Help with save file duplication

Seedonator · Jun 1, 2018

Alright so is there any type of script that can stop players from copying their save file and then restoring it later. I need this because I have an online trading thing in my game and people can duplicate Pokémon like that. Or make it so that the save file is in a hidden directory so that no one knows where to find it. Thanks.

Sparkin · Jun 1, 2018

Can you elaborate more on how they would duplicate?

Seedonator · Jun 2, 2018

Like this:
Step .1
Copy and paste their save file from C:/Users/Username/Saved games to their desktop
Step. 2
Trade away a shiny or some OP Pokémon to some other computer or something.
Step. 3
Overwrite current save file with the one that you copied to your desktop
Step. 4
Send Pokémon back to original computer.

And then you have 2 of the exact same Pokémon.

Ego13 · Jun 2, 2018

I mean you could change the file path for the save file so ppl wont be able to find it in the first place
Then again if someone really wants do it, they will find a way

Seedonator · Jun 2, 2018

Ego13 said:
I mean you could change the file path for the save file so ppl wont be able to find it in the first place
Then again if someone really wants do it, they will find a way

Yea that's something I'm trying to figure out. I have no clue how to change where the save file goes.

Ego13 · Jun 3, 2018

By default it is stored in your "saved games" folder on windows. Like on drive C:

Seedonator · Jun 3, 2018

Ego13 said:
By default it is stored in your "saved games" folder on windows. Like on drive C:

yea I know that, I just have no clue how to change it from 'Saved Games' to another location like %AppData%

FireBurn256 · Jun 3, 2018

Well, the one option is to put some sort of a unique variable in the save file and to check whether it is equal to the representitive server variable. Like, any action regarding the pokemon change changes this unique variable (commonly, it is called a "seed") and when some player connects to your online system, your server system checks the seed it has stored for this player.
But it is more math than a programming - I mean, finding such function, that is. Then, you still have to implement it in your project and so on.

Hash functions they are called, if I am not mistaken.

And really... Think small?

Seedonator · Jun 3, 2018

FireBurn256 said:
and when some player connects to your online system, your server system checks the seed it has stored for this player.

Ah should've mentioned this earlier I guess, I'm not the one who's hosting the server. I'm using this online panel meaning I have no control over what the server checks for and all that kind of stuff. I think the best way to stop save file duplicating is to just change the save location to a place where no one knows.

Ego13 · Jun 3, 2018

This function gets the save file path

Code:

def self.getSaveFolder

Just don't know how to modify it
You might just wann write an absolute file path instead of letting the programm check for it

I'm still wondering if there isn't an easier way to check if a file was copied

FireBurn256 · Jun 3, 2018

Seedonator said:
Ah should've mentioned this earlier I guess, I'm not the one who's hosting the server. I'm using this online panel meaning I have no control over what the server checks for and all that kind of stuff. I think the best way to stop save file duplicating is to just change the save location to a place where no one knows.

Trust me, it is the easiest thing possible to find out where the game saves the data. Even if you cypher your game data, one can simply just start playing your game on a fresh copy of Windows/whatever they are using, and simply see what was added.

Luka S.J. · Jun 3, 2018

Essentials gets the saved games folder path by invoking SHGetKnownFolderPath through Win32API. This uses GUID of the folder paths which you can find documented here. The only annoying bit is that you have to split the GUID into correct hex chunks for def getKnownFolder. I've made a small module for myself to automate this process, and make it a bit easier.

Code:

module Env

	COMMON_PATHS = {
		"CAMERA_ROLL" => "AB5FB87B-7CE2-4F83-915D-550846C9537B",
		"START_MENU" => "A4115719-D62E-491D-AA7C-E74B8BE3B067",
		"DESKTOP" => "B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641",
		"DOCUMENTS" => "FDD39AD0-238F-46AF-ADB4-6C85480369C7",
		"DOWNLOADS" => "374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B",
		"HOME" => "5E6C858F-0E22-4760-9AFE-EA3317B67173",
		"MUSIC" => "4BD8D571-6D19-48D3-BE97-422220080E43",
		"PICTURES" => "33E28130-4E1E-4676-835A-98395C3BC3BB",
		"SAVED_GAMES" => "4C5C32FF-BB9D-43b0-B5B4-2D72E54EAAA4",
		"SCREENSHOTS" => "b7bede81-df94-4682-a7d8-57a52620b86f",
		"VIDEOS" => "18989B1D-99B5-455B-841C-AB7C74E4DDFC",
		"LOCAL" => "F1B32785-6FBA-4FCF-9D55-7B8E7F157091",
		"LOCALLOW" => "A520A1A4-1780-4FF6-BD18-167343C5AF16",
		"ROAMING" => "3EB685DB-65F9-4CF6-A03A-E3EF65729F3D",
		"PROGRAM_DATA" => "62AB5D82-FDC1-4DC3-A9DD-070D1D495D97",
		"PROGRAM_FILES_X64" => "6D809377-6AF0-444b-8957-A3773F02200E",
		"PROGRAM_FILES_X86" => "7C5A40EF-A0FB-4BFC-874A-C0F2E0B9FA8E",
		"COMMON_FILES" => "F7F1ED05-9F6D-47A2-AAAE-29D317C6F066",
		"PUBLIC" => "DFDF76A2-C82A-4D63-906A-5644AC457385",
	}
	
	def self.path(type)
		hex = self.guidToHex(COMMON_PATHS[type])
		return getKnownFolder(hex)
	end
	
	def self.guidToHex(string)
		chunks = string.split("-")
		hex = []
		for i in 0...chunks.length
			chunk = chunks[i]
			if i < 3
				hex.push(chunk.hex)
			else
				split = chunk.scan(/../)
				for s in split
					hex.push(s.hex)
				end
			end
		end
		return hex
	end
			
end

I've recorded most of the common paths and their GUIDs in the module, and you can very easily get the folder path with a simple command such as

Code:

Env.path("DOCUMENTS")

You can edit the save folder by changing the value the def self.getSaveFolder returns; so your function could basically look like this

Code:

def self.getSaveFolder
    return Env.path("ROAMING")
end

This isn't anywhere "safe" enough to fully prevent cheating. The most optimal way for that would be what @FireBurn256 suggested and you'd want access to your online files in an ideal situation.

Seedonator · Jun 4, 2018

Luka S.J. said:
Essentials gets the saved games folder path by invoking SHGetKnownFolderPath through Win32API. This uses GUID of the folder paths which you can find documented here. The only annoying bit is that you have to split the GUID into correct hex chunks for def getKnownFolder. I've made a small module for myself to automate this process, and make it a bit easier.

Code:

module Env COMMON_PATHS = { "CAMERA_ROLL" => "AB5FB87B-7CE2-4F83-915D-550846C9537B", "START_MENU" => "A4115719-D62E-491D-AA7C-E74B8BE3B067", "DESKTOP" => "B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641", "DOCUMENTS" => "FDD39AD0-238F-46AF-ADB4-6C85480369C7", "DOWNLOADS" => "374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B", "HOME" => "5E6C858F-0E22-4760-9AFE-EA3317B67173", "MUSIC" => "4BD8D571-6D19-48D3-BE97-422220080E43", "PICTURES" => "33E28130-4E1E-4676-835A-98395C3BC3BB", "SAVED_GAMES" => "4C5C32FF-BB9D-43b0-B5B4-2D72E54EAAA4", "SCREENSHOTS" => "b7bede81-df94-4682-a7d8-57a52620b86f", "VIDEOS" => "18989B1D-99B5-455B-841C-AB7C74E4DDFC", "LOCAL" => "F1B32785-6FBA-4FCF-9D55-7B8E7F157091", "LOCALLOW" => "A520A1A4-1780-4FF6-BD18-167343C5AF16", "ROAMING" => "3EB685DB-65F9-4CF6-A03A-E3EF65729F3D", "PROGRAM_DATA" => "62AB5D82-FDC1-4DC3-A9DD-070D1D495D97", "PROGRAM_FILES_X64" => "6D809377-6AF0-444b-8957-A3773F02200E", "PROGRAM_FILES_X86" => "7C5A40EF-A0FB-4BFC-874A-C0F2E0B9FA8E", "COMMON_FILES" => "F7F1ED05-9F6D-47A2-AAAE-29D317C6F066", "PUBLIC" => "DFDF76A2-C82A-4D63-906A-5644AC457385", } def self.path(type) hex = self.guidToHex(COMMON_PATHS[type]) return getKnownFolder(hex) end def self.guidToHex(string) chunks = string.split("-") hex = [] for i in 0...chunks.length chunk = chunks[i] if i < 3 hex.push(chunk.hex) else split = chunk.scan(/../) for s in split hex.push(s.hex) end end end return hex end end

I've recorded most of the common paths and their GUIDs in the module, and you can very easily get the folder path with a simple command such as

Code:

Env.path("DOCUMENTS")

You can edit the save folder by changing the value the def self.getSaveFolder returns; so your function could basically look like this

Code:

def self.getSaveFolder return Env.path("ROAMING") end

This isn't anywhere "safe" enough to fully prevent cheating. The most optimal way for that would be what @FireBurn256 suggested and you'd want access to your online files in an ideal situation.

Thanks a lot! I really don't think people would go as far as to install a fresh copy of windows just to duplicate Pokémon anyway.

FireBurn256 · Jun 4, 2018

Seedonator said:
Thanks a lot! I really don't think people would go as far as to install a fresh copy of windows just to duplicate Pokémon anyway.

You would be surprised...

Luka S.J. · Jun 4, 2018

You wouldn't even need to go that far. If you're planning on encrypting the game with what's built into RMXP, extracting the scripts from the .rgssad is extremely simple. And after that, anyone can look through the code to properly locate the save file and mess with it as much as they want.

Ego13 · Jun 4, 2018

Luka S.J. said:
You wouldn't even need to go that far. If you're planning on encrypting the game with what's built into RMXP, extracting the scripts from the .rgssad is extremely simple. And after that, anyone can look through the code to properly locate the save file and mess with it as much as they want.

Can confirm that. That is really so easy that I was kinda surprised that it worked. And there's pretty much no risc to do so...

Seedonator · Jun 5, 2018

Yea I'm not encrypting it with RPG Maker's encryption thing because it's super easy to decrypt.

Help with save file duplication

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Seedonator

Sparkin

Guest

Seedonator

Ego13

hollow_ego

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Ego13

hollow_ego

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FireBurn256

Seedonator

Ego13

hollow_ego

FireBurn256

Luka S.J.

Jealous Croatian

Seedonator

FireBurn256

Luka S.J.

Jealous Croatian

Ego13

hollow_ego

Seedonator