Starting out: Hacking a Multiplayer Game

[Pingu_iK]

Obviously, this has been asked before. I ask for your forgiveness.
First off: I'll state I'm here to learn, not to leech. With that out of the way, I have experience coding.

I know the following languages:

1. LUA
2. C, C#, C++
3. Java Programming
4. HTML/CSS
5. Assembly

I understand:

• How memory relates to games
• How memory is stored and manipulated
• Tools such as "Cheat Engine(6.5)"

What I've Done before asking:

• I looked around various forums and read up on quite a bit.
• I started using cheat engine.
• I made my own LUA script "hacks" for GMOD
• I familiarized myself with cheat engine(injector, inspector, ect..)
• I've injected things into GMOD(Not of my own design)
• I've inspected the memory and manipulated it

Questions:

1. Is there a thread somewhere that entails what I'm asking already?(Sorry! I looked extensively. I'm new to forums.)
2. How would I go about making external hacks?
3. Can you put hacks on drivers, make a driver hack, or put hacks on a peripheral such as a keyboard or mouse?(I'm trying to protect it)

EDIT: I don't know the difference between Internal and External.

The ideal situation would be to develop a kernel level hack, that runs externally (Or the most optimal and undetectable format), and somehow store it on a peripheral such as a keyboard, mouse, or headset. This way, it could be disguised further as say - an audio driver.

Please Note: I don't want to buy your hacks, I don't want you to do it for me. I just want a helping hand in the direction of full understanding.

Thanks.

[Sammy]

Obviously, this has been asked before. I ask for your forgiveness.
First off: I'll state I'm here to learn, not to leech. With that out of the way, I have experience coding.

I know the following languages:

1. LUA
2. C, C#, C++
3. Java Programming
4. HTML/CSS
5. Assembly

I understand:

• How memory relates to games
• How memory is stored and manipulated
• Tools such as "Cheat Engine(6.5)"

What I've Done before asking:

• I looked around various forums and read up on quite a bit.
• I started using cheat engine.
• I made my own LUA script "hacks" for GMOD
• I familiarized myself with cheat engine(injector, inspector, ect..)
• I've injected things into GMOD(Not of my own design)
• I've inspected the memory and manipulated it

Questions:

1. Is there a thread somewhere that entails what I'm asking already?(Sorry! I looked extensively. I'm new to forums.)
2. How would I go about making external hacks?
3. Can you put hacks on drivers, make a driver hack, or put hacks on a peripheral such as a keyboard or mouse?(I'm trying to protect it)

EDIT: I don't know the difference between Internal and External.

The ideal situation would be to develop a kernel level hack, that runs externally (Or the most optimal and undetectable format), and somehow store it on a peripheral such as a keyboard, mouse, or headset. This way, it could be disguised further as say - an audio driver.

Please Note: I don't want to buy your hacks, I don't want you to do it for me. I just want a helping hand in the direction of full understanding.

Thanks.

Ehm

So to get this straight, you do have the knowledge, you do have the experience. But when it comes to hacking you really do not know much yet right?

I see you have a lot of ideas, and some of them seem advance but moreover very unnecessary. I suggest starting with a simple aimbot, or a simple triggerbot, or simple anything really. There are tons of tutorials for these things and they give you a good idea of what it actually means to hack a game, how to hook, entity lists etc.

Moreover I also recommend quickly learning about static analysis. Cheat engine is dynamic analysis which is nice but very limited. Get used to using IDA pro and just try things out on simple games to start off with.

To answer your question what the difference is between External and Internal.
External hacks are hacks that are loaded individually and have memory stored in it's own process. It reads memory and writes memory to an external process. Cheat engine is a fine example of an external way to hack games (if u use cheat engine to hack something).

Internal is loading memory inside the actual process you want to hack. This can be done by injecting a DLL into that process, in which it will allocate memory for your program into that process. Or manually load the memory(the program) into that process.

I personally prefer Internal, mainly because it feels more as if you made an addition(mod) to the game. It's generally faster and you don't have to rely on the functions: ReadProcessMemory and WriteProcessMemory.

Obviously the preference is something for you to find out what you prefer.


I hope this satisfies you answer well enough


~ Sam

[Pingu_iK]

Ehm

I see you have a lot of ideas, and some of them seem advance but moreover very unnecessary. I suggest starting with a simple aimbot, or a simple triggerbot, or simple anything really. There are tons of tutorials for these things and they give you a good idea of what it actually means to hack a game, how to hook, entity lists etc.

Moreover I also recommend quickly learning about static analysis. Cheat engine is dynamic analysis which is nice but very limited. Get used to using IDA pro and just try things out on simple games to start off with.

~ Sam

Thanks for the reply, it was very thorough.
I definitely prefer writing things Internally, then. But I do have a few questions.

• Is this the right IDA?(Hex-Ray's IDA freeware 5.0)
• What's so limiting about Dynamic analysis?
• Can I put hacks on peripherals that interact with a source game?

Also, you say make an aimbot. I've done so in LUA, I'm just not sure where to go to make an aimbot "internally".

[Sammy]

Thanks for the reply, it was very thorough.

Sure, no problem man

I definitely prefer writing things Internally, then. But I do have a few questions.

I'd recommend trying both in all honesty, but I think you are making a wise decision

Is this the right IDA?(Hex-Ray's IDA freeware 5.0)

Yes it is, there are also torrented premium versions but the freeware should do fine

What's so limiting about Dynamic analysis?

I might've said it wrong, it's not limiting! You actually should use both to achieve the things you want. Say you want to find the instruction that writes to your HP. Sure Cheat Engine and/or Ollydbg are great for that. But say you have a game that sends packets to other peers through a function. In this function it defines through parameters what kind of packet will be sent. Say you want to know more about that and simulate that function so you can for example make a server-sided godmode. Then static analysis is going to make things much easier for you!

Can I put hacks on peripherals that interact with a source game?

I wouldnt exactly know why you'd want that. Every game has a lot of functions used such as ASyncKeyState. You can find WINAPI functions withing the game assembly itself and hook stuff there. Unless you have some brilliant idea I haven't heard of yet. However, if you do. It does seem like something complicated and I recommend not to overrush yourself. Take it step by step. Don't get overwhelmed by complications

Also, you say make an aimbot. I've done so in LUA, I'm just not sure where to go to make an aimbot "internally".

Internally, the easiest way and a good way to start is to make a DLL. There are great tutorials on how to use WINAPI and how to make a DLL out of that. Then you can use an injector (or write your own) to inject the memory of that dll into the process of your liking. I recommend googling about DLLs and DLL hacks to know exactly how it works. C++ is probably required for this, not LUA.

[Pingu_iK]

So If I got this right;
If I want to manipulate my client, use dynamic analysis(generally).
If I want to see what the server is sending clients, and potentially manipulate the server, use static analysis.

If you get the chance, private message me on this forum if you would be so kind. I have some other questions relating to structures and what not... I'm going start researching what you pointed me to until then. Hopefully you'll have time!

Thanks, Pingu_iK

[Sammy]

So If I got this right;
If I want to manipulate my client, use dynamic analysis(generally).
If I want to see what the server is sending clients, and potentially manipulate the server, use static analysis.

If you get the chance, private message me on this forum if you would be so kind. I have some other questions relating to structures and what not... I'm going start researching what you pointed me to until then. Hopefully you'll have time!

Thanks, Pingu_iK

I mainly just gave an example. There is loads more you can do with it. Once you find yourself limited with what you want with cheat engine, then it's time to think about learning about static analysis. Once you know more about it a whole new world goes open for you.

Don't hesitate to pm me or Skype me on sam-sam1220. Enjoy coding!

[Pingu_iK]

I wish I knew how to PM someone. I've tried for ages, this menu system isn't easy to follow at times.

EDIT: I got the popup to work, and I select people I wish to PM. However, It just goes to a page that says I don't have permission to access the content. My account is activated... what do I do?

[Sammy]

I wish I knew how to PM someone. I've tried for ages, this menu system isn't easy to follow at times.

EDIT: I got the popup to work, and I select people I wish to PM. However, It just goes to a page that says I don't have permission to access the content. My account is activated... what do I do?

I think you need 20 posts to be able to PM. (Any moderator feel free to correct me). Just be a little active, contribute a little by posting something useful. You'll get there in no time