Best way to include images with yoru distrobution?
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What is the best way to have a game with images (of course) but it''s not in some folder where everybody could get to them? I''m using MSV++.NET if it matters.
VG-Force |Ekim Gram Productions
Easy, combine them into one or more archive files. The archive file can use compression or not. Its up to you. Personally, I would just use zip files, though perhaps modifying the main header a bit to cause zip decompressors to think the file is not a real zip file, as well as using a different extension.
You can include any file as a resource, so that''s one way to do it. Resources get compiled into the executable. These can be viewed by people if they have the right software, though... but it''s unlikely anyone would bother. Self-extracting zip files work this way -- the archive is included as a resource, and the application itself simply unzips whatever its resource is.
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1) Change the extension name of your images, many paint programs will stop opening a file if they dont recognise the extension. (You can use a batch file to rename all *.bmp to *.watever)
2) Make a program to add a few bytes of garbage in the header or the start of the file, this almost always prevents anyone from being able to open your file.(Not very difficult to do either)
The only way someone else might be able to get to your images is by using a hex editor and figuring out where your image data actually is.
If you want all your images in 1 file, it requires abit more work and usually you should be distributing the game as a zip or installer so i usually dont bother to pack images into a single file.
2) Make a program to add a few bytes of garbage in the header or the start of the file, this almost always prevents anyone from being able to open your file.(Not very difficult to do either)
The only way someone else might be able to get to your images is by using a hex editor and figuring out where your image data actually is.
If you want all your images in 1 file, it requires abit more work and usually you should be distributing the game as a zip or installer so i usually dont bother to pack images into a single file.
I guess the question is what problem are you trying to solve by doing this? Most professional games don''t bother with it. Why? They like people modding the game later and if the graphics files are inaccessable this can''t be done. Don''t fool yourself, no matter what protection scheme you come up with, someone who really wants to break it can (even if it means disassembling your code to figure out your scheme).
nope. you do what YOU want. most games usually archive their game resources in pak files (like quake 3) or wad files (like half life), or whatever file format they want. It depends on how accessible you want your game resources to be: it is well known that quake pak3 files are simply zip files, and opens up easily for modding. However, for Blizzard games, like Warcraft3, mpq files are not generally easily accessible, although there ARE some tools out there to extract the files. Blizzard doesn''t want anybdoy modding their games. So it depends on how moddable you want your game. If you''re paranoid and want your game''s sanctity preserved, lock your resources up as tightly as you can. If you want modders and hackers to modify your game, put it in a zip file or not archive them at all.
I guess for blizzard, they dont want people stealing all the beautiful textures/models. You can definitely make your own limited "mods" with the level editor.
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