Civilization3: Conquests no-cd crack for 1.12 patch?

[P22]

This patch has been around for a while.

Has anyone found a no-cd crack for it?


P.S.
I hope I can get it soon, since otherwise next patch is scheduled for 10 January, when no-cd crack for this version won't matter much anymore.

[krondike]

there is no offical patch out yet. This is just a BETA patch, use the search button and you will found it out. And look what happen to the other topic thread that ask for it..:D

[P22]

Originally posted by krondike
there is no offical patch out yet. This is just a BETA patch, use the search button and you will found it out. And look what happen to the other topic thread that ask for it..:D

But that's patch that can be obtained on official atari support
site??? It's not patch for beta game.


EDIT:
Hmm...
That thread was 2 weeks old.
I think it was closed since it was posted before resonable time passed from patch release (2 weeks min by forum rules).

[dyna-might]

Originally posted by krondike
there is no offical patch out yet. This is just a BETA patch, use the search button and you will found it out. And look what happen to the other topic thread that ask for it..:D

The next "official" patch will come out in Q2/2004! Atari/Firaxis don't want to go through the whole tiresome QA procedure. That's why the patch was declared beta. :(

I can provide you with a link to a post by the responsible (jesse smith) on a community board, if requested.

So please dear fixers, please try ;)

By the way: There's a new (beta) patch coming out in january - if I can chose which should be patched, please do the coming one :)

PS: In another thread someone recommended to create an image with nero or alcohol. And mount it with daemon tools. Well, i tried - it didn't work :(

[P22]

While I have 0% cracking experience wouldn't the craking procedure work like this:

-Disassemle original Civ3Conquests.exe (v1.0)
-Disassemle Drunk's no-cd cracked Civ3Conquests.exe (v1.0)
-compare these two
-Disassemle original Civ3Conquests.exe (v1.12)
-make exact same changes like in Drunk's no-cd crack
-recomplie modified Civ3Conquests.exe

Am I right, or maybe it's not that much simple as I think?



P.S.
If I only had 1% of experience, maybe I would crack it myself (instead of waiting 2 weeks).

Wishfull thinking...

[krondike]

Well good luck to you! :)

But can I add something?

1.0 version is protection with SafeDisc 2.9

1.12f version is protected with SafeDisc 3.15.

When it cracked it's unprotected and can be dissamble. When it's SafeDisc protected, it can be dissable but you wont understand when you got 0% crack experince, and often SafeDisc 2.6 or higher, can't be dissabled.... GOOD LUCK! :D

[P22]

EDIT:
Never mind


P.S.
I never really thought that they change copy-protection during patches. That does make things messy (too messy for the begginer).

[P22]

For anybody who is working on this crack: STOP!

There is new patch here: v1.13, let's crack this one

Only download link I found is this:
http://cdgroup.org/forums/site/main/viewtopic.php?t=1001&start=0
(I guess it will be uploaded to Atari Support page at later date)


If this one also uses SafeDisc 3.15, and considering that this patch in on low prrority for making a crack, I guess that I'll need to wait for some time...

[P22]

Forget the last thing I said.
It looks that this "patch" is unofficial beta patch and that in one day 1.14 will also come (confusing???)


Better to wait for official beta patch at atarisupport.com (like it was 1.12), and that crack such version.

[krondike]

make an image of your original CD, and emulate it with Alcohol 120%

[dyna-might]

krondike,
are you sure this works? and if so, why can't i get it to work?

i've tried making an image and emulating it.
- to create the image, i've used nero and blindread.
- to emulate it, i've tried daemon tools and a120.

i tried all combinations.. nothing went :mad:

my CD-drive isn't that old, and i've have got the original disk of civ3 and both expansion packs.

what am i doing wrong?

[RincewindTheWiz]

You have to create the image with a copy protection copy program, so making it with Nero will never work. Blindread should work, but try Alcohol120% to be sure. Don't forget to select the correct copy protection option when making the image (i.e. Securom New etc).

[krondike]

It's SafeDisc 3 protected, use SafeDisc 2 profile the disc is still SafeDisc 2 protected (SafeDisc 2.9).

USE latest alcohol, it will fix the blacklist problem and emulatation problems.

1.13 is a real patch, and not a private made patch. It's company build. How ever you need 1.12 before you install 1.13!

[dyna-might]

no, as a matter of fact, 1.13 was leaked out and wasn't really meant to be released. the next semi-official patch will come out end of next week and should be 1.14 (except if they decide to fix something more and do another build)

thanks for the tip, RincewindTheWiz, i'll try it today :)

[dyna-might]

it worked!

thanks guys for the tips! i got worried, when the first approx. 20MB had read errors and were skipped, but after that it read the data perfectly fine. and i could mount the image with alcohol 120%.

now i can finally play the game on my notebook without having to bring the disks with me the whole time :)

thanks again!

[dyna-might]

i want to add: it worked with mds-format and a120 mounting it. however, deamon tools couldn't access that file (although it should work).

and with ISO and CCD format the game still asks for the original CD. are these formats not good for emulating safedisk 2.9 or is daemon tools just not the right tools to mount safedisk images?

[Skodkim]

Actually there's a 1.15B version out now.

Its true that this is only a Beta, but the full version isn't out untill June so lets crack this baby!

Skodkim :D

[Veky]

Yeah, there's a 1.15 beta patch out there and I will have your babies if someone makes the fixed exe/no cd. :erm:

The Firaxis guy says the patch will be out in the end of february, not june.

[ByteMare]

Originally posted by P22
While I have 0% cracking experience wouldn't the craking procedure work like this:

-Disassemle original Civ3Conquests.exe (v1.0)
-Disassemle Drunk's no-cd cracked Civ3Conquests.exe (v1.0)
-compare these two
-Disassemle original Civ3Conquests.exe (v1.12)
-make exact same changes like in Drunk's no-cd crack
-recomplie modified Civ3Conquests.exe



It's a bit more complicated than that. If you got files with the exact same size, it's quite easy assuming that they're not encrypted. Now you must deprotect the file (not an easy task if you don't have the knowledge, but not impossible like a *lot* of ppl say), find the cd-checks (if any) and
kill them....in short...I won't tell the long version;)

[P22]

Originally posted by Veky
The Firaxis guy says the patch will be out in the end of february, not june.

I think that by June, Firaxis guy thought about a final patch (the last one).

[Benzebut]

i installed thr 1.12 then searched for a ****ing fixed exe but wasnt able to find it...so i just uninstalled the beta patch...
now i play conquests 1.00 with a fixed exe...waiting for another REAL patch.
my suggestion are uninstall this beta patch and play 1.00 untill the real patch.

[Veky]

I wonder if Deamon Tools would be of any use. Hmm.

[Cainoor]

Hey! (it's my first post here:) )

I wonder if anyone could give me a link to no-cd patch for Civilization 3: Conquests 1.15 beta ?

Thanks.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Hi Cainoor, nice try! However, 1) the 1.15 beta patch has been released within two weeks and 2) it's a beta anyway. Requesting a no-CD patch for such stuff is not welcome here.

Joe

[Cainoor]

Oh. I didn't know. I've just read the FAQ and now I understand what did wrong.

Sorry :)

So, nobody makes no-CD patches for Beta Version ?

[Xero]

Apparently. Now.. I foresee many game devs announcing thier patches as beta.. :)

[Cainoor]

Probably You're right. It is some idea :)

But still... I've got another question (sorry for OT):

Plz someone tell me when We can expect a non-beta patch to this fantastic game ?

[Veky]

A full release will be made available at the end of February that includes fixes for many of the issues that you are encountering.

There you go. I guess I'm stuck with 1.0 which has a lot of bugs till then. :mad:

[dyna-might]

as you guys might have seen, creating an image with alcohol 120% worked for me!

i can only recommend it further!


as for the coming patches:
- the FINAL and only official patch will be coming out Q2/2004
- the next semi-official beta-patch should be out end of february.
- a localization patch (making the current 1.15 patch compatible for all language versions) should come out end of january.
- for the "real" beta community there may be more patches. but because people are irritated by so many patches in just a few weeks, atari put a stop public presentation. someone of the beta community may (hopefully) leak the newest versions out ;)


the existing patches:
- 1.00 and 1.02 are extremely buggy! especially in the later game it gets awful with the so-called "gpt-bug" and the FP-bug.
- 1.12b fixed the first. the latter was partially fixed.
- 1.13b fixed the gpt by using a new corruption model
- 1.15b uses the originally intended corruption model.

i do NOT recommend anyone to play with a patch earlier than 1.12 as it's just half as much fun if you forbidden palace produces more corruption than without.


so, if you own the game, bring the CD with you each time (i know, it sucks) or use alcohol 120%.

if you don't own the game you have several options:
1. buy it (10$ at amazon.com isn't that much!)
2. crack it yourself
3. wait a few weeks for some patch consolidation and a no-cd crack
4. play with the buggy original version

my tip: go for 1. ;)


edit: update patch info

[Veky]

I agree about #1 but see, I can't buy from Amazon and it's ****en 50$ here. :mad:

[dyna-might]

dobar dan, kako si? ;)

hm, try amazon.de or amazon.co.uk.
amazon.com doesn't ship to my country either ;(

or maybe you could buy a version from someone who's not interested in the XP anymore. try ebay or a local auctioning platform.


on topic again: the patch end of january is JUST a localization patch. it's nothing else than making the non-english-versions up to date with 1.15.

[P22]

Originally posted by dyna-might
as for the coming patches:
- the FINAL and only official patch will be coming out Q2/2004
- the next semi-official beta-patch should be out end of february.
- a localization patch (making the current 1.15 patch compatible for all language versions) should come out end of january.

This is not 100% true.
-The real official patch comes at the end of the February.
-The last official patch comes in June (Q2/2004)
-And a localization patch (making the current 1.15 patch compatible for all language versions) is in fact the next semi-official beta-patch (something similar to 1.12 with was posted at atarisupport.com).

[krondike]

I realy wonder what this have to do with this forum?
Think there is time to put an end of this story!

[dyna-might]

Originally posted by krondike
I realy wonder what this have to do with this forum?
Think there is time to put an end of this story!

sorry, i was just trying to explain what patches were/are important, etc.

sorry for going slightly off-topic.

on-topic: creating a working image with the newest patch ONLY works with the newest alcohol 120 version!

[P22]

Intersting thing to note is that now (from 1/21/2004) 1.15b is available from www.civ3.com, so it's now "official beta", like 1.12b.

Also, as far as I understood, the official patch at the end of February would be the same 1.15, but with official stamp (and how knows, maybe new version of Safedisk? :D )


Still, since neither 1.12, nor 1.15 no-cd cracks are yet available, I would be satisfied with any version of crack.


EDIT:
Question to coders from unexperienced user.
Which Safedisk uses 1.00, which 1.12 and which 1.15?

What actually makes those later Safedisks so difficult to crack (de-assemble). Some sort of encryption?
Were I can learn more about Safedisk and ways to crack it?

[Veky]

I think 1.0 is safedisk 2 and 1.12 and up are safedisk 3 and therein lies the problem.

[P22]

Originally posted by P22
Question to coders from unexperienced user.
Which Safedisk uses 1.00, which 1.12 and which 1.15?

Nevermind, I found out.

1.00 is SafeDisk 2.9, while both 1.12 and 1.15 are SafeDisk 3.15.

I hope that it means that if one is cracked, that other won't be any more difficult.

[P22]

Well, I just noticed that now both www.civ3.com , atarisupport.com and firaxis.com have links to 1.15 patch.

Unfortunately, it still has "beta" label and still there are no co-cd cracks to be found anywere on the web.

[P22]

Civilization Conquests 1.15 crack is OUT!!!

Link:
http://spacetarget.com/games/pc_civilization_3.shtml


EDIT:
Although it says that it's "Fixed-exe" it's in fact a No-CD.

Big thanks to Drunk!