RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

[Ryuukun]

RPG Maker MV games are now on the market!

Now the problem is that Chiitrans doens't work with it, and that the Decrypter from Falo doesn't work either.

What are the new ways to translate / decrypt games?

Does anyone knows if Falo will update his software?

Discuss your solutions

 

[habisain]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

OK, so technical analysis:

RPGMaker MV games are webpages, javascript and JSONs. The Game.exe supplied appears to be a stripped down web browser; I'm unsure exactly what engine it's using, but it's a good bet it's Webkit based.

There is a packed file, but it doesn't seem to contain anything game specific as such - just frameworks, I think. In any case, it looks like it's a Node-Webkit package, so it should be easy to unpack. EDIT: Some more research suggests this is actually a library of some kind, so it almost certainly doesn't contain any game stuff.

Images and stuff are stored under www/images. From what I've seen, there's no packed images, but I may be wrong.

Translating: I, uh, doubt it's possible to insert a hook like AGTH, due to the complexities of web browsers. The text doesn't appear to be selectable if you run the game in a web browser, either. I think the best bet would be to modify the JavaScript of the main game to copy dialogue etc to clipboard, but I'll need to work on that a bit before I can claim it's possible.

On making translations of games: I'll be working on adding support to RPGMaker Trans soon. As I hoped, it's all JSON based, and so it shouldn't be too difficult to do - expect something concrete done by around Chrismas, I think.

 

[Froggus]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

Very likely Node-based.

I heard there's a way to make real archives instead of shipping images in the www-folder but most developers can't seem to figure out how to use it.

 

[cutgold]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

There is a game under development called Domination Quest on LoK.
It contains a single exe file. It has no CGs but certainly has faces, maps and dialogues etc.

So it is surely possible to pack everything into the exe file. I'd be more than happy if anyone found a way to decrypt RPG Maker MV games.

 

[habisain]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

Hmm. Indeed it is. So I went ahead and did a very quick dissassembly of the file. The results are slightly irritating; I could quite easily find the games scripts, but nothing else. This suggests that the rest of the game data is compressed somehow - but I'm still working that one out.

Dissembly also reveals that you can't legally distribute any single-EXE files due to licensing restrictions on the open source components of RPGMaker MV - and that RPGMaker MV may be breaching said licensing as well. That's, uh, probably not good news.

 

[Erithzak]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

I took a look at the game mentioned above. It's using Enigma Virtual Box to package the data with the exe, and poking around with RPG Maker MV it looks like that's the recommended approach they have for doing single exe file distribution.

Good news is it's easy to pop open and there are plenty of tools on the internet already to do it with. Here's one for you: lifeinhex.com/static-enigma-virtual-box-unpacker-part-3/

 

[cutgold]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

I took a look at the game mentioned above. It's using Enigma Virtual Box to package the data with the exe, and poking around with RPG Maker MV it looks like that's the recommended approach they have for doing single exe file distribution.

Good news is it's easy to pop open and there are plenty of tools on the internet already to do it with. Here's one for you: lifeinhex.com/static-enigma-virtual-box-unpacker-part-3/

You, sir/madam, are a real hero. Hope this works for other games too.

 

[Ryuukun]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

Hmm. Indeed it is. So I went ahead and did a very quick dissassembly of the file. The results are slightly irritating; I could quite easily find the games scripts, but nothing else. This suggests that the rest of the game data is compressed somehow - but I'm still working that one out.

Dissembly also reveals that you can't legally distribute any single-EXE files due to licensing restrictions on the open source components of RPGMaker MV - and that RPGMaker MV may be breaching said licensing as well. That's, uh, probably not good news.

What do you mean it's not a good news?

 

[Yugifan3]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

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Well, this was easy...now what?

Me thinks they forgot to decrypt it this game.

Anyway, by going by this game, its just as VX and Ace, the data folder is holding all the stuff as per usual so partial should be fine to make as per usual.

So, what did i do?

Well, going by this game, all of the files was in a folder called www, so i moved those file to the main file, moved a project file from a test project, then loaded the game into the editor, and there it was!

Then i thought "No...they didn't do it?" And sure enough, there isn't a decryption program when i output the file.

Course that still leaves the two other file systems, ios/android and mac files.

But, can it be that simple of just moving a few folders?

 

[cutgold]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

You must be registered to see the links

Well, this was easy...now what?

Me thinks they forgot to decrypt it this game.

Anyway, by going by this game, its just as VX and Ace, the data folder is holding all the stuff as per usual so partial should be fine to make as per usual.

So, what did i do?

Well, going by this game, all of the files was in a folder called www, so i moved those file to the main file, moved a project file from a test project, then loaded the game into the editor, and there it was!

Then i thought "No...they didn't do it?" And sure enough, there isn't a decryption program when i output the file.

Course that still leaves the two other file systems, ios/android and mac files.

But, can it be that simple of just moving a few folders?

About the game you're talking about (RJ165880), I think they didn't even pack the game. Everything is available with windows explorer. But some other games there is a single exe file which needs to be unpacked. e.g. the Domination Quest I mentioned before.

 

[Yugifan3]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

Yeah, i was wondering why it was that simple.

Course, could just be this game. Will investigate further.

 

[habisain]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

What do you mean it's not a good news?

Insofar that they appear to be breaking the LGPL license and RPGMaker MV, as well as all games using RPGMaker MV, are legitimate targets for being sued for software license violation (basically the same as piracy).

I'll be having a look properly tomorrow, but they seem to have compiled in their LGPL libraries, which is only permissable for open source software. The rule with LGPL software in commercial settings is that it's only permissable if the library is linked (as in a user could out replace the DLL or some-such for another version of the library).

 

[freeko]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

So if the dll files were not packed as part of the library but instead a seperate item? Like how the RTP software was different from rpgmaker xp or vx ace and the like.

Interesting, now I am afraid to release a game on MV. That it was so easily unpacked/hacked/decrypted whatever you wanna call it in the first place should have been the obvious flaw I had caught onto.

Right now, what would I be violating if I were to commercially release a game using rpgmaker mv? Assume that I had packed it as an executable file.

Would this change if the game were distributed as a .exe file but the dll files purged upon packing and provided seperately?

 

[sonata-s]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

So, dark times ahead for the AGTH/Translation Aggregator crowd?

 

[hyperk2]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

I haven't too thoroughly investigated myself personally, but, it seems it's less of "how to decrypt" and more of a "the files aren't even encrypted at all anymore, so you can just skip a step".

There's a couple people that mentioned this in the steam reviews. More in a negative sense though since it makes the games less secure. If this is the case though, it basically wouldn't effect translators.
As for text hooking, I really wouldn't know.

 

[habisain]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

So if the dll files were not packed as part of the library but instead a seperate item? Like how the RTP software was different from rpgmaker xp or vx ace and the like.

Interesting, now I am afraid to release a game on MV. That it was so easily unpacked/hacked/decrypted whatever you wanna call it in the first place should have been the obvious flaw I had caught onto.

Right now, what would I be violating if I were to commercially release a game using rpgmaker mv? Assume that I had packed it as an executable file.

Would this change if the game were distributed as a .exe file but the dll files purged upon packing and provided seperately?

OK, I've had a look and I'd guess that only single-exe files would be affected by the licensing issue. In unpacked games he DLL files are separate entities, and so shouldn't fall foul of LGPL restrictions - no need for any fancy stuff. The single-exe file versions are probably a problem due to the fact that the libraries cannot be replaced easily though, so probably don't pack the games into a single-exe file.

Note, I'm not a lawyer and this is based on my understanding of the LGPL. I'm not really sure they had obfuscated virtual filesystems in mind when writing the LGPL though, so I could be wrong here.

If you want to be absolutely legally safe, just distribute the game as the www folder and get people to play it in their web-browser. That'd have no problems as far as licenses go

So, dark times ahead for the AGTH/Translation Aggregator crowd?

Possibly. I have some ideas on how the games can be hooked though. Basically it comes down to the same thing that I did for a Ren'Py based game (completely forgotten the name of it) before it was localised: insert a hook into the game itself, push the text out via sockets and grab it via a specialised translator.

This might sound a bit scary, but it shouldn't be. Once I get RPGMaker MV support into RPGMaker Trans, I'll be able to write a tool that does all the modifications on the fly, and that'll be that. However, don't expect that too soon - I'm busy with a lot of stuff at the moment.

 

[remicks]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

I have some ideas on how the games can be hooked though. Basically it comes down to the same thing that I did for a Ren'Py based game (completely forgotten the name of it) before it was localised: insert a hook into the game itself, push the text out via sockets and grab it via a specialised translator.

This might sound a bit scary, but it shouldn't be. Once I get RPGMaker MV support into RPGMaker Trans, I'll be able to write a tool that does all the modifications on the fly, and that'll be that. However, don't expect that too soon - I'm busy with a lot of stuff at the moment.

First, let me make sure I'm understanding what you're saying: basically, slightly modify the code of some component of each game (I assume this might be just a dll?) to output a copy of the text stream to AGTH or similar?

Would this require - in the worst case - a hook modification being created for each game?

 

[habisain]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

First, let me make sure I'm understanding what you're saying: basically, slightly modify the code of some component of each game (I assume this might be just a dll?) to output a copy of the text stream to AGTH or similar?

Would this require - in the worst case - a hook modification being created for each game?

In the worst case, yes. But the worst case is a game reimplementing RPGMaker's text printing routines, and that's not something that I've seen often (I can think of maybe 2 games that did this from the entirity of RPGMaker XP, VX and VX Ace). But the average and by far the most common cases, no. The same hook should work on almost all games. It also wouldn't be in a DLL either, but one of the JavaScript files, and the text would likely go directly to a specialised translator program (rather than AGTH, given that AGTH is a hook and the idea of modifying the game is to incorporate the hook directly into the game).

It may even be possible to avoid some of the pitfalls of regular game hooks as well; when I made a similar method for VPM (with this method being buggy for other reasons) I could get a lot clearer information out. For example, I could extract choices as a numbered list rather than having them all run into each other.

And as I said, all of this should be automatable, so it should suffice to have a special hook program that does all this. Maybe RPGMVH?

 

[freeko]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

Well, I was playing around with MV and packing things without the dll files, and then including them post packing. The result is a working thing, so I may just do it that way. That would not run me afoul of the LGPL in any way since people could exchange the dll files at will with this setup. If any dll but the original would work or not, I have no idea.

Can not say that I am a fan of releasing unprotected directories, though the protection is obviously flimsy at best. I guess I would wan people to play the game instead of just look in the picture folder.

 

[habisain]

Re: RPG Maker MV; How to translate/Decrypt?

Well, I was playing around with MV and packing things without the dll files, and then including them post packing. The result is a working thing, so I may just do it that way. That would not run me afoul of the LGPL in any way since people could exchange the dll files at will with this setup. If any dll but the original would work or not, I have no idea.

Can not say that I am a fan of releasing unprotected directories, though the protection is obviously flimsy at best. I guess I would wan people to play the game instead of just look in the picture folder.

Yeah, that would work and definitely not be problematic as far as the LGPL goes. I'm wondering if I should try and get some clarification on this from somewhere though, because it's something that would be nice to know.

However, I'd still shy away from using single EXE mode. There's a lot of reasons why typically executables and data files are sepearate, and the most notable issue I think would be virus scanners not liking big EXE's (possibly delaying the running of a big EXE by a significant amount).

On the topic of securing archives, I'm working on a fun tool for RPGMaker XP/VX/VX Ace that has the potential to make most unpackers choke and die horribly. A quick summary: the old format archives allow the description of file systems that simply can not exist, which means that you can really screw up the unpackers which are out there presently (The tool also packs games much faster than RPGMaker ever could, which is nice).