518 lines
21 KiB
HTML
518 lines
21 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
|
|
|
|
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>srr_rules.nfo</title>
|
|
<style type="text/css">
|
|
@font-face {
|
|
font-family: nfo;
|
|
font-style: normal;
|
|
font-weight: normal;
|
|
src: url(nfo.eot);
|
|
}
|
|
.nfo {
|
|
padding: 12px;
|
|
font-family: nfo, courier new;
|
|
font-size: 11px;
|
|
line-height: 1em;
|
|
}
|
|
</style>
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
<pre class="nfo">
|
|
Standard Rip Rules (S.R.R).
|
|
|
|
In 1998, and again on March 26th 2000, three rip game groups collaborated
|
|
to bring about rules with the hope of ensuring quality in a constantly
|
|
evolving rip fscene. These rules lasted a long time, but as technology moves
|
|
forward, so to must the rules governing it. It is time once again for
|
|
the standards by which the games scene operates to be updated.
|
|
|
|
As we are all aware there have been major developments in the scene. These
|
|
new rules may seem to be quite radical as a result. Those fearful of change
|
|
may very well be opposed to them - but let us not forget that had there
|
|
never been any change, we would not have any of the existing rules in the
|
|
first place!
|
|
|
|
In lieu of past events, the deciding figures of:
|
|
|
|
Myth, Divine, Vace, and Instinct
|
|
|
|
have converged and agreed upon a new set of rules based on those that
|
|
came before. These new rules have been updated, modified, and
|
|
agreed upon by a consensus, and should provide a new standard better suited
|
|
to the scene in this day and age.
|
|
|
|
These groups have been active participants in shaping the scene in the
|
|
last six months, and were given active participation in voicing their point
|
|
of view. These new rules will allow for a fair and competitive scene
|
|
while ensuring a quality-minded environment for all, bringing game rips
|
|
forward into a new era and restoring their relevance.
|
|
|
|
It should be noted that CLASS and BACKLASH chose not to attend due to their
|
|
reduced role within the scene. However former NSA groups (such as CLASS and
|
|
BACKLASH), who have chosen not to sign up for these new rules, will still
|
|
be required to abide by the former NSA rules, which they signed.
|
|
|
|
In the past, groups setting the rules have been called the SPA, The Faction,
|
|
or as in the most recent case the NSA (Network Software Association).
|
|
Some have claimed the exclusive nature of these organizations have locked
|
|
them out of the process. Hence from this time forth there shall be no
|
|
organization dictating to the others. All groups are invited to adopt these
|
|
rules, and every effort has been made to contact the various players in the
|
|
games rip scene.
|
|
|
|
These rules shall be identified simply as the Standard Rip Rules (S.R.R).
|
|
|
|
They have been ratified and approved among the four groups and will be
|
|
recognized and followed immediately on this date and thereafter:
|
|
March 5th, 2004.
|
|
|
|
The Standard Rip Rules are as follows:
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. Files:
|
|
|
|
The disk limit is as of now 55 x 5,000,000 bytes.
|
|
This equates to a total of 275,000,000 bytes of
|
|
compressed data. Groups may not exceed the total
|
|
size (including when crack.ace or similar files are
|
|
are needed in the first disk of a release) to prevent
|
|
any future cheating. Groups caught cheating on file
|
|
size WILL be nuked!
|
|
|
|
The limit for standard game add-ons is 25 x 5,000,000
|
|
bytes for any add-on that includes Music, Speech,
|
|
Commentary or Play By Play for the original release.
|
|
Any add-on that does not fit these criteria will be
|
|
restricted to 15 x 5,000,000 bytes. Only the group
|
|
that won the game release is allowed to release the
|
|
add-ons for that game.
|
|
|
|
Due to an increasingly limited number of file names,
|
|
and the ability of all modern operating systems to handle
|
|
long file names, it is now permissible to use file names
|
|
up to a maximum of 12.3 characters (filename/extension).
|
|
|
|
Acceptable compression formats at this time are ACE or
|
|
RAR or any future compression that supports multiple
|
|
volumes and long file names, followed by the
|
|
traditional PKZIPing.
|
|
|
|
The traditional packaging methods (ZIP/DIZ) shall be
|
|
maintained, with a DIZ file being present in each zip.
|
|
|
|
2. Proper Rips:
|
|
|
|
To prevent sloppy rips, a re-release of a game is allowed
|
|
to ensure groups release proper and respectable rips.
|
|
The following provisions include:
|
|
|
|
it can be ripped in >=7 disks less than the previous
|
|
release or less than half the size of the previous
|
|
release by using only lossless compression methods.
|
|
|
|
That means all the essential game data must be still
|
|
included in the re-release. No essential data is allowed
|
|
to be removed to be considered a valid re-release. A re-
|
|
release from a competing group may not use tools, original
|
|
crack or any other files from the previous release that
|
|
were modified for the original game rip. A group may NOT
|
|
use DDS conversion on a proper rip unless used on
|
|
the original rip. Lossy audio conversion is allowed in
|
|
proper rips; downsampling is not.
|
|
|
|
The re-release of a rip can be done by any group and must
|
|
be done within 48 hours of the original rip, as possibly every
|
|
game is rippable in a smaller size if enough time is spent.
|
|
|
|
3. Functionality:
|
|
|
|
Every release under this limit MUST be a functional and
|
|
playable complete game with no essential data missing to
|
|
finish the game. This means that included will be every
|
|
component necessary for the successful completion of the
|
|
game e.g.:
|
|
|
|
- all game executables that are needed,
|
|
- every level (single AND multiplayer),
|
|
- every track (including practice),
|
|
- all actor graphics & models etc,
|
|
- sound effects
|
|
- registry settings to play on the Internet (Zone/etc.)
|
|
- if the serial of the game is checked online thus making
|
|
it impossible to play online with any possible rip, it is
|
|
allowed to rip out multiplayer, LAN play should still be
|
|
fully included if it exists
|
|
|
|
4. Packers:
|
|
|
|
Any lossless compression method to reduce the size of
|
|
selected game data is ALLOWED (e.g. uharc).
|
|
|
|
5. Lossy Compression:
|
|
|
|
Lossy compression is ALLOWED for sound, videos and non-
|
|
texture graphics (menu screens and loading screens) but
|
|
lossless compression is encouraged before using lossy
|
|
compression. Lossy compression of textures is allowed
|
|
only using DDS. If a game includes separate texture
|
|
sets for hires AND lowres systems you are allowed to
|
|
rip lowres only but the game still has to work on all
|
|
hardware platforms.
|
|
|
|
6. Sound:
|
|
|
|
Sound effects WILL and MUST be included. To reduce the size
|
|
of rips when possible, standard wave format files (PCM)
|
|
should be compressed. If the sound files exist inside a big
|
|
file it's highly regarded when time is invested to extract
|
|
those files to compress them. Groups are not required to
|
|
index big files though. A downgrade of sound quality to sound
|
|
files to allow the game to fit the limit will NEVER be permitted.
|
|
|
|
Acceptable sound compression formats are:
|
|
|
|
<22/1 <22/2 22-32/1 22-32/2 44-48/1 44-48+/2 (khz/channels)
|
|
mp3 32 32 48 56 56 112 (kbit)
|
|
ogg 32 32 48 48 56 64 (kbit)
|
|
wma8 20 20 20 32 32 80 (kbit)
|
|
wma9 16 16 16 20 20 64 (kbit)
|
|
|
|
It is allowed to rip music, commentary/speech and ambience
|
|
files as long as the game remains playable. speech files
|
|
MUST be included if there exist no on-screen subtitles.
|
|
Speech can be downsampled, but only to the above SOUNDS
|
|
quality or to WAV 22.050 quality. No lower. It is okay
|
|
to remove commentary from a release if size does not
|
|
permit it.
|
|
|
|
It is highly regarded when all sounds, speech and music
|
|
are included in a rip and not intentionally put out as
|
|
add-ons.
|
|
|
|
7. Movies:
|
|
|
|
Movies (intros, cut scenes) should be removed if they
|
|
are not game related. Movies must be ripped in a way so
|
|
that the game play experience is not compromised, e.g.
|
|
framing of movies is highly regarded. It should always be
|
|
avoided to create situations in which user-input is
|
|
necessary on black screens because the video normally
|
|
shown has been blacked out.
|
|
|
|
Downsampling of Movies is allowed under the following
|
|
guidelines:
|
|
|
|
Divx 3-5 / Xvid / Original codec (used in game):
|
|
- Kbit rate: 650 kbit+
|
|
- Quality: 93%+
|
|
- Quantizer: 4.0 (no more)
|
|
|
|
RadVideo (BIK):
|
|
- Compress to 50%+ of the original file size.
|
|
|
|
Windows Media Video (WMV) / MPEG2:
|
|
- Allowed resolution change, but no less than 50% of original
|
|
resolution (width/height divided by 2).
|
|
- Allowed recompression to same resolution but with lower
|
|
kbit rate.
|
|
|
|
*NOTE* Movie conversion on enduser machine is FORBIDDEN.
|
|
|
|
8. Add-ons:
|
|
|
|
Other allowed add-ons for games include:
|
|
|
|
- cut scenes/movies
|
|
- commentary/speech
|
|
- music
|
|
- editor
|
|
|
|
No more than 2 add-ons should be released for a game
|
|
release.
|
|
|
|
Intro and Outro add-ons are EXPLICITLY FORBIDDEN.
|
|
|
|
Only the group that released the initial game release
|
|
can release the above add-ons, unless there is a
|
|
problem with the release. This is to prevent third
|
|
party groups that may not understand how to release
|
|
these properly to correctly support the initial
|
|
release, and to prevent multiple add-on dupes from
|
|
appearing.
|
|
|
|
This will be ENFORCED on group SITES!
|
|
|
|
9. Kiddie:
|
|
|
|
Children's games (aka Kiddie games) and Edutainment
|
|
software do not qualify under these rules guidelines for
|
|
acceptable releases. Kiddie games are usually defined via
|
|
the game target audience of '5-12 years' as stated by the
|
|
game's producer. Common sense should be applied by all
|
|
groups to identify what really is a kiddie game.
|
|
Platform games are not to be considered kiddie games
|
|
unless explicitly stated by the developer/publisher.
|
|
|
|
10. Official:
|
|
|
|
Level packs, game add-ons etc. for rips are only allowed
|
|
if they are officially released/authorized by the same
|
|
company, developer or publisher that put out the original
|
|
game. If possible by its size, the add-on should be made
|
|
as a standalone and not needing the original game release.
|
|
The original missions may be removed to allow the game
|
|
add-on to become standalone if not size can not permit
|
|
the original game. It should be explained in the NFO
|
|
if and why a game add-on isn't made to be standalone.
|
|
|
|
11. Dupes:
|
|
|
|
In regard to games distributed in the United States that
|
|
are LATER distributed in Europe or vice versa under the
|
|
same or different name/publisher. These games if released
|
|
AFTER another group's release are counted as DUPES unless
|
|
it can be proven that there is a clearly noticeable
|
|
PLAYABLE difference in the latter release (more than just
|
|
tiny differences in graphics or sound). Differences in
|
|
file dates and Game Titles between Euro and US releases
|
|
are NOT a good enough reason to re-release the game.
|
|
|
|
12. Information:
|
|
|
|
A brief outline of what has been stripped and any
|
|
explicit lossy compression used should be clearly stated
|
|
in the game-release in the .NFO or CRACKTRO file. This file
|
|
should be placed within the first file of a release so
|
|
everyone knows where to find it.
|
|
|
|
13. Enhancements:
|
|
|
|
Trainer releases & Update patches:
|
|
|
|
Fully cracked Update Patches and Trainers are highly
|
|
regarded, though they are not the responsibility of
|
|
any group (including the group which released the
|
|
original game title).
|
|
|
|
If 2 trainers from the same or different groups are released
|
|
for 1 game, this does NOT qualify as a dupe unless the latter
|
|
trainer provides no new features over the prior trainer.
|
|
|
|
Patches that are the same do qualify as a dupe. Also beta
|
|
patches fall under the area of betas and should also be
|
|
nuked accordingly. Even the companies that make beta
|
|
patches do not support them so, why should the scene?
|
|
|
|
All trainers must work the same on all formats that the
|
|
game supports. If the game supports W9x/WME/NT4/WXP/W2K3
|
|
/WOW64, then the trainer's options must work on all those
|
|
formats too.
|
|
|
|
No TMK/Magic or trainer making utility releases will be
|
|
allowed in making trainers. These will be banned as they
|
|
lack the quality that a real trainer employs and can be
|
|
unreliable on games that check for these in later levels
|
|
or situations.
|
|
|
|
Beta update patches will not considered a valid release
|
|
among any game group. No group shall release a cracked
|
|
patch for a game if a generic patch exists for a particular
|
|
game in the scene. If a generic crack exists, a new
|
|
patch-release must specify that the generic crack does
|
|
not work anymore.
|
|
|
|
14. Competition:
|
|
|
|
If two or more rips of the same game get released, the first
|
|
complete working rip wins. Sites should not nuke any release
|
|
until the winning rip has been proven to work correctly and
|
|
follows the above rule set.
|
|
|
|
15. Stealing:
|
|
|
|
No group shall use another's groups work - be it an iSO
|
|
crack or tools written by another competing group. Any
|
|
third party tools are acceptable. A crack from an iSO or
|
|
past release (even in other languages or iSO's) shall
|
|
not be used unless permission is given from the cracker or
|
|
creator of the original release group. This permission can
|
|
only be given by crackers and not leaders or seniors. Thus
|
|
making sure crackers control their own cracks and are not
|
|
dragged into group politics. It should be noted that most
|
|
iSO cracks are actually cracked by rip group crackers. Thus
|
|
without permission from the rip group, said crack cannot be
|
|
used by other groups. Even if no rip currently exists, as
|
|
that would be stealing. An example of this is groups like
|
|
TECHNIC who steal cracks all the time and should be banned
|
|
and nuked on all sites for reasons of quality.
|
|
|
|
If however a group or member makes their said tools/source
|
|
public, then they loose their right to prevent others using
|
|
their tools as they have made it public domain. This should
|
|
act as a deterrent to crackers who wish to brag to everyone
|
|
as protection companies gain an insight into the scene when
|
|
people make standard scene tools public. This then in turn
|
|
hurts the scene when protections get updated.
|
|
|
|
16. Flaming:
|
|
|
|
While baiting and harping within a groups release has always
|
|
been a part of the scene, at times groups have taken this
|
|
too far. This causes all groups to look lame and childish
|
|
within the eyes of end users; worse still it can lead to
|
|
security breeches. In order to avoid this being taken too
|
|
far in the future, direct naming/nicks of individuals (not
|
|
groups) within NFO files and other materials is STRICTLY
|
|
PROHIBITED.
|
|
|
|
17. Ancients:
|
|
|
|
No game can be ripped where the latest file date of a file
|
|
on the original media (CD/DVD) is older than 6 months prior
|
|
to the releases of the rip. This is to avoid the emergence
|
|
of new technologies being employed to resurrect past un-rip
|
|
able games & create a mess of hundreds of ancient games
|
|
being released. And to promote faster rips at the time of
|
|
game release. No rips that were deemed unrippable before
|
|
the date of March 5th, 2004 shall be released because
|
|
the new rules deem them rippable!
|
|
|
|
18. Rules:
|
|
|
|
These rules should be placed in the first zip file of every rip
|
|
release. It is hoped that this will prevent groups down the
|
|
line from feigning ignorance of the rip rules. This should
|
|
also allow these rules to travel far and wide in the hope that
|
|
all sites/groups will adopt these standards for game rip
|
|
releases, thus ensuring the quality we have come to expect
|
|
within the scene.
|
|
|
|
19. Sites:
|
|
|
|
It is highly regarded for all groups to establish a /GAMERIPS
|
|
directory on their affiliated FTP sites which will contain
|
|
game-iso rips and (optionally) DVD rips. Trainers and patches
|
|
belong to 0day.
|
|
|
|
20. DVD Amendment Rules:
|
|
|
|
With the advent of games on DVD media, albeit in minor
|
|
quantities, it has been decided to pre-empt any more rule
|
|
changes in the future by including the following DVD rules.
|
|
These rules will be based mostly on the existing rip rules
|
|
and will allow people to get used to this new and developing
|
|
scene.
|
|
|
|
a. Installation:
|
|
|
|
The DVD rip release should install from the CD and only
|
|
run the game from the hard drive. HD running of a game is
|
|
the goal, not running off CD. This is the usual way with
|
|
rips.
|
|
|
|
b. Size:
|
|
|
|
The game size for DVD RIPS should be made into a burnable
|
|
CD iSO format for easy burning and distribution. The .bin
|
|
and .cue format where possible. The release must not have
|
|
more than 3CD's of 80mins. Regardless of how many DVD's
|
|
there were. This should only be the case where the normal
|
|
rip sizes cannot apply and the original media format was
|
|
indeed DVD. It should not be used as an excuse to rip down
|
|
6 CD releases, as these have been proven to be rippable
|
|
even under the old rules in the past.
|
|
|
|
c. Format:
|
|
|
|
Release files should be in RAR format or any future
|
|
compression that supports multiple volumes and long file
|
|
names, followed by the traditional SFVing. And in also rip
|
|
sites/places should therefore adjust their scripts to
|
|
handle the new DVD rip formats as well as the usual ZIP
|
|
files. Siteops UPDATE your SCRIPTS!
|
|
|
|
d. Valid:
|
|
|
|
A rip release of 55 x 5,000,000 bytes and the release of
|
|
a DVD rip of the same game, are allowed as they will
|
|
accommodate to different users.
|
|
|
|
e. Singular:
|
|
|
|
No add-ons are allowed for DVD rips as the current size
|
|
should be enough. For patches and trainers the current
|
|
normal rip rules should apply.
|
|
|
|
f. CD/DVD availability:
|
|
|
|
No DVD rip of a game is allowed if a certain publisher
|
|
releases a game on CD and DVD unless the DVD game increases
|
|
some game features (like highres movies, etc.).
|
|
|
|
g. General:
|
|
|
|
In general the standard rules should be applied also to
|
|
DVD rips. If a group removes any allowed data and a
|
|
competing group can leave the data in and make it
|
|
the same CD count, their release is considered a
|
|
proper and is the valid release. It is preferred to
|
|
include as much data as possible on DVD rips.
|
|
Only if it is not possible to fit all data on 3 CDs by
|
|
downsampling and other means of compression it is legit
|
|
to remove data from the game. This means a 3 CD release
|
|
with movies included is preferred over a 2 CD release
|
|
with movies ripped out. Reasons for proper are:
|
|
|
|
A) If a group can rip a game to the same CD count
|
|
as the previous groups rip by including gamedata
|
|
ripped out by the previous group. Downsampling
|
|
IS ALLOWED. The size of the cds do not matter
|
|
in this case.
|
|
|
|
B) If a group can get 350mb smaller in size
|
|
as long as all previous data in rip is included
|
|
and NO downsampling occurs.
|
|
|
|
C) If a group can get 1 CD smaller in size
|
|
as long as all previous data in rip is included.
|
|
Downsampling IS ALLOWED.
|
|
|
|
To cease any confusion examples are provided:
|
|
|
|
Scenario A)
|
|
|
|
If group A releases a 2 CD DVDRip with movies and some
|
|
audio ripped, and group B releases their rip which is also
|
|
2 CD's with all movies/music included but downsampled,
|
|
group B's is the valid release. Regardless if group B's
|
|
release has bigger sized cds.
|
|
|
|
Scenario B)
|
|
|
|
Group A releases a 2 CD DVDRip with everything included,
|
|
both CD's being 700mb. Group B releases a 2 CD rip
|
|
with everything included but because of better technique
|
|
CD1 is 700mb and CD2 is 350mb, hence half a CD
|
|
smaller as long as movies are NOT downsampled it is the
|
|
valid release.
|
|
|
|
Scenario C)
|
|
|
|
Group A releases a 3 CD DVDRip, 2 CD's being 700mb, CD
|
|
3 being 200mb. Group B releases a 2 CD rip with everything
|
|
included from previous rip, because of better technique
|
|
or downsampling it is the valid release. This is true
|
|
regardless of the size of the last CD, be it 700mb or 10mb.
|
|
|
|
|
|
S.S.R. March 5th, 2004
|
|
|
|
Signed and ratified by Leaders & Council Members of the
|
|
following groups: Myth, Divine, Vace, Instinct, Dynasty,
|
|
Oceanine, Cubic, Delice, Bowling, NLrip and Storm.
|
|
</pre>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|