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AppGameKit Studio Chat / Securing Your Media !!

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Pfaber1
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Joined: 7th Jan 2018
Location: England
Posted: 7th Aug 2024 09:51 Edited at: 7th Aug 2024 20:57
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Hi if you want a way to secure your media on windows something simple that works very well that I lost a couple of years ago but now have in my possession.
The name of this file locker is HOOK FOLDER LOCKER .ZIP . If I secure a folder with it (media) and upload to itch.io when I download it the media folder will still be intact and protected.
With the media folder locked my game is still able to access the folder without any problems. This is the only way I know how to do this as stated though it is windows only. I searched through dozens of file lockers / hiders / encrypt / and I found what I was looking for after a day or so and glad I did as I was about to give up.
I hope you guys and gals find this useful and if you are looking for a way to secure (lock) your media folder this will probably be what you need.
I'm running windows 11 Home and there are no compatibility issues. It is free no trial and it is the only one that works.
Happy coding !!!
I should add that I say this is the only one that works and it is the only one I found that works and I tested a lot of them.
This is an excellent fit and it could of been made for AppGameKit Studio or classic.
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Phaelax
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Joined: 16th Apr 2003
Location: Metropia
Posted: 28th Aug 2024 14:42
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How do you provide the password to Itch.io so they can open the zip?
Tiled TMX Importer V.2
XML Parser V.2
Base64 Encoder/Decoder
Purple Token - Free online hi-score database
Legend of Zelda
Pixel-Perfect Collision

"I like offending people, because I think people who get offended should be offended." - Linus Torvalds

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Pfaber1
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Posted: 28th Aug 2024 14:55 Edited at: 28th Aug 2024 15:31
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The download of Package secured 2 is an .exe file run this file will unpack in the same directory. Open and click on the .exe . The media file will remain locked but still accessible by your program. There is no password. The password does exist although it is not needed to run the game. There is no encryption.
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agkcoder
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Location: AGK Forums
Posted: 28th Aug 2024 15:45 Edited at: 28th Aug 2024 15:45
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Where is this "Package secured 2 "...? Link please!

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Pfaber1
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Location: England
Posted: 30th Aug 2024 10:38 Edited at: 30th Aug 2024 11:01
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Here is the link for Package secured 2 .

https://pfaber11.itch.io/package-secured-2
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Phaelax
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Posted: 6th Sep 2024 14:23
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Oh when you said itch.io I assumed it was running as an html app
Tiled TMX Importer V.2
XML Parser V.2
Base64 Encoder/Decoder
Purple Token - Free online hi-score database
Legend of Zelda
Pixel-Perfect Collision

"I like offending people, because I think people who get offended should be offended." - Linus Torvalds

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GemGames
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Joined: 31st May 2018
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Posted: 20th Sep 2024 00:05
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Quote: "Here is the link for Package secured 2 . "


Quote: "The name of this file locker is HOOK FOLDER LOCKER .ZIP . If I secure a folder with it (media) and upload to itch.io when I download it the media folder will still be intact and protected."


Thank you. Does the download of this game on itch.io include the file "locker.zip"?
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hendron
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Posted: 20th Sep 2024 21:04 Edited at: 20th Sep 2024 21:06
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I would not recommend using this method to secure your media. All it seems to do is prevent someone from opening the media folder using Explorer. You can still access it normally via Powershell/Command Prompt and see/open/copy any of the files it contains.

AGK doesn't really have any easy way of securing media as far as I know, but a better-than-nothing solution would be to load your png images and ogg sounds as file memblocks, run an encryption algorithm on them and write the encrypted memblock data to files. In your game, load those files into memblocks, decrypt and then use the png/ogg memblock commands to convert them to AppGameKit image/sound objects.
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GemGames
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Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Posted: 21st Sep 2024 16:44
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hendron wrote: "...run an encryption algorithm on them and write the encrypted memblock data to files. In your game, load those files into memblocks, decrypt and then..."


Thanks hendron for that advice, that's actually what I was planning to do as well in my own projects to protect against casual copying or casual extracting of the game's assets in the media folder. Of course, I'm sure that a skilled hacker could still extract the game assets in just a matter of time even with some encryption scheme implemented as a safeguard, but some level of deterrent is better than none in most cases.

hendron wrote: "I would not recommend using this method to secure your media. All it seems to do is prevent someone from opening the media folder using Explorer. You can still access it normally via Powershell/Command Prompt and see/open/copy any of the files it contains."
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hendron
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Posted: 21st Sep 2024 17:32
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Quote: "Thanks hendron for that advice, that's actually what I was planning to do as well in my own projects to protect against casual copying or casual extracting of the game's assets in the media folder. Of course, I'm sure that a skilled hacker could still extract the game assets in just a matter of time even with some encryption scheme implemented as a safeguard, but some level of deterrent is better than none in most cases."


Yep. Personally I would only bother to encrypt my media if I were using 3rd party assets that require it for distribution in their EULAs. Like you said, if someone really wants to get access to them and they know what they're doing, they're going to be able to. With the sheer volume of indie games on the market these days we're lucky if we even get noticed, let alone get people wanting to take our stuff, lol.

The main problem with my method is that, since AppGameKit doesn't have any equivalent to the PNG and OGG memblock commands for any 3D file format, you can't do it for animated models. You could use normal file memblocks but then you'd have to temporarily save the decrypted ones to files, in order to use LoadObjectWithChildren() on them.
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Virtual Nomad
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Location: SF Bay Area, USA
Posted: 21st Sep 2024 22:01 Edited at: 21st Sep 2024 22:03
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SWSF provided this AES256 File Encryption method a few years ago that i think more of us need to take advantage of it (i've since included it @ the Resource Directory under Asset Protection)

otherwise, whenever i see password discussion, i think THIS.
AGK Resource Directory
Made with AppGameKit on Itch.io
VN @ itch.io | AGK Jam HQ
Some Snippets
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GemGames
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Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Posted: 22nd Sep 2024 06:01
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Virtual Nomad wrote: "SWSF provided this AES256 File Encryption method a few years ago that i think more of us need to take advantage of"


Very nice! Thank you for pointing out that resource (and also the resource directory itself under the AppGameKit Classic section).
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GemGames
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Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Posted: 22nd Sep 2024 06:09
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hendron wrote: "The main problem with my method is that, since AppGameKit doesn't have any equivalent to the PNG and OGG memblock commands for any 3D file format, you can't do it for animated models. You could use normal file memblocks but then you'd have to temporarily save the decrypted ones to files, in order to use LoadObjectWithChildren() on them."


That does make it awkward for 3D files and other files that don't have a copy to/from memblock function like PNG and OGG have. But if an App in its design by chance happens to be limited to 2D then your method could work really well for such an App.

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GemGames
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Posted: 22nd Sep 2024 06:12
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hendron wrote: "With the sheer volume of indie games on the market these days we're lucky if we even get noticed, let alone get people wanting to take our stuff, lol."


Lol, ya I suppose that would be a good problem to have!
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Pfaber1
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Location: England
Posted: 27th Sep 2024 08:45 Edited at: 27th Sep 2024 09:01
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https://sourceforge.net/projects/hookfolderlocker/

I think what is required is a program to wrap the .exe and the media file into one exe. I do think though that most computer users do not know how to access a file from the command prompt. I have a method to look at any file in a folder locked or not using .7z however at least something is better than nothing and it works well enough to deter most users. I'll try and find a link for it and I'm sure somebody might find it useful. @Hedron yes I know what you mean I'm practically begging people to download my games. All my games are free anyway so it doesn't matter if they get copied and given away.
If someone has something better I'm all ears. You know I think AppGameKit has been worked on more since being open source. Which is awesome. I was gonna try something else but I think AppGameKit S will be around for sometime and looking at the competition I'm in no hurry.
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