Channel Update - October 2023 | More progress made

Hello! How is it going, guys?

GTA VC - PS2 Anti-piracy measures (WIP name)

This video is still in the works and we've made tons of progress.

~There are only 2 measures left for bootleggers in GTA VC on PS2.
Previously we thought that there might be more measures left in the code, but it proved to be wrong. You know what is more sad? Turns out only one of them actually do work for pirates. The second measure has a flaw in the code and thanks to that it does absolutely nothing. Well, it is actually possible to fix it, but it doesn't change the fact that there is only one working measure. I guess, Rockstar didn't test it in the past, which is a bummer. :(

~GTA VC on CD bootleg found
I found 2 people, who own GTA VC on a CD. Seem to be real bootlegs from 200x. Unfortunately, both of them have the same release from warez group "ConFuSion". I think, it is nearly impossible to find the rest "scene" releases. But well, still a huge success, because this release once again confirms that there is only one working anti-piracy measure left for the bootleggers. They didn't even bother to patch the second measure as it didn't work, lol.

~One working measure requires real hardware
Turns out the measure heavily relies on the CPU load. The more CPU is loaded, the more issues you see in-game. The measure works completely different on an emulator, because I have a pretty powerful PC. It means that it needs to be shown on real hardware. Good thing is, I still have my backwards compatible PS3 around. The only problem is, it renders the game in 480p and it looks very kinda bad on a modern screen. Thankfully, some footage can be shown on an emulator as the measure in some occasions works the same.

~CD vs DVD performance
If you lurked through PS2 files, then you know that there are a lot of "GTA3.img" copies. Despite the fact that they are stored in the same folder, i nreality they are located very far away from each other on the disc. Judging from the code, these duplicate files are there to improve the streaming. There is a code, which helps to reduce disc laser jumping back and forth by accessing the nearest GTA3.img file on the disc.

As a result, we wanted to talk about CD vs DVD performance. We had a theory that by removing these duplicate files from the game, we get less optimized game on a CD making it a terrible way to play the game. However when I tested it on my PS3, I saw no performance drop between CD and DVD versions of the game. For me CD version even loaded faster and it made no freaking sense. I thought maybe it has something to do with the BD drive on PS3. So I found 4-5 people with modded PS2 and we tested loading times. CD version was faster for them too. No performance issues at all. Had to remove this section from the video, because it turned to be false.

~Fitting the game on a CD
It isn't that simple to fit the game on a CD. First you need to crack the anti-piracy measure. Second you need to remove duplicate files. And third you need to remove tons of audio from the game, because it was still not enough. Since I've managed to find "ConFuSion" release, why not to talk about it? They didn't just remove some audio, they randomly replaced sound banks. You know what, you will see it in the video.

~Conclusion
Tons of other stuff was done as well. Also had to buy blank CD and DVD discs. Remember burning CDs or DVDs? Had to do it for the video. :P

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As always, thank you for watching and supporting me. I hope to see you soon.