Messages in game code for crackers

[JudasEZT]

If I remember goodly, StefanBoberg never programmed the games itselves.. he did the disk access routines.. so we can think his skills as cracker helped him in his profession.

[fisken uno]

Is he from Sweden? Sounds like a swedish name to me... Sorry I know nothing of the people back in the good ol' glory days.

[Codetapper]

Antiaction / Defjam = Stefan Boberg

Stefan Boberg wrote a few Amiga games (Tower Assault springs to mind) but did more on the packing side of things and making CD32 conversions of games (All Terrain Racing, Qwak etc)

[Frootloop]

The first hidden message I found was in Modem Wars for the C64. I thought it was so cool to be reading something that the majority of people would never see. And, yeah, I used to love loading up a hex editor and changing the messages in programs. I made my own "custom" C64 terminal and BBS programs (no source code) that way. I know it's considered lame by real coders but I thought it was cool.

Here's the message ripped from C64 Modem Wars:

I COULD TRY TO PREACH TO YOU ABOUT HOW PIRACY IS WRONG AND IMMORAL. I DOUBT I COULD CONVINCE YOU. (I'VE ALWAYS BEEN SKEPTICAL OF PEOPLE WHO DEFEND THEIR OWN INTERESTS THROUGH MORALITY). INSTEAD LET ME TELL YOU SOME PRACTICAL THINGS ABOUT PIRACY.

I KNOW THERE IS A LOT OF JUNK ON THE MARKET AND PROBABLY YOU THINK WE ARE ALL GETTING RICH AT YOUR EXPENSE. I'M SURE THERE ARE SOME PUBLISHERS AND AUTHORS WHO ARE RIPPING YOU OFF. THEY DON'T CARE IF YOU LIKE THEIR PRODUCT -- JUST THAT YOU BUY IT. BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE OF ME. I'VE ALWAYS TRIED TO DO ORIGINAL, WELL WRITTEN PRODUCTS WITH INTEGRITY AND WOULD GLADLY REFUND YOUR MONEY IF YOU ARE DISATISFIED. HOWEVER, SINCE I ONLY GET A DOLLAR OR TWO FROM EACH PURCHASE MOST OF YOUR MONEY IS IN OTHER PEOPLE'S HANDS. (BUT IF YOU WANT MY PART OF YOUR MONEY BACK, JUST WRITE ME AT THE ADDRESS BELOW).

AS FOR GETTING RICH, IT JUST AINT TRUE IN MY CASE. (GOING BROKE MAY BE MORE LIKE IT!) OF THE PRODUCTS I'VE DONE IN THE PAST (M.U.L.E., SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD, HEART OF AFRICA AND ROBOT RASCALS) ONLY SEVEN CITIES MADE ANY MONEY AND HEART OF AFRICA JUST BARELY BROKE EVEN. WHAT THIS SAYS TO MY PUBLISHER IS THE MARKET DOESN'T WANT MULTI-PLAYER STRATEGY GAMES! BUT I DON'T BELIEVE IT. FOR INSTANCE, I HEAR FROM LOTS OF PEOPLE HOW MUCH THEY PLAYED AND LOVED M.U.L.E. (MANY MORE THAN 7 CITIES) BUT THE SALES DON'T REFLECT IT (7 CITIES SOLD 5 TIMES AS MANY COPIES).

THE FACT THAT YOU ARE DIGGING AROUND ON THIS DISK AND THINKING ABOUT HOW TO DECODE IT IS PROOF THAT THE GAME IS FUN ENOUGH TO TRY TO STEAL IT AND GIVE IT TO YOUR FRIENDS. WELL, IF YOU DO STEAL THIS GAME, ELECTRONIC ARTS WILL NEVER KNOW THAT THEY ARE WRONG. YOU'VE GOT TO LET THEM KNOW YOU WANT MORE GAMES LIKE THIS BY VOTING WITH YOUR WALLET. ALSO, IN THAT WAY YOU MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO FINANCIALLY SUCCEED IN THIS BUSINESS. (BY THE WAY, SINCE I CONVINCED EA NOT TO "COPY PROTECT" THIS SOFTWARE, IT'S POSSIBLE TO MAKE A "SAMPLE" COPY FOR YOUR FRIEND AND JUST HELP THEM IDENTIFY THE MAP OVER THE PHONE BEFORE YOU BOTH PLAY EACH OTHER).

IF I STILL HAVEN'T CONVINCED YOU NOT TO PIRATE THIS GAME, THEN DO ME THE FAVOR OF SENDING ME A LETTER TO TELL ME YOU LIKED THE GAME EVEN THOUGH YOU DIDN'T FEEL LIKE YOU OUGHT TO PAY FOR IT. (YOU MIGHT SEND A COPY TO EA TOO). I REALLY DO CARE MORE ABOUT WHETHER PEOPLE LIKE MY STUFF THAN WHETHER I MAKE MONEY. WE'LL GET BY SOMEHOW.

DAN BUNTEN
P.O.BOX 1845
LITTLE ROCK, AR 72203

--

Dani Bunten Berry died in 1998.

[Amiga1992]

Merged this thread with the old thread about the same subject. No need to fill teh EAB with mesages discussing the same stuff

[Codetapper]

While hacking away the new Final Fight install I found this:

Congratulations! You have beaten the
Boss of the Mad Gear gang!

Metro City is once more safe for
people to go about their
busy lives in the dense urban
metropolis, and our heroes are free
to continue their normal existances....

Now, as a special bonus (and because
you cheated!), here is the unexpurgated
version of the lives of Guy, Cody and
Haggar!...

LIFE OF GUY
GUY died 4.5.2028
After a youth filled with
unlikely fighting exploits,
Guy settled down to a
normal life as an insurance
loss-adjuster. He married a
24-stone traffic warden and
died in his armchair aged 65

LIFE OF CODY
CODY died 2.14.1996
He married Jessica, but
divorced 8 months later
due to his drink problem.
Died at 29 after tripping
when drunk and falling
headfirst into a sewer.

LIFE OF HAGGAR
HAGGAR died 1.5.1998
Left the office of mayor
in disgrace after a cocaine
scandle, and 2 years later
was convicted of sheep-
molesting. Died at 55 after
catching a nasty disease
from a dirty telephone.

GAME OVER

[7-Zark-7]

LOL!

[Drake1009]

Good way to say cheaters don't win.

And I like the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy reference in the Haggar story.

[DrBong]

I found this message in the exec file of Centerfold Squares (CDS
version only) using a hex editor:

****************.*-PROTEUS-*.******************-*
** PROTEUS Disk protection Scheme
** Devised and written in 1989
** By Gary Thomlinson
**
** For all you hackers out there, if, and I mean
** if you ever load in this track you've done
** well, and if you can't TOUGH LUCK.
**
** 1989 Gary Thomlinson
**
**
** PPPP RRRR OOO TTTTT EEEEE U U SSSS
** P P R R O O T E U U S
** PPPP RRRR O O T EEE U U SSS
** P R R O O T E U U S
** P R R OOO T EEEEE UUU SSSS
**
** DISK COPY PROTECTION SCHEME
** FOR NIMROD HOLDINGS 1989
**
** HI TO THE GASBOARD
**
**-*******************PROTEUS*********************


DrBong: The Proteus ASCII doesn't show up properly here, but you get
the idea.

[DrBong]

Here's another message........this time found in the startup-sequence
file of a very obscure game, Limes & Napoleon, by EAS:

rem Limes & Napoleon AMIGA-Version
echo "© 1989 EAS"
loader
intro
black
game.pck

Hey Cracker !
I know this game is great and I know that you are fond of cracking it.
But remember: If you are busted up by the police, you will have a lot
of tears in your face. Don't forget: The system is everywhere!

[Locash]

While this technicly isnt written into the game code to read, I have a memory of ripping the Lotus Esprit Turbo Challange 2 theme mod and finding a sample that says when played "You shall not copy this game" or something like that.

[andreas]

Originally posted by Fissuras

That's it. But typed backwards if I remember correctly. NikstlitselpmuR. at that time there was no internet, we had to be really creative.

Originally posted by kolorabi
Btw, about the Rupeltiltskin-puzzle, Roberta even admitted herself (much later, obviously) that it was an awful puzzle. At any rate, this is a clear example of the fact that, at least in some ways, games have evolved for the better.

Your sayings are valid for the REMAKE, but not for the ORIGINAL!
(I had it on the IBM PC, but later on I got to know that the Amiga original had the same puzzle)

*TRY* playing KQ I ORIGINAL, and *TRY* typing in RUMPLESTILTSKIN forward and backward, what can I tell you? (100% sure)
You won't get the beans!

Because the puzzle from the original version is niftier than you
might think.
'Rumplestiltskin' is partly right, but only partly!

You have to mirror the alphabet:

'RUMPLESTILTSKIN'

encoded with...

ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

results in...

IFNKOVHGROGHPRM
!

*That* was the correct name for the ORIGINAL, and only this name could make the dwarf give you the beans! Try it out if you don't believe me!
(Again: the REMAKE works with the name spelt backwards. [pah what a laugh!])

[DrBong]

Here's quite a lengthy message from the main coder of an obscure Kingsoft game, Larrie and the Robbery of the Ardies:

1st disk ;main entry v1.2
CAPITAL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT (UK) Ltd.
© 1987 STEVE VANDERHORST-CAPITAL SOFTWARE DEV. (UK) Ltd.
entry code 084767210013432
program information, human beings only!

program coding: seka assembler (main program)
Actec C (leader program)
Digital research Development set (ATARI ST version only)
pictures: deluxe paint v1.2-NTSC + 1001 level designer
sound: 1001 industries, 4 channel fastmem recording system (ADJ)
sound effects: NOS facilitair office - A. de Jong, S. Vanderhorst
music: Carsten Obarski
final testdate: 1987-09-23
programming
dates: 1987-05-15><1987-09-14
thanks to: CODA's marvellous album 'Sounds of passion'
VANGELIS' brillant work of art 'ANTARCTICA'
(for keeping me awake during the long and
sometimes boring nights)
TANGERINE DREAM for producing the Cd TIGER
GANDALF for producing FANTASIA

Test pilots:
Erik van Eykelen (test managements, 1st test pilot)
Ard Olierook (2nd test pilot)
Joost Honig
Luuk Impink
Dick van Winsum
Thom Kiessewetter
Rene Mathijssen
Rob van der Horst

Level information:
Designed with 1001 multigraphic playground designer (AMIGA + ATARI ST)
width: 969 pixels
height: 250 pixels
colors: 16 (level dependant)

Sprite information:
sprites used: 80
max. sprites on screen: 7
colors: 4
width: 16 pixels
height 20/24/48 pixels

Sound information:
soundeffects: 20 types
2 channel-priority level required

Blitter tasks:
-object flicker
-trampoline change
-object disappearance

Copper tasks:
-multi screen facilities (main screen 4 planes, statusboard 1 plane
optionboard 5 planes)
-blitter driver
-sound driver

68000 tasks:
-user movements
-sprite movements
-opponent controller
-constant level decrunching

3D animations:
-C driven (ATARI ST version only)
-Assembler driven (AMIGA version only)

-single point horizon

A multiple choice question:

What's the autors' favourite topic?
a) Womem
b) Computers
c) Music
d) Being Lazy (Like all programmers!)

Software cracking is illegal: What, to your opinion, could
the Dutch government do to prevent it:
a) Hire lots of detectives to get the crackers!
b) Supply all users with free Software (like they do with Softdrugs)!
c) Forbid all Software imports
d) Better custom checks

write me your answers!

signed:
Steve Vanderhorst
1987-09-18

[Codetapper]

Game Written By Lord Blitter OF the Whizkids development group. Note To the PIRATES, this is not the final version, my friends so if you want to avoid the work of cracking this game again, be patient, the final release is in two weeks. And Also if you crack this (or the final version) don't put your name, coz i'll find you and make sure you will not crack ANYTHING after

[Codetapper]

This game is dedicated with love 2 Jayne, the lady I marry 2morrow - Simon Phipps 02/06/1989.U must be hacking 2 find this - All the best 2 U 4 the future. P.S. This game was started 15/02/89 - this is the last (?) time I change it - 30/08/89 ( and married life is great! )

[Methanoid]

Originally Posted by PSW

P.s. Get the Quartex crack of Final Fight to see a reply from the Ben/The Surge.

Ah, I have fond memories on Ben and his cracking skills.... one day sending him 3 titles by modem. He crack #1 and packed it ready for me to download it during the time I took to upload title #2 (about 6-7 minutes).

On a good day he was great but the other guys said he had a "small" problem with his "coke" consumption!!!

I do wonder what happened to some of the guys I met in those days.

In my "2nd" visit to the scene I came across Iggy and Hellfire and that kinda put me off so I soon gave up on it. I set up a group that released a couple of titles that we got before Hellfire but it just wasn't fun.

[DrBong]

Yet another message found in a startup-sequence.....this time from an obscure edutainment game called Boomeraid:


;
; ADDMEMs here.
;

Boomeraid



GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR DISK.

We had hoped that anyone with
half a brain would be doing
something more constructive
than stuffing around with TSA
property. Buzz off, and may
your expanded hardware catch
Virus Diskus the next time
you interface with an
attractive piece of software.

LS & WW

[Duke]

Not really for crackers, but still funny (Humans CD32):

00008001  CD001..CDTV                 
0000801D             fuck wank........
00008039  ............................
00008055  ............................
00008071  ...................2......2.
0000808D  ..............."............
000080A9  .....\...............wank fu
000080C5  ck..........................
000080E1  ............................
000080FD  ............................
00008119  ............................
00008135  .........fuckpoos!!!!.......
00008151  ............................
0000816D  ............................
00008189  ............................
000081A5  .........................com
000081C1  plete twat - ISOCD 1.04 by P
000081DD  antaray, Inc. USA -.........
000081F9  ............................
00008215  ............................
00008231  .............fuck you boy!!!
0000824D  !

('fuck wank' is the disc label)

[Marcuz]

Originally Posted by Frootloop

WHAT THIS SAYS TO MY PUBLISHER IS THE MARKET DOESN'T WANT MULTI-PLAYER STRATEGY GAMES! BUT I DON'T BELIEVE IT.

some years later people real time multiplayer strategy was the main thing.

thinking of it, nice message

[dirkies]

I remember Carrier Command locked up after 30 minutes if it detected the novella protection was missing, so Defjam rereleased it with a enter-whatever novella protection and this time it didn't crash. But the original was already copyable using XCOPY in Nibble 83 tracks mode, but then you needed the manual for novella protection.

Also, Lords of The Rising Sun had 2 protections, one of Rob Northern, successfully removed by Quartex, but there was a smart in-game protection that detected somehow if the protection was removed, and if so, you'd be all of a sudden (within 1 minute of gameplay in arcade mode) be visited by a hitman ninja, and you had no choice to escape and be shuriken'ed to death and amen, game over! The original never did this (I had it too, with the original you could play the awesome arcade battlescenes), the cracked version always did this, no way to play this game correctly! AFAIK, it was never successfully cracked, but is now free avail on cinemaware's website.

LZX compressor used initially a similar routine, but Jonathan Forbes told me he removed it later on, because those using a cracked version thought the software was buggy, while it was the copy protection that anonymously screwed things up, creating bad publicity.

and finally, but that's C64, The Last Ninja 2 or 3 (can't remember) had some real rude F word messages inside the binary for crackers, can't remember the wording tho'