Basic game hacking tutorial & Toolz for it
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:03 am
NOTE - UPDATE 2022 - This article is outdated! But lot of this information is still valid, you just have to use common sense (if you have such thing) to realize what parts are out of date. For example Tsearch is old 32-bit memory editor that doesn't work on later versions, while ArtMoney does have 64-bit version and can still be used just fine. Cheat Engine is still good to go.
First, here's some good tools that will come in handy if you want to hack / exploit games.
- Tsearch- its a memory editor with a debugger and disassembler in it. It is very good to edit game's memory.
- ArtMoney - another memory editor, which can filter for text strings.
- Cheat Engine - memory editor, very poor one i'd have to say and fucks up a lot, so i dont use it anymore.
- GhostKiller - memory editor that can bypass some defenses.
- MoonLight - another memory editor that can bypass some game defenses.
- CoSMOS - personally I never used it, but it's kind of alternative for cheat engine.
- CommView - a packet editor. i use this to manipulate packets in games, resend them and analyze the info sent/recieved. It has very powerful effect on games if you know what you are doing. It has very powerful capabilities, such as alarms and triggers.
- Notepad++ - no words needed i think, i use this to edit game files. not normal notepad, but notepad++ (its very advanced and supports lot of languages, C, C++, perl, css, php, html..etc)
- XVI32 - HEX editor. i use this to edit ''non-editable'' game files. under non-editable files i mean, the files that does not have a simple text or values in it. or i simply use it to replace HEX strings in a file to make it more readable while editing with notepad++
- cmd - command prompt, well i don't use it actually, but some programs can only be ran thru cmd. mostly Luigi's programs. such as fake player tools and server crash exploits.
I also want to take few more toolz in use. such as SoftIce and Olly.
- SoftIce - it was made for windows driver debugging. so it runs ''under'' windows and probably cannot be detected by any anti-hack game defense such as PB, VAC, gameguard ..etc. this is why i want to test it on such games. and yeah it can edit memory and find things.
- Olly - its a debugger and better than the ones in those memory editors. some games crash when you enable debugger in memory editor or when you try to edit something with debugger. so this is why i want to try Olly on those games.
How to setup Tsearch properly so you will find what you looking for:
- Go to View > Options > Map Area > check all the checkboxes and click ok
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There are also some video tutorials available on my youtube channel
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Some basic explaination and background, why, where, what:
tought ill add few details. ok lot of ppl have no clue where to start.
here i'll describe what i do when i want to get something done in game.
if you want simple health, ammo, time ..etc. you simply use one of the memory editors (tsearch is my favorite) and use ''search'' (scan in some tools ..etc) option to search for the value (ammo, health..etc). if you cant see value on screen then use ''unknown'' search and then use ''decreased'' or ''increased'' depending what happend to your value in game.
if you using unknown search, then after first search, i suggest doing nothing in game that changes the searchable value (if u search for ammo, then DO NOT shoot, but move and jump around. also dont change weapon ..etc. make sure ammo stays SAME) and then search for not changed. this will eliminate lot of false addresses. and then next only shoot few bullets and search decreased. those are really good methods to eliminate lot of wrong addresses at start.
about HEX editor... lot of games have quite readable memory. so you open the HEX memory editor inside of Tsearch or ArtMoney .. or what tool you like best. actually Cheat Engine has very good memory view. you can simply open it and just look at it. some games have things you can change right there. For example aliens vs predator 2 game has ''bute'' files that you can use to compare memory with.
game loads those files into memory. if you edit those files directly, then you wont be able to join any server (u can only play offline). so this is why you have to change them with memory editor. simply open the ''bute'' file and then compare it to the memory. you can clearly see pattern there and its very easy to find values.
here's few games that can be edited like that:
colin mcrae rally 05
GRID
aliens vs predator 2
cold fear
resident evil 4 (not really, cuz it has no ''readable'' memory. only values, but once you understand them its easy)
so other games like RE4, which i mentioned can be edited too, but theres no 'readable'' memory values. it means its hard to understand what is what, but once you find what you looking for, you will notice that game's memory has its pattern and it uses one specific way to map memory.
example: aliens vs predator 2 holds all memory values related to weapons close by. so if you find like ''ammo type (ammo you shoot)'' you can easily find lot of other things that effects weapons in some way. This method is used in most games. game always maps memory like that. For example in car games. all car settings are close by.
It is not a tutorial, just a simple explaination how memory works and how most games load files into memory. you should also really check my video tutorials about it. specially the one where i explain the ''search types'' in memory editor. and learn to use calculator to convert HEX values into DEC and other way around.
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If you want more detailed tutorial on how to find health, ammo and such, then take a look here > How to hack / get unlimited ammo in single player games
Note that this method is not only for ammo, you can use exactly same way to get anything that is value based in nearly any game.
First, here's some good tools that will come in handy if you want to hack / exploit games.
- Tsearch- its a memory editor with a debugger and disassembler in it. It is very good to edit game's memory.
- ArtMoney - another memory editor, which can filter for text strings.
- Cheat Engine - memory editor, very poor one i'd have to say and fucks up a lot, so i dont use it anymore.
- GhostKiller - memory editor that can bypass some defenses.
- MoonLight - another memory editor that can bypass some game defenses.
- CoSMOS - personally I never used it, but it's kind of alternative for cheat engine.
- CommView - a packet editor. i use this to manipulate packets in games, resend them and analyze the info sent/recieved. It has very powerful effect on games if you know what you are doing. It has very powerful capabilities, such as alarms and triggers.
- Notepad++ - no words needed i think, i use this to edit game files. not normal notepad, but notepad++ (its very advanced and supports lot of languages, C, C++, perl, css, php, html..etc)
- XVI32 - HEX editor. i use this to edit ''non-editable'' game files. under non-editable files i mean, the files that does not have a simple text or values in it. or i simply use it to replace HEX strings in a file to make it more readable while editing with notepad++
- cmd - command prompt, well i don't use it actually, but some programs can only be ran thru cmd. mostly Luigi's programs. such as fake player tools and server crash exploits.
I also want to take few more toolz in use. such as SoftIce and Olly.
- SoftIce - it was made for windows driver debugging. so it runs ''under'' windows and probably cannot be detected by any anti-hack game defense such as PB, VAC, gameguard ..etc. this is why i want to test it on such games. and yeah it can edit memory and find things.
- Olly - its a debugger and better than the ones in those memory editors. some games crash when you enable debugger in memory editor or when you try to edit something with debugger. so this is why i want to try Olly on those games.
How to setup Tsearch properly so you will find what you looking for:
- Go to View > Options > Map Area > check all the checkboxes and click ok
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
There are also some video tutorials available on my youtube channel
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Some basic explaination and background, why, where, what:
tought ill add few details. ok lot of ppl have no clue where to start.
here i'll describe what i do when i want to get something done in game.
if you want simple health, ammo, time ..etc. you simply use one of the memory editors (tsearch is my favorite) and use ''search'' (scan in some tools ..etc) option to search for the value (ammo, health..etc). if you cant see value on screen then use ''unknown'' search and then use ''decreased'' or ''increased'' depending what happend to your value in game.
if you using unknown search, then after first search, i suggest doing nothing in game that changes the searchable value (if u search for ammo, then DO NOT shoot, but move and jump around. also dont change weapon ..etc. make sure ammo stays SAME) and then search for not changed. this will eliminate lot of false addresses. and then next only shoot few bullets and search decreased. those are really good methods to eliminate lot of wrong addresses at start.
about HEX editor... lot of games have quite readable memory. so you open the HEX memory editor inside of Tsearch or ArtMoney .. or what tool you like best. actually Cheat Engine has very good memory view. you can simply open it and just look at it. some games have things you can change right there. For example aliens vs predator 2 game has ''bute'' files that you can use to compare memory with.
game loads those files into memory. if you edit those files directly, then you wont be able to join any server (u can only play offline). so this is why you have to change them with memory editor. simply open the ''bute'' file and then compare it to the memory. you can clearly see pattern there and its very easy to find values.
here's few games that can be edited like that:
colin mcrae rally 05
GRID
aliens vs predator 2
cold fear
resident evil 4 (not really, cuz it has no ''readable'' memory. only values, but once you understand them its easy)
so other games like RE4, which i mentioned can be edited too, but theres no 'readable'' memory values. it means its hard to understand what is what, but once you find what you looking for, you will notice that game's memory has its pattern and it uses one specific way to map memory.
example: aliens vs predator 2 holds all memory values related to weapons close by. so if you find like ''ammo type (ammo you shoot)'' you can easily find lot of other things that effects weapons in some way. This method is used in most games. game always maps memory like that. For example in car games. all car settings are close by.
It is not a tutorial, just a simple explaination how memory works and how most games load files into memory. you should also really check my video tutorials about it. specially the one where i explain the ''search types'' in memory editor. and learn to use calculator to convert HEX values into DEC and other way around.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
If you want more detailed tutorial on how to find health, ammo and such, then take a look here > How to hack / get unlimited ammo in single player games
Note that this method is not only for ammo, you can use exactly same way to get anything that is value based in nearly any game.