Password reveal

[Karmus]

Is it possible to reveal passwords to JCS levels? I lost the password to one of my own levels and I want to edit it, but it's impossible to get it through the program without the right password... :(

[Stijn]

Yes, for some reason admins don't want us to post it though.

[Blackraptor]

There is a JCS that ignores passwords, and someone might give it to you if you ask.

[Trafton]

The thing is, it is technically illegal to modify JCS for the purposes of allowing it to unlock passwords. From your post, we can not decypher whether your intentions are to open your own levels or someone else's. I do not suspect that you have anything but good intentions, but nonetheless the best we can do is say that the program can be found fairly commonly and one can generally find it by asking around. However, beyond that, this is not the place to search for things such as that.

~ Traft

[Ninja]

PM me, and I'll give you a fish.

[Karmus]

In the old JCS version from 1.23 and below it comes up with an illegal operation sign if you try to open a password protected level.
In 1.24 TSF it asks for the password and I can't remember it, so many years ago I made that level. I have probably changed my default psw many times since 1998.

[Coppertop]

I never knew that, thanks, Karmus. I think you may have just solved my problem.

[Karmus]

I never knew that, thanks, Karmus. I think you may have just solved my problem.
No problem! ;)
I had to get TSF before I found out.

[XAYo HR]

I have seen this patch on the J2HG site but now is it not there. :(

[Disguise]

'Tis true, there is a JCS that ignores passwords to levels. Actually there's two of them, one for 1.23 and one for TSF. The reason we don't make it publically available is because it kinda defeats the purpose of having the passworded levels feature (BRAND-SPANKING NEW 1.23 PATCH FEATURE!!!! DOWNLOAD THIS LATEST PATCH <b>NOW!!!</b> <-- oldsk00l humour for those of you who don't have a clue what I'm talking about) in the first place.

Basically I should close this thread, but I don't really care all that much. I've seen too many people lose their passwords and too little people mess things up because they had access to another person's level, so the distribution of these 'tools' don't bother me.

...Oh. I might aswell say this, just ask some poeple and they might give you the file (I have no idea who has it). I have it somewhere publically aswell, I won't post where it is (that would be TOO naughty of me), but if you find it you can have it ;)

[Crono5]

Both JCS 1.23 and 1.24 can be made to open password proteced levels by changing one simple byte of data. I don't know which one's myself as I never really purused it. I did find a way to hex edit indevidual levels to change the password.

[Xion]

Where's OL when you need him? :p

[Cpp]

Where's OL when you need him? :p
I'm right here! But not for long so catch me if U can :p

[Karmus]

I got OL's version from Ninja, so my problems are solved.
*looking*
omg! this can't possibly be me! (bad grammar as eight year old)

[Krezack]

Open the level in a hexeditor.

Edit the 8 hexadecimal characters after LEVL to 0. (like this: 00 00 00 00).

Or, if for some stupid reason this gets edited, just send me the level and I'll do it for you, as well as edit up my 1.23 JCS so that it doesn't ask for the pass and you can have that. I can also edit a TSF JCS if somebody gives me one. I think the remaining JJ2 community here is quite over the "OMG I editt ur level and makes it my owns" fad.

BTW, Disguise, you didn't mention my name. ;(((

[Krezack]

I got OL's version from Ninja, so my problems are solved.

Oh, bleh, fine.

[MoonBlazE]

Why would you ever wish to open a passworded level not made by you. Levels are protected with the reasoning of they do not want you to edit their work. Try give a little more respect for level designers, they're sharing their work with you completely free. The 'I forgot my pass..' excuse is so overused for such getting such programs already.. 'I don't know where those drugs in my car come from! I'm innocent! The people in prison is innocent too'.

[Karmus]

Why would you ever wish to open a passworded level not made by you. Levels are protected with the reasoning of they do not want you to edit their work. Try give a little more respect for level designers, they're sharing their work with you completely free. The 'I forgot my pass..' excuse is so overused for such getting such programs already.. 'I don't know where those drugs in my car come from! I'm innocent! The people in prison is innocent too'.
Some people open others levels to see the solution (for example QoB) and not to edit.

[Gecko]

Some people open others levels to see the solution (for example QoB) and not to edit.
and plus you can reveiw the level better on J2O so you can see if the level is balanced, because you can't see everything without looking (or atleast almost always).

[Risp_old]

The fact that you can do non-harmful things with a password revealer does not negate the fact that you can do bad things with them.

[Krezack]

The fact that humans are annihilating the Earth faster than any other species is not cause for our extermination (well, actually IMHO, it is).

The fact that nanotechnology is capable of evil things does not outrle the fact that it will be capable of MASSIVE advances in healing, medicine, anti-pulltion and other such things.

That something is CAPABLE of evil does not MAKE it evil.

[Risp_old]

I never said it was evil. Just the good things it can be used for are outweighed by the bad. Do you think being able to see how a level works or being able to open a level you made whos password you forgot outweighs being able to take a level someone else spent a lot of time making and make it say you made it?

EDIT- unless, of course, you were talking about someone else. In that case, ignore previous statement.

[Flamepanther]

Editing a level that someone else thought was done is not always a bad thing either. I do still have a few of the levels I got back when JJ2 was young, and there are many of them that have BIG mistakes, or that ought to have music and were never given any. Most of the people who made these levels left the Jazz 'scene' long ago. It's easier to just fix them than to track someone else down, explain to them what's wrong, convince them they should care, and then find out that they forgot their own password anyway.

I wouldn't put any of these back out claiming they were mine, and I don't think most of the people on this board would either.

Edit: Another thought... J2O is now the biggest repository of Jazz levels online to my knowledge. Chances are that any "hijacked" levels would be posted here, or nobody is going to find them anyway. Assuming someone tries to post them here, more than likely, somebody is going to notice it and say something. SOMEONE is bound to have seen the level before, and if not... where on green earth would it have come from, and is it likely that a level of any worth is going to be totally unknown by now? IF, and it's a really BIG if, a level gets hijacked, it's going to be caught immediately, or it's going to be a rather poor level.

I think it's pretty clear that the benefits of eschewing passwords outweigh the risks.

[Karmus]

You can also use it for getting tips to your own level designing. I've done that a lot with open levels too when I was in that age. (I didn't know how to make shootable blocks until I saw it in a JCS FAQ/some levels.)
Personally I would NEVER open a level to edit it! I surely respect the users creation, and of course the originality of the level. The bad thing about editing levels is: 1. If the author has denied permission to do so, you are breaking the agreement (the author also has a part in it; posting a level online for example is also a risky descision, and besides most authors doesn't actually post such called "end-user agreements", but anyway I think it seems logical for everyone to obey this rule without a txt document telling it.). 2. Post it on the Internet in your own name, that's really rude! But in most cases it is allowed that you can edit the level for own use, no distribution(/sharing, with fake arguments). (Many game publishers with editors included in some of their games allow that. Also some level authors.)