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Six
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 287 |
DTL Jetpack BASIC
This was never properly cracked. There's a copy @ http://www.haddewig.de/nogames64/tools.html but it still has dongle protection and won't run. There's a non-protected program on the disk ("ERROR LOCATE"), but the main compiler still needs the dongle to run. There are also no docs.
Why is this one so important to preserve? Because literally LEGIONS of c64 games were written with it.
I had a go at trying to break the protection, and I'm sure I eventually could - but it's a bear.
At the end of each file (and the compiler is compiled with itself, btw) there is a byte sequence. TWO of those bytes indicate whether or not the program is dongle-protected. BUT, fixing a protected DTL-BASIC program is not as simple as changing those bytes. It uses them to calculate a bunch of other values, in multiple places in the runtime library.
The (tape-port) dongle check is also obfuscated, but easy enough to find.
So, this is going to take some serious skill to bust - but once its busted, it opens the door for reversal tools that can be used to resource games like Roadwar 2000.
Any takers? Can I persuade anyone to at least have a look at it? |
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TNT
Account closed
Registered: Oct 2004
Posts: 189 |
So you want to have something like this in the end? ;) |
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Six
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 287 |
So there's a decompiler or you did this by hand?
Is there also a proper cracked of the compiler? |
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Zer0-X
Registered: Aug 2008
Posts: 78 |
http://www.sid.fi/~zrx/DTL-BASIC-Jetpack-644c.zip
Can't find much use for this as it's just a compiler. |
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Six
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 287 |
Aye, but having a cracked version of the compiler is a step towards both writing a decompiler (if one doesn't yet exist) and understanding how the dongle protection works. |
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Six
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 287 |
Oh, forgot to ask, since you guys seem to have a better knowledge of this software than I do, have you found a manual?
Thanks, btw, I was worried no-one would be interested to discuss this compiler because of its relative obscurity. |
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TNT
Account closed
Registered: Oct 2004
Posts: 189 |
Yes, there is a decompiler, and yes, I have the manual. I think I have scanned it already, I just need to locate those scans from some old computer backup. I also own PET version of the compiler with manual. Same problem with that one :D |
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Moloch
Registered: Jan 2002
Posts: 2890 |
Excellent, would love a copy of that manual when you can find it |
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Six
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 287 |
TNT, is the decompiler available, or private?
If I had a good description of the file format, I could add it as an output target on my txt2prg tokenizer.
BTW, found the dongle at my warehouse today, but not the docs. The dongle goes in the tape port and has the serial # 355-012-500-201. It'd be interesting to see how specific the dongle is - if any copy of the software will run with any dongle. |
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TNT
Account closed
Registered: Oct 2004
Posts: 189 |
http://sid.fi/~tnt/dtl/
Contains C64 version manual + disks which I believe are my original dumps and their cracked counterparts.
PET manual scans are probably in some directory named "old computer" inside another directory with similar name :) |
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Six
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 287 |
Awesome! Thanks for posting this, I'd been looking for it for a while. That decomp of part of Roadwar 2000 gives me enough to work from for figuring out the tokenization.
You mentioned there was a decompiler. Did you write it? |
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