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feldon34 · 03-22-2002, 07:54 PM

They are fully functional versions all of them. No keylock or anything.

All of the versions they have put up at their website require a legitimate 99L or 1.1. key. They have even taken out the "TESTFISH" mode.

They have new fishes, or at least new "skins" for them, and they have replaced the backgrounds...

It's like they have stolen the architecture and just put some cheap surface on it...

Is this easily done Jim, or are these guys experts?

These guys obviously randomly made changes to the Aquarium file until one of the fish changed color. Then they keep testing until they find out where in the Aquarium file the fish and coral backgrounds are. These are flat graphic files within the Aquarium.

Then they replace them with the ugliest fish I have ever seen. And they aren't what I call experts, cause they change the background but leave the starfish's drop shadow or don't change/remove the coral shadow maps.

If this is what people are going to do with a Developer's Kit, I guess I am glad Jim isn't doing one. If I ever had hope for a Developer's Kit, things like this have put a nail in that coffin. This is the strongest reason yet for Jim to keep the Aquarium under lock and key. Spray paint anyone?

I mean will it continue to show up all kinds of hacked versions from all over?!

I have not found the Snowdrift one pictured above, but the other 4 were found at a Russian website I'm all-too familiar with. The first "hacked" version of the Aquarium they put up was the Aquarium translated into Russian with no manipulated fish. It was actually something nice (even though there has been only 2-3 legitimate sales reported in Russia in the last year and a half!!).

If a Russian version of the Aquarium was made officially available, I bet piracy would double.

Should anyone be tempted to check these out (like I was) just be warned that they affect your current aquarium settings, because those damn hackers didn't even bother to change to a different registry key.

They use the existing 99 and 1.x registry branches. In 3 of them, they did not repaint all 20 fish, so they have disabled RANDOM and set the fish to specific fish that they DID repaint.

Did I mention how ugly the fish and coral are? God.

03-22-2002, 07:54 PM	#49
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	They are fully functional versions all of them. No keylock or anything. All of the versions they have put up at their website require a legitimate 99L or 1.1. key. They have even taken out the "TESTFISH" mode. They have new fishes, or at least new "skins" for them, and they have replaced the backgrounds... It's like they have stolen the architecture and just put some cheap surface on it... Is this easily done Jim, or are these guys experts? These guys obviously randomly made changes to the Aquarium file until one of the fish changed color. Then they keep testing until they find out where in the Aquarium file the fish and coral backgrounds are. These are flat graphic files within the Aquarium. Then they replace them with the ugliest fish I have ever seen. And they aren't what I call experts, cause they change the background but leave the starfish's drop shadow or don't change/remove the coral shadow maps. If this is what people are going to do with a Developer's Kit, I guess I am glad Jim isn't doing one. If I ever had hope for a Developer's Kit, things like this have put a nail in that coffin. This is the strongest reason yet for Jim to keep the Aquarium under lock and key. Spray paint anyone? I mean will it continue to show up all kinds of hacked versions from all over?! I have not found the Snowdrift one pictured above, but the other 4 were found at a Russian website I'm all-too familiar with. The first "hacked" version of the Aquarium they put up was the Aquarium translated into Russian with no manipulated fish. It was actually something nice (even though there has been only 2-3 legitimate sales reported in Russia in the last year and a half!!). If a Russian version of the Aquarium was made officially available, I bet piracy would double. Should anyone be tempted to check these out (like I was) just be warned that they affect your current aquarium settings, because those damn hackers didn't even bother to change to a different registry key. They use the existing 99 and 1.x registry branches. In 3 of them, they did not repaint all 20 fish, so they have disabled RANDOM and set the fish to specific fish that they DID repaint. Did I mention how ugly the fish and coral are? God. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman Last edited by feldon34; 03-22-2002 at 07:58 PM.