked by GADLER T.G. for LISA B. -"

Thanks, are you aware of a working german version, except your upcoming 100% release?

[Vollldo]

So the "ATX" trained, 1-disked version seems to be the good one.
Cyberzerk (1993)(boeder)(Disk 1 of 2)[cr ACS][t +10 ATX]
C51A1FAD

1-disked version ??? Why is the file named "Disk 1 of 2" then ???

Oxyd
Game: Oxyd
Cracker: SKR
Trainer: n/a
Files & CRC/MD5:
Oxyd (1992)(dongleware)(m3)[cr skr].adf
Notes:
Because of the crack, who eliminates all magic tokens, lvl 39 can't be completed. There's a magic token in the upper part of the lvl, which blocks a laser. If the magic token is destroyed, the laser hits the button and the door is forever closed. No chance of completing this lvl.

Is there any other working cracked version so ? I see a "Oxyd (1992)(Dongleware)(M3)[f HD][h NA][WB]" in the TOSEC set, so what about this one ?

Finally, i also did read here (but without being sure) that Gem'X isn't correctly cracked ? Can someone can confirm this or the contrary please (yes i know i am late as always lol) ? I see cracks by GIN, SSP and Two Life Crew.

[mai]

Originally Posted by Vollldo

1-disked version ??? Why is the file named "Disk 1 of 2" then ???

use current TOSEC release!

[Vollldo]

Thanks mai, i downloaded it .

By the way, where can i find a text file to know the differences with the old TOSEC set ?

[mai]

Originally Posted by Vollldo

By the way, where can i find a text file to know the differences with the old TOSEC set ?

There are no such files, use current TOSEC release or dats.

[Vollldo]

Thank again mai, i didn't notice that there was a new TOSEC set. By the way, do you know if Gem'x is correctly cracked so ?

[mai]

Originally Posted by Vollldo

By the way, do you know if Gem'x is correctly cracked so ?

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=218

[Don_Adan]

Originally Posted by Vollldo

Thank again mai, i didn't notice that there was a new TOSEC set. By the way, do you know if Gem'x is correctly cracked so ?

No, due dont' works level codes and game outro.

[Vollldo]

That isn't what it is written when you are opening the link above : "100% working".

[Don_Adan]

Originally Posted by Vollldo

That isn't what it is written when you are opening the link above : "100% working".

If you have trained version, then level/cheat codes are not important. You must finish WHDload version to find/see differences. This "100% working" version is based on disk version, again next "100%", only trainer is added, files loading routine is patched, and outro access is removed. This is no new crack from other original version.

[Vollldo]

Thanks for the information Don_Adan, it means that i have a new original game to buy in my wish list so eh eh !!

[StingRay]

German version of The Settlers (Die Siedler) cracked by Paradox (file: "Siedler, Die (1993)(Blue Byte)(De)[cr PDX](Disk 3 of 3)(Boot)") is a bad crack, checksum checks are not disabled.

[StingRay]

1000 Miglia: At least the Goonies version has not been cracked correctly since not all checksum checks have been disabled. CSL version is not 100% either, they restore the original instruction after the first manual check to defeat the checksums but there will be another manual check later in the game!

[CFOU!]

pang cracked version never see good crack

game works but missing features (some secondary animation by example)

it's same thinks with Lost patrol you lost after sometimes of games with maintly cracked version... (as in 1000 miglia...)

[demoniac]

Originally Posted by CFOU!

pang cracked version never see good crack

game works but missing features (some secondaire animation by example)

Proj Inc. released an 100% version after their initial one. Does the 100% also have the same problems?

[TCD]

You mean this one demoniac:

?

If CFOU! could point out how to recognise if it's 100% we could test it here.

[StingRay]

The Proj Inc. version is 100%.

[lolafg]

Could one of you zone it please ?

Thanks !

[demoniac]

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

You mean this one demoniac:

No, that's their first version.

This is the final 100% that has animals and bonus levels:


It should be available on Planet Emulation, IIRC.

[TCD]

Thank you demoniac TOSEC simply added an [a] to the version I took a screenshot of...

[CFOU!]

I'am finishing Transarctica whdload's update

I had not found full working crack (tested all paradox/ MOK /Lamer Exteminator 2 , etc.... without success)
Indeed better crack as done by paradox but only 2 manual protections on 3 was removed

So i have fully rework crack

you have just to press ‘return’ key to skip all manual protections found (beta 1.4)

here new crack code:

[Don_Adan]

Originally Posted by CFOU!

I'am finishing Transarctica whdload's update

I had not found full working crack (tested all paradox/ MOK /Lamer Exteminator 2 , etc.... without success)
Indeed better crack as done by paradox but only 2 manual protections on 3 was removed

So i have fully rework crack

you have just to press ‘return’ key to skip all manual protections found (beta 1.4)

here new crack code:

Fully cracked Transarctica ECS and AGA versions are available on the Wanted Team page (files section).