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DarkBASIC Professional Discussion / Smart Packer Pro

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Mike Johnson
TGC Developer
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Posted: 29th Jun 2010 10:29
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Smart Packer Pro packs a single executable file, DLL's and other files into a single executable. An executable file made this way doesn't create temporary files on the disk, it doesn't modify the registry to ensure that all the embedded files run as if they were real. The embedded files are extracted directly to the memory.



For more details go to http://www.thegamecreators.com/?m=view_product&id=2256
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IanM
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Posted: 29th Jun 2010 23:22
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Does this install any drivers on peoples systems when they run programs we create, or does it patch itself into place at runtime?

Utility plug-ins collection (updated 02 Mar 2010) and
http://www.matrix1.demon.co.uk
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mrniceguy
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Posted: 30th Jun 2010 00:25
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No drivers are installed The packed application and files run directly from within the virtual filesystem.

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freight hopper
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Posted: 1st Jul 2010 16:16
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Make a video for us please.

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 1st Jul 2010 16:24
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Hi there,

There is a trial version available:
http://www.thegamecreators.com/?m=view_product&id=2256

What would you like to see in the video?

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The Grunge Guy
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Posted: 2nd Jul 2010 18:21
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Why is it so much for a packing program, the game craetion software we use costs less...

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 2nd Jul 2010 18:57
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Compared to other packing programs it has more features like dll support, virtual filesystem, icon support, high level compression/encryption and costs less.

And it supports not only TGC software but other development tools and languages.

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freight hopper
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Posted: 3rd Jul 2010 02:42
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What would I like to see in the video? A walk-thru where an existing game is sucked into and run from SmartPacker. Configurable storage options - does that refer to location for files my game creates? Is there appreciable overhead once the game is running or is it faster?

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 3rd Jul 2010 08:32 Edited at: 3rd Jul 2010 09:11
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Will see if we can arrange a video.

When Autosave is enabled file changes are stored in an encrypted archive in the folder which is configured via "Configurable storage options". When files are loaded into the virtual filesystem it should run the same or faster

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Greenster
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Posted: 5th Jul 2010 21:20
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Probably not a good idea to market this as a protector. Replace encryption with compression and market it as a packer.
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mrniceguy
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Posted: 7th Jul 2010 17:30
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Update Smart Packer Pro!

Changes:
- improved single instance checking
- plugin with return value 0 terminates the application; other values will start packed executable
- download automatically for updating packed files

Updated trial version will follow soon!

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Deep Cove Software
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Posted: 7th Jul 2010 19:14
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@mrniceguy - I just wanted to say that your software looks really cool, both aesthetically and technically. Keep up the good work!
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mrniceguy
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Posted: 7th Jul 2010 19:57
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Thanks for the nice comment Always good to hear that

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Juso
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Posted: 13th Jul 2010 17:04
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Quote: "
An executable file made this way doesn't create temporary files on the disk"


But when DBP programs start running they make temporary "dbdata" folder and tens of files in that folder allways.
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mrniceguy
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Posted: 13th Jul 2010 17:34 Edited at: 13th Jul 2010 17:35
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The packed executable does not create any temporary files; files which are packed during the build process are stored in the virtual filesystem.

However if the DBP programs requires temporary local storage it will be able to use this.

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Greenster
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Posted: 14th Jul 2010 15:13 Edited at: 14th Jul 2010 15:17
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What keeps me from running it's stubs in ollydbg and dumping and rebuilding the unpacked binaries? Since it's a protector.

Can I get a sample with the maximum protection?
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mrniceguy
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Posted: 15th Jul 2010 17:12 Edited at: 15th Jul 2010 17:22
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Every application which has some sort of protection enabled could be hacked. Even the expensive one

We do not advertise Smart Packer Pro as protection tool but as a tool which packs files into one executable and runs it in the embedded virtual filesystem (with support for tools like DBPro, FPSC and many other development tools).

For most people it offers besides all features enough protection. BTW Pro stands for Professional not Protector

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Greenster
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Posted: 26th Jul 2010 23:42 Edited at: 27th Jul 2010 00:52
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This is a good solution as a packer. It has a clean/intuitive interface and can hide resources. It takes enough reverse engineering to keep people with resource editors and lack of determination from messing with your stuff.
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superflatiron
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Posted: 27th Jul 2010 10:24
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This is a good solution as a packer.

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 28th Jul 2010 15:51 Edited at: 14th Aug 2010 11:25
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New site is launched!

Information about new products and updates can be found on
http://www.twitter.com/smartpacker

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StevetS
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Posted: 7th Aug 2010 17:30
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I can't seem to get this to work (I'm trying out the demo)!

Might be that I'm doing it wrong but it doesn't seem to be finding or loading images that are called in the program.

I tried packing my game and it fell over at the first program line to load an image when I then tried to run it on my other PC.

Put a quick example together:



The above simply creates a sphere then textures it with a loaded image.

I'm finding that it runs ok as long as I still have the texture bmp in the 'f:\box' sub directory but when i remove it (to ensure the packed exe is standalone) it doesn't display the sphere textured. It looks like the packed version is still looking to the original folder containing the media and isn't including it which is the point of having it in a standalone packed exe.

I may be doing it wrong but the media image and exe are both in the same subfolder so should be included - any clues would be appreciated.

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 7th Aug 2010 17:55
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Change it to the following code.



Pack the compiled executable and it should work now!

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StevetS
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Posted: 7th Aug 2010 19:38
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Thanks for the quick response

Changed the load image line to load image "texture.bmp",1 and it worked.

Will run through my game code and remove all the 'f:\' directory root references and check that.

So the program itself must have all the media in its own folder or a sub-folder within its own folder - it can't draw in the media externally i.e. a program in 'c:\mygame' can't have code that loads media from 'c:\allmymedia\'.

Cheers.


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mrniceguy
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Posted: 7th Aug 2010 21:13
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External files could be accessible via relative paths.

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Rich Dersheimer
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Posted: 12th Aug 2010 04:23
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I've tried the demo, and I like it very much. This will get rid of the problems that I've been having when people download my demo and some get "sound does not exist at line xxx" type errors.

Plus, this takes care of any obligations I have to NOT redistribute any unmodified media I've purchased/licensed.

I'm buying it tonight

I wonder if someone could make a dll for it, that checks to see if DirectX 9c is installed. That would be cool.

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 12th Aug 2010 14:35
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Attached you find a plugin for Smart Packer Pro which checks if DirectX 9.0c is installed.

Fill out DLL name and procedure (IsDirectX9cInstalled) and the packed executable will abort when DirectX 9.0c is not installed.

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StevetS
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Posted: 12th Aug 2010 14:37 Edited at: 12th Aug 2010 14:49
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I've been playing around with the demo for a few days and've just bought the full version - quite expensive at nearly £60 when you add on VAT(!!) but it does offer a very neat solution - I'm very impressed by it.

With regards to detecting DirectX 9c, if you've not got it installed on your machine you'll get an error telling you so and the packer will close down. This'll come from your program rather than the packer. Or do you mean check that directx 9c is installed and install it if its not?

EDIT: Multi lunchtime posting from me and MrNiceGuy!

Quote: "Attached you find a plugin for Smart Packer Pro which checks if DirectX 9.0c is installed.
Fill out DLL name and procedure (IsDirectX9cInstalled) and the packed executable will abort when DirectX 9.0c is not installed.
"


Does that mean the unpacker will tell you straightaway that directX 9c isn't installed, rather than waiting for the program to attempt to run before finding out?

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 12th Aug 2010 14:58
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Quote: "Does that mean the unpacker will tell you straightaway that directX 9c isn't installed, rather than waiting for the program to attempt to run before finding out?"


Yes

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 15th Aug 2010 23:13 Edited at: 15th Aug 2010 23:13
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Create a Game Demo with Smart Packer Pro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAfWkwGJvCc

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 8th Sep 2010 10:58
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The compression level in the trial version is now raised so it could be compared to other packers.

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 13th Sep 2010 13:20
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New version with some minor bugfixes and better performance is available for registered customers.

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MikeRK
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Posted: 13th Sep 2010 13:29
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When you say Virtual File System, is it just a packed file system that extracts the data to a temporary folder at runtime? Or are the files actually kept and read/written from within the container file data?

Mikey

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 13th Sep 2010 13:44
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Files are not extracted to a temporary folder but are accessible for reading/writing in the virtual file system.

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MikeRK
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Posted: 13th Sep 2010 23:19
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I'm interested in learning how you push the data into things like sounds etc, I have my own VFS system that I would like to fit to DBPro perfectly, but I struggle with such items as Meshes with multiple textures etc etc, when using memblocks, because the texture data must be readily available when loading a mesh.

Mikey

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 14th Sep 2010 13:37
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Quote: "I'm interested in learning how you push the data into things like sounds etc"


I think you could better post your questions in the DBpro or Plugin forum.

Smart Packer is a generic tool (independent from filetypes) and can be used for different development tools.

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StevetS
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Posted: 16th Sep 2010 21:41
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Hi,

I've had a couple of comments from users on my game which I'm wondering is an issue with Smartpacker.

When the game is running if they alt-tab out of it, it generally returns an error saying one of the media files can't be found.

I'm wondering whether the game data in memory is lost when tabbing out. hence the error on returning to the game?

Cheers,

Steve.

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 16th Sep 2010 21:47
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If you could send me the link to your packed (and if possible also your unpacked) game I will take a look at it.

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Brendy boy
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Posted: 16th Sep 2010 21:51 Edited at: 16th Sep 2010 21:52
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Quote: "When the game is running if they alt-tab out of it, it generally returns an error saying one of the media files can't be found."

that's a problem in directx and it's called device lost. The only solution is to recreate/reload the media after that

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StevetS
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Posted: 16th Sep 2010 23:31
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Quote: "that's a problem in directx and it's called device lost. The only solution is to recreate/reload the media after that"


Ok thanks. So its probably a case of 'dont tab out'! and not a Smartpacker issue

Thanks.

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 16th Sep 2010 23:34
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Good to hear that

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Duffer
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Posted: 19th Sep 2010 07:12
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Can this handle more than one splash screen during loads?

a long time dabbler with DBC and DBPro with no actual talent but lots of enthusiasm...
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jtdog55
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Posted: 19th Sep 2010 07:41
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thats cool

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jtdog55
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Posted: 19th Sep 2010 07:56
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ow i see soo it doesn't modify the registry to ensure that all the embedded files run as if they were real. The embedded files are extracted directly to the memory. its link winrar but it cant do dll files

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 19th Sep 2010 10:16
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Default there is one splashscreen but of course you can build your own plugin which uses different splash screens (does not show progressbar however).

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yaten
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Hi geniuses, ^_^

I'm currently evaluating the Smart Packer Pro. I'm very much interested with it, except for a problem that is very important for my application.

if you use the CL$() function and used the packer, i'm not getting the string passed to my application.



If I buy the full-version, will the CL$() function work with smart packer pro? Anyone encountered the same or I just made a mistake?

Kindly enlighten me, oh great masters. ^_^

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 25th Sep 2010 00:28
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Hi there,

The packed executable itself is not accepting command line parameters only the virtualized executable.

Could you explain in detail what you are trying to achieve?

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yaten
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Posted: 25th Sep 2010 02:46 Edited at: 25th Sep 2010 02:46
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Hi ^_^

thanks for the reply.

The program I have in mind would need to have parameters passed to it at runtime, example:

MYPROGRAM.EXE PARAMETER1=APPLE PARAMETER2=BANANA

If i create a simple program such as this:



If I run that and pass parameters to it, the program is able to interpret the parameters.

If I use the Smart Packer Pro to compress and encrypt my program and assets/resources into a single exe and try to run the program, it no longer recognizes the parameters that I passed to it ^_^

In my opinion, passing parameters to a program is a very handy feature just like some games by steam which passes parameters to indicate that the program is being run in debug mode, editor mode or skip detection of hardware physics engine etc.

I hope you can enlighten me as to how I can do the passing of parameters on my program that uses or will be using Smart Packer Pro.

Thanks! ^_^

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mrniceguy
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Posted: 25th Sep 2010 10:48
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Ok I understand. Thanks for your suggestion.

I will try to add this feature in the next release.

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Greenster
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Posted: 5th Oct 2010 14:07
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I successfully unpacked a target using this, but it takes a lot of rebuilding of PE files. From a security stand point it's good. As long as nobody does a script for it most warez people will fail to unpack it.

It'd be cool to see a real instruction VM for more security eventually. Maybe encryption that uses some form of server auth as an option too. That is about as secure as you can make one on x86 without a TPM or something.
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mrniceguy
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Posted: 5th Oct 2010 14:27
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@Greenster
Could you send me an e-mail about the real instruction VM and server auth remarks? It sounds interesting.

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