SR2 Any chance of DRM-free Saints Row 2?

[[V] IdolNinja]

Yeah, that's the same kind of encryption Sonic Adventure 2 uses. MainMemory actually wrote a tool to decrypt CEG; when I get a chance I'll give it a try. Assuming it works, would I be allowed to post the decrypted EXE here, considering it doesn't include any game data and still requires you to own it on Steam?

We have discussed this with Volition, and it is not something that will be allowed here.

 

[Strogglet]

By bugs hardcoded by exe, you mean something like Windows 7's problem with the processors?

 

[[V] IdolNinja]

By bugs hardcoded by exe, you mean something like Windows 7's problem with the processors?

I was referring more to the memory limits for table entries. i.e. being able to only mod in 5 or 6 additional weapons before it breaks the game as an example.

 

[Anoniempje]

Just my two cents, but why not make a hex patch? You distribute just the differences between the original file and the modified file. That way you don't distribute the .exe file and yet you do share your changes. Is that allowed?

 

[flarn2006]

Just my two cents, but why not make a hex patch? You distribute just the differences between the original file and the modified file. That way you don't distribute the .exe file and yet you do share your changes. Is that allowed?

I don't see why that wouldn't be allowed, but as it is now it's not possible. The EXE is encrypted; we would need an unencrypted version to make these kinds of changes. In order to do this, we'd need to distribute a decrypted EXE, which would obviously require distributing the EXE file. I know this firsthand because Sonic Adventure 2 uses the same kind of encryption, and on that series' modding forum (Sonic Retro), these types of changes require a decrypted EXE file. Unlike this forum, however, the staff on that one don't have a problem with distributing a decrypted EXE, so it's not as much of a problem there.

 

[[V] Knobby]

This would require two things. First, we would need to find the source code that shipped SR2 PC. I don't think we have found that yet and I'm actually not sure if we got it from the outsourcers. Second, we would need to get Deep Silver on board for such a thing, but maybe that isn't so hard for someone as loved as Idol.

 

[Minimaul]

This would require two things. First, we would need to find the source code that shipped SR2 PC. I don't think we have found that yet and I'm actually not sure if we got it from the outsourcers. Second, we would need to get Deep Silver on board for such a thing, but maybe that isn't so hard for someone as loved as Idol.

Plus you'd need to, you know, fix the broken shit.

 

[flarn2006]

Actually, I thought of a solution for how we could distribute EXE modifications that won't require distributing a copyrighted EXE file. Someone could write a program that decrypts it and distribute that. You'd still need the original EXE to give to the program as input, and it would decrypt the file, and possibly even automatically apply certain patches in the process. I don't see how this could be an issue, as this alone doesn't work as a crack (you'd still need to own it on Steam for it to work.)

MainMemory (the guy I mentioned earlier from the Sonic Retro forum) wrote a program for Sonic Adventure 2 that decrypts CEG, but it crashes when I try to use it on Saints Row 2 or SRTT.

 

[[V] IdolNinja]

Actually, I thought of a solution for how we could distribute EXE modifications that won't require distributing a copyrighted EXE file. Someone could write a program that decrypts it and distribute that. You'd still need the original EXE to give to the program as input, and it would decrypt the file, and possibly even automatically apply certain patches in the process. I don't see how this could be an issue, as this alone doesn't work as a crack (you'd still need to own it on Steam for it to work.)

MainMemory (the guy I mentioned earlier from the Sonic Retro forum) wrote a program for Sonic Adventure 2 that decrypts CEG, but it crashes when I try to use it on Saints Row 2 or SRTT.

No. Drop it.

 

[[GoSP] Jon]

Actually, I thought of a solution for how we could distribute EXE modifications that won't require distributing a copyrighted EXE file. Someone could write a program that decrypts it and distribute that. You'd still need the original EXE to give to the program as input, and it would decrypt the file, and possibly even automatically apply certain patches in the process. I don't see how this could be an issue, as this alone doesn't work as a crack (you'd still need to own it on Steam for it to work.)

MainMemory (the guy I mentioned earlier from the Sonic Retro forum) wrote a program for Sonic Adventure 2 that decrypts CEG, but it crashes when I try to use it on Saints Row 2 or SRTT.

I'm pretty sure it would just crash once you started the game if it wasn't re-encrypted to CEG. Plus, there are certainly ethical and legal concerns with this. So as Idol said,

Drop it.