How to lock/password protect mods?

[Reinhard]

Good luck. I've never searched for one. The only tool which I use for protected mods is a Window's tool called "trash bin". Easy, save, and spares me any trouble.

[Mohegan13]

Can I borrow your computer? I have the tools to recover lost data so long as the file space hasn't been overwritten.

[Reinhard]

You wouldn't find much. I'm not a mod-hunter. Since I have this game, I never downloaded a truck, nor a map-mod. No interior, no accessories. Only a few vehicles for the AI, of which only one older trailer from Bora staid. Plus a couple of skin-packs. Various work on the definition files, especially related to the AI.

In most cases I download mods for inspection, how things was done. Can safe much trial and error.

[MightyBeno]

*rule 2.12*

I know I'm over 3 years late, But I'm interested as I have seen many mod makers locking it in the way you said which WinRaR or any software alike can open but the game easily can.

[Reinhard]

Well, the difference apparently is that other archive handling programs check if there is a password/encryption attribute set, while the game doesn't. The game just loads the content, whatever it is. So the "protected" content is for sure not encrypted.

I don't know any details how this kind of "protection" is done. Didn't ever even try to password-protect or encrypt an archive in the normal way.

I rarely download mods, but if I do, I check the content and try to understand it, to know if there is any interference with any other of my mods. If something asks for a password, I simply toss it to the bin.

[Some newbie driver]

The "protection" of mods, as far as I've read from here and there, is made mostly creating a ZIP file that DOESN'T comply strictly the ZIP file structure standard (I thing some details missed/wrong in the file header). Regular compression programs do check that strictness and, as the check fails, don't let open the "protected" file. While SCS loader doesn't check that detail so it allows it to load the data without problem.

That's really not a "protection" at all, it's very easy to program a tool or find one already done to bypass that trick. That "protection" is only effective against people that don't want to make any effort at all to avoid it. It's like to try to close with a chain a fence so damaged that you can put down with a kick.

Regards

[Mohegan13]

There are other ways to protect mods that the average person might not be able to get into. But at the end of the day, anything someone can do to protect their intellectual property, there will be someone out there who can undo it to exploit that IP.

[Some newbie driver]

Very true. It has been discussed in the forum lots of times. The only true protection to avoid mod modification would be that mods were encrypted with a public key of SCS that only the game could decrypt on loading. And the only way to avoid people stole a mod's re-distributable and upload as if it was theirs would be the only mods allowed by the game would be downloaded from a "mod store" controlled by SCS where they could control any copy attempt and manage authorship claims. A huge mess with lots of nasty derived consequences. So it's not going to happen, ever.

Unfortunately, the best a modder can do is to don't care at all, don't share at all or don't mod at all.

[bobgrey1997]

It's like to try to close with a chain a fence so damaged that you can put down with a kick.

So, basically my backyard fence which we close the gate of using a chain and a rock we found in the road a few years back.
When closed, the bottom of the gate meets fine, but the tops are over a foot away from each other (about 1/3 meters).
We only close it anyway so that the dogs don't get out. They could easily jump the gap, but they are too lazy.

As for locking mods, as many have said here, it is useless.
No matter what you do, someone out there somewhere will steal it and reupload it. Even the largest game developers out there, the ones which spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop their own DRM software to prevent exactly this, still have their games stolen and reuploaded to various pirate sites.
Any time you make a mod and share it, expect it to be stolen and reuploaded. Do your part and post on the mod page that such reuploads are prohibited. Most of the community on these Forums or on Steam (if your mod is on the Workshop) will respect that and will refuse to support the mod anywhere else (so that they don't support the pirates who stole your mod), and I have seen many people even seek out those mods on other sites to leave comments saying the mod was stolen, directing users on those sites to the mod's proper page.

As for unlocking mods, if anyone knows where I could get these "unlockers", I would greatly appreciate it. I can't even begin to tell you how upset it makes me when I finally find that mod I never knew I needed, only to not be able to use it because it is broken and locked and the developer of it is no longer around.

[Pumizo]

We only close it anyway so that the dogs don't get out. They could easily jump the gap, but they are too lazy.

Good point there!
It's precisely from the lazy dogs that we should protect our mods. The ones called "humans" will respect rules, ethics and will learn how to do their own stuff instead of stealing others work.
In my opinion, the more security steps you take, the lower the risk. Even knowing that there's always a way to unlock, steal, hack.