Notiswas' Game Maker Chex Quest 4 has finally been uncovered!

Manny Cav · May 04, 2009, 10:17:16 AM

I found strings for "grenade" in the file, but nothing that hinted to a code. The documentation clearly implied that it was a code you entered with a letter combination. What we don't know is what that code is, or even where it's entered. Worse than this, Notiswas' post here implies that we won't be seeing anything from him anytime soon.

ChexCommander · May 04, 2009, 01:10:45 PM

Ah, the Navy. That would probably be my choice if I had to join the military. Or maybe the Coast Guard.

Well, we'll just have to keep doing more research.

It's funny how we're spending all this time looking for a cheat code to a Game Maker game, but it's cool. I'd like to get that Zorch Grenade someday.

Lothalis · June 02, 2009, 03:09:17 AM

For a flash game this has some serious potential as a mini game on a site like newgrounds

The ONLY thing I would change is the graphics, although we know what were looking at my buddy who never played any Chex Quest games asked why he was shooting cucumbers...

Other than that solid game, I like it for a quick "got 5 min to kill" kinda game

Manny Cav · June 02, 2009, 10:29:01 AM

The graphics do need a bit of a change, as they look like they came straight out of Paint (and probably did, to boot). The final boss also needs a tone-down, because it's just nearly impossible to beat without serious use of save/load. Unfortunately, the original Game Maker source to this game was never released, and the author is away in the military, I think. Our only option here is to use a program that can make a source file from the EXE. This is an early version of Game Maker we're talking about here, so this is considerably easier than doing it against a more conventionally made EXE. Such utilities exist, but they seem to want to charge money or something.

Lothalis · June 02, 2009, 10:39:12 AM

What about a VB decompiler? as long as someone has visual basic it should be easy, to you of course my game creation skills are not even close to yours otherwise I'd giver a run.

Once you open it in Visual Basic could you import sprites? My skills in it are very limited and i'm used to RPG maker and Qbasic for game creation.

Manny Cav · June 02, 2009, 10:47:23 AM

Firstly, I don't have Visual Basic, so... yeah. I'm still thinking a Game Maker 3 (this game was made with one of the 3rd generation Game Maker versions) decompiler could achieve the best results. I honestly don't know if a Visual Basic decompiler would work or not since I don't have one, but this wasn't made with Visual Basic anyway. And what exactly do you mean by your game creation skills not even being close to mine? I've doodled a thing or two in Game Maker and had a few Chex Quest mods that were, eh, ill-contrived to make a long story short, but really, the only thing I have going right now is Chex Quest Arena.

ChexCommander · June 02, 2009, 07:45:44 PM

I have Visual Basic 6 (the one from the 90s, or maybe 2000)..but I don't think that would work on this file. And my game creation skills are extremely limited.

Dacicus · June 07, 2009, 02:42:14 AM

Quote from: Manny CavOur only option here is to use a program that can make a source file from the EXE.

Is there such a program for GM3? I've heard of ones for later versions of GM, but I only got into GM when it was at version 4.3. Or do you mean a disassembler?

I was actually thinking about tackling the game with a debugger, but I'm not familiar with the Win32 API at all, so I don't know what API functions would be most appropriate to examine.

Quote from: LothalisWhat about a VB decompiler?

As I understand it, VB decompilers are for taking programs made with VB and getting some sort of VB "source" for them. As Manny Cav pointed out, CQ4 wasn't made with VB, so a VB decompiler probably wouldn't work.

Manny Cav · June 07, 2009, 09:55:12 AM

Quote from: Dacicus on June 07, 2009, 02:42:14 AM
Quote from: Manny CavOur only option here is to use a program that can make a source file from the EXE.
Is there such a program for GM3? I've heard of ones for later versions of GM, but I only got into GM when it was at version 4.3. Or do you mean a disassembler?

Decompiler or disassembler, either one would probably work, and you're right--I've only seen decompilers for GM5-GM7. I tried one of the GM5-7 ones out on the GMF file for Chex Quest 4, and it couldn't process it. The EXE itself was also a no-go. I'm hoping I can find a program that works on old Game Maker files.

Loremaster · June 11, 2009, 04:04:09 AM

Hehehe, enjoy trying to read the output of a decompiler. Unless you can find one designed to work SPECIFICALLY with GameMaker, odds are all you'll get out of a decompile/disassemble is a bunch of assembly language code, if you're lucky.

For those of you who are lucky enough to have never set eyes on assembly language [not me], let me tell you this: it is nasty. You know all those nice things about programming, like declaring variables and manipulating data? Yeah, Assembly makes that into pure torture.

However, I DO know there was a program designed to reverse-engineer older GameMaker programs, so there is a possibility. However, it wasn't something I came across "in the wild", and old GM Forums guys I ran into elsewhere didn't like to talk about it back then.

Notiswas · June 12, 2009, 01:18:52 AM

What I remember about the coding was that I utilized hidden objects, so if you hit the right first letter in the string, it activates a transformation to a further invisible object, and so on. If you press the incorrect variable, it reverts back to this initial object. The best bet would be to somehow convert the game back into a .gmd... but I'd be darned with how. I am not sure whether anybody knows this, but there is a secret 3-variable code typed on the title screen that accesses a fanart section. I believe it has 3 pages of fanart submitted to me from the likes of Richie, Chex Warrior, Brian Worley, Gilgy, and several others. I would really love to see it again, but it seems next to impossible, taking into consideration the thousands upon thousands of possibilities a 3 letter/number phrase can yield...

^-^I am going to make this message short for now (I am using a phone to write this.) First of all, hello everyone! Um, yeah... please excuse the bizareness of this post. I am not exactly a text fied, lol

Atariangamer · June 12, 2009, 02:19:31 AM

hehe, strange post from a guy we dont see often

so...trying to extract a game maker out of a exe?
AFAIK, game maker decompilers are illegal due to the fact that its mostly NOT your own code, just your input via Game Maker's code. Also, YoYoGames has placed encryption on it...soo...i dont believe it is possible to get a gm file out of an exe.

Loremaster · June 12, 2009, 03:21:13 AM

Quote from: Atariangamer on June 12, 2009, 02:19:31 AM
hehe, strange post from a guy we dont see often

so...trying to extract a game maker out of a exe?
AFAIK, game maker decompilers are illegal due to the fact that its mostly NOT your own code, just your input via Game Maker's code. Also, YoYoGames has placed encryption on it...soo...i dont believe it is possible to get a gm file out of an exe.

Ah, but this is an OLD version, so it doesn't have that encryption. Like I said, I know there was a program for older GM files, but I've never seen it. I'll take a look around, see if I can find something. Anyone know what version of GM was used?

Manny Cav · June 12, 2009, 10:36:03 AM

Quote from: Notiswas on June 12, 2009, 01:18:52 AM
What I remember about the coding was that I utilized hidden objects, so if you hit the right first letter in the string, it activates a transformation to a further invisible object, and so on. If you press the incorrect variable, it reverts back to this initial object. The best bet would be to somehow convert the game back into a .gmd... but I'd be darned with how. I am not sure whether anybody knows this, but there is a secret 3-variable code typed on the title screen that accesses a fanart section. I believe it has 3 pages of fanart submitted to me from the likes of Richie, Chex Warrior, Brian Worley, Gilgy, and several others. I would really love to see it again, but it seems next to impossible, taking into consideration the thousands upon thousands of possibilities a 3 letter/number phrase can yield... ^-^I am going to make this message short for now (I am using a phone to write this.) First of all, hello everyone! Um, yeah... please excuse the bizareness of this post. I am not exactly a text fied, lol

First of all, hello! Long time no see! I heard you was shipping off to the military (I forget which branch). Did you go through with that, or did you back out?

Now, on to the topic. Are you saying that there are two different text codes for Chex Quest 4?

Quote from: Loremaster on June 12, 2009, 03:21:13 AM
Anyone know what version of GM was used?

I've narrowed it down to some version of Game Maker 3 using the GMF format. I'd have to experiment to narrow it down to 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2b, or 3.3.

Notiswas · June 12, 2009, 02:54:00 PM

Hey Manny. I am a United States sailor, currently worling through dental training. Chex Quest 4 was created with either 3.0 or 3.3 as I recall. I believe there were 3 different secrets. The zorch grenade, God mode, and the fanart gallery. The gallery would definitely be an interesting discovery... There were at least 10 pieces of work. If only I could remember the codes!