I'm sure there are some modders out there who would rather not have their mods being easily decompiled and re-released by someone who is claiming to be them. I am not one of them, however the thought came into my head just recently, because of how easy it was to decompile a mod I made because I didn't save the original folder. Are/is there any way(s) to obfuscate, or encrypt the .modpak files so that people cannot leak other peoples work? If not, I think it'll be good to look into.
to be honest, i don't give a fuck if someone digs around in my mod files. The most people who're digging around in your files are trying to learn shit so.... On the other hand, i'd always want a short notice or asking of *can i repost* or * i modified you cool with that ? check it out* but in most cases i really don't give a fuck, it's starbound, it's not like we're working on a secret CIA project..(oh shit! forget that i said that.... PSHHHHH!) but to answer your question, most people who'll download the mod will do *fliptable* after they see .modpak. I don't think there's a real way to "encrypt" it. Starbound would have to decrypt it while loading, really not necessary i think.
Well, It'll be the same as if someone were to obfuscate a program, at least that's what I would think. The program loads it, and can read it, however a human cannot.
While this is a neat idea, the whole concept could really slow down modding progress, as people new to modding have to learn how to do it by looking at other people's mods. Now I don't condone mod "theft" but progress comes faster with shared information.
Yes it would. However, if Chucklefish were to include an obfuscator in their win32 folder that uses a custom wordlist to obfuscate, I think that would make the process easier. But, like you said, with new modders looking at other mods to get the general idea of modding, obfuscating may hurt the modding community. Or at least discourage new modders because sometimes it can be difficult. But, this is just an idea. Like if someone made a big mod, and wanted to be the only person who has the code, they could be the only person. And no one would be able to get their hands on the code easily unless if they crack the obfuscation/encryption, or if the code is stolen, if the modder does not put it out. Now I am 100% for open source, but like I said, this is just an idea.
