Still working on this one... It seems that there is a strict CRC checksum routine in the STEEL.EXE file itself. If even one byte of that .EXE is modified, the game brings up the message about piracy and makes the game unplayable. Hence any attempt at a proper crack will need to first disable that checksum routine first. It appears that the savegames themselves are secondary- There is, furthermore a built in time bomb and / or attribute bomb which activates when any attribute goes > 180.
Without SoftICE or another good debugger, we can't even attack the first problem (CRC checksum)... We know some handy 0x90 hexcodes must be written within the STEEL.EXE file to bypass checksum routin, but where???
Alternately, does anyone know where there may a legitimate vendor selling this game with a CD / MANUAL ? A longshot, I know.
Need a good DOS cracker who could properly crack this thing in under 5 minutes flat.
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