TMR Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I believe there were many more anonymous crackers, like the Doctor's Dad, than egomaniacal ones. It was a challenging thing to do, and you could still impress your local club buddies without an obnoxious intro screen. Adding an intro isn't egomania, it's a form of branding. And to be honest i really can't see why people seem to get so worked up by having intros in front of their cracked games, after all a few colour bars with a tune and scroller is a pretty small price to "pay" in order to get the latest and greatest titles for nothing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themrfreeze Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 I wonder whatever happened to Glenn "the 5200 Man" and the others. I know what they did was illegal, but they played a pretty large part in many people's lives back then. It would kinda be cool to see 'em drop by and maybe share a few memories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 I did crack a number of games back in the day- mostly cartridges. I wasn't part of any network or "scene", so maybe half a dozen people ever got the stuff I did. For the most part I just got the things working, although I did trainers for a few games and did loading screens or text modifications of a couple. I also developed a "freeze-frame" type copier that did a RAM snapshot - never got it to a user-friendly stage. I think I used that to copy Leaderboard and Elektraglide. It did fairly basic RLE compression - actually i think it eliminated strings of zeros if they occupied a 128 byte or larger block. We probably have some of the early crackers to thank for today's demo scene. Funny thing is, some of the intros were better than the games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 I think it's possible for anyone to be a hacker/cracker with the right tools...And without speaking that foreign language known as 6502 All you need to understand is the media the original software came with and the media you wish to port that software to....So if your trying to hack Cassette software, in 9 out of 10 cases you need to understand how IOCB works (as very little cassette software used DCB) find out where in mem the software loads, how much it loads in and where it initialises/runs (by looking at locations 2/3 or a/b/c or d (and very rarely locations 2e0-3) once you've found out where the program load's how much it load's and where it initialises/runs...just replace the cassete load instructions in the loader with disk load instructions (you might need to use DCB locations instead of IOCB locations)...copy the loader and data to disk and bobs your auntie/uncle etc...your first hack Though some s/w co's were pretty ingenious regarding copy proecting cassette games...if you've ever seen how games like IK, Warhawk, Ghostbusters and BBSB (cassette versions) work and load in memory...you'll know what i mean I still haven't figured out 'thunderfox' (yet most other bank switched cassette games were a doddle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Simply transferring a program from one media form to another isn't cracking or hacking. As for cassette games - it kinda surprises me that more advanced techniques weren't used earlier on. Just something simple like using different block sizes and/or deliberately writing wrong checksums would defeat 99%+ of software copying methods. Although of course, the old dual-cassette player trick put paid to just about any copy protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 Sorry there...when i meant 'copying data' i meant through Omnimon/ultimon etc....not via things like howfen T-D or transdisk etc Hence Proper Hacking/cracking though slight problem with omnimon is that if you loaded any data past page $BC or location BC00h it would get wiped out once you entered omnimon (that's where it uses it's graphics ram)...this doesn't happen in ultimon xe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lotek_style Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Copy Service Stuttgart got my vote btw... I wonder when this thread will be deleted... it's about PIRACY... atariage authorities usually freak out about that topic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoheiFox Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 (edited) The Bandit Brothers and Kid Einstein. Cracked lotsa Synapse releases on C64 and a few Firebird, and two memorable Ocean ones. Gotta love Ocean's "purposeful disk error" copy protection. Hell on the ol' 1541. .... mainly because the Bandit Brothers were my dad's best friend and his brother, and Kid Einstein was me. Lol. Edited August 12, 2008 by SoheiFox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 soheifox...got any examples of oceans/firebirds disk packaging (asi recall that most us software was disk only) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoheiFox Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 soheifox...got any examples of oceans/firebirds disk packaging (asi recall that most us software was disk only) I don't even have my commy anymore. I think I might have the Batman box with manual and disk around here somewhere, if you want it. Not the movie edition, the classic Ocean one. If I find it I'll just take shipping for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artlover Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Fairlight c64/amiga Yeah..... Fairlight & CCS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpicyChronos Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 There was one other group I remember being on one of my disks as a kid was from Stokes Brothers Pirating, they quoted "only the best" or something like that, with a BBS number in area code 801 (Utah) Stokes Brothers use to be a computer shop that sold all the computers at the time, Atari, Apple, Commodore, IBM, etc. I would drool when my dad and I went there to get something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 John Sosta (who did a hack of (Omnimon) and later teamed up with Futureware (Sidewinder) I remember John and his mate Paul (rode the motorbike), John was so happy that Sidewinder was out and he said to me it won't be done so quickly as it's protected against Omnimon. Er John, sorry old man, it wasn't...Made a lovely 2 part MB tho... Do you know what's he's doing these days Carmel, I know he headed into the ST front but I lost sight of him long long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphbutler Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Sorry there...when i meant 'copying data' i meant through Omnimon/ultimon etc....not via things like howfen T-D or transdisk etc Hence Proper Hacking/cracking though slight problem with omnimon is that if you loaded any data past page $BC or location BC00h it would get wiped out once you entered omnimon (that's where it uses it's graphics ram)...this doesn't happen in ultimon xe That's what "the pill" is most useful for. Turn it on, enter omnimon, screen ram starts at $7c00 instead of $bc00. Presto, $8000-$bfff preserved. -rbay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZipp Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 (edited) Hmm. Boy, this thread is old... Still, please let me add something here: - Most personal and never ending Kudo's to the following people (in no particular order, and not all crackers, though): Steve and Bruce, Rob.C, Ian.C, Killroy, Glenn the 5200 Man, Freddy Krueger (CSS), Erwin Reuss (CompyShop), Adam Gilmore, Philip Price, Janusz Pelc, Frank Ostrowski, Sam Tramiel, NAPO, Yogi, and all - all other friends! Edited July 7, 2013 by SteveZipp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 (edited) Hmm. Boy, this thread is old... Still, please let me add something here: - Most personal and never ending Kudo's to the following people (in no particular order, and not all crackers, though): Steve and Bruce, Rob.C, Ian.C, Killroy, Glenn the 5200 Man, Freddy Krueger (CSS), Erwin Reuss (CompyShop), Adam Gilmore, Philip Price, Janusz Pelc, Frank Ostrowski, Sam Tramiel, NAPO, Yogi, and all - all other friends! I don't know who wrote 'Chipmunk'. Bob Puff did 'Black Patch'. Those two commercial cracking programs cracked dozens. My favorite cracker, I won't mention, don't think he'd like it. I especially like cracks that make a binary load out of a boot disk. Wait.... I have a 'Chipmunk'. It is from Microdaft , copyright 1986 by Eli Tomlinson. Lemme see.... I guess the problem with 'Black Patch' and 'Chipmunk' is they were copy protected. But I think they were cracked and you can get them. Most won't get Chipmunk or Black Patch because all the cracked stuff is easy to get already cracked. (My cracker favorite NEVER put a name or introduction on his cracks.) (Yes, Chipmunk and Black Patch are available. Problem may be if you don't have Black Patch program list.) Edited July 8, 2013 by russg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 I don't know who wrote 'Chipmunk'. Bob Puff did 'Black Patch'. Those two commercial cracking programs cracked dozens. My favorite cracker, I won't mention, don't think he'd like it. I especially like cracks that make a binary load out of a boot disk. Wait.... I have a 'Chipmunk'. It is from Microdaft , copyright 1986 by Eli Tomlinson. Lemme see.... I guess the problem with 'Black Patch' and 'Chipmunk' is they were copy protected. But I think they were cracked and you can get them. Most won't get Chipmunk or Black Patch because all the cracked stuff is easy to get already cracked. (My cracker favorite NEVER put a name or introduction on his cracks.) (Yes, Chipmunk and Black Patch are available. Problem may be if you don't have Black Patch program list.) I forgot to mention Fandal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndusGT Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Yogi, He also started uploading games in mass in the early internet days, mid 90s, plus he started the Atari software preservation socity, hehehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) Wow retro return from the dead thread... To answer Carmel's original post. Mole Eater was me and yes I did crack some stuff back then, you probably are confusing me with the legend that is The Mole who cracked LOADS of EA bits etc. He was also from London, Hammersmith to be exact and was a Doctor, his name (in part for obvious reasons) was Mike M and he was a bloody genius, him and another guy named Dave Tuttle (not a cracker hence the full name) did the add on board that Computer House sold, Dave was an ex Maplin Manager who went on to design all the initial TV studio voting systems for a company called Detail Dynamics, again, a bloody genius. He made me a custom multi OS thing for my XE. As for the famous Rob C, never face to face met him but I did download Buck Rogers from him on my mega speedy 300 baud Maplin modem that I'd built. If memory serves me he was in Manchester, nice guy.. Good times... Edited July 8, 2013 by Mclaneinc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXG/MNX Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 I didn't have a favorite hacker I tryed the last 30 years to get my favorite titles original At that time it was common to use cracked/hacked instead of original, mostly sometimes of the costs of single game. Over the years I could buy bargains on ebay and when I use the software I only use the original. Secondly most software that is released today is free aswel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 Didn't like black patch or chipmunk much, I sort of preferred the hardware variants (i.e lazer, happy or SA/SA2) I do seem to remember that CSS (the new york atari supporter, not the hacking clan) did some sort of media copy program called 'The Impossible' which 'allegedy' allowed you to copy certain types of copy protected disks (as well as cassette/tapes ofcourse), apparently at the time it was the only software based solution that could do this without the need of any disk or tape drive mods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZipp Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Didn't like black patch or chipmunk much, I sort of preferred the hardware variants (i.e lazer, happy or SA/SA2) Happy-mod was great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooty Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Seem to remember a lot of Rob C multi menus Didn't he start doing ST protection routines, or am I thinking of Rob Northen. Memories going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 I remember a cracker named "The Leppard". Now when I was about 16 or 17 years old I met a younger kid who lived a couple of miles away and he claimed to be The Leppard himself. I rode my bike to his house and he literally had tubs of original software. Apparently he bought the software and he and a partner would crack the games and claim credit by adding their little banner on the title screen or whatever. I was not absolutely convinced, especially considering that he was about 13 years old at the time. I bumped into him a few years back when he worked for a local computer manufacturer (he recognized me) and we chatted a bit about those days. Funny thing though, I was very active in the local BBS scene, and I don't think thet The Leppard ever really made an appearance. /Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Seem to remember a lot of Rob C multi menus Didn't he start doing ST protection routines, or am I thinking of Rob Northen. Memories going. Yes, it was Rob Northern who did the protection.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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