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How do I patch an android game I paid for, but now doesn't work because the devs shut a server off? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by surfrock66@lemmy.world to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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I paid for Puzzle Quest 2 on android like a decade+ ago. It is a local single-player game. It has a validation check when you open the app. That check fails because this game is ancient and the servers are offline.

I want to replay the game I paid for. I have the APK from an APK site. It's even been pulled from steam to push their crappy p2w pq3. Anyone have tricks to crank an APK and bypass a server check? I've decompiled the APK but am in a bit over my head.

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[-] redditReallySucks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 9 months ago

I'm currently also looking at decompiling android apps and understand a bit of smali. If you send me the apk I might look into it.

If you want to do it yourself, I recommend apktool_m on android. It includes all tools required to decompile the app. It can even show a partially correct java code in apps that are not obfuscated.

[-] surfrock66@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

I think the local copy I have (on a literal old samsung S3) is the same as what is downloaded from here, with the game cache files: https://sbenny.com/games/puzzle-quest-2.html

I was NOT able to make that work on my current OnePlus, even with the cache files. It fails a validation check on launch.