darkSpyro

This post is me asking if anyone is wanting to make a skylanders program for reading info and maybe writing to the skylanders toys themselves. alot of the hard work is done already. we just need someone who can program (i cant) to do the rest.

also, im not talking about the evils of piracy, faking characters using elaborate setups with rfid cards to replace all the toys. I know i own all the toys that are out, and almost anyone whod be interested probably is the same. it'd just be cool to mess with them a bit. (anyone remember the pokemon creator that let you hack in pokemons into your gba/ds games?)

let me know in a reply or PM if this is dumb or not.

Um...this is illegal?

i dont think he cares.

This is the most stupidest topic I have ever known.

they're simply looking for a way to cheat. power-leveling without actually putting any effort in.
they're not looking to emulate figures, but it's just as dishonest, methinks.

they're essentially looking for a Trainer program.

Quote: derterifii

they're simply looking for a way to cheat. power-leveling without actually putting any effort in.
they're not looking to emulate figures, but it's just as dishonest, methinks.

they're essentially looking for a Trainer program.

I don't see the point of cheating in a video game, because really what is the point in playing it. You know you're going to win whilst using cheats, I only use cheats to experiment.

i have read about this and it is called 'skylander editor' it let you read/write/save your skylander figurine data. you can set xp and gold to max... but i wouldnt advice anyone to try it, at least not before they have completed the game and upgraded their figurines the normal way... or it will take the fun out of the game, since upgrading is a big part of it. but if anyone want this they need to know 'Visual Studio', since its only released as source code and you need to build the application yourself... and dont ask me i dont know about programing and 'Visual Studio'...

Considering this game isn't the most difficult game in the world, you'd have to be a pretty rubbish gamer to use a trainer. No offense.

They might use a trainer and sell the figures fully upgraded on eBay, I saw a couple of level 10 figures out there.

Quote: Reimu

They might use a trainer and sell the figures fully upgraded on eBay, I saw a couple of level 10 figures out there.

jebus!... and people pay money for that??.. better hurry up and do the ingame money cheat and be rich on evilbay.

@ spyrocynderfan7
its as illegal as a gameshark/action replay device/software
@ SuperSpyroFan
experimentation is the one of the main goals of this program
@kappapopm
that project got shut down before anyone even knew about it.

and @ everyone else, sorry for asking.

people will just have to buy 2 of each figure to get both upgrade paths and experience the game in all the ways. thats whats right right?

once again, i apologize

Eh. why apologize? it's not an all-out war against you.
It's just been noted that the game is designed so that you can level up characters as you play.

NOW. if you were to finish the game, then chose to just screw around, there's nothing wrong with that.
however, to use a trainer to finish the game, I have a problem with that.

i've finished the game, and max leveled all of my characters. even bought a 3ds just to play the 3ds version. and i bought a second drobot so i could have both upgrade paths. and im just not willing to buy 2 of each figure just to see what the other path is.
it seems like an all out war. lawyers and cease and desists, and people saying its stupid/illegal/wrong. its like the lawsuits on the original gamegenie. i own my toys, why cant i do stuff to them?
my apology was mostly because of how ill received my question was

oh no people are hacking into the toys and max leveling them and upgrading without playing kaos' lair over and over again to do it in 10 minutes!!!.... sorry i just think that a few of the comments are kind of funny because it doesnt take that long to do it normally anyway, so let the people do what they want, its their toys they bought them.

Quote: exosquad

i've finished the game, and max leveled all of my characters. even bought a 3ds just to play the 3ds version. and i bought a second drobot so i could have both upgrade paths. and im just not willing to buy 2 of each figure just to see what the other path is.
it seems like an all out war. lawyers and cease and desists, and people saying its stupid/illegal/wrong. its like the lawsuits on the original gamegenie. i own my toys, why cant i do stuff to them?
my apology was mostly because of how ill received my question was

The trouble is what you are asking is beyond the ownership of your toys as you are trying to revserse engineer the code which reads/writes to them.

If you search older threads in this forum, you will find someone else who wanted to go down this path to read character details on an iPhone (or something like that) and he was sent an official cease and desist from Activision's legal reps.

For the record, I am a professional developer and use Visual Studio as a part of my work every day. So, unless you have found/been given some reverse engineered code or have a mechanism to reverse engineer said code, there is no wat to do what you are asking.

I advise that you re-read the license agreement about reverse engineering the product.

this is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_engineering

Legality
[edit] United States

In the United States even if an artifact or process is protected by trade secrets, reverse-engineering the artifact or process is often lawful as long as it is obtained legitimately.[21] Patents, on the other hand, need a public disclosure of an invention, and therefore, patented items do not necessarily have to be reverse-engineered to be studied. (However, an item produced under one or more patents could also include other technology that is not patented and not disclosed.) One common motivation of reverse engineers is to determine whether a competitor's product contains patent infringements or copyright infringements.

The reverse engineering of software in the US is generally a breach of contract as most EULAs specifically prohibit it, and courts have found such contractual prohibitions to override the copyright law;[clarification needed] see Bowers v. Baystate Technologies.[22][23]

Sec. 103(f) of the DMCA (17 U.S.C. § 1201 (f)) says that if you legally obtain a program that is protected, you are allowed to reverse-engineer and circumvent the protection to achieve interoperability between computer programs (i.e., the ability to exchange and make use of information). The section states:

(f) Reverse Engineering.—

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(1)(A), a person who has lawfully obtained the right to use a copy of a computer program may circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a particular portion of that program for the sole purpose of identifying and analyzing those elements of the program that are necessary to achieve interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs, and that have not previously been readily available to the person engaging in the circumvention, to the extent any such acts of identification and analysis do not constitute infringement under this title.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a)(2) and (b), a person may develop and employ technological means to circumvent a technological measure, or to circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure, in order to enable the identification and analysis under paragraph (1), or for the purpose of enabling interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs, if such means are necessary to achieve such interoperability, to the extent that doing so does not constitute infringement under this title.

(3) The information acquired through the acts permitted under paragraph (1), and the means permitted under paragraph (2), may be made available to others if the person referred to in paragraph (1) or (2), as the case may be, provides such information or means solely for the purpose of enabling interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs, and to the extent that doing so does not constitute infringement under this title or violate applicable law other than this section.

(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term 「interoperability」 means the ability of computer programs to exchange information, and of such programs mutually to use the information which has been exchanged.

im not a lawyer, but i think that means since i own the toy, i should be able to access the information stored on that toy.

Quote: exosquad

The reverse engineering of software in the US is generally a breach of contract as most EULAs specifically prohibit it, and courts have found such contractual prohibitions to override the copyright law;[clarification needed] see Bowers v. Baystate Technologies.[22][23]

im not a lawyer, but i think that means since i own the toy, i should be able to access the information stored on that toy.

Your own quote is telling you that it is illegal.

I'm sorry but this is not conjecture; someone else was given a cease and desist letter from Activision's legal reps so there is no point hoping otherwise. Activision is stating that the reverse engineering process is illegal. If you wish to fight them in court, once they catch wind of what you are attempting, then please feel free but you can't say that you were not warned...

Not that I would ever use this if it existed I still feel like he has the right to do whatever he wants to his game/figures.

Would you care if he smashed the game with a hammer? Re-painted a figure? No, it doesnt affect you. There is no online mode so I dont care if he cheats his heart out. He bought these items if he wants to do crazy stuff or find out more about it, go for it!

Now will we help you or say its legal? Hell no! But by all means, good luck, they're your toys and as long as you dont share hacks/make profit off of it, I'm sure Activision would never know wiser and you'd be fine.

he can do what ever he want to do with his bought figurines, but dont tell about it on the internet

anyway the code is out there and i think in a year there will be a lot of these cheat/backup applications floating on the net..

I am a professional programmer and I have been looking into the code for the skylanderseditor. Also the protocol is fairly well documented. What is it that you have in mind? Do you want to enable power-leveling, unlock unreleased figures or extra adventures such as the empire of ice or dragon's peak?

Quote: Ignitoe76

I am a professional programmer and I have been looking into the code for the skylanderseditor. Also the protocol is fairly well documented. What is it that you have in mind? Do you want to enable power-leveling, unlock unreleased figures or extra adventures such as the empire of ice or dragon's peak?

Illegal ok.

1. backup data from figurine/save to figurine
2. set your own power leveling/upgrade path
3. make you not kill red chompies in drobot heroic challenge

thats it i think...

What is up with some users trying to hack into illegal information?

Quote: Aura24

What is up with some users trying to hack into illegal information?

i think leveling up to 10 and doing both upgrade path and all heroic challenges for each 32+++ figurine drew some people nuts...

Including young users as well?

I'd prefer they take the conversation elsewhere. This is the only Spyro site that's really still active, and I'd hate to see Acti try and tear it down thanks to some random people trying to hack the game.

Quote: Aura24

Including young users as well?

only the parents....

Quote: RadSpyro

I'd prefer they take the conversation elsewhere. This is the only Spyro site that's really still active, and I'd hate to see Acti try and tear it down thanks to some random people trying to hack the game.

This.

Yes, lets talk about the games and having fun collecting....not talk about hacking the game.
This whole thread should be deleted!

Quote: Reimu

Illegal ok.

Likely illegal in the US. Not in the EU as other laws apply here - as long as you keep your finding to yourself that is.

Anyway, I agree with some of the previous posters that we should talk about the game and the collecting. As for myself I enjoy the game and the toys, and it would ruin the experience if manipulating the toys in any way.