Well, I don’t believe the games currently require an agreement to a reverse engineering clause…?
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Both you do for you.
If I make a guide, with a game I own and don’t intend to distribute, that’s fine for most people.
Yet were I to hack, mod, edit the same game, with no intent or ideas to distribute it and merely use it for myself, people look down upon that.
All I’m going to say is missing or even getting to the games code can immensely improve repeatability
(E.g. ZE:SH “Wow you can make Survnet Servers?”)
Or other games with hidden stat changes.
And honestly, many guides I’ve contributed to get the ‘perfect runthrough’ by looking at the code and stat increases.
When you buy a game, you also get the ability to look at the code too, and I’m not to say you have to but generally it can be helpful as 1) something to use to check what decisions to make 2) something to use to see all the different endings/ choices or even 3) something to use to model your own game after, like “wow that game has a really good crafting system” or “huh, multiple saving slots? Sign me right up!”
And there is your problem.
You think that the goal of CoG games are perfect runs. Judging by what I see on the forum and generally in the fandom that’s not the case however.
Most people rather get annoyed when a game requires to be played in a very specific way to get a decent ending.
And really. If you need to cheat etc for a perfect run etc… I doubt CYOA games are for you to begin with.
You’ve just proven my point…
Hey I get the sense you don’t fully understand what I’m saying, or don’t care, but if you would allow me to, I’d have nothing against giving any examples I can think of where looking at the code was helpful and made the game better.
Go ahead.
However. While it can be a boon when one is really stuck at an achievement for example, it might be helpful, but still it depends on why one is stuck.
Is the achievement just hard to get and requires creativity? Or is it a railroading mess that requires a very very specific way of playing that makes no sense in itself (talking about statmaxing here. Seriously folks, stop having stuff in there that requires statmaxing)?
Also saying a game becomes more fun when you can do a ‘perfect’ run… What is a perfect run in a well-written game? In a bad one full of railroading and statmaxing where the author seems to despise the idea of anyone straying from their path the answer is clear.
But in a game that has no true path?
That’s kinda what I’m saying too-- in TLH3 if you messed up the beginning because you tried to invest in too many skills you’ll fail tons of stuff.
If you went all into devices or something and realised “oh I cant go into anything else because of the reward system”
An example would be, again, The lost heir.
The author coded a small part, allowing you to utilise the Gloves of archery in a Tournament scene.
Except, unless you hacked the game, you couldn’t access the scene, due to prior stat changes etc.
The average user couldn’t report it because they wouldn’t see it at all, so were no one looking at the code i doubt this error would’ve been found.
In testing, being able to read and understand the code is super helpful, and I want to help other people too, whether it be simple formatting / missing a character/ spelling variables wrong to continuity errors, variables not changing as they should.
And mods don’t have to make it easeir, but the ones that I make I do to let me focus on the story more than having to make a choice that I will pass in.
An example would be me, making a mod to allow you to pick more challenges in ZE:AH (although I need to make sure they don’t overlap, I think it’ll be pretty cool) just for fun.
Or giving myself way more time so I can explore all the options, instead of making my home super secure and talking to like 4 people.
The example with the glove is a tricky one. To say that no one could report it ignores the possibility that (i assume you get the glove regardless before) someone might wonder what to do with it.
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Ah sure I’ll keep that in mind 
I understand that arguments might not contribute to an amazing forum experience, so I’ll try to be less personal / offensive next time.
And completely honestly, please could you point out examples of where I go against the rules/ act in a way that would be detrimental for luther users?
I try to be my own critic yet I find often I make assumptions and also expect others to understand what I’m saying.
Additionally, I’m pretty much inept at gleaming emotions/ feelings online, so I apologise for my occasional maladriot methods of conveying my point.
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I love how there are people here who are so good at coding/modding the games that they talk about the morality of it when I can’t even open a game I modded with ought it bursting into flames and exploading
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Haha I kinda learnt from getting help online, so I can totally try and help you if you’d like to learn.
I can say what nodding works well for me, how to biggest code errors/ look at code, my fav ways of modding (spoiler alert it involves an *if in the stats page) and the pros and cons of it.
But I won’t teach you how to sign it back as an apk.
Because that’s morally reprehensible, and allows people to illegally share the nodded game.
… or rather, I haven’t perfected that yet!
About what @fairlyfairfighter was talking about, I don’t see anything wrong with trying to achieve play-throughs that are as perfect as possible.
Some people get enjoyment out of achieving the best possible results in an experience (like a CYOA) where many and varied results are possible.
I find it somewhat analogous to an individual who is proud of themselves for scoring higher on a test than their fellow classmates.
However, that’s where the conversation gets tricky because of the way “enjoyment” is implemented and designed in a given game.
For example, if you design a game with the idea that people are going to play through it once or twice, it will probably turn out very different than if it were to be designed with multiple (5 or more) playthroughs in mind.
It’s just trying to appeal to a different audience.
Mumbles something incoherently about a secret contest entry.
But to reiterate, if the player is having fun, owns the game legally, and is not breaking any laws or terms of use, then what’s the harm in the player having their fun however they want to?
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Uuuh. So I’m trying to peek into a few games’ APKs for reasons. So I’ve tried to unrar them onto my phone or download them to my computer… Except I can’t find them, even though the file browser is set to show hidden files. More precisely I can’t find the entire data/app folder.
Does my phone need to be rooted to access this folder and what’s up with this BS anyway? I thought Android was an open system?
I don’t really mind the whole cheating thing as long as it doesn’t interfere with the author getting money for his/her work, and for the other people out there that know how to get around the pay wall… just pay for it… it helps the author continue their work.
If you love these games just pay for it so you can get more games like these.
(Don’t be a cheap stick lol)
It’s not hard to mod on steam.
- Install NodeJS https://nodejs.org/en/ install to c:\nodejs or something so step 2 is easier.
- Run npm install -g asar in a command prompt/powershell prompt
- Still in your command prompt, navigate to steam folder of game you want to mod for instance E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Broadway 1849\resources
- run command asar extract app.asar destfolder where destfolder is the folder you want to unpack to.
Game now available to edit as desired.
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I know how to mod on Steam, I just miss the easier accessibility (both of the code and otherwise) of the old Chrome Apps, as well as their better pricing and support scheme. In any case I suppose there isn’t any harm done by my pointing out that making it as easy as possible to peek at the code and mod the things may get them both more interested new writers and perhaps some modders too and modding generally tends to extend the life of a game.
I’ve also got a python .asar extractor from somewhere around the web for exactly that purpose.
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Not to be a killjoy, but I should point out that whilst this may be easy, it isn’t necessarily legal. You should check both steam’s and the game’s developer’s licensing agreements before doing this. This may seem petty, but there’s a big difference between doing this personally and advertising (encouraging how to do it publicly?) on the forums of a company that relies exclusively on its games for revenue. I haven’t investigated this, but I’m assuming it gives you access to the source code, which could then be illegally redistributed. I love modding as much as the next person, but it’s a slippery slope in legal land.
On a lighter note, thank you for the update @jasonstevanhill. It’s great to see some transparency and hear about what’s going on behind the scenes. Congrats and good luck to everyone who is moving forwards within the company. I too share some reservations about the omnibus app, but there are plenty of potential pros to be had as well. Can’t knock it until we try it! Fingers crossed.
It isn’t illegal in the UK and Europe which are the laws that apply to me. Neither Steam or CoG can legally prevent people in said regions from unpacking the game for personal modifications or to read the source to aid in taking the desired path through the story. I cannot, however, distribute my modifications without the express written permission of the author(s).
A person can commit murder with a knife - doesn’t make them illegal to buy.
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Actually, both modifying source code and reusing someone else’s work (yes, that is exactly what a mod does) are usually illegal. Though if you re-read my post, your personal use isn’t my concern here. People do that, most companies don’t care and it’s entirely up to you. I’m just suggesting you don’t openly advertise ways for people to obtain CoG games source code (there’s a reason they don’t just upload it to the website). If you want to discuss it further, feel free to create a new thread and tag me.
No to debate further would require me to be a lawyer and not just a person looking to ensure that what I want to do isn’t illegal. A brief googling reaffirms that to just view the code and/or modify it for my own personal use is not.
I can’t speak to the situation in the US or elsewhere as the laws a different.
I don’t need to discuss further EU & UK Law are clear.
Edit: More to the point though, its no more than telling how to unpack a zip file, thats all asar files are.
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