Tutorial Sandboxie Plus Quick Start.

[Patan]

I'm away for a couple of days, so I can't check what's wrong with this game yet. Another game was mentioned, please provide a link to it.
In the meantime, you can check what Sandboxie writes in the log and show it here. You can also get the Renpy log itself, it is located in the root folder of the game (next to the exe). If you have auto-clean sandbox set up as specified in the OP, temporarily disable this option and after starting and closing the game, select Recover Files, tick the ‘Show All Files’ box in the window that opens, find this log and restore it.


As for the locale emulator, I'll test it and write about it when I get home to my computer. Unless someone else is ahead of me.

Spoiler: Log

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This is the only log i could find. Additional informatian when i try to unzip the game with 7zip it gave a warning saying "header error" (might be wrong since my os language isn't in english). I had that warning for few games in the past with 7zip but had no problem. Also tested with windows own unzip thing but had same problem with sandboxie.

 

[Patan]

colobancuz
Also there is this bunch of reghive files that show up sandboxie folder after trying to run the game.

 

[colobancuz]

Spoiler: Log

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This is the only log i could find. Additional informatian when i try to unzip the game with 7zip it gave a warning saying "header error" (might be wrong since my os language isn't in english). I had that warning for few games in the past with 7zip but had no problem. Also tested with windows own unzip thing but had same problem with sandboxie.

There aren't enough entries in the log you provided. Unfortunately, I don't have a sandbox or any games at hand right now, so I'll take a look later.

colobancuz
Also there is this bunch of reghive files that show up sandboxie folder after trying to run the game.

As far as I understand, the sandbox stores registry keys that are modified by programmes, which is basically normal for Windows. To be more specific, you need to look at what exactly is inside.

 

[Patan]

There aren't enough entries in the log you provided. Unfortunately, I don't have a sandbox or any games at hand right now, so I'll take a look later.


As far as I understand, the sandbox stores registry keys that are modified by programmes, which is basically normal for Windows. To be more specific, you need to look at what exactly is inside.

Sadly can't find any more log to share, mine even crashes before Blarfz i think.

 

[Patan]

I was also doing some virustotal scans to game files (i got free time lol)

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This is the only one i could find that had detection in it.

 

[colobancuz]

Sadly can't find any more log to share, mine even crashes before Blarfz i think.

I'm the person from the malware thread. This is what it looks like for me when I right click > run sanboxed. I'm using the recommended settings from the first page.

I figured out what's wrong with World of Secrets. It's all about integration with Discord. Here's the culprit code:

Spoiler: game\scripts\settings\script.rpy line >158

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If your internet is blocked in the sandbox using "Block by denying access to Network devices", the game simply crashes (and you can find where it happened in the code in traceback.txt, as I did). If you use "Block using Windows Filtering Platform", the game freezes during loading (I waited 10 minutes and then killed the process).

You can, of course, allow Internet access, but you can also solve the problem by running the game in developer mode. Create a file called fix.rpy in the game folder with the following content:

init -501:
    $config.developer = True

I assume that in other similar cases for Renpy games, the same mechanism applies, but it is not a fact that developer mode will help; you need to look at the code.
In general, developers should be punished for this — such things should be optional and should not cause crashes when running in sandbox mode. Otherwise, it's a gift for bad guys.

Update
By the way, you will need not Internet access but Discord running, and permission to access local addresses in the sandbox (localhost). To hell with such games. And their developers.

 

[F1forhalp]

I figured out what's wrong with World of Secrets. It's all about integration with Discord. Here's the culprit code:

Spoiler: game\scripts\settings\script.rpy line >158

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If your internet is blocked in the sandbox using "Block by denying access to Network devices", the game simply crashes (and you can find where it happened in the code in traceback.txt, as I did). If you use "Block using Windows Filtering Platform", the game freezes during loading (I waited 10 minutes and then killed the process).

You can, of course, allow Internet access, but you can also solve the problem by running the game in developer mode. Create a file called fix.rpy in the game folder with the following content:

init -501:
    $config.developer = True

I assume that in other similar cases for Renpy games, the same mechanism applies, but it is not a fact that developer mode will help; you need to look at the code.
In general, developers should be punished for this — such things should be optional and should not cause crashes when running in sandbox mode. Otherwise, it's a gift for bad guys.

Update
By the way, you will need not Internet access but Discord running, and permission to access local addresses in the sandbox (localhost). To hell with such games. And their developers.

i'd never let a game have anything allow access to RPC, because there's the wide opening in the security. from there, whole sandbox can be infiltrated. connection to discord could be done with a simple web request, not with remote access to the computer. that's SUS as hell.

 

[colobancuz]

i'd never let a game have anything allow access to RPC, because there's the wide opening in the security. from there, whole sandbox can be infiltrated. connection to discord could be done with a simple web request, not with remote access to the computer. that's SUS as hell.

This is not the RPC that stands for Remote Procedure Call, it's Discord's Rich Presence Client crap

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.

I didn't go into the details of how this library works, but judging by the looks of it, it's written terribly. Throwing an exception or freezing when attempting to connect for a secondary function is nonsense.
There's no way around it, unless you slip in a pypresence.py stub or (better yet) cut out this piece of code altogether. At least the developer added a condition not to run this crap in development mode, but I suppose not everyone is so generous.
And I think I've seen information about this somewhere before...

In any case, I believe that this should not be in a respectable game.

 

[Patan]

I figured out what's wrong with World of Secrets. It's all about integration with Discord. Here's the culprit code:

Spoiler: game\scripts\settings\script.rpy line >158

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

If your internet is blocked in the sandbox using "Block by denying access to Network devices", the game simply crashes (and you can find where it happened in the code in traceback.txt, as I did). If you use "Block using Windows Filtering Platform", the game freezes during loading (I waited 10 minutes and then killed the process).

You can, of course, allow Internet access, but you can also solve the problem by running the game in developer mode. Create a file called fix.rpy in the game folder with the following content:

init -501:
    $config.developer = True

I assume that in other similar cases for Renpy games, the same mechanism applies, but it is not a fact that developer mode will help; you need to look at the code.
In general, developers should be punished for this — such things should be optional and should not cause crashes when running in sandbox mode. Otherwise, it's a gift for bad guys.

Update
By the way, you will need not Internet access but Discord running, and permission to access local addresses in the sandbox (localhost). To hell with such games. And their developers.

Thanks for looking into it and finding a workaround. Funny thing is discord is banned where i live so without even sandbox discord integration probably wouldn't work.

 

[F1forhalp]

This is not the RPC that stands for Remote Procedure Call, it's Discord's Rich Presence Client crap

You must be registered to see the links

.

I didn't go into the details of how this library works, but judging by the looks of it, it's written terribly. Throwing an exception or freezing when attempting to connect for a secondary function is nonsense.
There's no way around it, unless you slip in a pypresence.py stub or (better yet) cut out this piece of code altogether. At least the developer added a condition not to run this crap in development mode, but I suppose not everyone is so generous.
And I think I've seen information about this somewhere before...

In any case, I believe that this should not be in a respectable game.

ah geez, guess i mistook one for the other. sh!t happens.
still, usually the WFP option always seemed to do the trick with other games? strange this one froze. perhaps the whole discord part just keeps waiting without a timeout, then.
there's this quote from the git, NOTE: Only Python versions 3.9 and above are supported. maybe it's a version issue on top..?

 

[colobancuz]

ah geez, guess i mistook one for the other. sh!t happens.
still, usually the WFP option always seemed to do the trick with other games? strange this one froze. perhaps the whole discord part just keeps waiting without a timeout, then.
there's this quote from the git, NOTE: Only Python versions 3.9 and above are supported. maybe it's a version issue on top..?

Well, the game uses engine 8.4.0, and it uses Python 3.12...

 

[colobancuz]

how would i run certain apps that need a language emulator for example in sandboxie

How to use Locale Emulator in Sandboxie Plus
I tested it on version 2.5.0.1

For LE to work, it needs to be run in the same sandbox as the game. In fact, when you run a game through LE, LEProc.exe is launched first, and it then launches the game's exe file. Therefore, it is enough to set the Force folder with LE, and everything else will be done automatically.
Here is the sequence of steps to do everything correctly (this is important):
1. Unpack LE into the folder from which it will be launched. IMPORTANT! This folder should not be Froced, or at least you need to temporarily disable this in the sandbox presets.
2. Install by running LEInstaller.exe. You can choose to install for one user or for all users. (You can skip the first two steps if you already have LE installed.)
3. Set the folder with the installed LE as Forced in the sandbox settings.

That's it! Now, when you launch ANY game through LE, it will run in the sandbox. This includes games that are not in Forced folders. If you need to run a game outside the sandbox using LE, you must disable Forced folders in the sandbox presets.

 

[Blarfz]

I figured out what's wrong with World of Secrets. It's all about integration with Discord. Here's the culprit code:

Spoiler: game\scripts\settings\script.rpy line >158

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

If your internet is blocked in the sandbox using "Block by denying access to Network devices", the game simply crashes (and you can find where it happened in the code in traceback.txt, as I did). If you use "Block using Windows Filtering Platform", the game freezes during loading (I waited 10 minutes and then killed the process).

You can, of course, allow Internet access, but you can also solve the problem by running the game in developer mode. Create a file called fix.rpy in the game folder with the following content:

init -501:
    $config.developer = True

I assume that in other similar cases for Renpy games, the same mechanism applies, but it is not a fact that developer mode will help; you need to look at the code.
In general, developers should be punished for this — such things should be optional and should not cause crashes when running in sandbox mode. Otherwise, it's a gift for bad guys.

Update
By the way, you will need not Internet access but Discord running, and permission to access local addresses in the sandbox (localhost). To hell with such games. And their developers.

Thank you for this! Didn't feel comfortable letting it see my discord app at all so just set config.developer to true before the conditional.

 

[SlipperySuckery69]

I was interested in World of Secrets but I'm not tech savy, and tried the fix suggested but still the game just loads up to a white screen, so I guess I'm just going to skip this game. Not worth the trouble at this point.

 

[colobancuz]

I was interested in World of Secrets but I'm not tech savy, and tried the fix suggested but still the game just loads up to a white screen, so I guess I'm just going to skip this game. Not worth the trouble at this point.

Well, the game launched for me and started right away. Or maybe that's the intro; anyway, I didn't get to the menu and closed the game after making sure it launched. I don't know what happens in developer mode. I'm definitely not going to play something like that.

But for those who still want to, I can suggest a plan of action: get the game\scripts\settings\script.rpy file from RPA and put it exactly in this path. Then edit it completely deleting the init section starting from line 158 (only that section, leave everything else). And try to run it — this should completely remove Discord RPC, but I haven't checked (and I'm not going to).

 

[colobancuz]

Two, sometimes even three CMD processes briefly appear when launching the game, but they close right away once the game starts.

I noticed it too. Initially I reported it as a virus on a game but deleted the report when I saw the other games also exhibited similar behavior. So I investigated further; it seems to run the Windows version command. Maybe it runs a different version of Ren'Py depending on the version of Windows.

If anyone else is interested, I found the culprit (yes, it kept me awake at night). It turned out to be the standard platform.py module from Python 3.9 (I assume it will be in 3.12 too, but I haven't checked).

Spoiler: Here's a snippet

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Most likely, Python 2.7 has a different version detection mechanism, which is why all games running on the Renpy engine version 7.x.x and older (which use Python 2.7) do not run these cmd.

At least now it has been established that for Renpy versions >=8.x.x, it is normal to call up to three cmd /c ver when starting.

 

[trumpthatbitch]

If anyone else is interested, I found the culprit (yes, it kept me awake at night). It turned out to be the standard platform.py module from Python 3.9 (I assume it will be in 3.12 too, but I haven't checked).

Spoiler: Here's a snippet

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Most likely, Python 2.7 has a different version detection mechanism, which is why all games running on the Renpy engine version 7.x.x and older (which use Python 2.7) do not run these cmd.

At least now it has been established that for Renpy versions >=8.x.x, it is normal to call up to three cmd /c ver when starting.

Nice. I was kind of wondering. but too lazy to use Windows Search (via indexing) or Notepad++ to find the string. Once I figured out it was legit, I couldn't be bothered.

From that code it's still not clear how they use that information but I assume it's determine the version of renpy to run

 

[trumpthatbitch]

Well, the game launched for me and started right away. Or maybe that's the intro; anyway, I didn't get to the menu and closed the game after making sure it launched. I don't know what happens in developer mode. I'm definitely not going to play something like that.

But for those who still want to, I can suggest a plan of action: get the game\scripts\settings\script.rpy file from RPA and put it exactly in this path. Then edit it completely deleting the init section starting from line 158 (only that section, leave everything else). And try to run it — this should completely remove Discord RPC, but I haven't checked (and I'm not going to).

Lol.

Like there was an RPG Maker game released a couple of weeks ago that wanted to load a custom font, but I put a rule that blocks custom fonts because one of the avenues the virus used is loading a malicious font. Ren'Py will default over to a Windows font, so at worst I see a normal font rather than some weird-ass font not included with Windows, but RPG Maker game threw an error message.

So I was left to either disable the rule, install a weird custom font into my font folder, or just skip the game. I skipped the game. For the handful of games that setting breaks, people need to decide if it's worth the effort to fix the devs' code. No dev should code their game as requiring internet access; they should write the code as "try" and then just have the code proceed if it fails, not hang or expect internet access.

People shouldn't be creating holes in their security for shitty coders either.

 

[colobancuz]

Nice. I was kind of wondering. but too lazy to use Windows Search (via indexing) or Notepad++ to find the string. Once I figured out it was legit, I couldn't be bothered.

From that code it's still not clear how they use that information but I assume it's determine the version of renpy to run

In Renpy, platform.platform() is called in only two places: when creating the game log (log.txt) at the very beginning of the launch and when creating the error report (traceback.txt). That is, purely for information purposes.

 

[F1forhalp]

i was wondering. maybe the new Ren'Py versions do the extra version check in order to make sure not to run on anything older than win10. for older win versions, probly they then would try different approaches to launch the version check, to make sure one of them returns something to work with. like, command line switches vary across windoze versions, so have to make sure it gets a return.
might be a silly idea. haven't finished my coffee yet.