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Work in Progress / Serial Code Protection for your games

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Mnemonix
21
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Joined: 2nd Dec 2002
Location: Skaro
Posted: 27th Nov 2005 22:01 Edited at: 27th Nov 2005 22:04
I am working hard to complete a new plugin which will give you the power to protect your applications using serial codes. The serial code system is common in many games and programs. It includes a dialog where you must type the correct serial code to be able to use the program
Here is an example:-



These are some codes generated by the generator. Notice how just changing one character in the name yields a totally different code!.

Each persons EXE is different. When you have the plugin, you use 4 keys to generate codes. Generally 3 of these will be specific to your application and the 4th may be the name of your customer.

The plugin also has the ability to produce a CRC32 checksum string from a file. This is useful for file verification.

This plugin wont be free however. I am thinking of releasing 2 versions. The standard and personalised editions. The difference is that the personalised edition has a totally different generation rule for the codes, and no two personalised plugins will be the same.
Here are the price I am thinking:-

Standard - $15
Personalised - $20

The personalised edition is more secure.

There will be more features in this plugin by the time I release it. If you have any ideas for features then please post them and I will check out how feasible they are to add.

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
Cian Rice
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Posted: 27th Nov 2005 22:04 Edited at: 27th Nov 2005 22:04
OOPS DOUBLE POST

Cian Rice
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Posted: 27th Nov 2005 22:04
I definatly will think about buying this... You're releasing so many good apps goddamnit!

Mnemonix
21
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Posted: 27th Nov 2005 22:04 Edited at: 27th Nov 2005 22:06
deja vu.

It goes without saying that purchasers will be entitled to updates as they happen.

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
gamesmad
18
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Location: UK
Posted: 28th Nov 2005 21:53
Sounding very nice, is $15 a little steep though, might just be me...

Will

Team leader of Games Mad! and 3D designer, modeller and animator for Cyrain Studios.
Bush Baby
19
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Joined: 23rd Apr 2005
Location: A cave beneath Jerusalem
Posted: 28th Nov 2005 22:30
hmm... tell me how would each customer's exe be different?
Like is it basically a password encrypted exe?

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Sergey K
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Posted: 28th Nov 2005 23:22
is that MS-Dos or C++?


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Mnemonix
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Posted: 28th Nov 2005 23:54
thats C++ running an Dos window on XP. Thats just a test application.
Im not going to describe how the personalised binarys would be different, but rest assured that they will generate COMPLETELY different codes.

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
Mnemonix
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Posted: 28th Nov 2005 23:57
Quote: " Sounding very nice, is $15 a little steep though, might just be me..."


Well if your in England then $15 is what? £8-£9 at the most which is something like the cost of a cheap DVD. I dont think that the price is very unreasonable, especially once it has the extra features im planning.

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
Torrey
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Location: New Jersey
Posted: 29th Nov 2005 00:23 Edited at: 29th Nov 2005 00:24
Can you release an example crackme app with your plugin? It'd be a fun challenge to have a go at how powerful the encryption is.

Mnemonix
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 00:33
Well I dont nessecarily want to do that at the moment, im trying to improve the protection in the application itself, so I dont want to leave it open for cracking.

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
jasonhtml
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Location: OC, California, USA
Posted: 29th Nov 2005 00:48
one problem... what if too people had the same name

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Mnemonix
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 01:09
What do you think the likelyhood of this is?

All you need to do is, if you have a sign up site is say "Sorry that person is already registered" and make them choose a different name.

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
Jeku
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 05:36
And what would it matter if two people had the same EXE file? If there are 3 John Smiths who registered your product, and they each have the exact same EXE, it's not really a big deal is it?

Torrey
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 05:53
The randomness of your generated keys in the picture up top looks really good, and it's 64-bit protection. If the source uses something like branching (if you know what I mean?) then I think your protection will be really tough if someone were to try and crack it.

If you know assembler pretty well I should show you this one method my friend used for serial protection.

Mnemonix
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 15:55
Here are some example codes that I prepared...

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !

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Mr Crazy
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 21:00
I found a flaw. Someone could just copy the exe to someone elses computer and type in the registration code...

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Peter H
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 21:53
Or offer it for download along with the code?

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gamesmad
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 22:24
Peter_ has a point there...

Will

Team leader of Games Mad! and 3D designer, modeller and animator for Cyrain Studios.
Jeku
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 22:27
Well no kidding you could do that. There isn't a fool-proof copy protection plan. But who's going to pay for a product then stick it to download on a site? Unfortunately there's no way around it, unless the software "binds" itself to the serial number of your computer's hard drive. But then the real software purchaser would have to re-register if he/she upgrades the hard drive.

Sillybear
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Posted: 29th Nov 2005 23:10
could use a Random Code that goes into windows Reg that they have to submit to so they have to use the Name and Code to get a Reg code

Mnemonix
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Location: Skaro
Posted: 30th Nov 2005 04:33
Im also working on two way encryption

This is what I have so far. See if you can find any flaws with it(even though I have no intention of leaving it in its present state).

See if you can work out what it is.

Oh by the way, it took around 14 and a half seconds to encrypt this file, this includes reading and writing.

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !

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Gen
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Posted: 30th Nov 2005 05:43
Looking good.

Quote: "See if you can work out what it is."


I couldn't

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BearCDPOLD
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Posted: 30th Nov 2005 21:59
This is great, Mnemonix. Is this going to be a DB only thing, or will there be a way to use with programs written in other languages (all I personally care about is C++)?


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Mnemonix
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Posted: 30th Nov 2005 23:29
Well I suppose there is the possibility of releasing a dll for c++. Im not sure how this differs from DBP at this point, but its something I will look into

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
aristid
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Posted: 3rd Dec 2005 08:08
use buyers email, they wouldnt want to spread that so easily..

aristides.
Mnemonix
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Posted: 3rd Dec 2005 20:37
thats a good idea, but thats up to the particular client who is using the plugin.

WE SHALL BECOME ALL POWERFUL! CRUSH THE LESSER RACES! CONQUER THE GALAXY! UNIMAGINABLE POWER! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING ! ! ! ETC. ! ! ! ETC.! ! !
John H
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Posted: 4th Dec 2005 05:44
Sounds great Andy 20 bucks is cheap too


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