Encrypting a project

[Dark Gaia]

Hey everyone! First of all, I'm not sure if this question is better suited to Commercial Discussion or General Discussion but it's concerning a commercial project, so I thought this would be the place to ask it.

Basically, I'm on the cusp of releasing my first commercial game (Legionwood 2) and, in these last two months before release, I've been spending a lot of time figuring out what I'm going to do regarding DRM and encrypting the game files. I've decided upon using SoftwarePassport for the DRM (this isn't to combat piracy but rather to stop casual buyers from sharing the game among friends) but what I'm really concerned about is protecting the resources used in the game.

To be honest, I don't care too much if the game is pirated, but several of the resources in the game (mainly music tracks, some scripts and a couple of sprites) were provided to me on the agreement that they would only be used in this project and nowhere else. I know RPG Maker allows you to encrypt your game to keep this stuff hidden, but the fact is it's very easy to get an RGSS decrypter which kind of makes it a moot point. Is there a third party software that will allow me to protect the game files (much in the same way RPG Maker's encryption does) that isn't succeptible to such easy decryption?

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

as far as I've seen from previous discussion on this topic, there really isn't... and after all, if people want to get those resources, they will find a way... getting a decrypter is easy, but I don't think normal people will even think about it...

 

[Zane]

To the average joe the small drm should be fine. As far as your audio goes it has to convert digitally to an analog output meaning it will be buffered though the sound card so its readable by the ears which means it can be recorded in the background. No game is safe from thieves unfortunately, especially RPG Maker ones.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

I think he was asking more about people getting the resources... DRMs doesn't really prevent that... XD... but yeah, even AAA games get ripped easily... Audio is and will always be easiest to take since you simply need to record it in case it's not directly accessible... sprites can be taken via screenshots...


If people really want to get your resources, they would do anything... but for the normal RM players that will probably be playing your game, I don't think you need to worry much...

 

[Dark Gaia]

It's not so much general players I'm worried about than players who are familiar with and/or use RPG Maker. They'd be the ones most likely to decrypt the game and use the resources. I know I can't really be held accountable for someone using stolen resources in their project, but I'd prefer to honour the agreements I made with certain people as closely as I can.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

yeah, but sadly, there really isn't a way to completely do that... well at least, if those resources get ripped and appear here, the staff can bring it down... but if it happens in other places, you can always try to buzz up the admins and/or web staff of those places...

 

[Tsukihime]

Check this out


http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/20775-tools-anti-rgss-decrypter/


It's pinned, so it must have been extensively tested and works very well.

sprites can be taken via screenshots...

It just isn't the same as having the original spritesheets.


But other than that...I guess if people really wanted the sprites they would be satisfied with just screenshots and hand edits.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

It works well, unless the player realizes that the data is actually decrypted into somewhere else when you're playing...


but it seems he's working on finding a way to "hide" the decrypted data...

 

[Dark Gaia]

This is exactly what I'm looking for. The resources being decrypted elsewhere while the game is being played could be an issue, but I don't see many people actually bothering to look while the game is running. My game automatically goes into full screen when it launches, and the creation of new files in the directory would therefor not be immediately visible.

Thanks for the help guys! I'll check some things out and see what I can do now.

 

[Matseb2611]

I asked something similar before and I remember most responses I got mentioned that it shouldn't be a problem really if your files can be accessed and/or decrypted. The thing is, you can't 100% stop immoral users from hacking into your game files. All you might need to do is to have a readme file or something of that sort inside the game folder that warns the players that stealing and distributing resources from it is illegal. I bought some music from royalty-free websites and I contacted them about this issue and they seemed all right with that (in fact they were the ones to give me this advice). You might want to contact the people who supplied you with the resources individually and ask them if this is all right. Most times it is. As an extra protection you could also 'hide' the resource folders.