Feudal Lords (1990)(Impressions)[cr Defjam]

[BarryB]

Feudal Lords (1990)(Impressions)[cr Defjam]

Is this actually protected or not?

Comparing the IPF to the 'crack' both loader.exe (powerpacked on Defjam release) and lords.exe are identical, plus there doesn't appear to be any disk protection and nothing in the manual (scans on Atari Mania) mention any copy protection!

So is this mislabelled as cracked when it's just released by Defjam and has no protection whatsoever?

[BippyM]

Easiest way to know is to copy the original and play through

[mai]

Originally Posted by BarryB

Feudal Lords (1990)(Impressions)[cr Defjam]

Is this actually protected or not?

Comparing the IPF to the 'crack' both loader.exe (powerpacked on Defjam release) and lords.exe are identical, plus there doesn't appear to be any disk protection and nothing in the manual (scans on Atari Mania) mention any copy protection!

So is this mislabelled as cracked when it's just released by Defjam and has no protection whatsoever?

Indeed, more than likely no crack!

[jurassicman]

I've just bought the game (I'll receive it in a few days).
It should be "immaculate" so if you want I'll make a dump with my kryoflux for you...

[BarryB]

Originally Posted by BippyM

Easiest way to know is to copy the original and play through

No need, seeing as it's files I compared the DEFJAM release to the original IPF and the only differences are the startup-sequence and the addition of the DEFJAM intro! Had to unpack the loader.exe on the DEFJAM release as it was packed but it's identical to the original!

I also changed 1 byte in loader.exe just to see if the prog I used (CompareDirs) actually found the change, and it did! Doesn't show what has changed just the fact it is different, which is all I'm looking for!

So there is NOTHING I can see that is 'cracked' as all game files are identical to the IPF!

Originally Posted by jurassicman

I've just bought the game (I'll receive it in a few days).
It should be "immaculate" so if you want I'll make a dump with my kryoflux for you...

There is an IPF already of this so no need to dump yours, it's what I used to compare against the DEFJAM 'crack'!

[BippyM]

Some games use amigados disks but hide some protection and files from the os. Check out battlechess.

[BarryB]

Originally Posted by BippyM

Some games use amigados disks but hide some protection and files from the os. Check out battlechess.

Yeah, that's a possibilty but I don't think this is one of them though, just a hunch! I copied all the files to a new ADF from the IPF and loaded it, and could play the game but doesn't mean it's OK. There is no WHDLoad unfortunatley so no author to contact to verify if it's protected.

Just wonder if one of the regular gurus can look at it and see if it is protected or not?

[mai]

There are just too many evidence that this game has no protection!

[jurassicman]

It really seems that there's no copy protection... all files/directories in the floppy are visible (if you choose "show all files" since they don't have info files) and I was able to copy them from the original disk to a folder on my hard drive:

Unfortunately, though, there is no whdload installer... can someone make an installer for this game or explain to me how to install it with a "generic" whdload installer (and where can I download a "generic" whdload installer from?)

[BarryB]

Originally Posted by jurassicman

It really seems that there's no copy protection... all files/directories in the floppy are visible (if you choose "show all files" since they don't have info files) and I was able to copy them from the original disk to a folder on my hard drive:

Unfortunately, though, there is no whdload installer... can someone make an installer for this game or explain to me how to install it with a "generic" whdload installer (and where can I download a "generic" whdload installer from?)

That's no indication if it's protected or not, as BippyM mentions, Battle Chess had Non DOS data on the disk so copying just the files would not make a working disk!

[jotd]

if the size of the files of the disk is 890kb total then you can deduce that there isn't any bitmap sector (which is there not for protection but for faster loading using trackdisk.device)

If someone can create an icon for the game... thanks.

[jurassicman]

@BarryB
I understand but I was also able to make an adf of the game and I checked the disk with xcopy an the tracks were all "green". Is it still possible that there is some hidden protection on the disk?

[BarryB]

Originally Posted by jurassicman

@BarryB
I understand but I was also able to make an adf of the game and I checked the disk with xcopy an the tracks were all "green". Is it still possible that there is some hidden protection on the disk?

That's why it needs someone knowledgeable chap to check it out

[jurassicman]

Originally Posted by jotd

if the size of the files of the disk is 890kb total then you can deduce that there isn't any bitmap sector (which is there not for protection but for faster loading using trackdisk.device)

If someone can create an icon for the game... thanks.

Many problems with the site this afternoon but I've just uploaded an icon in the zone. I hope it is decent enough.

[BippyM]

Copy the game, play it.. Train it and complete it.. Or... Disassemble and check for raw disk access.

Like has been suggested, this is possibly a 95% certainty that there is no protection, but before renaming everything in tosec, let's be sure.. I will look into it tonight after my tea

[BippyM]

Okay I have had a play with this game and examined the binary files.

THe game is indeed not cracked, and looking at the defjam intro they don't say they cracked it, just that they are presenting it. Whoever renamed it initially named it incorrectly. It is definitely needing the [h Defjam] flag..

The game was also programmed in GFA Basic, and although protection in basic isn't impossible, I doubt it they'd have gone to the effort considering!

[jotd]

it's written in GFA basic but with parts in assembler. Proof: stupid addressing error mistake:

	CMPI.B	#$54,D0			;4040: 0c000054
	BEQ.S	LAB_02C4		;4044: 6742
    ; error here!
	CMP.B	$53,D0		;4046: b03900000053
	BEQ.S	LAB_02C7		;404c: 6764
	CMPI.B	#$41,D0			;404e: 0c000041
	BEQ.S	LAB_02C4		;4052: 6734

addressing mode of cmp $53 is direct when it should be immediate (look at other instructions). Or GFA basic is buggy (error is in the loader AND the lords.exe file). I still have to find how both programs communicate. Running "lords.Exe" alone runs the game directly with 4 cpus... the character selection is done in the loader, and the loader calls "lords.exe" without any arguments... puzzled...

[BippyM]

Originally Posted by jotd

it's written in GFA basic but with parts in assembler. Proof: stupid addressing error mistake:

    CMPI.B    #$54,D0            ;4040: 0c000054
    BEQ.S    LAB_02C4        ;4044: 6742
    ; error here!
    CMP.B    $53,D0        ;4046: b03900000053
    BEQ.S    LAB_02C7        ;404c: 6764
    CMPI.B    #$41,D0            ;404e: 0c000041
    BEQ.S    LAB_02C4        ;4052: 6734

addressing mode of cmp $53 is direct when it should be immediate (look at other instructions). Or GFA basic is buggy (error is in the loader AND the lords.exe file). I still have to find how both programs communicate. Running "lords.Exe" alone runs the game directly with 4 cpus... the character selection is done in the loader, and the loader calls "lords.exe" without any arguments... puzzled...

What disassembler are you using (WinUAE debugger?)


The startup-sequence loads the loader, and then loads the game.. Might see what happens if I delete the game exe (or at least rename it)

[jotd]

I'm using IRA. Note that the startup sequence loads the loader, which loads the game. The line "lords.exe" in the startup sequence is completely useless... Don't bother deleting the executable or rename it: it will fail.

anyway, whdload package is done. Will appear on whdload page in a few.

Using a generic kick on that one could have been possible, but I have added compelling features (the main one being skipping the tedious text-only intro) + specific fixes

[jurassicman]

Originally Posted by jotd

(...)
anyway, whdload package is done. Will appear on whdload page in a few.

Using a generic kick on that one could have been possible, but I have added compelling features (the main one being skipping the tedious text-only intro) + specific fixes

Thanks so much!