Like the idea, though a good cracker might catch on... how easy is it to figure out if a memory manager works through a disassembler? I don''t know, but I bet if you say had a variable that was called freememwhendone, and then before ever deleteing memory you did a little: if(freememwhendone)... that might be easy to figure out... I don''t know if variable names are shown in a disassembler.... just some thoughts...

how exactly would you code it so that the cracker would have to do more than look at all of the code around all of the delete functions? Might that be easy to figure out? If they see a memory leak... most programmers think right away ''memory not being deleted''. Kinda leeds them right to look for your deletes. I really like the idea though. Very much.

You might want to somehow make it obvious, very obvious that memory managment errors occur durring execution of cracked apps.

to add to your idea, I''m sure it would work equally as well to allocate memory twice every time its allocated instead of just once...

"The only thing worse than not having that new _______ , is when some rich kid has it, but can''t and/or doesn''t appreciate it."-me
Tazzel3d ~ Dwiel

Good thoughts. I like the idea of allocating dbl mem for cracked versions. You could use that in conjucntion with not removing other memory. Make it tricky for the bastards.

I am not a cracker so am not 100% sure, but I believe the cracking process is basically to put the byte code into a hex editor, where if you have a clue it is easy to spot conditionals. Then, as most copyright security is some form of an if statement, you change the conditional value to 1 and run it; as you go through them, eventually you change if(not_cracked) to if(1) and blam, you''re golden. The cracker doesn''t have the source code to work from, just the compiled code from your cd. Occasionally thins can be reverse engineered, but it is my (quite possibly incorrect) understanding that most cracking is done by manipulating condtional statements within the compiled code.

I don''t use a hex editor so I don''t know if they will display memory leaks while running programs, I kinda lean towards most not doing this, and even if they do, once your at this low level of code you typically aren''t concerned with memory, so it probably is an unused/hidden feature. My thought should be clarified to say that it must be coupled with an if(not_cracked) type conditional; when this is changed to if(1) you start leaking mem. So the cracker thinks it works, releases it, and then these cracked versions start bogging down everyone''s machines. As the company owner, you deny it is your code and just say that the cracked versions hacked around and are causing memory leaks. I guess the difficulty become implementing the memory leaks in such a way that they are not simply a conditional themselves, because if(not_cracked) del mem; can easily be taken care of if the hacker then knows what to look for. It may at least delay them a couple of days.

I guess you could use it in conjunction with a data structure you write specifically for the game, and code two seperate but not overly obvious delete functions to make it harder to spot if it was dissassembled. But then, I code mostly in Java, so this point is somewhat moot for me .

The Tyr project is here.

quote: Original post by Tazzel3D
Basically flood the internet with fake cracks.

that''s EXACTLY the kind of brilliantly simple trick this thread was designed to produce

********


A Problem Worthy of Attack
Proves It''s Worth by Fighting Back

Now I have a legit problem with games that require that you need a registration code to play. Let''s say that you bought StarCraft with your hard earned money and you lose the real code thinking that you won''t ever need it again. (Though we all know sooner or later our computers will crash for some unknown reason.) Now when you go to reinstall the game, you can''t because you don''t have a code that works. So, you either have to use a crack or go out and buy a new copy.

If you put something on that copy that indicates that a crack has been used, and things start to happen, then you are providing an unfair disadvantage to the real costumers who bought your game.

I think that games should load up like the copies of Deus Ex that you get free with the SoundBlaster 5.1 Gamer Edition did. The computer can intantly check the disk to see if it''s a burnt or cracked copy and run it without the annoying serial number screen comming up.

Also, I think that if you DO have to use a registration code then have it printed on the disk itself and have the disk run hidden codes to identify it as the orginal copy.

All the games I own have the code/key on the cd case, and when it asks me for the key when I try to install I realize that I will probably need the key again if I try to install it again. Makes sense, right? Your solution (simply check the cd) is what many games do, and since there is just one small little part that does the checking, crackers can patch it up and release a pirated version before the game itself is out. The whole reason for this thread was to discuss more clever ways of protecting a commercial singleplayer game.

[edited by - Extrarius on January 22, 2003 12:25:51 PM]

quote: Original post by smiley4
Now I have a legit problem with games that require that you need a registration code to play. Let''s say that you bought StarCraft with your hard earned money and you lose the real code thinking that you won''t ever need it again.

this is exactly why sharpie markers were invented (if its not, then
it should be). write the code on your cd! common sense...



-eldee
;another space monkey;
[ Forced Evolution Studios ]

Do NOT let Dr. Mario touch your genitals. He is not a real doctor!

quote: Original post by walkingcarcass

Original post by Tazzel3D
Basically flood the internet with fake cracks.

that''s EXACTLY the kind of brilliantly simple trick this thread was designed to produce

********


A Problem Worthy of Attack
Proves It''s Worth by Fighting Back

sarcastic or not? It''s sometimes hard to tell when only typing…

Anyway, I got the idea for Tom Petty''s CD, which I know some friends over 2 hours to download because they had to redownload almoast every song at elast 3 or 4 times before they got the right one. And they had cable!

One problem though is how would you go about releasing cracks? I''m not sure that I know of the best places to submit… obviously giving it out to all of your friends to host on kazaa and the like, but other than that, is there a good place to submit fake cracks?



"The only thing worse than not having that new _______ , is when some rich kid has it, but can''t and/or doesn''t appreciate it."-me
Tazzel3d ~ Dwiel

quote: Original post by Tazzel3D
sarcastic or not? It''s sometimes hard to tell when only typing...

I''m pretty sure that he was not being sarcastic. Flooding the internet with fake cracks--especially the p2p networks--is a great idea.

The Tyr project is here.

Thanx....

So would anybody happen to know of a good way to post cracks besides destributing them on kazaa?

(good time for some anon posting so we all don''t know who you are if you happen to know just about every crack site )

Tazzel3d ~ Dwiel

1)In a longer-game, spanning 10+ hours, drop roadblocks starting at the halfway point. A normal CD-check type issue at around the 5 hour mark. The cracker will probably figure it out and fix it. At which point, set up a possible check to see if it was bypassed, and at 8 hours, put up another roadblock, while re-enabling the 5 hour roadblock? again at 9 hours, and once more before the final boss? The amount of time it''d take to check to make sure a final good crack is working would scare away most crackers.

2)What if everything turned into pseudo-random gibberish. Like towards the end of Metal Gear Solid 2?

3) I really like the ''randomly disappearing units'' idea with RTS''.