id Software's Usenet Group Posts Archive

quake/articles/1997/art-943

Path: mantis!not-for-mail

From: zards@xnet.com (Arthur Zards)

Newsgroups: rec.games.computer.quake.announce

Subject: Quake Source Stolen

Date: 16 Jan 1997 16:31:53 -0000

Organization: XNet Information Systems

Lines: 41

Sender: tony@jobstream.co.uk

Approved: quake@mantis.co.uk

Message-ID: <5bh241$81o@flood.xnet.com>

Anyone else know about this?

Taken from www.hotwired.com/news. Do a search for Quake.

1/10/97

Hackers Hack Crack, Steal Quake

by Annaliza Savage

Friday - Hackers broke into the Web server and file server of Crack dot Com, a

Texas gaming company, on Wednesday, stealing the source code for id's Quake

1.01, as well as Crack's newest project, Golgatha, and older games Abuse and

Mac Abuse.

Although the hackers left a trail that may make them easy to track, the theft

did its damage. "Quake's raw engine market value dropped several hundred

thousand dollars," said Dave Taylor, who formed Crack dot Com after leaving id

Software, where he worked on Doom and Quake. But Barrett Alexander of id

denies that the financial loss will be so great, saying that the code for

Quake's unique engine is recognizable, making it hard for anyone to be able to

use without id's knowledge.

Crack dot Com is also worried that its unreleased techniques, developed for

Golgotha, could make their way into the hands of other game competitors, who

could copy bits of code into their own software.

The hackers, who were able to get through the Crack's firewall, left intact a

bash-history file that recorded all their movements. They even logged onto

IRC's #quake to brag about their exploits, and made Quake's source available

on Crack dot Com's homepage (it is no longer there).

The hackers, who identified themselves as being from the group FEH, probably

broke through Crack's firewall through their Web site. The former editor of

the now defunct hacker magazine FEH denies any knowledge of the event, and has

already posted a disclaimer.