Demo at SAGE Canned; Recovery Could Take Some Time
Thus far, only screenshots have been made available of Endri’s Sonic Attitude, and nearly from those alone, the game is receiving high praise and close attention. It is the game’s promised graphical prowess that makes the SFG’s sudden departure from the 2009 Sonic Amateur Games Expo so unfortunate–it was shaping to be one of the most polished looking SFGs in some time, at least visually.
But what makes Attitude’s dropout downright scary are the forced circumstances behind it.
“Apparently someone managed to hacked my password and, since I (used to) use the same password for most Sonic-related sites, managed to enter my website’s server to grab the game, plus all the source and related data, and deleted it afterwards,” Endri Lauson told SFGHQ forum members last night. “I believe I fell victim of phishing.”
Endri said that because of the alleged hack, a planned exposition of Attitude is now off the table for this year’s SAGE. He will now withdraw his booth. It is yet another setback for the strength of SFG representation at this year’s online expo.
“The culprit is probably misusing the game’s sources and information and laughing at this situation right now,” Endri continued, under the belief that the break-in was deliberate, direct, and malicious.
Despite the wipeout, Endri will make an attempt to rebuild Sonic Attitude. Some revised video footage and perhaps a new demo could be in the works for the days ahead, making its debut in some channels apart from SAGE.
Originally meant as a fan game for the Nintendo DS, eyeballs started to glue themselves to the project when the SFG’s PC version was rebuilt from the ground up with mesmerizing 3D models.
We’ll pass along any new information when made available. If you have an idea of the whereabouts of the lost project files and would like to help Endri recover them, you are urged to partake in the ongoing thread concerning Sonic Attitude at the Sonic Fan Games HQ. You can also send in an anonymous news tip to us, if you wish, and we will make sure it gets to the appropriate individuals. Your help can make a tedious rebuilding effort much easier.
Despite the string of unfortunate news surrounding several SFGs, we still have it on good authority that this year’s Sonic Amateur Games Expo will be a doozy. An overwhelming majority of our news beginning this Saturday will be dedicated to SAGE–and with the expo a couple days away, we can’t wait.
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That sucks! I was looking forward to this most of all. I’m confused why there wasn’t a copy of all the files on Endri’s computer though.
Hopefully this won’t cause the project to be dropped, as it looks like it has the potential to be the best Sonic fangame so far.
Something’s not right here. Why did he keep all his source code on his web server, without any copies on his local computer at all? (I don’t see how he’d be able to do development on the game without a local copy of the source code, either.)
I personally use multiple backup systems and version control systems:
- git for version control
- rsync from laptop to server
- rsnapshot from server to backup HDD every week or so
I still don’t get why more “amateur” software developers don’t use version control or backups.
seriously? the only copy of his data was stored remotely? jesus christ.
Calling bullshit. He didn’t have anything ready for SAGE, and rather than coming up front and admitting it, he decided to default to “server hacked”. Something like this isn’t going to be kept on a server alone without any hard drive back ups. This is all way to reminiscent of the “hard drive crashed” excuse that most people use just before a game’s scheduled release.
I think you guys misunderstand. I beleive he does still have copies of his data on his computer, but he is now dropping out of sage just because he’s unsure about the level of security atm.
Err…
@GerbilSoft
I never said such a thing. I just said the a private demo that I would eventually use as the SAGE demo I uploaded was downloaded without my knowledge and deleted afterwards. Also, it’s unrealistic, and rather idiot to have all the data stored in a webserver and not in the local computer.
Here…: http://www.sonicfangameshq.com/forum/showpost.php?p=113932&postcount=142
And here: http://www.sonicfangameshq.com/forum/showpost.php?p=113941&postcount=147
@MetalKnux
That most likely could be as well the case, since I couldn’t finish the demo InstantSonic demanded, so I would use this private demo (an old build) as the SAGE demo. If this is all bullshit, why will the game still be featured during SAGE? Just think a little.
Also, read what I’ve written at SFGHQ before jumping into conclusion.
@Endri
Well, that clears things up. The way the article here is worded, it sounded like there was only one copy of your code on the public web server.
Incidentally, if you aren’t already using sftp, I recommend switching to it. sftp uses SSH, which is infinitely more secure than plain old FTP. Additionally, install something like DenyHosts, which blocks IP addresses after a specified number of failed login attempts.
Endri–
Am I to understand now that you still have *something* of the project, just not the newest build you had intended to release for SAGE?
The way things are written–both of my end and yours–it sounds as if you had data stolen and wiped, and in terms of this game, you were left with nothing or next to nothing. If that’s different, I’d like to revise some of what’s above to reflect that. And I can certainly understand if you don’t want to release an earlier build that is, in comparison, a very incomplete product.
-T
We wouldn’t have this problem if a certain news article didn’t imply things in the first place, Endri!
@Gerbil
According to the logs, there were no failed login attempts. That means the person pretty much knew my password from the very begining. And the only clue I have is the IP address from this said person, who happened to not even use a proxy to mask his attempt. I’m sending this to SFGHQ admins to if it was a possible forum user.
@Tristan
Maybe I didn’t expressed me right, since English is not my birth language. I use to record all the data in the web, so I can access it anywhere, since most of the time I’m at work, I can still continue development even at work. What happens is, what was stored online, ended up completly wiped out. SO the development is something like this:
Do stuff at work > Send to the webserver > Retrieve the data at home to continue development > Continue development at home > Send to webserver > Retrieve from webserver to work’s computer the following day
And that’s pretty much the develop. cycle.
The data was deleted from the web, but wasn’t from the both ends PCs. I still have backups.
Oh yeah, most important: the data was downloaded before being deleted.
Blast–
In regards to this story in its current state, I did link to Endri’s comments directly, and though it is my understanding there were personal reasons involved for the decision, this security compromise appeared to be the big one. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t like making deeply personal matters a part of what I cover–I.E. you’ll never see, as an example, “SFG Delayed due to Depression Pill Overdose!” for example…so that part was left out.
And if this was a hack, if what was stolen can be recovered as a means to bring the game back to forefront at SAGE–where I think it deserves to be–that’s something I want to try and push, with so many reading this site.
…And now reading Endri’s posts, I am now really confused. So, Endri, what would you not have had in the backups that would have otherwise been wiped out on the web server? Is it just the security break itself that’s driving you to pull out?
-T
Nope. It’s precisely what you said.
I’ll try to explain the matter precisely, so no abstract information keeps in the air. And is exactly what I said too in the diagram.
The data was taken in, what we might call, middle of the cycle. Most recent updates were taken from the webserver before I could get them to my home’s PC.
Then again, work’s PC doesn’t store data (every work related data is sorted in the internal company’s sever, every other files but OS and apps are deleted from the computers uppon startup).
That’s why I have to do this proccess daily.
And I’ve taken the project out for now because what I currently is not built-in together (it’s just resources), it will take a little to put everything together and test to see if everything is working properly.
Besides, I belive the [i]thief[/i], as we might as well call this person, will leak the demo/project files anyway. Then again, maybe not, since the matter has now been exposed publically.
That’s why I said that the game will still be presented at SAGE, it will just not be featured in SAGE’s site, because it’ll take time to put everything compiled together again, tested and uploaded, and the event will be opperating as from Saturday.
Endri–
Thanks for the explanation. I’ve adjusted a couple words in the article above to reflect what you’ve said and add a bit of clarity.
-T