Red Alert 3 BETA [Download, Keys and Information]

[FandomofHell]

Thanks! I'll get right on it.

Edit: It hasn't shown up in my inbox for some reason... Eh, must be a delay in the server.

Edit: Ok, it's been over a half an hour. Did you send it to fandomofhell@yahoo.com? Because I don't have anything...

 

[Lavarider]

Sorry, I just checked...it never got sent....try again!

 

[FandomofHell]

Nice. But I'm trying to track down a specific file at the moment, and, from what I've gathered, it;s not even in the files Lava JUST sent me. The only files left that I don't think he's sent me are the Ra3 sku def file and the patchw2.dll (I'm not including the .big or language files in this because they are a bit too big to send via email).

So far, recreating the environment in which Lava transferred the files isn't working very well.

Edit: Oh, I did notice a file that was NOT there before, called gp.info, which was not included in the original file download of RA3... Lava, could you list the files in your beta directory?

Oh geez, I'm probably boring you to tears sending you on perpetual errands. Sorry about that. You've been a great help, really, and I can't stress enough how we couldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Thank you SO much!

 

[Lavarider]

Jeez, why dont I just send you the whole directory...

Here is a picture of all the files in my main directory...If you need anything else just ask.

 

[FandomofHell]

Thanks! Then the only other files I'm missing are those notepad files... :\ What the heck are those, anyway? They aren't with the normal directory...

Oh, and I don't have your version of patchw32.dll. I think those are the only things I HAVEN'T asked you for. Is it alright if you could send me those files?

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

[Lavarider]

It has been Senteth.

 

[FandomofHell]

Thanks again for the files. You're very quick to reply.

Edit: Hmm, I seem to still be missing something. In the picture you provided, there was another file, which looked like a notepad-MCE.exe file. Could you send that too? Oh, and there is a request in the notepad-MCE.xml for a file called notepad-MCE.lnk. I think the two might be connected, and may be another piece of the puzzle that we need. I'm SO sorry to keep troubling you (I mean, you've sent me, what, 5 emails with data contained inside?), but I'm not quite there yet. Anymore help would be great.

Thank you for being such an amazing source of inspiration for us! (BTW, where is psychophat? I miss that guy. )

 

[Wohhai]

Thanks again for the files. You're very quick to reply.

Edit: Hmm, I seem to still be missing something. In the picture you provided, there was another file, which looked like a notepad-MCL.exe file. Could you send that too? Oh, and there is a request in the notepad-MCL.xml for a file called notepad-MCL.lnk. I think the two might be connected, and may be another piece of the puzzle that we need. I'm SO sorry to keep troubling you (I mean, you've sent me, what, 5 emails with data contained inside?), but I'm not quite there yet. Anymore help would be great.

Thank you for being such an amazing source of inspiration for us! (BTW, where is psychophat? I miss that guy. )

as far as i know, there is no notpad-mcl.exe
he had sent those 3 mcl files b4 and when i asked if there was an exe, he said there was non, it was just a "dead" shortcut...
http://rapidshare.com/files/135870018/Red_Alert_3_Beta_Crack_Attempt_1.rar.html

those r the 3 mcl files he sent b4

 

[FandomofHell]

Ah. My mistake. It was a .lnk file, not a .exe file. I mistook them considering how the file's picture looks like a .exe file. -_- Anyway, I'm going to do one last test with the .lnk file attached, and then I need to go to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow!

And thanks for saving Lava the trouble of sending me yet ANOTHER email.

Edit: Well, no go yet, but I've now got all of the files that Lava has (theoretically. Maybe there are more hiding in some of his other folders that I don't know about, but I'll worry about those later.)

In the mean time, I'm going to catch some zs. See you in 7 hours!

Edit: Found out that I've got some re-targeting to do. Apparently all the files I have are pointing to a C:\Program Files\EA Games\Red Alert 3 Beta\yadda yadda yadda location, and I'm got everything installed in I... Me thinks that's a bit of the problem right there. -_-

Also, the notepad-MCE.lnk is a shortcut to a .exe file called notepad-MCE.exe. Lava, could you scan your hard drives (C and D, if you have one, considering that the location was supposed to be in the d drive, for some odd reason) for a file called "notepad-MCE.exe", please? I think there might be more files there that we need, possibly hidden.

I know that the shortcut is supposed to be dead, but something about that file nags me. The .xml points to the .lnk, and the .lnk points to a dead end? Something seems fishy about that... Maybe I'm jumping at strings considering how little sleep I have currently, but I something about that file seems off...

 

[FandomofHell]

Guys, please. It's not up yet because we aren't done yet.

KH5002, you are wrong, sorry, but you are flat out wrong. Sure, the paul may be part of it, but it is NOT, let me say that again, for everyone out there who seems to think that it's some uber-important part,

NOT

the necessary piece that we need to crack. We need to find out what changes between the activation and the normal versions. That's where we are getting hung up.

Oh, and roleg? I REALLY doubt that EA would stick in pieces of code just for a laugh at our expense. When an XML file directly points out a shortcut link as well as other distinct (and essential) parts of coding, I get the feeling that I'm missing something.

Do you guys want to know why I don't need a cracked ra3game.dat? It's because I already have a registered one. I also have a registered version of the paul (not that anything really changes between the versions...) and practically every other pre- and post-registered file. If there are any files Lava HASN'T sent me, they must be either invisible or in non-essential areas. I'm still looking into that, but I'm not nearly as experienced a hacker as psychophat is, and, honestly, he'd probably be able to sift through this code a lot faster than I.

Edit: Ok, I got a list. If you want to see if your directory has hidden files, follow these steps before opening your main RA3 folder and browsing through it.
1- Open Windows Explorer
2-Click on Tools in the file menu. Scroll down to Folder Options and click on it.
3-In the folder that pops up, there should be 4 tabs, reading General, View, File Types, and Offline Files. Click on View.
4- Scroll down through the in screen box until it says "Hidden Files and Folders". The default option selected here is "Do not show hidden files and folders", so switch that to "show hidden files and folders". You'll be able to see every hidden file you ever installed or used, then. (For example, you can see Local Settings in your My Name folder.)

 

[kameleon20]

I am maybe almost there!!!

I edited my hosts file with 127.0.0.1 proxy.novafusion.ea.com
started a server with that text i've mentioned a post earlier (putted in a file called ssl_request.xml) and started the game...

after a while, the splash screen pops up, and then i get this error (Vista):
Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 isn't working anymore.
Problemdescription (Translated from Dutch, so there will be typo's in it):
- Happeningname of the problem: BEX
- Name of program: ra3game.dat
- Version of program: 1.0.3097.26724
- Timestamp of program: 0000000
- Name of error module: PAUL.DLL
- Version of error module: 4.0.1.9
- Timestamp of error module: 482b47ad
- Exceptionmarge: 00016f2c
- Exceptioncode: c000000d
- Exceptiondata: 0000000

I really believe i'm almost there!
could indicate that those asterisks from one post earlier of me should contain a (valid) unlock code.

EDIT1: Want to mention that i used the information of Cappadappa of mininova for my test

 

[FandomofHell]

... Ok, here's what we've found so far.

A) Yes, there are tons of registry values. However, though the key is STORED in the registry, it is only used for CHECKING purposes. Also, most of the changes to the registry occur during installation. From my checking, I've come to believe that there are little/no changes during activation, and, if there are any, they are not important enough to warrant further search.

B) No, cracking the paul.dll will not help. According to psychophat (please correct me if I'm wrong), the paul.dll file is a series of calls, with error messages and confirmation sequences if certain benchmarks are met. Unfortunately, while hacking that will PROBABLY be critical in the main release, it's no longer one of our top priorities because the confirmation happens AFTER the paul.dll is used, so altering it would not benefit our purposes (unless you want to never play the game, in which case, just delete the whole file! )

C)There was one other solution posted relating to a file called ra3game.dat. Yes, the file is critical to the game. No, from my understanding of other users information and my own research, I believe we reached the conclusion that the ra3game.dat file was not worth being hacked. If you want a soviet Akula sub to work properly, then you'll need this file. If you would rather attempt to play the game with a messed up file... Well, the Allied peacekeepers would be flying units for all I know. I think that wouldn't exactly be what you're looking for

Edit: (Please note that the Akula and Peacekeeper comments were made in jest. The real information pertaining to the units data is stored in .big files. We just don't think that messing with the ra3game.dat is worth our time, based on its use in game).

Currently, we (by which, I mean me, considering that I don't know what psychophat is doing) are trying to track down missing files that registered users may have that we don't. Maybe we'll revisit the idea of cracking the paul or altering the ra3game.dat(though I doubt it), but either one of those ideas are USELESS if we don't have the files necessary for game play. Please understand, we're not lying through our teeth. We want to play the game just as much as you guys do! But we're going to need a bit more time.

And, kameleon? I think you've just solidly damaged the game. You've got errors in the ra3game.dat, and that's not going to make it work... Oh, and emulating the EA servers has a VERY low chance of success, because EA downloads files to your computer when it registers. If you don't have those files, you won't be going anywhere.

 

[Looter]

i dont believe the idea with creating a webserver and a SQL database.
for me it sounds like, its faster to develop RA3 itself.

There must be a registration value in regedit, which its checking, like in the post by deoton.

btw, is it possible to get a "Tamper data"-like in firewall mode?

i firefox i have a Tamper data tool, where i can edit all the ongoing requests, from websites.

It would literally take 10 minutes. 5 minutes if you work fast. Why would you need a SQL server, anyway? just tell it to respond back VALID CODE and where it has you put the Key, just do <? echo $_GET['serial']; ?> because its in the url path. Hell, ill even host it for you guys if you want - just let me know what todo . Im thinking something like:

http://webservermodifiedinhosts.net/httpresponse.php?serial=<it puts serial here automatically>

<?xml version='1.0'?><Unlock_response version="1"><Status_number>0</Status_number><Status_text/><Unlock_code><? echo $_GET['serial']; ?></Unlock_code></Unlock_response>

 

[kameleon20]

How can you start a server with which program?

A server like apache?
and placed that part of cappadappa in a xml file called ssl_request.xml and placed it directly in the www (or htdocs) folder of apache.

then changed the hosts file, save it, and run ra3beta.exe and you get exact the same error ^^

EDIT: Tried to just fill in some information in place of the asterisks, and gives me still exact the same error...
EDIT2: The way Looter was telling to do also dodn't worked for me.
EDIT3: I also get exact the same error without the file. probably i am still using the wrong file name

 

[FandomofHell]

... Did you read my post? Seriously? Because I covered why this wouldn't work. And why I think you messed up your game.

 

[kameleon20]

... Did you read my post? Seriously? Because I covered why this wouldn't work. And why I think you messed up your game.

Haven't messed up. just delete the 127.0.0.1 (etc) out the hosts file, and the harm is undone...

But thinking isn't knowing. and as there still hasn't been a way found to skip it, we should be open for any possibility don't we?

 

[Wohhai]

... Did you read my post? Seriously? Because I covered why this wouldn't work. And why I think you messed up your game.

well anyway until you find something i dont think it hurts for others to try seeing as they cannot test it in the same way as u or the other 2... also about your post saying that the ra3game.dat isnt the right way.... cracking that file would probably fix the problem it wouldnt ruin the game values, those are elsewhere.. TW and KW are the closest to Ra3 and had both their game.dat cracked. eventhough the security in this one is updated, i dont think its been removed from the game.dat and put elsewhere.. but anyway if we found 1 way to crack this game, that would be nice...

 

[FandomofHell]

Of course, but the error was pretty clearly defined. There is far more to this. We still need files (as much as I hate having Lava send me everything in his folder except for the .big files...).

I've got no problem with you trying, but it sounds like you are just re-hashing stuff which someone has already tried.

Edit: True, the game.dat is probably a key. But there are more keys that we have to get first. Remember that this is a stripped down version of the game. They pretty much just took out a bunch of values, so the game.dat isn't going to be as significant. There's something in the missing files that I don't understand...

 

[Looter]

My post was merely a roughdraft, not a step by step guide. I think if we got some more information on HOW it worked when ra3beta.exe launches, we could emulate it just fine. That seems how its checking for your key online. It looks as simple as the program sends out a POST to the page, then the page sends back either a GET or a POST and the program...either goes off that information alone (in a perfect world for us, lol.) or it just merely uses that as a first layer of filtering out BAD CD-Keys, I bet after it sends back "Yea, it checks out! heres the serial that checked out <x>" it does some parsing of its own in the engine itself (Like every other known game to use CDKeys.)

 

[kameleon20]

No he didn't actually tried it. just found that code, but (as far as i know) hadn't tried it yet.
Maybe it is the solultion, part of it, or not, but i cannot test it (have also some xml experience) until i know wich file name it has to be.

Never tried is never known