Some Small Excerpts From My Book

[DarkstaR]

Quite a few of you have mentioned my book in the forums or asked about it in private messages, so I decided I would put a few small passages here so you guys can see some of the things I've got so far. The book is full of code and technical stuff, but the passages will be conceptual ones which are used to transition into new topics and such. Remember that these haven't been sent to my editor or production team yet, so there may be typos and such.



A common misconception in the world of online gaming is the idea that the only game you can play is the one in the title. Contrary to this, game hackers find enjoyment playing the game that hides behind the curtain: a cat-and-mouse game of wits between game hackers and game developers. While game hackers work to reverse engineer game binaries, automate aspects of game play, and modify gaming environments, game developers combat the hacker-designed tools (normally referred to as bots) using anti-reversing techniques, bot detection algorithms, and heuristic data-mining.

As the battle between game hackers and developers has progressed, the technical methods implemented by both parties – many of which resemble techniques you will find utilized by malware developers and anti-virus vendors – have continued to evolve, becoming exceedingly more complex. This book highlights the fight put up by game hackers, and the advanced methods they have engineered to manipulate games while simultaneously eluding game developers in the dark corners of their own software.



At the lowest level, the entirety of a game – it's code, data, input, and output – is nothing more than complex abstractions of erratically changing bytes. Many of these bytes represent variables or machine code, generated by a compiler that was fed the game's source code. Some of them are the representations of images, models, and sounds that were loaded by the game. Others exist only for an instant, posted by the computer's hardware as input and destroyed by the game when it finished processing them. The ones that remain are for the player to enjoy, spit out by the game's code as the human representation of it's internal state. This is not only true of games, but of all software in general; it's just how computers think.

A major consequence (or privilege, depending on your perspective) of the human condition is our inherent inability to think in bytes. This huge disconnect in thought summons a need for ideas to be translated from the abstract – high-level code and visceral content – to the computationally acceptable – bytes. Some of these ideas are stored losslessly, ready to be presented to the player at a microsecond's notice. The code, logic, and variables of the game, on the other hand, are stripped of all human connotations and compiled down to machine data.

By manipulating the data which comprises a game, game hackers are able to obtain humanly improbable advantages within it. In order to do this, however, they must understand how the code written by developers manifests once it has been compiled and executed; they must think like a computer. Understanding the intricacies of this process will take years of practice, but this chapter teaches everything you will need to get started.

More to come as time goes on ;)

[Messed Around]

Looks good Nick, will definitely buy a copy when it gets published ;)

[Xeno Scripts]

Very nice reading, you have any idea about what the price will be?

[Blanz420]

Looks good so far.
Gunna be one interesting book.

Can't wait to get a copy!

[Tripkip]

Xeno Scripts free for all xenobot membes bro!

[Blequi]

How many chapters it is going to have?
How many did you finished?
Is there an ETA to the market?


I know that some of these questions might be private info, but I thought it was worth to ask anyway

[Stusse]

Looks promising DarkstaR!

Haha, what is the name gonna be on the book? :)


/Stusse

[DarkstaR]

How many chapters it is going to have?
How many did you finished?
Is there an ETA to the market?


I know that some of these questions might be private info, but I thought it was worth to ask anyway

12 Chapters.
Almost done with 4.
Writing should be done by November, but I'm behind.


Looks promising DarkstaR!

Haha, what is the name gonna be on the book? :)


/Stusse

Not sure yet, haha

[Mode99]

when can i downlad it form TPB?

[HolmaN]

Looking great :)

[dinmamma]

when can i downlad it form TPB?

LOL. That would be a jerk move xD imo. Atleast if you enjoy the bot.

[darque]

13 Chapters.
Almost done with 5.
Writing should be done by November, but I'm behind.

How's it coming along DarkstaR?

[Akalic]

Ew, books. Get with the times and just make a neural chip with all your nonsense ramblings. We can test them out on the homeless/Brazilians.

[Hypn0ticKi11er]

Ew, books. Get with the times and just make a neural chip with all your nonsense ramblings. We can test them out on the homeless/Brazilians.

Hey now.... Watch yourself =P

[Baarj]

What a masterpiece!

[robin]

DarkstaR Everything on schedule? November? Give us the title or any other details as soon as you know them :D

[Pinnicle]

DarkstaR
Any updates?

[DarkstaR]

Still rough an unedited, just wrote this one (intro to advanced memory forensics chapter). Not sure if I'll keep it at this point.


Lasting success is rare in the commercial game hacking industry, and is only achieved using a mixture of speed, tenacity, and ingenuity. Because botters are hungry for better features and constant up-time, the industry is met with fierce deadlines and scarce customer loyalty. Great bots can rise and fall in a matter of months, and some lesser ones can end up dead on arrival. Only the best of the best can survive for years.

As botting communities grow, they act as incubators that cultivate new methods to greatly improve the effectiveness of bots. These non-technical communities often imagine the implementation of these things as trivial, but that is rarely the case. Developers are in a constant race to research, develop, and deploy newly proposed functionality into their bots. The first bot to come out with a solution will reap the benefits of this hard work; alacrity is rarely beat, and only ever by clever innovation.

With success so frailly balanced atop speed, the best hackers must use their tenacity to rise to the challenge, time after time, by releasing ingenious features and prompt updates. Doing this, however, takes more than the tools and tactics that you've learned so far. Perhaps the most effective weapon you can have in your efficiency-arsenal is a comprehensive understanding of common patterns in memory structures and assembly code. This chapter will talk about these patterns, explain why they exist, and discuss ways to easily identify them. Furthermore, it will teach you how to turn them into tools that can greatly reduce the time you spend on reverse engineering.

[RobD]

Quite a few of you have mentioned my book in the forums or asked about it in private messages, so I decided I would put a few small passages here so you guys can see some of the things I've got so far. The book is full of code and technical stuff, but the passages will be conceptual ones which are used to transition into new topics and such. Remember that these haven't been sent to my editor or production team yet, so there may be typos and such.







More to come as time goes on ;)

I hope I get a mention in this book :P

[gazgaz]

correct me if i am wrong but you did say you was righting a book on coding and developing a bot everything you have posted about it as of yet seams like a shit ton of added filler not speaking for every one but when i buy a book i want technical information about what i am doing to learn the skills i need to do what i am trying to do and it seams like your adding a lot of philosophical debate about the fundamentals of botting i don't say this to shoot down your work or anything but the people who are going to buy this book are going to be looking to learn the technical shit not random information about who is going to be doing what while your working on the bot just seams over padded to me so far gran it i have very little information so far about this book just posting what i think about the 3 passages you have shared

[doh365]

correct me if i am wrong but you did say you was righting a book on coding and developing a bot everything you have posted about it as of yet seams like a shit ton of added filler not speaking for every one but when i buy a book i want technical information about what i am doing to learn the skills i need to do what i am trying to do and it seams like your adding a lot of philosophical debate about the fundamentals of botting i don't say this to shoot down your work or anything but the people who are going to buy this book are going to be looking to learn the technical shit not random information about who is going to be doing what while your working on the bot just seams over padded to me so far gran it i have very little information so far about this book just posting what i think about the 3 passages you have shared

He hasn't even said the title of the book so how would you know, before it's even published, what you will be trying to gain from it?

[DarkstaR]

correct me if i am wrong but you did say you was righting a book on coding and developing a bot everything you have posted about it as of yet seams like a shit ton of added filler not speaking for every one but when i buy a book i want technical information about what i am doing to learn the skills i need to do what i am trying to do and it seams like your adding a lot of philosophical debate about the fundamentals of botting i don't say this to shoot down your work or anything but the people who are going to buy this book are going to be looking to learn the technical shit not random information about who is going to be doing what while your working on the bot just seams over padded to me so far gran it i have very little information so far about this book just posting what i think about the 3 passages you have shared


I'm posting chapter/section intros in this thread. Posting technical explanations I give wouldn't be "small excerpts", as they take multiple pages.

[gazgaz]

I'm posting chapter/section intros in this thread. Posting technical explanations I give wouldn't be "small excerpts", as they take multiple pages.


true true should be a good read either way

[Byrd]

DarkstaR How is this coming man? I'm really interested on a release date. If I'm not mistaken it was supposed to be this month? Details my good fellow. I would love to snatch a copy.

[DarkstaR]

@DarkstaR (http://forums.xenobot.net/member.php?u=2) How is this coming man? I'm really interested on a release date. If I'm not mistaken it was supposed to be this month? Details my good fellow. I would love to snatch a copy.

I've been really busy and the writing schedule got changed, I should be complete in April of 2015. I just finished writing Chapter 8 (probably the hardest one in the book). There's 13 chapters total, and I should have 9 and 10 finished by the 4th on January. Then it back to work and I'm slowing down again.

We hope to have the book on shelves for Defcon.

New excerpt, just wrote it 5 mins ago:

Everything you've learned so far – tools of the trade, reverse engineering, and process puppeteering – has been in sight of one goal: creating bots for games. At the end of the day, bots are just kits that contain dozens of creatively engineered tools to manipulate, improve, and interact with computer games. Each of these tools is the algorithmic offspring of a carefully crafted clash between reverse engineering, memory manipulation, and code injection. In this part of the book, you will learn about different algorithms, patterns, and features that are commonly found in bots. By the end of the section, you will have an intricate understanding of how bots work.

[Pinnicle]

"We hope"?
Who's we? xd

[DarkstaR]

"We hope"?
Who's we? xd

Me and the publishing team responsible for my book at the No Starch Press. That's a producer, editor, copy editor, technical editor, and marketing rep.

[Coupa]

Cant wait, do you know if it will be available in digital copy? As I doubt it will be sold or shipped cheap to the UK.

[Xeno Scripts]

Cant wait, do you know if it will be available in digital copy? As I doubt it will be sold or shipped cheap to the UK.

Shipping around the world for a book is not that high.

[Iconic]

I'm excited ngl.

Just a future warning, after your target audience (being the botting community) has read this book, you might have some competition! :P

[DarkstaR]

Cant wait, do you know if it will be available in digital copy? As I doubt it will be sold or shipped cheap to the UK.


AFAIK, the No Starch Press doesn't have issues with international distribution. I'm fairly sure you'll find many of their books around there.

[Akalic]

Lemme know when you're done with your little coloring book, Mr. FancyPants. Kinda interested in what you actually know about stuff... also if it reads like a teenage journal full of angst for the system.

[robin]

Cant wait, do you know if it will be available in digital copy? As I doubt it will be sold or shipped cheap to the UK.

http://www.nostarch.com/gamehacking

Looks like there will be :)

Paperback in UK too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Game-Hacking-Developing-Autonomous-Online/dp/1593276699/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1425215773&sr=8-6

[Jakob Miller]

Interesting. I'll probably purchase a copy later :)

[Evancion]

I've always wanted to learn how to do something like this, but I couldn't find any good learning resources online.
Will pick up a copy when it comes out!

[Funkgary]

Quite a few of you have mentioned my book in the forums or asked about it in private messages, so I decided I would put a few small passages here so you guys can see some of the things I've got so far. The book is full of code and technical stuff, but the passages will be conceptual ones which are used to transition into new topics and such. Remember that these haven't been sent to my editor or production team yet, so there may be typos and such.







More to come as time goes on ;)

All I got from your excerpt from chapter 4 was an elongated explanation of "in order to create computer processes you need to understand math"

[Ben]

Looks pretty cool, I might pick up a copy when it comes out. Hopefully there's a lot of actual explanation of how to do stuff and not a bunch of filler shit lol

[Cyber]

Going to get a copy too when it comes out ^^

[primusine]

Hey DarkStaR,

I noticed that amazon.co.uk has your book's release date listed as Dec. 25, 2015, but amazon.com has it listed as April 30, 2016. As someone who is eager to read it, when should I be expecting it?

Also, any recommendations for other books/supplementary materials on the same subject?

Thanks!

[Whitehat]

DarkstaR

Do you have a specific date when they will be in stock again? Amazon

[Silex]

Bought the early access ebook :) (5 chapters available at the Moment)
Really interesting and you've done a great job on writing it in a way, that everyone can understand it. :)

[djnacht]

been tempted to do the same, but holding off until I get a better grasp of programming.

[Xeno Scripts]

I got this a few days ago:

"Hello,

Thank you for pre-ordering “Game Hacking” from nostarch.com. I just
wanted to let you know that the final release date for this book has been
pushed out, and it's now scheduled to come out in May of 2016. We'll continue
to keep you posted about any further changes!"

:)

[Evancion]

I bought/pre-ordered it (paperback) from Amazon just now, it's currently on sale for 43% off.

[brindeds]

Hello,

Thank you for pre-ordering “Game Hacking” from nostarch.com. I just
wanted to let you know that the final release date for this book has been
pushed out, and it's now scheduled to come out in July of 2016. We'll
continue to keep you posted about any further changes!

Thanks,
Caitlin Griffin
Sales Assistant

:p

[Evancion]

Just got the book, looks awesome at first glance (easy to read and include pictures). Plus, it's thick as fuck too, so there's a lot of goodies in here.

Will read it on my off hours. Thanks Nick.

https://imgur.com/pwdstjh.png

[henriquerickrick]

top em man rrs