Sunday, November 30, 2014

Bruteforce Save Data Frequently Asked Questions


Having woes with Bruteforce Save Data? Here I will answer some of the most common questions I receive about using the software. Hopefully this will help resolve most of your issues.

Whenever I launch Bruteforce Save Data, I receive an error message saying msvbvm50.dll is missing?


You will need to install Visual Basic Runtime 5. The software will not run without it.

Loaded game saves, but they are labeled as UNREADABLE and I cannot do anything with them.


This is either a permissions issue or can occur if you haven't installed Microsoft Visual Basic C++ 2010 (x86). Make sure you install the x86 version, not the x64. If you installed it and are still receiving UNREADABLE, make sure you are logged into an account with administrator privileges and are not storing your game saves on a write protected directory.

Cheats Repository will not download and/or fail to update.


Update to the latest version of Bruteforce Save Data, run the software as an administrator (right click on the exe file and select "Run as Administrator") and try the update again. You can also download the latest cheats repository manually by visiting the Bruteforce Save Data forums. Simply replace the existing game.conf and add the cheat files with the ones included in the download.

I receive [BLANK] as profile ID when setting up or resigning game saves.


This can occur if your PS3 user account does not have an attached PSN account and you are not logged into it while creating your game saves or saving over them in-game. Please read this post for more information.

BLANK ID will work on games that do not specifically require a unique ID on their game saves. You will have to test the game save after resigning it with a blank ID first.

When I do the rebuild process, the profile name and ID on the game save does not change.


Ensure you are running the software as an administrator. Right click the Bruteforce Save Data exe file and select "Run as Administrator". Then try to rebuild again.

How do I obtain a missing key for a game?


Select the game save and hit F6 (Bruteforce), then select the game's EBOOT.ELF file. EBOOT.ELF file is only available on the game data itself, not the game save. You will need to find someway to transfer the game's data from disc or hard drive to your PC.

I receive corruption message after rebuilding/encrypting a game save and using it on my PS3.


First off, check to see that the game save is actually properly encrypted. The rebuild process should automatically decrypt and encrypt the game save in the process. Always use the "Verify PFD" button to verify that the game save has been correctly encrypted and normal (you should see no red messages). Attempting to run a game save in a decrypted state will always result in a corruption message. Again, you should try to run the software as an administrator to counter this.

Secondly, corruption can also occur due to the following reasons:
1.) Multilayer encryption - Certain games, most notably newer games, will use multilayer encryption. Without a tool to specifically decrypt beyond the first layer, the game save cannot be modified and used without corruption. A fix is to wait until a tool is available, or you can use devices such as Game Genie, which allows you to decrypt all the layers of certain multilayer encrypted game saves. A list of such known current games that uses multilayer encryption can be found on Bruteforce Save Data forums.
2.) Bad/incorrect data - This can occur if you are transferring from one region to another. The differences in offset between the two regions in the game's save data can be different enough that the game will mess up reading it, causing corruption. And yes, this means that not all games can be transferred to one region to another. This can of course occur if you mess with the game save's data too much without knowledge on how to change values.
3.) Wrong region title/ID - If you use the wrong region title/ID, you will receive corruption.
4.) Wrong key - If you use the wrong key for your game save, you will also receive corruption. This can accidentally happen if your game is in multiple regions. Use the specific key for your region only.

If you confirm you did everything correctly and are still receiving corruption message, the problem may be the above four.

After resigning my game save, it still states the save belongs to another user.


Something failed during the rebuilding process or you are using a blank ID on a game that doesn't support it. You must ensure that after rebuilding, your exact PS3 user account profile name and ID appears on the game save. Running as an administrator will solve most of these problems.

How do I apply cheats?


After decrypting the game save, the cheats button should be available. Click it and you can add your cheats. After adding cheats, you need to encrypt the game save to avoid corruption. If you are running an older version, you may need to right click the game save and select "Apply Cheats" instead.

How do I edit data directly with a hex editor?


After decrypting the game save, you can open up the BIN file directly with a hex editor and make changes. Of course, you have to make sure you know what you're doing. The search function is probably the most useful tool to find existing values and change them. Encrypt the game save after to avoid corruption.


If you have any other questions and concerns not detailed in this post, feel free to jot me an e-mail and I will try to answer you promptly. Just do not ask me to simply resign a game save for you.

Important Announcement Regarding Sending Me Your PS3 Game Saves to Resign


Please do not send me your game saves on PS3 and request me to resign them. I am very sorry to say, but I will no longer accept requests of such. The same applies to region transferring or even on Xbox 360.

I just do not have the time to do them and do not feel honored after doing them. I'm also on a Mac 99% of the time, so it's rather inconvenient of me to change operating system just to resign a save for someone, especially given how easy it is to do it on their own.

Don't get me wrong, I will certainly help you through problem solving and attempting my utter best to get things working for you, but you will need to tell me exactly what problems you are having. That means being very specific, including explaining all the steps you did and what error messages you are receiving (if any). Too many are being completely vague and saying things like "it will not resign I get errors". The only reason I created tutorials was I want this to be a learning experience for everyone, so if you learn how to do it yourself right, you can always do it on your own and troubleshoot your own problems. If I simply resigned game saves for everyone, then I'm doing free favors for everyone and no one will learn anything.

Also note that before you attempt resigning a game save, ensure your game can be fully decrypted in Bruteforce Save Data first. Many people are attempting to resign the latest and newest games, failing and this is because a lot of newer games use multilayer encryption including having unknown checksums, which cannot be decrypted using Bruteforce Save Data. Game Genie can counter this, but that doesn't support all games. Tools are also available for specific games to decrypt all the layers. If you repeatedly receive corruption and did everything right, the game is likely not compatible.

If you are 100% sure you followed all steps completely in the tutorials, I can assure you I will not be doing a better job than you are.

I recommend everyone who seeks help to visit the official Bruteforce Save Data forums. There are people who have more knowledge than myself, including the creator of the software himself, and will be happy to assist you with all problems. And it's free!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Officially Freed from Maker Gen YouTube Network in 21 Days! Time to Spill the Beans on My Earnings!



In only what would seem like a devilishly long 21 days, I will be officially freed from the locked-in grasp of Maker Gen/RPM Networks. I like to briefly share with you my experience with this network, having been part of it for almost two years, and why I now no longer encourage anyone who is serious about earning money on YouTube to join.

Maker Gen as you know, is one of the many YouTube Networks available for channels to partner with, allowing channel owners to earn money from the advertising displayed on their videos. The Network splits the earnings with the channel owners, usually a specific set ratio, and the earnings will vary depending on how much the CPM (Cost-per-thousand-impressions) of the ads are.

When I initially joined Maker Gen, known back then as RPM Networks before they decided to change their name a thousand times, I was happy and satisfied. Mostly because I was finally a YouTube partner and could earn some dollars making videos. That also helped offset the cost of expensive equipment and the purchase of imported games, often costing up to hundreds of dollars.

Fast forward a year later, I was beginning to get dreary of this network. I discovered I wasn't earning as much as I could had I partnered with other networks. Their support initially was atrocious, repeatedly not responding to customer tickets and e-mails for weeks. It was bad enough that it made them notorious for being the epitome of worst support of all networks. My e-mails were ignored for weeks until they decided it was finally time to respond. Now that they supposedly revamped their support system and team, it has been better, but still not perfect.

Near the end of last November, I made the biggest mistake by accidentally deciding to continue with them for another year. You see, by the time I learned of much better networks, it was already too late to disband. This was due to their undesirable locked-in contract which forces you to stay with them for one or two years, with no way out unless you purposely commit a felony on YouTube. Their contract terms allows them to automatically renew all of their partners every year without your consignment. The only way to stop this madness was to alert them 30 days prior to the end of the contract. Good luck with that, as even after you accomplish such, they will still make you stay with them until the actual end of the contract date.

And so I sucked it up and the contract renewed for another year. Although I did positively went from a measly 60/40 revenue split to 70/30.

One of many reasons why Maker Gen isn't a good network is their less than favorable revenue split. A lot of networks nowadays offer up to 90/10, and simply getting 60 or 70 won't cut it, considering how bad their support is and the locked-in nature of their contract. You could argue that their supposedly higher CPM will offset the low ratio, but I haven't seen much confirmation that they have a higher CPM then other networks that offer higher splits.

So this November, I made the best decision to alert them 30 days prior to the end of my contract with them, and they have finally agreed to let my channel go on December 17th. Elation ensues!

So what network am I going to join now and what do I suggest people join?
I'm definitely joining Curse, Union for Gamers and so should anyone that has a channel composed of 80% or more of gaming material. The simple reason is that they offer three things that makes a great network: no lock-in (free to leave anytime), 90/10 revenue split (one of the highest ever) and great support.

If your channel isn't dominantly gaming related, I highly suggest you must go with a network that doesn't have lock-in, so you can leave anytime you please if the network does not live up to your expectations. Again, do not join Maker Gen unless you wish to feel depressed of all the money they've stolen from you for a year. This goes for Social Blade too, as joining Social Blade is the same thing as joining Maker Gen (Social Blade is just a recruiter)!

Finally, I spill the beans about my total earnings from Maker Gen! Also, some words of encouragement!
Although the contract states that I'm not allowed to publicly show my earnings, I'm going to say screw that and show you guys anyway. If they ban me from their network attempting this, I'll actually be more happy as I can leave their network even earlier.

I was with Maker Gen for approximately two years, from January 18th, 2013 to November 26th as of today. This is a screenshot of my Earnings for that date range (minus a few days) directly from YouTube: 


As you can see, it's definitely possible to earn a decent amount of money from YouTube if one is committed to it and creates daily, consistent and quality videos. For me it's even more of a surprise as I basically trapped my channel in a niche category—KOEI and hack and slash games, and still earned $13k in two years. Had I expanded to more territories, I could have earned a lot more, but I personally chose to not alienate my fanbase.

It's definitely not easy earning the amount of money shown, especially if you are just starting out. But remember that it took me a lot of hard work and I had to initially develop my channel for four years before joining a network. My channel actually started in 2008 and I grew it with quality videos until 2013, where I finally was popular enough to be noticed by a network. After joining however I was only achieving a lousy $1-$3 a day. It was only until a couple months later that after more hard work that I was finally getting out of that pathetic range, getting up to $30 a day in earnings.

Whatever you do though, do not follow in my footsteps of what I've been doing for the last couple of months—not making any videos or very few in-between.

So what gives about the lack of videos recently on my channel?
Could I be slouching? The answer is no, I've been so busy lately that I haven't found much free time to create videos, as lame as an excuse as that may be. Starting July, I ventured into a new job where I would work for myself to earn money, buying and reselling goods, doing this for nearly eight hours every day and that includes lots of traveling. By the time I come home I am already extremely exhausted and just feel like going directly to sleep after, until the next day where I have to work again. I know, sounds sad, but I'm definitely satisfied with it. I bought a new house a couple months ago and I need all the money I can make to pay mortgage on it, not even including necessities to feed and keep my family healthy. YouTube earnings alone aren't just going to cut it, especially when Maker Gen steals 30% of it every month.

However, I have decided to recently cut back on my job, spending about only four hours instead of eight, and not working every day. This should allow me to get back to making YouTube videos more often. I already have purchased the Japanese version of Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires and I may consider uploading videos of that game. It will just depend on how things go.

Anyway, that was the story I like to tell for the day. I hope it wasn't a boring read, especially to those who aren't YouTube content creators. I'll likely have some more interesting posts in the upcoming weeks. :D

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Samurai Warriors 4 Weapon Modding Now Possible on PS3!


All you modders can happily rejoice, as Samurai Warriors 4's game save can now be successfully decrypted with Bruteforce Save Data without corruption, thanks to chaoszage's Samurai Warriors 4 Checksum Fixer Tool. If you are unfamiliar with what decrypting a game save does, it essentially destroys the encryption and allows editing of its data. This makes it possible to make all sorts of changes to your game save's data, including of course the modification of weapons.

This is pure software without the need of devices such as Game Genie or Cyber Save Editor.

So here's basically how you do it:

First, you need to have the latest version of Bruteforce Save Data installed. If not, you should at least have updated your cheats repository to the latest database.

Second, you'll need chaoszage's Samurai Warriors 4 Checksum Fixer Tool. Without this tool, you will end up with corruption after decrypting and encrypting. You can download it here.

Open your Samurai Warriors 4's game save using Bruteforce Save Data, decrypt it, edit the data as you would normally (or apply cheats), run the Checksum Fixer Tool on the game save, then encrypt it with Bruteforce Save Data.

Transfer the game save to your PS3 and you should be good to go!

Weapon Modification Codes and Skill Values:

All 1st Weapon Skills Mod
42003884 05050505
403c0110 00000000
42003888 05050505
403c0110 00000000
4200388c aabbccdd
403c0110 00000000
42003890 eeffgghh
403c0110 00000000
42003894 05050505
403c0110 00000000
42003898 05050505
403c0110 00000000
4200389c 02020202
403c0110 00000000
420038A0 02020202
403c0110 00000000

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/730732-samurai-warriors-4/faqs/69237
Use link above to refer the skills effects


Fill aa,bb,cc,dd,ee,ff,gg,hh with value below:

00   Potency
01   Range
02   Counrage
03   Impact
04   Fury
05   Underdog
06   Momentum
07   Clarity
08   Verity
09   Concentration
0A   Fortitude
0B   Stability
0C   Elasticity
0D   Bravery
0E   Determination
0F   Resolve
10   Nullification
11   Zeal
12   Conviction
13   Resurrection
14   Alacrity
15   Blaze
16   Shock
17   Frost
18   Wind
19   Diamond
1A   Reaper
1B   Rampage
1C   Impulse
1D   Awakening
1E   Cavalry
1F   Equestrian
20   Connoisseur
21   Collector
22   Hoarder
23   Constitution
24   Expert
25   Endurance
26   Paladin
27   Stimulus


Modding weapons directly with a hex editor:

You could theoretically mod the weapons without using the code above directly via a hex editor, if you require only specific weapons be altered. Again, this process should be identical to Dynasty Warriors 8. Write down your weapon's skills in hex as it appears in order, then use the search function in a hex editor to replace skills. This process has not yet been tested, so there is no guarantee yet of it working.

Some other fun codes if you're THAT lazy:

Max Gold
20007842 000F423F


Max Kills

2000784A 05F5E0ff


All Gems Max
200078BC 63636363
200078C0 63636363


All Chars Proficiency Max

42000C44 14141414
403C0044 00000000


All 1st Weapon Becomes Rare

40003883 00000000
403c0110 00000002


Notice: This is all specifically for the US/EU versions of Samurai Warriors 4. If you need codes and values for the Japanese version, visit savedata.jp.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Just Got My Largest Check Yet from SurveySavvy!


Here is proof that yes, you can indeed make a decent amount of money online filling out surveys and that not every one of them are scams. This check was from SurveySavvy, one of my favorite paid consumer survey/research sites that I detailed in this earlier post and currently the only one I'm engaged to.

In fact, more than $200 of this money was from essentially not doing anything but filling out a few five minute surveys and installing some software (that you can leave alone once installed) on a computer, tablet and smartphone. The software is called SavvyConnect and it basically just monitors what websites you visit (using it for research purposes obviously). They pay heavily for using this software. I get offers from $50-$200 in projects that involve using SavvyConnect. Like I said, the best part is not having to do anything but leave the software installed and take a few short surveys from time to time.

I have another $225 check coming shortly from SurveySavvy. Booyah!

So if you are interested, definitely consider joining SurveySavvy, check out their SavvyConnect software (install it) and start earning some extra cash very easily.

But wait, you will want to use my referral link to sign up: https://www.surveysavvy.com/?m=233689

That way, you and I can both earn a extra percentage of each other's earnings.  Don't worry, we won't lose any of our earnings. Hence, there's nothing to lose for both of us!

P.S: In no way am I being paid by SurveySavvy to post this. These are all my honest words and experience and I'm simply providing information on how to earn some money online easily.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Tool to Decrypt Second Layer of Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Available



I should have posted this bit of news earlier, but thanks to chaoszage, you can successfully decrypt the second layer of Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends with a free Windows program that requires no  hardware or devices.

As you may have recalled, Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends (along with all newly released KOEI games) has incorporated double layer encryption security for save files. Up until now, the only method of fully decrypting the game saves required usage of paid devices, such as Game Genie and PS3 Cyber Save Editor.

Why would you need to decrypt the game save? Plenty of scenarios—if you want to resign it to another user's profile/PS3, mod your save data, transfer regions, etc.

The guide for usage is included in the download. Remember that you need to pair the decrypter with Bruteforce Save Data. First layer of decryption is done via Brutefroce and the second layer is with this tool.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE TOOL

Have fun, and don't spoil yourself!