Re: Cracked Software

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

tws writes ...
> 
> I don't care about the Pirate Screens.  If I were a programmer, and someone
> cracked my AWESOME copy protection, I would be impressed.
> 
> If someone wanted to remove the screens, How about DELETEing the HiRes Image that
> contains the Pirates name?  Or use a paint program to ERASE the pirate name.
> 
> Seems like alot of work to me.
>

 ....

     It can be a lot of work. For one thing, the startup screen may be
embedded in a large block of code and not easily extracted for
modification. For another, even a separate pic intro screen may be
'protected' via a checksum or key bytes or integrated executable code or
... . Sometimes, an intro screen is created at the time of startup (via
sprites, etc.) and the cracker logo patched over from within the
program.

     On the other hand, a user can always experiment with changing an
intro and check the result with some play testing. About, maybe, 25% of
the time, it will be fairly easy to edit a hires intro screen to show
whatever you like.

     Like Steve Mentzer, I do not really mind seeing "Cracked by the
Whip" or whatever on the intro, so long as the screen retains most of
its original look. There is a nostalgia value to such 'trademarks' and,
besides, it is nice to know that one is booting a cracked version vs. a
protected original.

     Another thing to consider is that, after all, the cracker did make
the program copiable. Without the work of the 'signature' crackers and
those who published cracks in Computist, many games with serious bugs
would not have been fixable. Others could not have been moved to
speedier versions of DOS 3.3 and those with glitchy protections would
continue to bomb every few months.

     You can not create .dsk, .shk, and .sdk archive files from
diskettes which retain their complete copy protection. For sure, without
the crackers, most Apple II games would not be available to users today.

         


Rubywand