[REQ] Pac-Man World 2 Starforce 3 Crack (RLD Tools inside)

[newone111]

Hi to everyone,
I've opened this thread in search for a cracked *.exe-file for Pac-Man World 2. The game came out in 2004 but was never properly cracked.

I know, I can play it without CD using Starfu** plus DAEMON Tools, but that's not the case here. I simply don't want to install any Starforce drivers on my system.

I've even tried to do this myself using reloaded's reverse engineering tools...failed. I don't know where to start with the tools, as my programming knowledge is a bit limited to HTML and a little bit of Java.

If there's anyone willing to help, I could probably post a link to reloaded's tools (which are 100% legal as far as I know) and upload the original *.exe-file if I'm allowed to.

Thanks in advance.

[TippeX]

heh if your languates are just html and java you are well our of your depth... starforce is x86 and you'd have to be debugging (if you can bypass the anti debug) assembly code..

[Joe Forster/STA]

I've also been looking for a crack for this game but, I see, it's hopeless. Its sequel, Pac-Man World 3, has been cracked but this probably will never be. :(

[newone111]

I've also been looking for a crack for this game but, I see, it's hopeless. Its sequel, Pac-Man World 3, has been cracked but this probably will never be. :(

I still hope, someone (->probably reloaded, since >90% of all those starforce cracks are done by them) steps in here with a valid crack :o

As far as I know, there are starforce protected games, which have been cracked more than two years after their official release dates (I think The Suffering - Ties that Bind is one of them).

[Joe Forster/STA]

This is a relatively uninteresting "kiddie" game, not e.g. TOCA Race Driver 2 (v1.2), so don't have high hopes. I don't anymore...

[Morglum007]

Since those two games can be burnt using the modified "twinpeaks mode" (first in CD) and the second one with sf 3.7 in special dvds, i think they didnt got interest for crackers anymore.

Anyway, if i found the CD/DVD i can make a try (:D)

Enjoy.

[newone111]

btw. here's the link to rld's tools: http://www.glop.org/starforce/remove.php

@Morglum007: a real crack would be great, I know I can play the game with my CD in drive and also using DAEMON TOOLS, but these methods still require Starforce drivers being installed on my system.

[TippeX]

the tools are kind of crap anyway... they're useful as an 'insight', thats about it...

[newone111]

SKIDROW has just released a fix for gene troopers, a starforce-protected game released in 2005, let's hope they check out this thread.

[MarzSyndrome]

Anyone know if Reloaded and/or SkidRow are directly contactable somehow? I know a Starforce game or two from a few years back which still haven't been freed from their buggy BS...

[DABhand]

No they arent and no-one here will know.

No point asking.

[MarzSyndrome]

I didn't want to create a new thread just to say this, but it looks like the Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition thread has disappeared all of a sudden. Why did it get deleted? :(

I'm saying this in here since it's one of the Starforce titles I speak of that really needs fixing someday.

[newone111]

It's been quite a long time since I've opened up this thread. Still, anything new?
Can someone plz start a similar topic @ antistarforce.com. Unfortunately, I do not understand any Russian, but since most of the Starforce-crackers are Russians, it could probably help in this case.

[Joe Forster/STA]

I haven't seen anything new around about this game although I'm interested, too. As I wrote above, this is a "kiddie" game so it's very well possible that it will never be cracked.

As for Russian pages, use http://translate.google.com, it's pretty good. Russians (or, more precisely, ex-Soviets, including other nations) are the best programmers in the world so don't be surprised that they are the ones who create AND crack Starforce! ;)

[!HaGaR!]

Hi, maybe a good image mounted in daemon tools using fstarforce v3.2 could work without having a bsod. Just an idea, don´t know if it will work. For newer titles protected with starforce 5+ it works.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Yes, as far as I remember from the last time I've tried it, it does work with a good full image. But that's not a clean solution and, surprisingly, Pac-Man World 3 has been cracked long ago.

[newone111]

I haven't seen anything new around about this game although I'm interested, too. As I wrote above, this is a "kiddie" game so it's very well possible that it will never be cracked.

As for Russian pages, use http://translate.google.com, it's pretty good. Russians (or, more precisely, ex-Soviets, including other nations) are the best programmers in the world so don't be surprised that they are the ones who create AND crack Starforce! ;)


Thanks for the link :)
Probably going to post on that board...or maybe not...I'm always way too lazy for subscribing to internet forums especially when it takes longer than an hour to receive the obligatory activation mail...

So, if there are members of antistarforce.com around here, please open up a similar thread up there. Thanks for all the advices in this thread and thanks in advance in case, someone starts the requested topic.

[newone111]

FASiSO have just recently cracked Asterix & Obelix XXL 2, a game released in 2005.
Let's hope, they'll have a look at this thread! Pac-Man World 2 was released in 2004.

[cdkiller]

the FASiSO release was Tages older then v5.2, wich is quite different from cracking starforce 3. afaik pac man world 2 is starforce 3.4/3.5 wrapped wich is one of the strongest versions.

[pacgamer]

I've also been looking for a crack for this game but, I see, it's hopeless. Its sequel, Pac-Man World 3, has been cracked but this probably will never be. :(

Hi everyone, I found this thread looking around on google.

I bought both Pac-Man World 2 and Pac-Man World 3, but heard about how they both use the StarForce drivers. I've read that Boycott StarForce forum where everyone said those drivers will mess up your computer, so I don't want to install the games unless I can find a cracked version that doesn't require StarForce to be installed.

I take it that Pac-Man World 2 still hasn't been cracked?

What about Pac-Man World 3 then? You say it's cracked, so where can I get that?

Thanks for any help.

[DABhand]

Dont totally believe everything said about Starforce, it has yet to be proven its detrimental to hardware devices.

I do believe, my honest opinion, that most were up in arms against SF because most couldn't find cracks for games which used it, i.e. warez users with disc images that they couldn't get working.

Again in my honest opinion it was one of the tougher protections, shame it never has caught on.

[pacgamer]

OK, maybe they were lying, maybe not. I just don't want to take the risk, and would like a cracked version without it.

[TippeX]

@dab - well it was claimed some of their methods on cd/dvd access put 'strain' on the motor of the drive as it was reading in a backwards method (high sector -> lower sector), which can cause the lens to move backwards.. but this can happen naturally too.. so its a moot point, i have seen first hand their drivers causing bsod's, and after debugging they were on purpose..

i agree though its good, but a bit invasive and i definately did have fun reversing it, many hours wasted heh..

[DABhand]

BSOD due to you trying to hook it? lol

[TippeX]

nope, the bsod happened if the drivers determined if you were doing anything 'naughty' like trying to use nero to copy a starforce protected disk.... if the threshold was hit i got a bsod.. was fun to figure that one out

[pacgamer]

Sounds pretty weak if they have to resort to BSODs to prevent copying. I'm definitely not installing SF then.

[TippeX]

well, i should have said, this was some time ago, and starforce are crypto partners with microsoft, so they must have changed a bit to achieve that

[DABhand]

Pacgamer its simple doing its job, protecting itself from being copied etc.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Please, not this fucking bias again. (And most of these games are getting copied anyway so there's not much of a point...)

[pacgamer]

Joe Forster/STA:

Why do you say Pac-Man World 2 hasn't been cracked yet? It looks like there are a couple of cracks on GameCopyWorld. I've never done this sort of thing, so just wondering what those are.

BTW, I tried installing Pac-Man World 3 onto a work computer, and Windows wouldn't boot up, kept getting a BSOD from the StarForce driver. So I will definitely need to find cracks for these games to play them.

[Joe Forster/STA]

I was thinking of clean cracks, with the copy protection mostly/completely removed. I don't want to install that Starforce shit on my well-maintained, stable Windows XP that was installed more than 5 years ago.

[Cowsheep]

Joe Forster/STA:

Why do you say Pac-Man World 2 hasn't been cracked yet? It looks like there are a couple of cracks on GameCopyWorld. I've never done this sort of thing, so just wondering what those are.

BTW, I tried installing Pac-Man World 3 onto a work computer, and Windows wouldn't boot up, kept getting a BSOD from the StarForce driver. So I will definitely need to find cracks for these games to play them.

Minimages (PM World 2) are no cracks.
PM World 3 uses an early version of Securom 7.

[pacgamer]

I was thinking of clean cracks, with the copy protection mostly/completely removed. I don't want to install that Starforce shit on my well-maintained, stable Windows XP that was installed more than 5 years ago.
I agree with you, I wouldn't want to install SF on my well maintained machines, not even temporarily.

But I checked GameCopyWorld, and there's only a "Fixed EXE" for Pac-Man World 3 (and a couple of trainers that I don't need). Is that the crack you are talking about for it? The instructions say to install the game first. Does that mean I still need to have SF on my machine before I replace the EXE file?

EDIT: Sorry - I keep getting PMW2 and PMW3 confused. So PMW3 uses Securom 7 and not StarForce. I take it there's no problem with having Securom 7 installed on your computer?

[pacgamer]

Minimages (PM World 2) are no cracks.
PM World 3 uses an early version of Securom 7.

Oh OK, so the Pac-Man World 2 downloads just let you play the game without the disc, but you still need to have StarForce installed?

[Cowsheep]

Yes!
(But Starforce 3.3, so it dont allow you playing with Windows Vista or 7.)

[Joe Forster/STA]

People, see the PC Games forum FAQ for crack-related terminologies.

[pacgamer]

I actually did check out the FAQ, and noticed that it says "No-CD/DVD" means it "removes the copy protection as well as the CD/DVD-check". And the PMW2 downloads from GCW are labeled as "No-CD", so that's why I thought they were cracked. But now I know if it mentions StarF*cker or StarForce Nightmare, then it's not cracked. :)

BTW, Joe - what do you think of having Securom 7 installed on your machine? I'd like to try PMW3, but then I found this page which makes Securom 7 sound as bad as StarForce:

http://lemueljopio.com/2009/05/01/securom-7xx-ummno-thanks/

[Cowsheep]

PM World 3 is cracked, you will never have any Securom 7 on your PC if your replace exe right after installing it.
The article is about Securom Online activation, this version appeared a few years after the release of PM World 3. The original file checks the disc, it does not go online.
You can play PM World 3 without having any fears.

[Joe Forster/STA]

I actually did check out the FAQ, and noticed that it says "No-CD/DVD" means it "removes the copy protection as well as the CD/DVD-check". And the PMW2 downloads from GCW are labeled as "No-CD", so that's why I thought they were cracked. But now I know if it mentions StarF*cker or StarForce Nightmare, then it's not cracked. :)

Damn, then there is a discrepancy between the terminology of the main site and the FAQ. Please, drop me a PM (or E-mail), reminding me to improve the description in the FAQ. Also, if you find some more then report those, too.

BTW, Joe - what do you think of having Securom 7 installed on your machine?

SecuROM 7 is not always running unlike StarForce; that's the major difference and that's why you shouldn't be afraid of or picky about the former as the latter. Yeah, yeah, I hate to have bullshit drivers on my PC, too, and frequently delete them manually - yes, potentially useful (but currently unused) ones, too! - but it's not that bad...

I'd like to try PMW3, but then I found this page which makes Securom 7 sound as bad as StarForce:

http://lemueljopio.com/2009/05/01/securom-7xx-ummno-thanks/

You got it wrong: this article is about the problem of online authentication and not SecuROM in general. And we absolutely agree with this: the PC Games forum FAQ also recommends against buying online authenticated games, if possible to avoid them (i.e. they are also released as good old CD/DVD with media-based copy protection).

[pacgamer]

Thank you guys for clarifying Securom 7 for me.

But I wonder if they released 2 different versions of Pac-Man World 3? Because I just checked my Pac-Man World 3 disc, and I saw a file named Data1.cab, so I looked in there and saw files named protect.x64, protect.exe, and protect.dll. Did a google search and those files are supposed to be StarForce files. Looks like I have a version of PMW3 with StarForce?!

[Cowsheep]

The cracked Securom 7 exe will work for you, i think.

[pacgamer]

So I install the game, then remove StarForce, and then use the cracked Securom 7 .exe file? I just wonder if having StarForce installed at all, even if just temporarily, might not be a good idea?

I found this old thread: http://ww1.fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=83819

One guy said you can follow these steps to play a SF protected game without having SF on your system:
1- Install the game.

2- Download the removal tool from Starforce and run it.

3- Reboot if needed.

4- According to gamecopyworld's instructions replace the exe with the No-CD/DVD patch.

5- Restart the PC and play the game. Enjoy!

Then Joe Forster replied:
If the Starforce drivers have been successfully installed by the game's installation software then the removal software will successfully uninstall them (and they don't get activated).

So that makes it sound like as long as you uninstall SF before it activates, then your system is safe.

But then why did Joe Forster say the following in this thread:
I was thinking of clean cracks, with the copy protection mostly/completely removed. I don't want to install that Starforce shit on my well-maintained, stable Windows XP that was installed more than 5 years ago.

That makes it sound like having SF on your system, even if you uninstall it before it activates, is not a good idea. This is all very confusing.

[Joe Forster/STA]

You're mixing up the games: Pac-Man World 2 is protected by Starforce and has not been cracked ever since its release; Pac-Man World 3 was :p protected by SecuROM and has already been cracked. (By "cracked", I mean: clean no-CD/DVD patch released.)

[pacgamer]

OK, so for Pac-Man World 2, the following steps won't work, even though there is a No-CD patch available?

1- Install the game.

2- Download the removal tool from Starforce and run it.

3- Reboot if needed.

4- According to gamecopyworld's instructions replace the exe with the No-CD/DVD patch.

5- Restart the PC and play the game. Enjoy!


And then for Pac-Man World 3, I was wondering if there might have also been a version of PMW3 released with StarForce instead of Securom 7. Because I just checked my PMW3 disc, and I saw a file named Data1.cab, and inside the .cab file I saw files named protect.x64, protect.exe, and protect.dll. I did a google search and those files are supposed to be StarForce files. Pac-Man World 3 is also on this list of StarForce games:

http://groups.google.com/group/boycott-starforce/web/games-list

[Joe Forster/STA]

No, for PMW2 there is no no-DVD patch, only the images, so the instructions qeuoted do not apply to it. As for PMW3, no idea, I just had a look at the top of GCW's page.

[pacgamer]

OK, thanks Joe.

So even if my version of PMW3 has StarForce instead of Securom 7, I can still use the quoted instructions to play it without fear of any possible damage to my computer. (And after removing StarForce and using the No-CD patch, it will be as if I had the Securom 7 version of PMW3. :)) I hope I got that right, correct me if I'm wrong.

[Joe Forster/STA]

It may or may not work. If the Starforce version has some of the data files and the SecuROM version has none then replacing the game executable with the cracked, originally SecuROM-protected, one won't be able to read the encrypted data files. And, as PMW2, a non-mainstream game, was so heavily protected, you can expect dirty things in PMW3, too.

[pacgamer]

I just installed PMW3, and I confirmed it uses StarForce.

But I can't even tell if the PMA_W32_M.EXE crack works or not, because the main "Pac-Man World 3.exe" file crashes whenever I run it. I get this error:

Microsoft Visual C++ Debug Library
Debug Error!
Program: C:\Program Files\Namco\Pac-Man World 3\Pac-Man World 3.exe
Module: C:\Program Files\Namco\Pac-Man World 3\Pac-Man World 3.exe
File:
Run-Time Check Failure #2 - Stack around the variable 'string' was corrupted.

Not sure what's going on there, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling and got the same error. I think I'll try buying another copy of the game, and hope I get the Securom version instead.

[pacgamer]

I just got the European version of Pac-Man World 3, and it does not have StarForce! :) So only the US version of Pac-Man World 3 has StarForce.

And I guess ALL versions of Pac-Man World 2 have StarForce. :(

I heard Namco is going to release a Pac-Man Pizza Parlor game soon... they better not use StarForce!