[Help] Reverse Engineering a Dead Game

[dinkywebdev]

Hello there, I'm looking for help/advice on how to get started with reverse engineering two online games that are no longer being run (KartRider: Drift and its predecessor, Crazyracing Kartrider.)

I have very minimal coding knowledge or how games work underneth, the most I have done was decrypt some of the game files (for Kartrider: Drift) via a tool, and viewed the game internally through FModel. I know I'll need more than that to start a private server, but I'm wanted to know if its even possible?

What I have currently is access to old Crazyracing Kartrider clients, Kartrider: Drift, and its Closed Beta Test 3 still installed on an older computer. From what I could gather from research, Crazyracing was made using something called GameBryo, and Drift was made using Unreal Engine 4.

I am totally willing to give more information if prompted! Thank you in advance!

 

[xhero]

Hello there, I'm looking for help/advice on how to get started with reverse engineering two online games that are no longer being run (KartRider: Drift and its predecessor, Crazyracing Kartrider.)

I have very minimal coding knowledge or how games work underneth, the most I have done was decrypt some of the game files (for Kartrider: Drift) via a tool, and viewed the game internally through FModel. I know I'll need more than that to start a private server, but I'm wanted to know if its even possible?

What I have currently is access to old Crazyracing Kartrider clients, Kartrider: Drift, and its Closed Beta Test 3 still installed on an older computer. From what I could gather from research, Crazyracing was made using something called GameBryo, and Drift was made using Unreal Engine 4.

I am totally willing to give more information if prompted! Thank you in advance!

Nothing is impossible )0

 

[dinkywebdev]

Nothing is impossible )0

I'm glad to hear that it's not impossible, but I would still like some advice on where to start with this.

 

[xhero]

I'm glad to hear that it's not impossible, but I would still like some advice on where to start with this.

Start with a plan and documentation; without a plan, your thoughts won’t be clear, and without clarity on “what to do” and “how to do it,” you won’t have questions like “why was this done” and “what problem did it solve?”

 

[dinkywebdev]

Start with a plan and documentation; without a plan, your thoughts won’t be clear, and without clarity on “what to do” and “how to do it,” you won’t have questions like “why was this done” and “what problem did it solve?”

Okay, so my plan is to get started with reverse engineering Kartrider: Drift. I don't know anything about reverse engineering, so I want to get some help with sources or tips on how to do so, as I'm a complete beginner to this.

I know not a single coding language, so a language recommendation would also be helpful, as well.

 

[GHOST107]

For reversing you need to know Assembly, but if you are a beginner, in programming learn a programming language like C, C++,C#, Java, Python, rust, javascript(node.js) etc, just pick one.

There are a lot of tutorials on youtube how to learn programming: so I suggest you learn basics of programming(control structures like if,/else, while, switch, etc), data structures and algorithms(like lists, queues, stacks, trees, sort, etc, libraries these days come, with them but knowing how they work will help you know how to use them and find some solution on some problems) , paradigms of programming(object oriented, data oriented, procedural, functional, etc). Then try to learn assembly.

It also works to understand how games and networking works, because making a good design from the start will help you do less refactoring in the future.

I have compiled a list of threads, with information on server emulating, maybe will help:

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/reversing-a-dead-game-server.1252696

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/how-to-get-started-in-game-server-emualtion.1180509

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/creating-emulator.1155746

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/need-intro.1156598

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/c-editing-binary-file-on-a-real-example.1085321

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/mere-curiosity.1049695

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/networking-design.1024162

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/emulator-mmorpg.1021182

You should also look into this Document:

https://cellframework.sourceforge.net/uploads/Introduction%20to%20Server%20Side%20Emulation.pdf

A good book for creating a simple server is:

| MUD Game Programming (Premier Press Game Development)

MUD Game Programming (Premier Press Game Development),2003, (isbn 1592000908, ean 1592000908), by Penton R.

flylib.com

And the source from that book:

GitHub - cltsang/SimpleMUD: my VC++ implementation of the book "MUD Game Programming"

my VC++ implementation of the book "MUD Game Programming" - cltsang/SimpleMUD

github.com

Other posts:
This is the example from the book

GitHub - lnguyenfx/simplemud: SimpleMUD from MUD Game Programming book ported to NodeJS

SimpleMUD from MUD Game Programming book ported to NodeJS - lnguyenfx/simplemud

github.com

GitHub - briandamaged/bettermud: BetterMud from MUD Game Programming. With syntax fixes!

BetterMud from MUD Game Programming. With syntax fixes! - briandamaged/bettermud

github.com

GitHub - cltsang/SimpleMUD: my VC++ implementation of the book "MUD Game Programming"

my VC++ implementation of the book "MUD Game Programming" - cltsang/SimpleMUD

github.com

Here are some good books on reverse engineering:
- Implementing Reverse Engineering by Jitender Narula
- Ghidra Software Reverse Engineering for Beginners by A.P.David
- Mastering Ghidra: A Comprehensive Guide to Reverse Engineering by Hershel Eckerman
- Practical Reverse Engineering by Bruce Dang
- Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering by Eldad Eilam
- x86 Software Reverse-Engineering, Cracking, and Counter Measuring by Stephanie Domas

It helps to have a background in programming and assembly before reverse engineering.

 

[dinkywebdev]

I have compiled a list of threads, with information on server emulating, maybe will help:

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/reversing-a-dead-game-server.1252696

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/how-to-get-started-in-game-server-emualtion.1180509

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/creating-emulator.1155746

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/need-intro.1156598

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/c-editing-binary-file-on-a-real-example.1085321

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/mere-curiosity.1049695

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/networking-design.1024162

https://forum.ragezone.com/threads/emulator-mmorpg.1021182

You should also look into this Document:

https://cellframework.sourceforge.net/uploads/Introduction%20to%20Server%20Side%20Emulation.pdf

A good book for creating a simple server is:

| MUD Game Programming (Premier Press Game Development)

MUD Game Programming (Premier Press Game Development),2003, (isbn 1592000908, ean 1592000908), by Penton R.

flylib.com

And the source from that book:

GitHub - cltsang/SimpleMUD: my VC++ implementation of the book "MUD Game Programming"

my VC++ implementation of the book "MUD Game Programming" - cltsang/SimpleMUD

github.com

Other posts:
This is the example from the book

GitHub - lnguyenfx/simplemud: SimpleMUD from MUD Game Programming book ported to NodeJS

SimpleMUD from MUD Game Programming book ported to NodeJS - lnguyenfx/simplemud

github.com

GitHub - briandamaged/bettermud: BetterMud from MUD Game Programming. With syntax fixes!

BetterMud from MUD Game Programming. With syntax fixes! - briandamaged/bettermud

github.com

GitHub - cltsang/SimpleMUD: my VC++ implementation of the book "MUD Game Programming"

my VC++ implementation of the book "MUD Game Programming" - cltsang/SimpleMUD

github.com

Here are some good books on reverse engineering:
- Implementing Reverse Engineering by Jitender Narula
- Ghidra Software Reverse Engineering for Beginners by A.P.David
- Mastering Ghidra: A Comprehensive Guide to Reverse Engineering by Hershel Eckerman
- Practical Reverse Engineering by Bruce Dang
- Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering by Eldad Eilam
- x86 Software Reverse-Engineering, Cracking, and Counter Measuring by Stephanie Domas

It helps to have a background in programming and assembly before reverse engineering.

This is an extremely long but informative list! Since I am new to this I will take my time and learn to the best of my ability, thank you very much.

 

[WARonline]

This is an extremely long but informative list! Since I am new to this I will take my time and learn to the best of my ability, thank you very much.

Have fun! Looking forward in hearing of your journey.

 

[wyplyxj]

Is there still a market for this game?

 

[PyroSamurai]

Is there still a market for this game?

It's a cart racing game. Is there still a market for MarioKart?

 

[wyplyxj]

It's a cart racing game. Is there still a market for MarioKart?

I'm also curious about this question.

 

[dinkywebdev]

Is there still a market for this game?

Still is. I remember looking around online and seeing people want to play the game in some way again. I think the creator of a previous Crazyracing Kartrider private server was trying to revive their project again, but I haven't heard anything updates on it.

People (including me) like the game enough, so I want to attempt this myself!

 

[bajablast]

Hello there, I'm looking for help/advice on how to get started with reverse engineering two online games that are no longer being run (KartRider: Drift and its predecessor, Crazyracing Kartrider.)

I have very minimal coding knowledge or how games work underneth, the most I have done was decrypt some of the game files (for Kartrider: Drift) via a tool, and viewed the game internally through FModel. I know I'll need more than that to start a private server, but I'm wanted to know if its even possible?

What I have currently is access to old Crazyracing Kartrider clients, Kartrider: Drift, and its Closed Beta Test 3 still installed on an older computer. From what I could gather from research, Crazyracing was made using something called GameBryo, and Drift was made using Unreal Engine 4.

I am totally willing to give more information if prompted! Thank you in advance!

Hi, I know this isn't really relevant to the topic, but where'd you get Crazyracing Kartrider (the one from 2004) being made with GameBryo from? I could be wrong but the game was seemingly made with an in-house engine like a lot of Nexon's earlier games. the only Nexon games that were made in Gamebryo to me knowledge are Maplestory 2 and Ghost In The Shell Online.

 

[dinkywebdev]

Hi, I know this isn't really relevant to the topic, but where'd you get Crazyracing Kartrider (the one from 2004) being made with GameBryo from? I could be wrong but the game was seemingly made with an in-house engine like a lot of Nexon's earlier games. the only Nexon games that were made in Gamebryo to me knowledge are Maplestory 2 and Ghost In The Shell Online.

Hi, I got that information from a different forum post mentioning it. I'm trying to find that post again, but it seems to be gone. (I swear, I'm not making it up.)

After researching it again, it seems that the only game in the Crazy Arcade series that was made in GameBryo was Crazyracing AirRider. I apologize for getting it wrong!