474 replies to this topic

[score_under]

Always make sure your version is the latest to avoid possible bugs!
Combine with other programs (Schreib's Obfuscator, some EXE compressors, 39ster's DLL to remove scripts from memory)
Supports: GM8.0 games GM7.0 games GM6.1-to-vista'd games

Last update: 20/06/11 (20th June 2011)

Do not use any self-check scripts with this (e.g. debug checker, or checksum DLL), as it voids the checksum and debug data.

Anti-Decompiler Downloads
Version 2:
> bit.ly/AntiDecompiler < 305KB .ZIP
> van0014's packaged version <

Old version 1:
> RAR < 2.5MB
> ZIP < 2.85MB
__________
Alternate Skins Just for fun
Sindarin's (amazing) skin is included by default.
(See post for screenshot [->])
Zues' Skin: [->]
ev149's skin: [->] - 404
Hauzer-Ninja's skin: [->]

__________
Anti-Decompiler Info

This program is my take on the decompiler problem: If you can't hide it, encrypt it.
At the moment, this does:

• Moves game data to a random position. (Slightly increases filesize, but never by more than 0.07MB)
• Encrypts game data with random keys.
• Overwrites all version info with random data.
• Integrates itself into the game EXE - doesn't extract any DLLs, doesn't save any temporary files.
• Has an extremely small decryption time.

The anti-decompiler is now much more user-friendly:

(Sindarin's excellent skin, now default, can be seen in his post. You only need to extract "skin.bmp" and "icon.ico" to replace skins.)
Screenshot of side-by-side comparison in hex editor:


This program is not written in Game Maker.

Unlike the attempt that I made last time, which was basically just a proof-of-concept, this one now has many more features to make it more user-friendly and straightforward. It also has a more secure encryption scheme than before.

Anti-Decompiler Q&A
Q: What happens when someone tries to decompile a protected game?
A: See this screenshot: (Click to zoom in)
---
Q: Can I upload the protected game to InstantPlay?
A: No, InstantPlay can't read the game data.
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Q: If the data's encrypted and relocated, how does Game Maker read it?
A: It decrypts at runtime, this program hooks the required functions.
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Q: Does this require any extra DLLs, EXEs, or other datafiles to be distributed with the game?
A: No.
---
Q: Is this a virus?
A: No. Try scanning with something like virustotal if you are worried.
---
Q: Can I use this in my own software?
A: Sure, but remember it's your responsibility to update it! (Fortunately my rate of updates has decreased dramatically)
You can call it from most programs, like so:
Batch script:

antidecompiler "c:\path\to\game to protect.exe"

Game Maker:

execute_program("antidecompiler.exe",'"c:\path\to\game to protect.exe"',1);
//Notice quotes *inside* the string

Anti-Decompiler Changelog
20^th June 2011:

• Checks whether the GM8.1 exe is in fact 8.1.91 before it goes and messes everything up.
• Options dialog on protecting.
• AntiDecompiler.exe now does the compressing, rather than compress.exe.
• All .DAT files updated to allow for a small amount of data aiding in compression of the EXE.

17^th June 2011:

• Finally! Supports 8.1.91 and *NO OTHER 8.1 VERSION YET*. If it doesn't work with your version it will probably remove the icon and stop windows from loading the EXE.

25^th January 2011:

• Created .dat format "version 2" (i.e. version 2 since last rewrite)
• Now takes all forms of icons.

16^th July 2010:

• Improved .dat format, it is now extremely small.
• Added GM8 support
• A new codebase, so please report any bugs you find to me, as usual.

Halloween 2009:

• Fixed a little problem with closing the program on some vista machines. (Again!)

09/09/09:

• Greatly increased encryption strength, and encryption code no longer remains in program memory for long.
• Added a quick program which will compress an already antidec'd GM7 EXE file (This is possible too with non-antidec'd EXE files and GM6-antidec'd EXE files, I just haven't added that into the program. I could do one manually for you if you asked nicely)

12^th June 2009:

• Removed most of the "suspicious-looking" code (mostly just repeated bytes making it think it's packed, namely 90 and EB3B) in the EXEs to avoid it being wrongly detected as a virus.

9^th May 2009:

• Added an option to remove code snippets from the error dialogs.

5^th April 2009:

• Added command-line option support; compressed EXE; completely invalidated the resource-editing tutorial.

21^st March 2009:

• Minor tinkerings; after protection, not even programs that were previously debug-mode will be able to run in debug mode.

10^th March 2009:

• Fixed a small bug (hopefully hasn't affected anyone yet) in the GM6.1-to-vista anti-decompiler data which could possibly cause a crash.

9^th March 2009:

• Update 1: Fixed a stack bug which occurred at game end, this could be the crashing bug that's been eluding me for all of 4 days.
• Update 2: Added GM6.1-to-vista support.

7^th March 2009:

• Fixed a bug with some unrelated GM functions causing a crash.

5^th March 2009:

• Released.

Edited by score_under, 27 February 2013 - 04:37 PM.

[PickleMan]

First Post! Nice to see that this topic flourished. I will be releasing my own soon.

[Aertcz]

Best thing to happen since the Decompiler

[Tuz]

This is something that i have waited for a long. But i hope that noone will find a way to crack this

[tamper2]

Hmmmm... looks nice...
I haven't downloaded it yet, but I want to ask, how do you know people won't decompile this, or find a way around this?
Do you have any special method that can't be cracked easily?

Tamper

[allong]

I would like to ask, what changes are made to the target EXE to render them un-decompilable ?

[A saurus1]

I would like to ask, what changes are made to the target EXE to render them un-decompilable ?

Why would he tell you that. Anyway, I think it just causes the decompiler to think that the exe is not a GM exe, and therefore it won't decompile it.

I don't think this was written in GM. GM does not have built-in functions to accept D&D files, and requires a dll to do so. I did not see such a dll come with the decompiler.

Well, it works, that's all I can say. And I like your skin, I think you should keep it. However, if you do want a new one, I'll be happy to do it for you if you just give me some style ideas (what do you want?).

[Aertcz]

Beats buying Armadillo Passport

[score_under]

Hmmmm... looks nice...
I haven't downloaded it yet, but I want to ask, how do you know people won't decompile this, or find a way around this?
Do you have any special method that can't be cracked easily?

Tamper

I have talked to the developer of the decompiler over instant messenger, he has no intention of creating a newer version of the decompiler - let alone cracking a 3rd-party protection.

I would like to ask, what changes are made to the target EXE to render them un-decompilable ?

Why would he tell you that. Anyway, I think it just causes the decompiler to think that the exe is not a GM exe, and therefore it won't decompile it.

It does both that, and encrypts the data too (so that if you choose the version manually, it still can't decompile).

I don't think this was written in GM. GM does not have built-in functions to accept D&D files, and requires a dll to do so. I did not see such a dll come with the decompiler.

Correct. It was written in C, and I used skinning to see how well I knew Win32 GDI functions.

Well, it works, that's all I can say. And I like your skin, I think you should keep it. However, if you do want a new one, I'll be happy to do it for you if you just give me some style ideas (what do you want?).

You can make any skin you want. I just want it to both be appealing to the eye (the one thing the previous version was not) and easy-to-use.
If anyone saw my previous version (although a little shrouded in obscurity) it was a lot more quirky to use than this - it used an interactive console window and printed minimalistic messages, without checking for the integrity of the EXE.

Beats buying Armadillo Passport

Yes, it does. Thanks

[petenka]

GM does have functions to examine parameters, so yes it IS possible for D&D to work in gm programs
Go look in the help files.

[Maarten Baert]

Okay, I can understand how the protecting part works, but I don't understand how you managed to keep the EXE working. I thought GM uses a self-check system, usually it just says 'game file is corrupted' if you change anything at all. Does this program export the orinigal EXE to the temp folder? Or does it run the game directly, disabling the self-check somehow?

EDIT:
According to ProcExp the original program is NOT exported. There are some small differences between the protected version and the original version though, most importantly the protected version uses 1MB more RAM (the actual game data? the runner?).

By the way, the protected program crashed when I tried to close it. Except for this small bug, this program is great! Can you give us some more info about how the 'integration' works?

Edited by matrebatre, 06 March 2009 - 09:27 PM.

[A saurus1]

GM does have functions to examine parameters, so yes it IS possible for D&D to work in gm programs
Go look in the help files.

Yes, but in this program, you can actually drop a file into the window, not just on to the icon.

[score_under]

Okay, I can understand how the protecting part works, but I don't understand how you managed to keep the EXE working. I thought GM uses a self-check system, usually it just says 'game file is corrupted' if you change anything at all. Does this program export the orinigal EXE to the temp folder? Or does it run the game directly, disabling the self-check somehow?

EDIT:
According to ProcExp the original program is NOT exported. There are some small differences between the protected version and the original version though, most importantly the protected version uses 1MB more RAM (the actual game data? the runner?).

By the way, the protected program crashed when I tried to close it. Except for this small bug, this program is great! Can you give us some more info about how the 'integration' works?

It shouldn't use any more than 64KB more RAM, as this is the maximum it will add to the game size.

EDIT:

It seems a Game Maker game uses varying amounts of RAM - in this case, the original used more than the protected.

It hooks the function which checks/reads/interprets the data and decrypts it before it's processed.

Edited by score_under, 11 March 2009 - 10:14 PM.

[Sindarin]

Someone please design a better theme!

Here, had some free time so I re-skinned it for you



Get It

Though I did have problems with the protected game. When I tried to use sprite_replace_alpha, the game froze and at the game end I got an app crash.

Edited by Sindarin, 07 March 2009 - 01:02 AM.

[score_under]

Though I did have problems with the protected game. When I tried to use sprite_replace_alpha, the game froze and at the game end I got an app crash.

To be honest, I expected something like that. I'll try to upload a fix tomorrow.
EDIT: Uploaded, tell me if it's worked!

Edited by score_under, 07 March 2009 - 01:07 PM.

[Sindarin]

Good job, now it works. However the crash at the game end still occurs.

[score_under]

Good job, now it works. However the crash at the game end still occurs.

I'm not getting this error... would you mind sending over the code that causes it? (As long as it isn't too sensitive.)

EDIT: 09 March '09: Sindarin, could you see if the crashing bug at game end is still caused by the newer version?

Edited by score_under, 09 March 2009 - 05:52 PM.

[Tahnok]

It works perfectly on my current project. Good stuff, thanks.

[LoopStan]

Wow! I like this! This is really useful. I'm glad someone is putting their time and effort into creating something to help the GMWorld.

[Sindarin]

EDIT: 09 March '09: Sindarin, could you see if the crashing bug at game end is still caused by the newer version?

It seems it is fixed now, no crash at game end. Good job!