Making the game.exe non replaceable

Is there a way to make link the game.exe to a different unreplaceble file?
Right now my game is getting pirated by simply replacing the exe. file.

It's quite sad for me, i've invested over 2000+ hours into the game.

Rather than trying to change how the exe works, you should be changing how your DRM works...


Did the DRM provider not inform you that replacing the exe would completely defeat it?

Haha, how would you suggest doing DRM that's not on the executable level? You have to wrap something.

I'm assuming OP is using Software Passport (Armadillo, or whatever the heck they call it now days)? Tricks can be done via scripting. 3 lines of code would do it, really. The question is if you have scripting knowledge or need someone to do it for you. Trivial stuff, but it's not a 100% anti-piracy solution. It will prevent casuals that know the exe replacement trick from doing it though.

This issue is what I was referring to in this post about the pros and cons of DRM.

I'm not sure how the particular DRM in question works, but I would assume if someone's simply replacing the exe with another exe (and in this case, the default exe), it's not really the default exe's fault that it can run the game despite all the DRM in place.


And therefore it's not the default exe that needs to be changed.

There's not really any product solutions for someone to DRM their game without just wrapping the exe though. And with RM that's a glaring issue I personally despise. 

The most that can be done without doing a custom solution is DRM Wrapped + a couple lines of script.

At least if you're using stock RM exportation and aren't doing anything custom afterward so the stock exe couldn't play with the data at all...

The question is if the effort is even worth it. Your DRM is just going to be broken anyway, eventually. And if people are already stealing it it doesn't sound like there would be much work for someone to just release an older version that plays with the stock exe. It's a hard truth and it sucks. But it is what it is. :(

I agree with the point on feasibility.


One DRM offering I have seen basically encrypted everything and the executable would decrypt the data on the fly. So you have your game.rgss3a archive. Encrypt that. You have your audio files mp3's and ogg's. Encrypt each of those.


For a simple wrapped exe with script solution, the easiest way I can think of without putting too much effort is to simply pass in command-line arguments using a custom launcher, and have the game check that those arguments exist. This solution doesn't require someone to authorize the use of it (like the amount of time it took for a high-res DLL to be authorized)


http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/25345-running-your-game-using-a-custom-launcher/


This should take more than 3 seconds to figure out how to break, though it's still pretty easy to deal with lol


The weakest link is usually the archive itself, and then the way the data is stored, but estriole's got some things that would thwart existing tools that are floating around.


http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/28779-est-cs2-script-control/

I've tried a custom exe but there's no support for the standard encryption.

Is it possible to link an unique dll to the exe file? I'm a beginner in these things.

I know that everything can be hacked, at least through reverse engineering but i would really like to give it a shot

and if someone can help me with it i'm ready to pay a reward via paypal.