[Help] [Resolved] Cheat Engine memory address changes

[perilomo]

Hello all,

I am new to Cheat Engine and hacking in general and have very basic and rudimentary understanding of scripting (Aka almost none existent, but I can prevent my screen from going into screensaver mode using powershell).

I have been using Cheat Engine for a really long time in a very basic way. Search for a value, search again, repeat 4-6 times until I get the single memory address where the value I want to change is stored and continue from there.
Problem with that approach is every time I close the game and re-open it, the address where the value I need is in a different location so I need to repeat the whole scanning process over and over again.

I was thinking to ask - I can see people posting cheat tables that perform all sort of stuff with games regardless of how many times the game is re-opened, and I want to learn how to do that.

Is there a way to force the game to use the same memory address every time? Or maybe instead make Cheat Engine itself recognize the memory pattern for the value I am looking for so that when I re-open the game Cheat Engine finds it on its own and allows me to edit it immediately rather than scanning for the address all over again?

Thanks in advance!

[Paul44]

^ most tables will come with them '<scripts>'. Double-click these tags, and you'll - most likely - find "aobscanmodule xxx" commands in there. These commands take care of this "dynamic character".
(since any program (thus also game) is loaded dynamically, memory locations change accordingly...)

=> 2 tips:
1. parcour CE's tutorial... as far as possible. You'll know then at least if this is your cup of tea, or not ?!
2. if you can't be bothered with that, then build a pointerscan - google for examples on how to do/manage that - for the value you'd like to monitor. These will remain "reasonably" active for a limited period of time (if you are lucky till you've finished the game)

[SunBeam]

...

Most games till 2005-2008 or so still used static memory, meaning templates or anything player or player-inventory related would be stored at the same address on every run of the game. Of course, the only problem a gamer would face would be playing the game with the EXACT SAME executable as the cheat table maker had. But that wasn't a problem finding it, given sites like gamecopyworld.com exist out there.

In today's gaming world, 99% of the Engines allocate memory for their internal objects based on predefined templates. Once the map is unloaded, these objects are destroyed. Loading the map again would reinitialize the objects (allocation, structures initialization, etc.).

You have to get acquainted with the terminology, do a bit of programming yourself to understand how your compiled ASM or C++ program looks like in a debugger.. then move into gamehacking. If what I told you is "too complicated" or "too hard", you'll be stuck for years at scan-debug-nop level. Some people are still there (am talking about those with a lot of posts on these forums.. you'd say the # of posts matches their level of knowledge.. nah).

[perilomo]

Appreciate the replies.

I know that my level of know how is lacking, but honestly learning to program for a single game or two just because they are not popular enough for people already have made cheat tables for them is a bit much =D

I were hoping I can use the cumulative knowledge already present in this community to learn how to do the specific things I do need rather than trying to figure out how CE works from tutorials when I lack the basic understanding of how programs actually work under the hood...

I have a little bit of know how and am not a complete idiot when it comes to computer language, but I lack the time and motivation to actually go deep into it to actually learn a programming language (At least until my job forces me to).

Again, I am very thankful for the responses but I am hoping that somebody can actually abbreviate the steps? Or at least point me to the pages where I can find what I am looking for?
I am not saying that I am expecting people to do my research and job for me, just point me a bit more specifically with a few hints here and there.

Like what is a pointerscan?

I guess what I am looking for is ELI5 that is a bit more direct than the tutorials that show basics for people who understand how to apply the concepts to a more complex task (Which is what my personal need eventually is)

[Paul44]

^if it was easy, everybody would be doing this so... and you are expecting a simple explanation on how to do something complex ?!

anywho:
a. google 'cheat engine pointerscan': you'll find several good vids on the subject
b. right-click the value you've found (and added to the addrelist), and choose 'Pointerscan...'; accept default values.
Note: if game is x64, then it'll take some time to finish and it might generate a big file on disk.
=> how to manage/clean_up such pointerscans: see pt a. (thàt + experience in due time)

[SunBeam]

Just a side-note: all of the people who've told me so far they "want to learn" ended up telling the truth that all they want really is hacking their one game they're playing now. Knowledge is everywhere since years now, "smart phones" made that access even easier. Problem is the human being has now too much time on their hands; and what are they using it for? Evolving, expanding their knowledge? Nope: Tik Tok, Instagram and the classical and typical boy/man wanting to score girl/woman and vice-versa. In game-hacking world we don't care how big your cohones are... or who you scored. Same as your brawn or ability to post intricate sentences that make you feel smart (when you aren't). Your work/knowledge/ability to understand basic concepts and apply them; that's what matters.

I say all of the above as a general observation, not aimed at the topic starter.

[perilomo]

When I say "I want to learn" - I mean exactly what I need to get the 1 goal I am looking at.

Yes - I do want to hack the 1 game I am playing right now, but I have been using cheat engine for many games at this point. Just not enough times due to tools like westeal and others that are a lot more user friendly and do not require any knowledge.

I am not planning to learn to code or to hack or to be good at this thing. I am just looking to do the one task I want right now and move on. If in the future I will have another task I want to do, I will search it again.

Easiest way to learn is to ask others who already know how to do it rather than trying to learn a bunch of things which you are not sure will even be useful for the task you need.

Great skill to have, sure.... But I have other hobbies and how to use my free time I'm afraid, and as I've already mentioned - Learning to program is not a big enough incentive for it to be my hobby.

I am glad it is yours, but not everybody shares that passion I'm afraid.

@Paul44 - I do not know how complex the process is. That is why I am asking here and am looking for shortcuts if it was not obvious.
I do not mean to offend anybody's sensibilities, but if your extent of "Helping" is limited to "Watch this video and figure it out" then that's fine, but just so you know - It is not very helpful.
If you have the time and motivation to pursue this hobby of yours, more power to you... But people are different, and our level of enthusiasm and tolerance towards the subject of computer code might not align...

I don't think you have to be a master of a topic or even good at it in order to achieve your goals. Especially when there's other people who already have solved that problem in the past and know exactly what and how to do it... Just don't want to tell others for some reason

Edit:

The forum for some reason changed the name of the tool I referenced to "Fearlessrevolution" .... Go figure ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edit 2:

Upon re-reading this response, I've forgotten to mention... Thanks for letting me know what to google for videos on the subject =)
I think I were a bit rash in my response about "Go watch this video" earlier because most of the time (~cough stack overflow ~cough) people are very snobish about giving people a solution and feel like it is their responsibility to "Teach" others the "Proper way to code"
I am watching videos on the subject now, and if I'll have further questions I hope it will not be too big of an issue to ask here

[perilomo]

Question.... What do I do when there's so many results like here:



No matter what I change they all change at once. Does that mean that taking any of these pointers will be good enough?

[AlexS]

Question.... What do I do when there's so many results like here

(Google translation)

Restart your computer and see which pointer chains still show the correct values.

If you say the name of the game, and say which game value you want to edit, more possible recommendations will appear.

I understand that you don't need to study cheating in depth for one or two games, it's a waste of time. If you only need to cheat one or two games, you can create a thread with a request for specific cheats for a specific game in the "Single Player Cheat Requests" section. In this case, be sure to follow the rules for the request.

[perilomo]

Thanks Alex.

I still think it's better to learn the basics or the one or two skills that will do 90% of the job =)

I will try to restart the game next time before re-doing this thing. I guess that resetting the game from within (There's a button that throws me back to main menu and scrambles the memory like a reset button) is what caused this.

[AlexS]

I still think it's better to learn the basics or the one or two skills that will do 90% of the job =)

(Google translation)

Okay, but then, to learn basic cheating skills, you need to choose the easiest game to hack, and not the one you want to play right now (according to some signs, the game you gave in the screenshot is not the easiest to hack). After you get the basic skills, you can choose a slightly more difficult game, then even more difficult and more... And only when you have enough experience, you can start hacking the game you need. This is a long path that requires patience and perseverance from you, you will spend a lot of time, make mistakes more than once, get into a dead end and experience disappointment... There is no "main secret" in cheating that is enough to know to immediately become an experienced cheater. This is a slow path of trial and error.
Good luck, buddy!