Messages in game code for crackers

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by JohnnyWalker

Thanks for your honesty Galahad. What would you say to crackers today?

Theres very few real crackers left. The PC cracking scene is crap, its all cd check easy crap, PS2 is a hardware modification, etc, etc.

I'm not being nostalgic, but on C64, ST, Amiga cracking was real cracking, today the internet means anyone can be a 'leet cracker'!

[WayneK]

I think you're glossing over the fact that most generic 'shrinkwrap' PC cd protections are several times harder than, for example, Rob Northen Copylock was in its day. "CD check easy crap"... hehe, maybe 5 years ago. Anyway, that's a discussion for another day, but I'm sorry I couldn't let a comment like that just slip past

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by WayneK

I think you're glossing over the fact that most generic 'shrinkwrap' PC cd protections are several times harder than, for example, Rob Northen Copylock was in its day. "CD check easy crap"... hehe, maybe 5 years ago. Anyway, that's a discussion for another day, but I'm sorry I couldn't let a comment like that just slip past

Yes the PC had a couple of tricky ones, but they've been dumped in favour of "CD check easy crap".

Too many of the 'good' PC protections didn't work on certain drives.... makes it a pretty shit protection in my book, at least Copylock worked!

[gizmomelb]

Originally Posted by Conqueror

Of course we checked first and the duplication company simply said that they could duplicate everything that could be written on an Amiga drive.

As far as I remember, the problem with my long tracks on Deep Core was that the gap (between the end of the last data and the sync word marking the start of the track) was too short to be handled by the disk duplication machines. We were working with some duplication company in Blackpool, UK, and I think they used the unix-based trace machines. Anyways, they obviously could not handle a very short gap, especially in combination with a higher data density than usual, even if this worked perfectly fine to write to a disk with my hardware-modified Amiga disk drive, and was readable on every Amiga drive we tested it on.

Hi Conqueror,

I don't suppose you still remember what the modification you did to your Amiga drive was, or more importantly - if you'd like to share it with the community? Your modification could allow people to write IPF files using modified Amiga drives, which would be very, very cool.

Regards,
Gizmomelb

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by WayneK

I think you're glossing over the fact that most generic 'shrinkwrap' PC cd protections are several times harder than, for example, Rob Northen Copylock was in its day. "CD check easy crap"... hehe, maybe 5 years ago. Anyway, that's a discussion for another day, but I'm sorry I couldn't let a comment like that just slip past

Are you sure it wasnt just that Norton Copylock was badly implemented on 99% of games. Those where it was implemented well were sometimes a little bugger. The ones where it was simply crashing if the value return was incorrect dont even count.

How many people actually decoded the copylock routine and actually understood what it was doing.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Conqueror

Of course we checked first and the duplication company simply said that they could duplicate everything that could be written on an Amiga drive.

As far as I remember, the problem with my long tracks on Deep Core was that the gap (between the end of the last data and the sync word marking the start of the track) was too short to be handled by the disk duplication machines. We were working with some duplication company in Blackpool, UK, and I think they used the unix-based trace machines. Anyways, they obviously could not handle a very short gap, especially in combination with a higher data density than usual, even if this worked perfectly fine to write to a disk with my hardware-modified Amiga disk drive, and was readable on every Amiga drive we tested it on.

I remember doing other things like using many different sync words on short sectors on the same track, as well as using a copper list to change the sync register ($dff07e) at various stages to read different data from the same track...

And yes, it is true that I have to take out a number of features from the protection scheme in the end, to be able to fit time and duplication limits...

However, it is nice that someone actually noticed this and still remembers it!

Regards
Conqueror / C^Z

I had a similar problem with the duplicators for the stuff I did for streetracer and that was written on a bog standard unmodified drive. The tracks werent that complex, just with one of 4 different sync values used depending on the track.

I think most of the first batch of duplicated disks had to be recalled.

[Galahad/FLT]

Look out for the note in front of the Final Loader.... If you get so far my friend!



Read this important message! Code MERLIN! Please contact Discovery Software immediately ! We need programmers like YOU, it would be silly not to phone us

[DrBong]

Time to bring this great little thread back to life!

Eco Phantoms was originally being coded by Rickey Costas and Toby Simpson. Costas left halfway through game development, however, and was replaced by Jeremy Sherlock. Sherlock was so unimpressed with Costas' unfinished code that he left this message about him inside a file on disk 1 of the game:

'It must be said that Richard Costas was the original programmer along with Toby, on this project, but because Ricky walked out, and I took over from him, rewriting a lot of his shit and badly written, unproffesional and ridiculously long winded code, and the fact that this was only half finished, I have decided not to include this fat git in the credits for this game, signed Jez. I will credit Richard Costas with the blame for a lot of hassle, stress, late nights and my hatred for the twat!'

Classic!

hahah... didn't hold back at all did he

[psw]

Originally Posted by gizmomelb

Hi Conqueror,

I don't suppose you still remember what the modification you did to your Amiga drive was, or more importantly - if you'd like to share it with the community? Your modification could allow people to write IPF files using modified Amiga drives, which would be very, very cool.

Regards,
Gizmomelb

I seem to remember there was a screw/pot in the drive which controlled the speed, but it was a very long time ago.

[psw]

This is the text in Deep Core. MOK/CLASSIC released a cracked version.

OK. SO YOU ARE ABOUT TO CRACK THIS GAME, EH? WELL, WELL... JUST MAKE SURE TO PLAYTEST IT VERY WELL B4 YOU RELEASE IT !!! HEHEHE...
WATCH OUT FOR CHECKSUMS! THEY COULD BE HARD TO FIND SOMETIMES! YOU WILL NEED A LOT OF PATIENCE. GOOD LUCK!!!
GREETINGS TO THE BEST CRACKERS AROUND, IF THERE ARE ANY LEFT NOWADAYS. OK, I HEARD CLASSIC HAVE REFORMED SO THATS ATLEAST SOMETHING!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BOBO, TONY AND HOSON ALSO GREETINGS TO ZIKE!, MICKE IN STOCKHOLM, TED, JASON, STU, JOSH, FREDERIC, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER AND THE REST - PREPPA MERA!!!
STEROIDER E BRA F0R KROPPEN KOLLA BARA PA HISCORELISTAN!!!DECA^SUSTANON! - OCH NU NAGOT HELT ANNAT: "FANA VACKER, GUL OCH BLA..."
"SVERIGE, SVERIGE, FOSTERLAND !!!" ULTIMA THULE RULAR

[demoniac]

Hello Hacker, Before you start ripping into this game please remember that you are destroying the Amiga and the jobs that are associated with it. We've spent over a year on this product and obviously want to make loads of money so if you do crack it (very easily, its THAT easy protection) then don't release it, Thank You

Hi everyone, just signed up to this great forum and thought i'd have to leave a quick message on this thread.

Its great to see some of the crackers and devs who helped shape my youth under one roof.

Amiga, long may she reign

WD

[Galahad/FLT]

"Haya Fellas"

[cv643d]

You guys who cracked games, you are never afraid some devs will stab u in your back when you sleep in the night because you stole their familys bread?

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by cv643d

You guys who cracked games, you are never afraid some devs will stab u in your back when you sleep in the night because you stole their familys bread?

I worked on Speris Legacy and Premier Manager 3 Deluxe... both got cracked (the latter not 100%) and copied......thats life, wouldn't do to complain about something I did myself.

[DrBong]

I've been sitting on this one for a fair while now. This one's for German speakers from a terribly bad game called Street Gang:

Amiga Version by Mr.C Es wird das gesamte CHIP-RAM benoetigt ! Scheiss Amiga !!! verkaufe AMIGA 2000 (B-Platine) mit zwei Laufwerken und Festplatte !!!!! Wir sehen uns wieder auf dem Archimedes !!! Warum verkaufe ich wohl den scheiss Amiga ! Fuck Marc Ullrich !

This is the English translation from Babel Fish:

'Amiga version by Mr.C it is needed entire chip RAM! Shit to Amiga!!! sell AMIGA 2000 (B-plate) with two drive assemblies and non removable disk!!!!! We see ourselves to the Archimedes!!! Why I sell probably shit to Amiga! Fuck Marc Ullrich!'

If anyone's wondering, Marc Ulrich was the founder of Rainbow Arts......who were part of the Softgold publishing stable. The main coder (Mr.C) apparently was a Norwegian demo coder. He sounds a bit upset with Mr Ulrich and the Amiga! I doubt he would have found much of a demo/games scene on the Archimedes somehow

[TCD]

'Amiga version by Mr.C needs the entire chip RAM! Shitty Amiga!!! I sell a AMIGA 2000 (B-plate) with two floppy drives and harddisk!!!!! We will meet again on the Archimedes!!! Why do you think I sell the shitty Amiga! Fuck Marc Ullrich!' - human translation

Wow this guy must have been really fed up with the Amiga

[StingRay]

Originally Posted by DrBong

I doubt he would have found much of a demo/games scene on the Archimedes somehow

While the Archimedes demo scene was/is indeed very small there are some quite awesome demo coders like eRdgEiSt/Icebird! He f.e. coded the core of the rendering routines of the navigation system the company I worked at prior to my current job developed and sold. There were a lot of other scene ppl working there too, was a nice job [yet way too stressful so I quit after a few years ] and nobody asked "wtf are you doing?" when I watched some (or even coded parts of my own ) Amiga demos during my working hours as most people there were/are part of the scene.

[MazinKaesar]

I found a message in the original copy of Last Ninja III, C64 version. It siad that cracking the game could be easy, but if the reader can crunch (compress) the level better than the original, he would contact the programmers ^^