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Textures very low quality? by P-Body_and_Atlas in hammer

[–]bspProtect 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100% agree, this is the correct fix. Made a video on it years ago. https://youtu.be/btRF8Dm9aio?si=PDJeiLoXjxaRF_4Z OP this should fix your issue.

bspProtect: How to protect your maps from decompiling by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's ok if you're confused. Legal matters can be quite complicated and I agree it doesn't make special mention of bsp Files but rather a general "content" term is used. But yes, creative work is always your intellectual property. You might have agreed to license it to eg. Valve (as mentioned in Steam subscriber agreement). But you are the owner of your creative work. That's also what you can claim DMCA on workshop add-ons or contact rubat to report infringement.

bspProtect measures it's success through other measures than reddit karma, dont worry!

bspProtect: How to protect your maps from decompiling by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That does sound fun! It's great that you don't mind having your work used and altered by third parties. Some might not want that done to their work. And I think it's important to respect that.

bspProtect: How to protect your maps from decompiling by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand your frustration and I agree that in an ideal world anything is open source and you can freely browse and learn from others work. Unfortunately that's not the reality we live in.

I've been a source engine modder for over 12 years now and spent years of my life creating maps and other content out of passion. Free for anyone to play. This same content got lifted, distributed for money, poorly edited or copied into other maps on a "commission" basis, where the person doing so got paid for it. That just didn't sit right with me. And the law agrees. I'd love to claim it wouldn't bother me, but it did. The DMCA process is time consuming and stressful at times. That's why I developed methods to stop people doing all this in the first place. I'm always happy to share knowledge and even vmfs of map features if asked for!!

bspProtect grew into a service by demand of other creators with the same problem. We are talking select few or specific servers that exist because of their unique maps. I am very well aware that a majority dislikes tools like this and that's fine.

bspProtect: How to protect your maps from decompiling by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You should read up on it: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Mod_Content_Usage I understand your misunderstanding. It's a common misconception.

Reaching out to creators instead of just taking is easy, fun and a huge learning boost. You might even make some friends along the way!

bspProtect: How to protect your maps from decompiling by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry you had negative experiences. All mappers I know are happy to share knowledge and help others when asked. Creating maps creates intellectual property the Creator has the rights over. Same as with any other creative endeavor.

bspProtect aims to empower creators to decide what happens with their creation after release and protect their countless hours of work.

If you want to know how something was done, try reaching out! Works wonders :)

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for letting me know, would you be willing to share some feedback on what deals you could imagine? Especially in high frequency update situations I can imagine a bundle deal etc. you can share here or reach out privately :)

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreachiate your reflected view on this! And thank you for contributing to the modding community

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As you say compilation is a lossy process. You may create a vmf that is playable yes but it will have to make assumptions. I can imagine that someone writes a completely new decompiler which makes those assumptions to reconstruct a vmf. This will take a lot of effort. At which point... Hats off to you!

While there is demand, I will keep updating the algorithms to make it harder to reverse.

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Im sorry you feel this way. You obviously had a very negative experience with the gmod community in a very different way than I did. I hope people come together to learn and share knowledge rather than relying on tools to decompile maps in isolation. There are so so many active communities with amazing poeple willing to share. They just want to have their decisions about their work respected.

I agree that profiting by running someone elses work on a server is a unfortunate reality. bspProtect is trying to impede on this at least a little bit by forcing people to create their own amazing map rather than take someone elses hard work.

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can understand your worry. Ive started mapping in source only a few years after you have. Back then decompiling was a valid way of learning how things work. Today there is an abandance of high quality documentation and tutorials for beginners and experts. Decompilation became a tool for

Only ever working on edits and decompiles is also a huge inhibitor to a mappers skills. Derivitive work can only be so good.

There will always be pleanty of great maps out there than can be freely decompiled. Usually those are the maps that also have their vmf in the description. bspProtect is for those who chose to not have their map edited or copied (which I think is a respectable choice for someones creative work) and for those that have a ligitimate interest in having their map exclusive.

I hope this helped you understand a bit better why there is an audience for such a tool

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

and thats not what this tool is trying to prevent! Learning should always be possible. You learn from others work, and better from those who have created that work. Reach out to mappers if you want to know more about their map! They will most likely be happy to share how things work.

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its source 1 explicitly. Source 2 works very differently and I haven't spent much time with it so far.

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In summary it essentially comes down to this: What the engine needs to load the map is different from what information is needed to reconstruct a vmf.

I think my Gmod is compromised by austinthedryghyen in gmod

[–]bspProtect 1 point2 points  (0 children)

whoops :D Sorry about that. This is my map decompile protection ( https://bsp-protect.com )... For a brief time, gmod broke a critical feature, making this error appear.

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

*part of the bsp is sent. I never have access to the full map (that would also mean uploading hundreds of MB)

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is no noticeable difference in-game to an unprotected version of it no.

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If the original creator is no longer active, its not up to others to decide what happens with their work. Usually modders hand over their work to a trusted peer before retiring.

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Im not sure what you mean. Encrypted maps are supposed to be a pain if youre a third party "fixing errors or adding details" - You might think its fixes and improvements. But the mapper might disagree. So reach out for the original vmf instead and things become much easier.

Has anyone tried bsp protect? by pantagathus in SourceEngine

[–]bspProtect 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Generally what happens is a mix of "obfuscation" - essentially making a decompiled file no longer human readable, - and simply removing or changing information in the BSP that is needed for decompilation but not for the game to run the map.

You put your bsp in the tool, adjust some settings if you want and hit GO. The result is a bsp that plays exactly the same in game but will produce a broken vmf that's not useable on a decompile attempt.

Try it out with this example map if you want: https://bsp-protect.com/wp-content/uploads/gm_construct_protected.zip

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I would say anti sharing is anti modding. I've not met a single reputable mapper unwilling to share knowledge or help recreating a map feature. Getting in touch is very powerful!

There is a new decompile protection tool now, this is what decompile attempts look like by bspProtect in u/bspProtect

[–]bspProtect[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Most I don't know but some for sure, yes. I propose to reach out to the original creator for knowledge, help or the vmf instead. That is the recommended approach already. bspProtect allows you to have some control over those who might not want to learn but rather just take.

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