Crack intro: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:44, 30 November 2022

Revision as of 19:28, 23 January 2023

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A '''crack intro''', also known as a '''cracktro''', '''loader''', or just '''intro''', is a small introduction sequence added to [[Software cracking|cracked software]]. It aims to inform the user which "cracking crew" or individual cracker removed the software's [[copy protection]] and distributed the crack.<ref name="EuroGamer" /><ref name="wired"/><ref name="0dayartTheVerge"/>

They first appeared on [[Apple II]] computer in the late 1970s or early 1980s,<ref name="wired" /><ref name="jason_scott_2010" /><ref name="reunanen2010" /> and then on [[ZX Spectrum]], [[Commodore 64]] and [[Amstrad CPC]] games that were distributed around the world via [[Bulletin Board System]]s (BBSes) and [[floppy disk]] copying.<ref name="reunanen2010"/> By 1985, when reviewing the commercially available [[ISEPIC]] cartridge which adds a custom crack intro to [[memory dump]]s of [[Commodore 64]] software, ''[[Ahoy!]]'' wrote that such intros were "in the tradition of the true hacker".<ref name="kevelson198510"/> Early crack intros resemble [[graffiti]] in many ways, although they invaded the [[private sphere]] and not the public space.<ref name="carlsson2009" /><ref name="kotlinski2009" />

As time went on, crack intros became a medium to demonstrate the purported superiority of a cracking group.<ref name="jason_scott_2010" /> Such intros grew very complex, sometimes exceeding the size<ref name="arstechnica2013" /> and complexity<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalekultur.org/files/dk_whatisthedemoscene.pdf|title=The Demoscene|publisher=Digitale Kultur e.V.|access-date=2010-10-25}}

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Crack-intro programming eventually became an art form in its own right, and people started coding intros without attaching them to a crack just to show off how well they could program. This practice evolved into the [[demoscene]].<ref name="EuroGamer"/>

Crack intros and other small software created by [[Software cracker|software crackers]] such as [[Keygen|keygens]] and [[Patch (computing)|patches]] that remove protection from commercial applications often use [[Chiptune|chiptunes]] in the form of background music. These chiptunes are now still accessible as downloadable ''[[Module file#Music disk|musicdisks]]'' or ''musicpacks''.<ref name="chiptunes2009"/>

==See also==

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<ref name="kevelson198510">{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/stream/Ahoy_Issue_22_1985-10_Ion_International_US#page/n69/mode/2up |title=Isepic |work=Ahoy! |date=October 1985 |last=Kevelson |first=Morton |pages=71–73}}</ref>

<ref name="EuroGamer">{{cite web |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=291159 |title=Linger in Shadows |first=Dan |last=Whitehead |date=2008-11-12 |website=[[Eurogamer]] |access-date=2010-10-23 |quote=Amateur coders busy cracking the copy-protection on the latest Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum games got into the habit of marking their work with an animated intro - or "cracktro" - inserted before the game began.}}[https://vaultry.com/]</ref>

<ref name="0dayartTheVerge">{{cite web|last=Kopfstein|first=Janus|title=0-Day Art: saving digital art one torrent at a time - Net pirate provocateurs challenge the monetization of online works |url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/4/23/2961601/0-day-art-digital-art-torrents-piracy|work=TheVerge|date=2012-04-23|access-date=2012-04-26}}</ref>

<ref name="arstechnica2013">{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/04/a-history-of-the-amiga-part-9-the-demo-scene/ |title=A history of the Amiga, part 8: The demo scene |first=Jeremy |last=Reimer |date=2013-04-29 |website=[[Ars Technica]]}}</ref>