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README.1ST
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1997-04-06
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4KB
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66 lines
╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ VIRTUAL REALITY SOLDIER VERSION 5.02 │
│ COPYRIGHT (c)1996 PRACTICAL COMPUTER SERVICES, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED │
│ │
╞═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
│ │
│ >>>>> ATTENTION SYSOPS AND PIRATES! <<<<< │
│ │
│ PCBOARD SYSTEM FILE DAMAGE CAN OCCUR BY RUNNING "PIRATE" COPIES │
│ OF VRS AND FROM "PIRATE" KEYS! │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
Well, I can't say that I'm annoyed that I've seen so many "kraked" copies
of VRS and VRS keyfiles floating around, at least in the sense that it shows
just how popular the game is getting.
I've gotten *NINE* different "kraked" copies of the whole VRS v2.00 game off
various "PIR8" boards around the country - *NONE* of them work, and five of
them were simpy the shareware version with a new .DIZ file! Never trust a
pirate!<G>
What *DOES* worry me is the one that *ALMOST* works. It has a "kraked"
keyfile and a modified VRS-M15.PPE. It seems to run fine, but after ten or
so logins to it, I found it corrupted my PCBoard USERS file. BAD NEWS!
You can recognize this "version" by the VRS.KEY file. If the first line of
the key file is "@USER@", you'd best beware. We only charge twenty bucks
for this program, and it cost us around $1400 in phone calls to get to
version 1.00 alone. My kids like to eat - please don't attempt to pirate
VRS. If you can't afford the twenty bucks, run it as shareware, and force
your users to wait the ten seconds to get into the game - that's the only
"crippling" that is in the shareware version, and you never know - it might
annoy one of your users so much that he'll GIVE you the twenty bucks to
register it.<G>
>>>>> ABOUT PPLC PROGRAM FILE PROTECTION AND PIRATES <<<<<
We've protected *ALL* the .PPE files in this release from
decompilation, which should prevent any future "kraks".
Run the VERIFY.PPE that comes with this distribution set. It will
check all of the VRS files to make sure that you've got a clean copy.
As the pirates out there know, there are several decompilers available for
.PPE files. I've got the four that usually work (including the one that
CDC uses for internal testing) and have figured out several ways to defeat
them. Perhaps when the "PIR8's" out there are old enough (and learn some
logarithmic math) they'll figure out how to beat ciphering algorithms.
Until such a time comes around, protected PCS PPE programs are unhackable.
I must say that I am amused by all the attempts to crack the PCS keyfile
system, it shows that my decomp killers are driving the poor kids nuts.<G>
Our KeyFile string system is roughly based on the same type of math that
the decompiler killer is, so chances of anyone figuring it out are very,
very slim.
If you *DO* manage to decompile any of the VRS .PPE files, I'd appreciate a
copy of your decompiler - just upload it to The TAO BBS and I'll get hold
of it.
Bob Watson
Practical Computer Services