################################################################################################# # # # ######################################################################## # # ######################################################################## # # ### ### # # ### The internet guide to become an elastomania cheater in 21 days ### # # ### ### # # ### Written by Erik Mo Leirvik ### # # ### ### # # ### aka SirEvilX, mrDJ and EML ### # # ### ### # # ######################################################################## # # ######################################################################## # # # # This guide is used on ElastoMania v1.0 # # It will not work in later versions of ElastoMania. It can and have been # # done, but it's a bit harder. If this guide is apreciated I can make a # # guide for the other versions too. # # # # Disclaimer: This is for educational purposes only. I'm not telling you to try to cheat any # # records, I actually advice you not to. You will in 99% of the cases be caught. My intension # # is for you to understand more about how the game ElastoMania work, and in this way make it # # easier for you to recognize cheated replays. At the end I've written some about what it's # # possible to see with the current technology, and how. # # # # This is a guide to how you can become a cheater in the game of ElastoMania. You will be # # able to improve your best times by a few hundreds if you succeed, if you are caught trying # # you will be hated by everyone. All use of this document is totally at your own risk. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 01 # # Get a copy of ElastoMania. The shareware version can be found at http://www.elastomania.com # # but if you want to be a cheater you might want to download the full version for free. It # # isn't that hard to find if you really try, but since you maybe don't know where to look it # # will be the only task for the first day. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 02 # # Get to know the game. Check the options, and set them perfect for your performance. I # # recommend that you play with low graphics, since the graphics often makes it hard to see the # # wheels or the vertex (The ground), and therefore you can't drive perfect. Also animated # # objects can be set as off, but that isn't needed. Try to play through all the levels once. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 03 # # Read through readme.txt in your elastomania directory, so you are sure you haven't missed out # # on any feature. Also read through all possible information you can find on the internet about # # the game. Most likely you will find 80% of it at http://www.moposite.com. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 04 # # Download all the replays you can find and watch them. The major places to find them: # # moposite and http://www.gamers.dk. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 05 # # Try to copy all the replays while driving. Drive as much like the best replay you've found as # # possible. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 06 # # Visit #across at irc-net. Get to know some persons. Try to find out where you can get the # # state editor and level unlocker. Don't give up. If they don't give you the url right away, # # they will if you bug them enough. Don't do this to any of the operators though. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 07 # # Learn how to use a hex-editor. A good one is ultraedit 32 that you can download from # # http://programz.ws. Also learn how to use the dos-command "fc" (Filecompare) # # Hint: fc /b (means: FileCompare as binary file, file 01 to file 02) # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 08 # # Use staedit and make different times at different copies of state.dat. FileCompare the # # state.dat's and try to figure out how the state editor works. This is essential for you being # # able to edit the state.dat. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 09 # # Test your skills by creating new besttimes at all levels, without using the state editor. # # (You have to use the hex-editor) # # Note: Why should you know this? Because there are rumours that the state editor have some # # unclean programming, making it possible to find out if the state.dat have been edited. If you # # know the state.dat encoding, you don't have to worry about that. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 10 # # Find the program ElmaNitro. I think it might be somewhere at the moposite. If it isn't, try # # the same technique as with the state editor and level editor. Go to #across and ask for it. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 11 # # Make several copies of elma.exe that have been altered with elmanitro to have the wanted # # settings. Exampel: I want to have 1001 in acceleration, 1001 in gravity and I want to be # # immortal. I set theese options in ElmaNitro and exit it. I then make a copy of the elma.exe # # to elma01.exe. I run ElmaNitro again, and patches again. I make a copy of elma.exe etc. Now # # FileCompare the different copies you have of elma.exe to the original elma.exe. You should # # now be able to get some values that are the same in all edited elma.exe's. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 12 # # Do as day 11, but with other settings. FileCompare theese ones to the copies you made day 11. # # You will now have some values that are the same in both the elma.exe's with the wanted values # # and on the elma.exe's with the new values. You know that theese values should not be changed. # # Check the values that was different from the original elma.exe and the same in all the # # elma.exe's with the wanted settings, but still not the same values as in the newly edited # # elma.exe's. This are the important values. Write down their positions. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 13 # # Try to change the values that you wrote down last night in a copy of the original elma.exe. # # Run ElmaNitro and see if it tells that the values are different from the regular. # # IMPORTANT NOTE! The acceleration value is actually 2 values. One value is acceleration # # towards the right, and one is acceleration towards the left. Also immortality is set as 2 # # different values. There is vertex immortality (head to the ground), and killer immortality. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 14 # # Figure out the coding of elma.exe. Find what values are acceleration, which is gravity etc. # # Write down the values, and their positions. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 15 # # Try your knowledge. Take copies of the original elma.exe and try to make some adjustments. # # See if you can make it give the wanted result. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 16 # # Practise driving with the new settings you have chosen. Try to make a new personal record on # # all the 54 internal levels. You should be able to do this, since you have made the bike # # faster. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 17 # # Practise to make it hard to see that you are cheating. Never press the throttle button all # # the time in the beginning. Always turn the bike at the moment you take advantage of # # immortality. I guess you get the idea. Hide the cheats! # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 18 # # Learn som basics about programming in some programming language. If you can't program, you # # should try to learn Visual Basic. You might find the latest version of Visual Basic (v6.0) at # # http://www.djtozz.ws If it isn't there you could probably find it on some other warez place. # # Search the net for some tutorials. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 19 # # Find out what programming skills you need to read from binary file/save to binary file. You # # could probably get some help to do this at some msg.board or at some Visual Basic related # # site. You could also try to find the MSDN Libraries on the net. If it is there it's probably # # on some warez-site. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 20 # # Write the cheat-application. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Day 21 # # Find out what ways it is possible to check cheats. Ask MGen and others on the #across channel # # on irc-net.Stay clear of the cheating it's possible to check. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # Now you are ready to go out into the world of cheating in ElastoMania. I would not recommend # # you to do it, since the most ways of cheating can/will be found out and prevented in a very # # short time. Some things are already not possible to cheat and get away with. I don't cheat # # anymore myself, as I know the cheating that is done now will be discovered in the future, # # maybe in the very near future. Also don't think that you will be able to take world records # # or something just because you have a cheating application. It helps mostly psychological. You # # know you have an advantage, and therefore theoretically can beat any time that's been driven. # # You will not gain much time by cheating unless you cheat so much that it's discovered. If you # # play that much that you take a wr by cheating, you could probably do the same without # # cheating. That's at least what I've found out. The reason for showing how it's possible is # # for you to think about the possibility that it might be cheated when you watch a replay. I # # think greater awareness to the possibility of cheating will make it way easier to discover # # the cheaters. I think by making a cheat application and trying the possibilities of cheating # # will make it easier for the player to understand the basics of the game ElastoMania, and it # # will make it easier for the driver to see others cheating. I dunno if Abula will post much of # # this article, but I hope at least this last part pass the sensoring. I think there isn't need # # to change very much in this text, since it doesn't give any straight answears to how you # # cheat, only the methods to find out. I also think this "tutorial" can give the elma-players # # that doesn't know much more about computers than how to install a game and play it, and maybe # # how to get on the net a chance to see the possibilites of some fun, but still educational # # stuff that can be done with computers. # # # ################################################################################################# # # # As promised in the disclaimer: # # # # - How to recognize a cheated replay, and what is it possible to check? - # # # # 1. Acceleration cheat: # # - There is no application made yet to check for this, but it's under development as I'm # # writing this. How can you recognize acceleration cheating? When the bike is in the air # # and the throttle button is pressed, the spinning wheel will be lowered towards the ground # # faster than usual. If you use replay compare in ElmaNitro, you can in most cases tell if # # it's cheated or not. You should pay close attention to the start if the level starts with # # some driving without volts or breaking or something. Then the one bike will be faster # # than the other one. If there are some volts in the start, you can't claim one is cheat # # just because it's faster in the start. It could be the volts doing it. Also note that if # # you compare a cheated replay to a not-cheated replay, one of the bike will often run very # # unsmoothly. This can also happend with two uncheated replays (I've been told, but I've # # never experienced it myself) but it happends more often when it's been cheated. # # 2. Gravity cheat: # # - MGen have made an application to check for this. If you think a replay is cheated with # # gravity, give it to MGen or PeXi. Also you can use ElmaNitro, set the timescale so slow # # that the replay looks like it's stopped. Check if one of the bikes is little bit more # # pushed down towards the ground than the other one. You should also look for bikes that # # seems to fall faster than others. # # 3. Volt cheat: # # - Not very usefull cheat, but still: Look for volts that are stronger than regular, # # supervolts that come later than usual, or the other way around. # # 4. Immortality cheat: # # - Very easy to see: Make a lgr with only the essential parts visible. No further graphics # # than theese three: a circle for the head + two circles for the wheels + 1 circle for the # # killer. Look for places the head is inside the vertex or where head/wheel is touching a # # killer. # # 5. Timescale cheat: # # - Timescale changes the framrate (How many frames pr sec that is showed), so with a little # # bit more knowledge on the matter, it's possible to see. Also, after using it a few times, # # I've seen that the replay is a little bit strange looking. I can't really put my finger # # on what it is, but it's acting a bit strange. I can't accuse anyone for cheating just # # because of that though. MGen will probably make some application that discovers this in # # the near future. He was able to tell me what replay was cheated when i gave him two # # replays, one cheated and one not cheated. # # 6. State editing cheat: # # When someone makes a close time, replay compare. Example: If the record on a track is # # 10:99 and someone get 11:00, compare the 10:99 replay to the 11:00 replay. If the 11:00 # # replay is just as good, it has been cheated from 11:00 to 10:99. NB! Use low timescale # # when replay comparing. 300 or less. # # 7. Elastivity Cheat: # # Should be easier to make a checker for this than for acceleration cheat. It's also not a # # good cheat. The elastivity can't be changed to the better I think. At least I haven't # # found any better setting than the default. I suppose it will be checked when MGen has # # finished the other parts of his tools. # # # # Other ways to cheat? I haven't found any, so I can't tell you how to check them. If someone # # know how to cheat in some other way, give me a mail at sirevilx@online.no and I'll try it, # # and find some way to check for it. # # # # -Erik Mo Leirvik # # # #################################################################################################