Is it still possible to get the WadAuthor Value Pack?

[ixfd64]

I know there's a set of utilities called the WadAuthor Value Pack that was available to people who bought the registered version of WadAuthor. It was a password-protected .zip file, and people could contact John Williston (the creator of WadAuthor) for the password.

Although I played with the shareware version of WadAuthor back in the day, I never really got into Doom editing enough to buy the registered version. However, I bought a copy of 3D Game Alchemy a few years ago, and that comes with the pre-registered version of WadAuthor. So I'm wondering: am I eligible for the WadAuthor Value Pack if I obtained WadAuthor through the book?

The official websites for WadAuthor are long defunct, and I'm pretty sure the e-mail I found for John (wc@zyan.com) won't work because Zyan Communications shut down way back in 2001. Would it be legal if someone sent me the password? If not, does anyone know how I can reach John?

I know there are many modern level editors that are probably way more powerful than WadAuthor, but I really want this piece of Doom history.

Thanks!

[Kappes Buur]

ixfd64 said:

Is it still possible to get the WadAuthor Value Pack?

The quick answers is Yes.
However, as you mentioned, unzipping is password protected.

From the text file:
The WadAuthor Value Pack (WAVP) is a collection of utilities
intended *only* for registered users of WadAuthor. It contains
tools to merge wadfiles, extract resources, inject resources,
view and extract images, etc. It requires a password to unzip
the archive that is made available *only* to registered users
of WadAuthor.

[ixfd64]

Thanks. I'm aware of the download, but I was wondering if it's possible to get the password as I got WadAuthor through 3D Game Alchemy.

I'm sure somebody here has the password, but I'd rather get it through the proper channel as abandonware is technically illegal.

[Quasar]

I don't think cracking the encryption on old ZIP files would actually be illegal though; I don't believe it's sophisticated enough to qualify as a "technological measure" under the DMCA because it can be broken so trivially. But I understand what you mean, and I'm only saying this because you're probably going to find no other option in this case.

[Maes]

Quasar said:

I don't think cracking the encryption on old ZIP files would actually be illegal though; I don't believe it's sophisticated enough to qualify as a "technological measure" under the DMCA because it can be broken so trivially.

The difficulty, sophistication or even the public compromising/defeating of an anti-tampering measure is irrelevant, as far as DMCA is concerned: even if there was just a token "Keep out" sign, or if the decryption keys/passwords were leaked in plain view, DMCA would still apply to its full extent. If that wasn't the case, then software such as DeCSS/DVD Shrink would not be still illegal to own.

It doesn't matter if you use a known-weak cypher or an unreliable protection method. If fact, you could even ship a product with no protection whatsoever and yet still claim that any "warezing" of it breaks the DMCA. Even if your opponent successfully proves that there was nothing to crack in a court of law, he would still get shafted.

[axdoomer]

ixfd64 said:

John Williston (the creator of WadAuthor)

I'd like him to release the source code of his map editor. I had a lot of fun on this one before I switched to Doom Builer and I'd like to fix a few life-destroying bugs (program crash, map corruption, etc).

[Reisal]

I am wondering what this pack contains that modern tools like SLADE do not?

[boris]

Glaice said:

I am wondering what this pack contains that modern tools like SLADE do not?

According to the text file (which is not password protected) that comes with the zip, not really anything:

    WADDIR.EXE      Lists wadfile directory information
    WADDUMP.EXE     Dumps wadfile resources in textual format
    WADEXT.EXE      Extracts wadfile resources to a file
    WADINJ.EXE      Injects a file as a wadfile resource
    WADZADJ.EXE     Adjusts sector floor/ceiling heights
    WIMGVIEW.EXE    Wadfile image viewing and saving

Although it'd be interesting to know what exactly WADZADJ.EXE does. I guess it's more for historical reasons.

[Gez]

Glaice said:

I am wondering what this pack contains that modern tools like SLADE do not?

Looks to me like they're command-line tools (except WIMGVIEW), so you can set up automated build chains with a bunch of batch files.

On the very long term, I'd like SLADE 3 to have a command-line mode for such purposes, but in the meantime there's DEUTEX.

[Reisal]

So it's just ancient command line tools from the early Doom editing era.

[ixfd64]

I found what appears to be John's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-williston/39/7b1/382

LinkedIn requires a fee to send messages to other users, but there may be other ways to contact him.

[kb1]

Can someone zip this zip file WADAuthor Value Pack and upload it somewhere? My server refuses to let me download the file as-is, I guess because it's encrypted/password protected.

I think, if there's another layer of .zip around the file, it will fool my server enough to let me download it. (damn smartass proxy server...)
It's a nostalgia thing.
Thanks, in advance.

[Never_Again]

Here you are. Renamed to PNG as an extra hoop for you and your server to jump through, and ZIPped.

[kb1]

Never_Again said:

Here you are. Renamed to PNG as an extra hoop for you and your server to jump through, and ZIPped.

Holy shit, it still didn't work! Here's what it says:

Access to wavpzz.zip file is blocked due to security policy settings:
Encrypted files are not allowed.

That message is from Microsoft Forefront Management Gateway 2010. I have no idea what's going on here. Surely it didn't open a PNG file as a zip file, unzip it, and unzip it again?? Maybe it retains an encrypted attribute from the OS? That's insane...

Oh well, thanks for trying. You know, computers are getting too smart for our own good.

[GreyGhost]

kb1 said:

Surely it didn't open a PNG file as a zip file, unzip it, and unzip it again??

Probably ignored the .png suffix and read the file header, which is what any decent antivirus should do when checking downloads. I wonder how well it handles steganography?

[Never_Again]

Most likely.

Let's try it again. The first four bytes of the fake PNG file have been changed to "‰PNG". Change them back to "50 4B 03 04" with a hex editor of your choice.

[kb1]

Never_Again said:

Most likely.

Let's try it again. The first four bytes of the fake PNG file have been changed to "‰PNG". Change them back to "50 4B 03 04" with a hex editor of your choice.

Heh, that worked. Kickass! Thanks, man.

[Phileosophos]

To all those who are interested in the WadAuthor Value Pack, I'm the original author. You have my blessing to use it whether you own WadAuthor or not. The password is and always has been:

11A2B000DESTRUCT0

Extra credit to those who recognize what that is. I'm sorry I haven't been particularly reliable for the last couple of decades, but I just today got back to updating WadAuthor to compile with Visual Studio 2010. I still intend to release it all as open source one of these days.

Hopefully my life won't get crazy again and prevent me from doing so. Cheers!

[iori]

I used Wadauthor a lot in the period between DEU and Doombuilder, so thank you for it.
I was able to work around the bugs, and creating levels by inserting square sectors as opposed to manually placing every vertex and connecting them a la DEU made prototyping all the faster for me.

[Kappes Buur]

iori said:

.... by inserting square sectors as opposed to ....

Then you would love using these functions in GZDoom Builder



especially while holding down the CTRL or ALT keys.

[GreyGhost]

Phileosophos said:

The password is and always has been:

*****************

And it still works. Thanks!


One small request - could you re-submit the Value Pack to the archive in an unencrypted zip please? Or arrange with one of the archive maintainers for wavp.txt to be updated, since in due course this thread will be forgotten and the password along with it.

[VGA]

Thanks Phileosophos!

[Gez]

Phileosophos said:

Extra credit to those who recognize what that is.

http://trekannoyances.com/the_simplistic_self-destruct_code/

[Phileosophos]

Gez said:

http://trekannoyances.com/the_simplistic_self-destruct_code/

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! Though I suppose it's not all that impressive in the Google era.

GreyGhost said:

And it still works. Thanks!


One small request - could you re-submit the Value Pack to the archive in an unencrypted zip please? Or arrange with one of the archive maintainers for wavp.txt to be updated, since in due course this thread will be forgotten and the password along with it.

Sure. Could you help me out and explain what you mean by "the archive"? I've been out of this scene for so long I don't even remember where to get stuff. I'm happy to repack a non-password version and put it out there if y'all can point me at where it should go. Cheers!

[Linguica]

Phileosophos said:

Sure. Could you help me out and explain what you mean by "the archive"? I've been out of this scene for so long I don't even remember where to get stuff. I'm happy to repack a non-password version and put it out there if y'all can point me at where it should go. Cheers!

http://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/31922-newstuff-and-idgames-faq-read-this/

[ixfd64]

Phileosophos said:

To all those who are interested in the WadAuthor Value Pack, I'm the original author. You have my blessing to use it whether you own WadAuthor or not. The password is and always has been:

11A2B000DESTRUCT0

Extra credit to those who recognize what that is. I'm sorry I haven't been particularly reliable for the last couple of decades, but I just today got back to updating WadAuthor to compile with Visual Studio 2010. I still intend to release it all as open source one of these days.

Hopefully my life won't get crazy again and prevent me from doing so. Cheers!

Sorry for bumping up such an old thread, but I just remembered this post. Thanks so much for the information. This was something that has bugged me for years!

It's also nice to know that you're a fellow Trekkie. :-)

[Reisal]

If this has not been uploaded to /idgames/, it should be rearchived in a passwordless ZIP file.