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Hi,
when I try to play the game, I can do anythink in brooklyn, but I didn’t get the letter. I can go to the postoffice a thousand time, but I didn’t get the letter.
When I have a look on the game played time, it will be all the time 23 seconds, and this time will not change! I my computer to fast ?
Also I have try to sell my house, but there was not a seller all the time.Did you know something about this problem ?
Regards, MarcoSo29
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Let me (try to) clear this up:
The way Gold Rush is cracked is very messy, but probably the only simple way without reverse engineering the whole AGI system.
Perhaps most of you will know, Gold Rush and AGI games in general use DIR files as an index to all the games resources stored in the VOL-files. So in this case the file GRDIR contains all the locations of the logics (scripts), views, pictures and sound resources. Example:
Resource Vol Location
LOGIC.000 1 0x000FE
LOGIC.001 1 0x012FE
LOGIC.002 1 0x033ED
PIC .100 2 0x05423
etc.The only thing that has been done, to crack Gold Rush, is that the DIR file has been modified so that the location of the original script which called the copy-protection (logic 129) has been changed/reindexed to the location of the “intro script” (logic 73, screen after passing the copy protection). So the entries of logic 73 & 129 are pointing to the same piece of script code, the “intro script”. Therefore, when the game would initialize the copy protection, logic 129 is loaded but now it ends up at the intro sequence instead.
Clever, yes; messy, yes.
Actually, if the script did only call the copy protection, there wouldn’t be any problem. But among starting the copy protection sequence, the script (logic 129) also contains some sort of speed regulation routine, aimed at the “fast” and “fastest” speeds. Most likely this was done to keep the clock running at normal speed while playing on a fast game speed. The routine sets a variable (166) to a certain value depending on your clock speed. This variable regulates at which speed the seconds in the game pass. However, since the crack overrides the original script, variable 166 gets zero as value while another variable (156) is waiting to get equal to the value given in variable 166, and never does because it (variable 156) starts counting at 1.
Enough of all the boring details, the solution:
While playing the game, type “BIRD BOY” to enter the debug mode.
Enter “SET VAR”, enter “166” and change its value to 20 or something (1 = fastest / 255 = slowest)
Enter “SET VAR”, enter “156” and change its value to 0Unless you restart or change the speed again, the clock will work properly. Also, if you save your game, and restore it later, the clock will still work, when having used this procedure earlier.
PS: The crack also messes up the intro-screen because of the following: Normally the background picture in the intro would be loaded by logic 73, the original intro script. However, the crack, as said earlier, relocates logic 129 (the copy protection) to the location in the VOL file where logic 73 is residing. The background pictures are often linked to the room/logic number, so logic 73 would load a background picture of that same number, 73. So instead of logic 73 loading picture 73, now logic 129 loads picture 129, instead of the correct 73.
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Thanks, ashdoublev, you solved a great mystery for me. I always wondered why the opening screen’s background changes when the game is cracked (I even asked about it here but got no response).
[for those of you who don’t know what we’re talking about, click here to see the original screen and here to see how it looks after using the crack]I was told on the adventuregamers forum that the scene that appears when the game is cracked is from the stagecoach journey to the west. I don’t remember that, because I played the game a long time ago, but I guess it was still showed in the correct scene, and wasn’t replaced with the missing background from the opening, right?!
As for your timer bug solution, it’s problematic for two reasons: 1. You have to play the entire game in debug mode, there may be problems because of it. 2. How can you know what value should be given var166? This value will determine the speed of the in-game clock’s advancing, so it’s important. Is the value supposed to be related to the speed of the computer your using?
And I have a more general question about this bug – does it happen on all systems? Because I did finish the cracked game on a 486 once, and I almost positive I used the fast speed settings (normal is just too slow!).
One last thing – the MacNeill bros are still selling this game on the Software Farm, and they said this copy don’t have the copy protection. Does anybody know if it has this bug?
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First, my memories of Gold Rush are rather vague. I do know for sure that the background picture shown is one of a bunch of similiar screens with a bunch of randomized trees on it. I think it’s when you are searching for gold, at the last part of the game. And the missing background from the opening isn’t shown there, since nothing was swapped, but rather two entries pointing to the same piece of code.
And the solution, well yeah, it’s a workaround, so it’s not perfect. I do not think the debug mode does strange things, since it pretty much only is a bunch of commands that get available. And about the variable, you can’t really know what it should be, but the “normal” speed setting uses 20, so I used that in the example. If you change the value to 1 the clock will be running like hell, 255 very slow. It’s indeed related to the computer you use, so just fill in a value and check how fast the clock is running (note that it is not running, so it seems, when a message is displayed on screen).
Furthermore, I suppose it happens on all systems. The whole script is simply missing from the game start, so I can’t see how it would work otherwise.
I think the MacNeill Bros. have nicely removed the copy-protection without any bugs, since they have, in contrary to crackers back then, the development tools and source code.
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Well, I played a little in debug mode with var166 set to 20. I played in the land route sequence, and I experienced TOO MANY random death scenes. This wasn’t the case when I tried to play it not in debug mode. One of the deaths was falling off the boat on the Texas River, and it was completely out of place and I don’t think it can happen without playing in debug mode! So I think it IS problematic.
Why can’t it be cracked in a way that leaves the copy protection screen in, but you can just type what you want and you’ll still enter the game? That would be a much better crack. I’d do it myself if I knew how.But since I can’t, I found another workaround solution, but this one’s foolproof. I found out that if you save your game, and then crack the game, the save will not be affected by the bug, so you can play a cracked copy and just load a saved game that was saved immediately in the beginnig of playing an uncracked copy. I uploaded such a saved game file here click here to download the saved game.
I’m also trying to make a copy protection answers sheet for the game, so it’ll be possible to play an untouched copy. I found a partial answers sheet and I added to it by using Google to find answers (since the questions are taken from real history). I need help to continue, if someone that have the original copy with the manual is willing to help, I’ll send him the unanswered questions with their relevant page and paragraph numbers. Shouldn’t be too much trouble.
BTW – you were right, it also happens on a 486. I checked my old saved games, they were all made in Normal mode, so I must have finished the game in Normal speed.
Another thing – does anyone have the new MacNeill release of the game? I’d like to know what changes they inserted. -
Well, I put up a patch at http://sierra.8bit.co.uk , under the “Various” section. Let me know if it also causes those random events.
Also, the questions are extractable from the game scripts. The answers, however, aren’t, since they are checked by ASCII value, so it would be pretty hard to get words out of those. You’d probably know that, but I thought it was worth to mention, since it’s a pretty clever way to protect a game.
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Ok, I tested your crack in the same place where debug mode caused too many random deaths in the old cracked copy. I played this journey scene 8 times, and I had a random death 4 times. One by cholera in the beginning of the journey, one by falling of the raft to the Texas river (that one is so weird!), and twice by cholera in a later part of the journey. Note that every time I die of cholera in the later part of the journey, wether in debug or not, I get the error message: “No memory. Want 2255, have 2035”. Perhaps you’ll know what that means.
I have to say I can’t tell for sure if these deaths are caused by debug mode or your crack, becuase they are, well, random. I also played the scene a few more times in debug mode and didn’t have too many deaths. But why did you ask me to check it in the first place? Is your crack influenced by debug mode in any way? What are the mechanics of the crack?By the way, did you just prepare this crack in the past few days following this conversation? That’s impressive, especially considering the fact that you don’t remember Gold Rush that well.
I noticed that your crack say: “Restoring GRDIR to original state” and only then “Removing protection”, I guess that refers to the old buggy crack, but I used your crack on an uncracked copy; is it supposed to work just as well on cracked and uncracked GRDIRs?How can I extract the questions from the game scripts? I used a hex editor on several files but didn’t find them. In which file are they? I always like having a good crack as well as the option to play an untouched copy, that’s why I want to make a complete codes and answers document, and if I have all the questions I’ll hopefully found someone with the manual who’d be willing to provide me with the answers. It shouldn’t be too hard since I already have a lot of the answers.
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The reason why I asked you to check it, is that it still is possible that certain variables are not being set, the way I cracked it. However, I didn’t found it to be very likely. The way Gold Rush starts goes this way:
1. LOGIC 0: Main script in all AGI games, starts with going to LOGIC 129
2. LOGIC 129: Some sort of speed regulation routine
– If the game is restarted -> goto LOGIC 1 (begin screen)
– If the game is started -> goto LOGIC 125
3. LOGIC 125: Random selector choosing between 3 scripts: LOGIC 126, 127 & 128
4. LOGIC 126/127/128: Copy protection scripts (split up because of the size) about 30 questions each
– If good -> goto LOGIC 73 (intro sequence)
– If bad -> goto LOGIC 192 (string ’em up sequence)The way I cracked it, was patching LOGIC 129 so when started it would goto LOGIC 73 (intro sequence) instead of LOGIC 125. However, as you can see, 2 scripts that would normally be executed are being skipped.
It was really not that hard to crack, since the AGI system is pretty clear to me, so Gold Rush wasn’t unfamiliar to work with. I also made another crack, which would excute all scripts normally and would blink the copy-protection screen for 1 second or so before the intro, but I thought the other way was much nicer and wouldn’t make any difference. So I’ll try to patch it that way, perhaps it’ll improved. Furthermore, I’ll check what triggers those “random” deaths in the scripts in question. And the “No memory. Want 2255, have 2035”, certainly is bad, however I seem to recall that happend sometimes in the older cracked version too.
The “Restoring GRDIR to original state” just writes 2 bytes in the GRDIR file, which doesn’t affect uncracked versions since the bytes remain the same.
Finally, the questions are found encoded in the scripts, which are in their turn compressed and stored in the GRVOL.1 file. So no plain-text viewer would show them. But there are tools to do so, so I spared you the effort and added them in this thread.
Gold Rush copy-protection questions -
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Well, I always prefer a clean a crack as possible, even if there are leftovers from the protection screen. Maybe you can just kill the randomization in LOGIC 125, forcing the protection to ask the same question every time, thus not skipping any scripts. Whatever you decide to do, let me know when you’re finish so I can test it.
In the meantime, perhaps you can answer these few questions that bugged me for years:In my copy of KQ2 v1.1H, the score is displayed in gibberish. I know that’s because some %d got replaced by %s, but I want to know if that’s how the game was sold in stores or if that’s a bug that only present in some pirated copies. You see, I prefer my copies as close to the original as possible, bugs included.
And on another subject – until recently, I didn’t know about KQ1 v1.0U, I only thought that the booter version and v2.0F existed. Now I saw it on your list, and I just want to know what exactly is this version. I presume it’s a DOS version, so how does it differ from v2.0F?
One last thing – how come PQ1 and Man Hunter SF initial vresion numbers were 2.0A and 3.02 respectively? It doesn’t make sense (I know that there were more weird initial version numbers, but I chose those two as an example). By the way, do you want KQ4 v1.006.003? I didn’t see it on your list, and I have a copy of it.
Incidentally, I saw other cracks on your webpage. Did you make those too? And what are the Debug scripts/patches ZIP files? Are those the files necessary to enter debug mode on these games?
Finally, I want to thank you for the questions file. I hope it’ll be put to good use, but seeing as there are 87 questions, and I only have about 30 answers, I doubt that there’ll be someone who cares about it enough to answer 50+ questions… Well, a clean crack will have to do then 🙂
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