Is it possible to protect your game from hackers?

[Elliott404]

I know it's way too early for someone like me to ask this, but I still gotta know about something like this ahead of time. So, is there a way to create a code or something like a plugin to protect your game from hackers?

I've seen some ppl outside from this community mentioned that their game from steam got hacked/stolen that they had to take it down from their page while the thief still has it, which it scared me tbh. . .

 

[Poryg]

You can check my signature. There's a thread in which I talk about it in detail. The short answer would be no, but you can make it more difficult for them.
Also, the only way to prevent your actual game from being stolen and uploaded somewhere else is DMCA.

 

[Elliott404]

Is it the one about protecting your resources from being stolen? I read about that in tutorial threads.

But, I'm not talking about the resource protection, I'm talking about the whole game in general.

 

[MushroomCake28]

Nothing is completely hacker proof (even the best protection can get hacked). However, MV's default encryption isn't the best, and it doesn't encrypt plugins (it encrypts images, audio, and data). I'm not knowledgeable enough to suggest another encryption method, but if you're using unique plugins (no point in hacking a free public plugin), you can obfuscate and minimize the code to make it a lot harder decipher.

The big cases that you heard was about someone stealing the entire game on itch.io (I think it was itch) and reuploading them to make money. That is a different issue that has nothing to do with hacking the game resources. The best way to prevent and counter that is to check regularly online for your games on the popular platforms. If you see that someone stole your game, report it to the platform.

 

[Elliott404]

Wait. Even without hacking, stealing an entire game is still possible?

 

[Poryg]

Stealing your entire game is possible, since it's just copy paste. You'd need to implement some copy protection. However, since it's javascript, as long as you don't deal with these files being js, any protection you make is irrelevant. NWjs offers to compile JS files into a binary bytecode, which may be of some help in this matter. It can be considered relatively safe, since nobody has uploaded a crack tool on it, but it's not 100% crack proof either.

 

[Elliott404]

So, not 100% crack proof does mean that the chance of the game being safe is not lesser than 50%?

 

[Poryg]

You can never say how safe the game is in %. However, most of the games are stolen, because they are just a copy paste away from stealing.
It's not like there's a very large chance that an uber Pentagon-grade hacker is seeking games for stealing just for the sake of making some small dirty cash, since he can make more cash elsewhere. So implementing even basic copy protection should make it safe enough to deter most people. Those who want to resell your game for profit won't make any profit if the pirate copy is broken and they can't fix it. If you then compile your script files, it should be quite secure. Can't say in %, but it should be secure enough to deter the majority. A thief generally seeks easy targets, because it's much easier to steal an unlocked car than to try to unlock a vault that has a 20mm thick door, is locked with three locks and requires all three locks to be pushed to unlock at the same time.

 

[Elliott404]

So, it's possible to get a script to implement it in a game to break down after it got stolen? (Did I ask this correctly?)

 

[Bex]

Make sure you can proof that your Game is your Game, that will make it difficult for someone else to claim your Game is his or hers.

So, it's possible to get a script to implement it in a game to break down after it got stolen? (Did I ask this correctly?)

How would the Script know the difference?
Sadly thats not possible, you can make your Games casual Safe.
And Scam Steal Safe with proofs that its your Game not theres.
You can Obfuscate the Code with Help of a Scripter.
Some RPG Makers offer Encryption Options, sadly Hackers or Crack Programs(Often with Viruses included) can break those. But its safer against Casuals atleast.
Not sure about Java Script encryption options and how good or performance sucking they are.

 

[Elliott404]

@Bex
Yea. I wanted to prepare for this part too. Watermark may not be enough, nor my docs would considering that they're easy to modify.

 

[Poryg]

No, you can't get one. It's absolutely useless to just share a plug and play protection for everybody to see and download. Maybe you can find someone who'd make it to you. But you can definitely not just get it somewhere. In fact even Denuvo, currently probably the most famous anti-tamper system, costs a ton of money (once again, you can't just get it... It's purchaseable), but is still an API in the end and the company has to implement it by itself.

I'd solve it using a custom installer, possibly a remote one, which writes an entry to the registry. Using an nwjs plugin I'd then make a function that searches for this entry and if it is not there, I'd crash the game. But making that one is not the simplest thing to do. Not the hardest one either though.

 

[Andar]

So, it's possible to get a script to implement it in a game to break down after it got stolen? (Did I ask this correctly?)

theoretically yes, but removing such a script is exactly what is called "hacking" or "cracking" - if there were no such script then it would be simply "Copying".

The only reasonable protection requires a DRM server to check the player against a customer base. And that is never free.

So the main question you have to ask here is: "Are you as a developer and publisher willing to pay a monthly fee to protect your game?"
If the answer is no, then the best you can do are some minor distractions that prevent direct copying and hope that your game remains obscure enough that it takes years before any hacker looks at it.
If the answer is yes, then there are several companies on the internet that offer such services - but keep in mind that AAA companies pay millions for such servers and their games still got hacked after a year or so. It's just that they consider this year to be enough time for their sales.

 

[Elliott404]

@Poryg
I'm sorry to say that I did not fully understood what you meant in the second paragraph. But I understood that it requires a specific IT skill to do so.

@Andar
Yea. . . I know the yes option would cost alot just to protect a game. I'd consider this option maybe few years later, not like immediately after I release my game. So, I might have to go with the no option for awhile.

 

[Traverse]

So, it's possible to get a script to implement it in a game to break down after it got stolen? (Did I ask this correctly?)

You keep saying "steal" and "stolen", but you realize that when it comes to data and people say "data theft", most of the time what they really mean is "illegal copying" or "software piracy" since the original doesn't go anywhere after they copy it.

If you have ever copied some game you bought onto a USB before and given it to a friend, you are technically giving him an illegal copy (like stolen goods, except not stolen, just pirated). There's no real way to stop someone making a complete copy of your game and in fact, when you upload a game somewhere to let people download it (whether it is on a marketplace like Steam or a free host like RMN), the server is making a copy of it for the people who download it. So if you tried stopped any copies from being it, you wouldn't even be able to distribute it online.

Usually, the companies who bother putting any sort of protection in place for piracy need to have a whole digital-rights management server set up for it, where the player requires an internet connection because it pings the server to verify they own it. The simplest methods involve activation keys that only legit buyers will have and on the high-end you get stuff like Denuvo where you have whole set of system-scanning software running in the background at the same time as your game, constantly check the player's hardware and OS to make sure it is the "same" computer being used all the time.

Either way, it costs money to implement and if your game is anything popular, hackers will eventually find a way around it. Even big-budget "solutions" like Denuvo don't pretend they will last more than a month (they only advertise launch-week protection) and since that kind of stuff can slow down computers or stop the game being playable if/when the server goes offline (or if it glitches), players usually tend to hate the stuff (some companies even remove it themselves after enough time passes).

TL;DR - You don't use a "script" to stop your game being pirated, you usually need to rent or buy or set-up an authentication server to check for installation/activation keys and user machine info and it will only last until some hacker finds out how to spoof the OK signal sent from the server to the game.

 

[Soulrender]

@Elliot404

I try to put all previous answers into one single, max 3 sentences. There is no 100% you can only make life harder for potential hackers and that is only what you can do. There are several ways to "build fortification" to protect your game, but they require at least basic knowledge in reverse engeering, encryption and file protection. In case of games made in RPG Maker (no matter of version) implementing high-end security stuff is pointless since only small amount of those games are success.

Imo, for RMMV games fair enough would be virtualize deployed project e.g Enigma VirtualBox (it will pack all game files and assets into single .exe file). But it can be unpacked (I quite easely found engima Virtual Box unpacker and my test project in no time was "naked"). But wait! I remembered something! My programming professor told me something like that... "The best security method is the strangest one" so you can come up with your own method to protect thus making more harder to crack/hack/steal.

And That's all I can say.

 

[Poryg]

It's not a good idea to pack all files in Enigma virtual box. Upon launching the whole exe file would need to be taken into memory, creating a ridiculous memory overhead.
Also, the unpacker has a weakness. If you pack the enigma VB protected package inside Enigma protector, all is fine (Enigma protector offers not just additional wrap, but also antidebug features to make reverse engineering harder).

 

[Andar]

@Soulrender , @Poryg
There are two different legal aspects to software piracy, which is the reason why the enigma virtual box is given as an example what protection is sufficient TO DEGICA's VIEWPOINT. I agree that it is not sufficient for preventing the files to be extracted, but in front of a court there is a second question to be answered.

The first part is if the data was copied or not. But the second part that comes into play at a court is the question of wether that was done intentional or not.

Without any form of restriction, people can claim that they didn't knew they were doing something wrong. But if there is a protection that needs to be circumvented (no matter how easy), then circumventing that protection is proof of intend.
After all if you need to download an additional program to get to the data, then you can't claim to have not known that this data wasn't meant for you to get.

So no, enigma doesn't really protect your files from being copied. But if someone does copy them it will be easy to prove as an intentional crime before a judge. And that is why everyone is required to encrypt games with shop content and similiar things. Because otherwise the IP holder would have to pay the lawyers in a dragged-along lawsuit about intentions and accidents.

 

[Soulrender]

@Poryg I absolutly agree with you with that memory load, but since we have access and most - I repeat most of regular users have installed more than 8GB RAM ( My friend has enormous amount of RAM - 32GB and he's saving money to add another 32GB - he wants to build UBER gaming PC ) memory load of approx 300MB on healthy system (no viruses etc, no heavy software running in background) is nothing. So I think (and calculate) it's not that much. Correct me if I something forgot.

In my case, wich my demo is packed with enigma VB stores only 130MB of data, and Memory load is approx 260MB with installed 8GB RAM, wich gives 3,1% of total memory usage. I think it's small amount... But I'm NOT hardware specialist.

 

[Elliott404]

I'm sorry for the late reply.

with what I've understood so far, Enigma Virtual Box is the safest option, even without any scripts? ((I'msosorrythatIhave nothing to say other than me being overwhelmed with the replies I've got so far))