Hex Editing Today! Hex editing. UGH!

Many games without cheat codes require you to dig into the games "database" using a Hex editor. Many times, Hex editing is used in Savegame files. When you want a certain number of credits or money, you will use a Hex editing tool to get those credits or money. Yes, Hex editing isn't a walk down the street. Prior programming knowledge will help greatly. Now, down to the real stuff. Hex, is a language made up of Alphanumerics (Letters + Numbers combined to form actual coding that is read by the computer) I recommend making a back up of whatever you are chopping up. One little mistake can make whatever you are editing to crash. (I recommend using Hex Workshop, it automatically makes a backup for you, the shareware of this Hex editor can be found at www.download.com, or www.shareware.com.) The Hex board (where the editing takes place) is composed of 8 columns. Each column can contain up to 1 million lines of code. The columns are divided into rows. Each row contains 32 Alphanumerics. At the end of the row are words, many of these words can be read in English. This is the translation row. This is where the Hex is translated into actual coding that the computer can understand. All the way to the left, you will see an 8 digit alphanumeric. This is what we techies call the "Offset," you can call it a "Tag." Think of it as a name for each row. The "Tag" keeps everything in order. "Offsets" or "Tags" cannot be edited by you. "Tags" are permanent and are used extensively by the computer. Here is an example of how you use the Hex editor. (This is geared toward Hex Workshop, which is my favorite Hex Editor. ) We have a game, Kill the Bug. We have searched everywhere, but no cheat codes. Then you find a site that is all for Hex editing your games. You think to avoid it, which you might actually do, but once your done reading this article, you will goto this type of site. The site gives you Hex instructions for all types of games. BAM! At the bottom of the list if Hex instructions for Kill the Bug. You open it up. Here is what you see. Open your Savegame file with a Hex editor, then Goto Offset 000001AB and change the first 4 Alphanumerics to FFFF. This will give you 100 Lives. OK, you are now saying, WHAT THE HECK IS THIS CRAP! Well, its not crap. Many people do not know how to use Hex. Many cheats available today where found using Hex. OK, you open your Savegame file, and this is what you see: OFFSETS INSTRUCTION AREA TRANSLATION AREA 000001C0 6368 2C20 3230 3834 2031 333A 3138 3A35 Kill...the...Bug. Copyrighted 000001B0 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 .......LKskkfd.///sdfsfkjs z|

000001G2 000001D5 000002F4 000004GI U% 000001AB 000001C0 000001F0 000001O0 000001C0

0000 0000 0000 0000 001D 0000 0000 0000 0000

0000 0000 0000 0000 0021 0000 0000 0000 0000

0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000

0000 0000 0000 0000 00F0 0000 0000 0000 0000

0000 0000 0000 0000 FF10 0000 0000 0000 0000

0000 0000 0000 0000 0020 0000 0000 0000 0000

0000 0000 0000 0000 FEFF 0000 0000 0000 0000

0000 0000 0000 0000 FF20 0000 0000 0000 0000

..dfsalsaldfm1249l23/cepwef dfsdfsdfdsfsfar4943534(54 e329332403)(87304r } ......efsdfdfsdafngvahath4(**($ (4594345((*&%$juiunu4Hn (**&%B$($*H(*$N*NF*( )(**UDJF(*DSF*(DNKBHJ (*$*JIS))F(DMF()DMF)SBB )($U)J$#)NDIF)(DF_SM(_

OK, close your mouth now. This is what an actual Hex board looks like. Remember the Cheating Instructions. Goto Offset 000001AB and change the first 4 Alphanumerics to FFFF Locate the Offset 000001AB in the chart above. Now change the first 4 Alphanumerics to FFFF. Once you are done, the Hex line should look like this: 000001AB FFFF 0021 0000 00F0 FF10 0020 FEFF FF20 Before you edited it: 000001AB 001D 0021 0000 00F0 FF10 0020 FEFF FF20 After you have edited it: 000001AB FFFF 0021 0000 00F0 FF10 0020 FEFF FF20 Once again, this article was written with Hex Workshop in mind. Do a search for hex editers at www.download.com www.shareware.com Or, you can get Ultra Edit at http://www.ultraedit.com Thanks for reading and good luck! By: Joey Santinino