The rules for the cracking knowledge skill: for retro enginering utilities from there object code to source code.
I know i have read it but I carn't find it in my books
Can some one give me a title and page no please?

Need some help here. Anyone?

Let me see if I got this right: You believe that somewhere there are rules regarding a knowledge skill called "cracking," and that it is used to reverse engineer decking utilities. You recall reading it, but not where it is. That right?

Geez, man, I'm not a rules expert like some guys, but I'm pretty sure that I've never read that anywhere. I got a friend who studied up on 3ed decking for a recent character. I'll check with him when he's back in town.

Edit: You did look in the indexes of those books that have one, right?

I don't recall anything of the sort in canon. Maybe you saw it on the Internet somewhere.

Nope definately read this in a book, remember the feel of hard copy.
Something on the lines of can only crack utilites up to equal the skill rating and takes almost as long as to program the damn thing yourself. Used by software pirates.
Ring any bells?
Bugging the hell out me, check all the SotA books and of course Matrix. Perhapes its in an adventure?

Rings a bell for me too. I have no idea from where though, sorry. But I can confirm your vague hunch that such rules exist.

Might be 2nd ed book come to think of it...

Ringing a bell for me, too. Recheck SotA and Target:Matrix.

Are you sure you aren't thinking of the "Cracker" edge from the Shadowrun Companion? That's the only thing I can think of at the moment (and without my books being here right now, I can't even be sure that I've got that right ).

I'm pretty sure I remember rules for breaking copy protection in either one of the SotA books, Target:Matrix, or maybe the 3rd ed Matrix book.
I don't necessarily remember it being called "Cracking", but I remember something.
I, at least, am not thinking of the Cracker edge.

None of that sounds anything like how a Knowledge Skill is traditionally depicted as working in Shadowrun. Have you tried SR3's [b]Matrix[/i] sourcebook?

It's in the SR3 matrix sourcebook, chapter on creating a decker, talks about new skills and uses for old skills

I just looked through that, pages 24-26. I'm pretty sure there's no mention of "cracking."

Oh. Oh my. Yeah, I totally missed what you were pointing at as being uncharacteristic, comment withdrawn

Though that /is/ similar to how programming works…

~J

Well, it is. Rather, it's a specialization of Computers (because anything that isn't a firearm is lumped into one or two big skills, even if it covers relatively unrelated concepts/skillsets). Nevertheless, it's a precedent for a skill of some sort capping what you can do with it at its level.

~J

The good old times of massive numbers of dice against insane TNs...

The difference between object code and source code was introduced in Virtual Realities (SR2), but I did not find anything on rebuilding the source from object code.

State of the Art: 2063, page 124 and 125. It's a skill relating to creating forgeries of electronic sculptures.

You win.

Could you give me a short quote, as that's one of the books I can't get to right now.

"Sculpts are constructs. To create a scupt, use the rules for IC constructs (p91, Matrix), except that an average sculpt has no payload, no Hacking Pool and no Initiative. Its core rating may not exceed the programmer's Computer (Programming) Skill.

Just as forgeries, unatuhorised copies and sotlen goods are the dark underside of the glittering physical art world, the same holds true in the Matrix. With the advent of Matrix sculpts as an art form (and a lucrative one at that), the demand for knock-offs is high enough to tempt almost any non-law-abiding citizne with enough talent to pull it off."

Copying a scipt requires the source code. If the source code isn't available, but the object code is, then cracking can be used to reverse engineer the source code from the object code. A cracker (I just wanted to say that) requires the Cracking knowledge skill, and a cracker cannot crack a program with a muliplier (not rating, multiplier) than his Cracking skill. A computer with active and storage memory equal to or greater than the size of the program is needed.

The cracking requires a Computer (Programming) test with a target number equal to the rating of the program +4. A cracking utility reduces this target number by it's rating. If the computer being used has twice the required memory, apply a -2 modifier.

Base time is twice the base time it takes to create teh program (mp size in days x2). Successes from the programming test reduce this time.

BTW, the Cracker utility has a multiplier of 6.

One method of preventing cracking is the "signature" program option, which has a design rating modifier of +3. Programs with this option add a further +4 modifier to the target to crack the source code from the object code, as outlined above.

And yes I am familiar with the copyright legislation in my particular neck of the woods

Whark?

~J

Thanks.

It still sounds like you really only use the Computer Skill.

Thanks Enigma, finally have the rules i have been looking for...