in preparation of T3...

[BBH]

well the game list has been decided, and although nothing I voted on got in this looks like the best list yet for me, so I'm looking forward to this.
<p>

A couple things before we begin though - I think somewhere on the tourney site (probably the main page) we're going to need a direct DL link to TGMAME3. Not all the competitors read the message board so they may not know where to get it, hopefully not too many scores will have to be disqualified because people used the wrong version. Hell, I think we'll need a big reminder message telling people not to use other versions.

<p>

And, here's a random thought - since half the games have settings changed from default, wouldn't it be nice to have a recompiled TGMAME that automatically defaults to the tourney settings? Because again, some people will forget to change the settings and their scores will not count. The only game where the settings have to be changed in-game is Gauntlet II, and I already know that this is going to be a pain in the ass. People would have to re-DL this new compile but I think it would make things run a little smoother. Any thoughts?

<p>


-BBH

--
lordbbh@aol.com

[Chad]

This would be great although, if someone is going to recompile tg3mame
put in a better encryption and call it m35tg4. Me and Ben have been
pleeding for mark to do this for weeks now, but there's just too much
on his table to code a few lines and recompile. So i doubt an
automatic settings generator could be compiled in. But hey we can ask
yet again

<p>

Maybe i should do what Mark did and give away the easily found out
"secret" that let's anyone cheat just as much as in mame35 with
m35tg3... nah that would be too ironic.

--
churritz@cts.com

[Tim Morrow]

Well this news is very distressing. I had hoped that m35tg3 was the
answer to our cheating woes. It's certainly a huge step in the right
direction (well done Mark) but clearly from Chad's comments there are
at least two known holes - firstly the encryption is not 'very
cryptic' and something Chad refers to as 'cheating with m35tg3 is as
easy as with mame35'. This is the first I have heard of this. If Mark
is too busy to add some changes and make m35tg4 what's stopping
somewhere else here from making these code changes and rebuilding?
Personally I'd like to see the tournament commence with a version of
mame that has 'no KNOWN holes'.

<p>

As a final note - Chad, in the future could you please not refer to
these flaws in MAME unless you are actually going to explain/reveal
what they are in full for everyones benefit. Being left out of the
secret only results in frustrating people who don't know what you are
talking about and raising their suspicions that there are secret ways
of cheating only known to 'the elite' MARP members.

<p>

In other words either full and frank disclosure or complete secrecy is
the way to go - nothing in between.

<p>

Please can we plug up the holes - we've got a fortnight before the
tournament, plenty of time if the fixes are just a few lines of code
as you've indicated.

--
tjmorrow@bigpond.com

[Chad]

I had thought it already well known, since Mark had stated this in
#irc, so i apoligize if i've unleashed a monster. It is not propper
to reveal the secrets unless tg4mame comes out, unlesss Mark want's to
do this. I did want to make
people aware that this version wasn't as secure as it origonally
states. (It is partly mine and ben's fault for not immediatly trying
to hack it as soon as it came out, since at a very first glance it
appears to be reasonably encrypted.) Hopefully the hacking that we
both know (and now mark knows) can be stomped if there are a few more
encrypting lines in the hidden m35tgX source.

<p>

We also must be aware that tg versions WILL be probably be hacked
eventually, since no matter how difficult it is to analyze the
encryption and try to hack, someone can just steal Mark's
protected source and get the secret. But hopefully that is very
unlikely to happen. I just didn't want a version to be used that
could be hacked as easily as this could, with out any knowledge of or
stealing of mark's encryption routines.

<p>

I think it is obvious that there should be a pre release of tgmame
next time, to all that can make an attempt at hacking, that will give
them one week to try to hack it, if they can't then it should be
released to the public.

--
churritz@cts.com