PS2 GTA SA v3.00 from PSN's PS2 Classics is a Master Disc image

blckbear_

blckbear_

Developer
Hi!

So today I was messing around with extracting the ISO images from my PS2 Classics (Bully and GTA SA) and after decrypting the ISO for GTA SA I noticed it didn't match redump's md5 while Bully's image did... I found this quite interesting and after checking the differences from the decrypted ISO and the released v3.00 it has some interesting stuff in there.

I couldn't find any post about this online (maybe there is some info out there but my googling skills aren't that good) so I decided to make a post of my own with my findings and maybe some people can chime in with more interesting stuff about this.

Edit:
Here's the MD5 has of my dump after removing the LIMG footer (last 16 bytes from the ISO):
D2CC0D21B5E0AC1850F61E69ADC20EF5

So, about my findings:
  1. Using ROM Properties(left: my dump, right: release version):
    IyRowuE.png

    Q8siuDv.png

    CeAG6m1.png


    As you can see, there are some things we can point out:
    - The executable date is one day earlier compared to the release version.
    - The creation date is about 3 months earlier than the one in the release version.
    - The size is a bit smaller.
    - The publisher seems to be CAPCOM (dafuk???)
    - It has some CDVDGEN info.


  2. Using HxD we can see it has some more stuff in there:
    oDKuyE7.png


    We can see it says it's a PlayStation Master Disc (which I guess it means it's a test build for running in dev machines, in this case I'd say it's a final test build as we'll see later)


  3. If we use some software like WinMerge we can see that all the files inside the images are the exact same except for some files in the AUDIO folder and an extra file we can find in the root of the decrypted ISO called 'VERSION.TXT' that has the following content:

    Code: 
    ################################################
# version.txt                                  #
# sets the version number on non-master builds #
################################################

[VERSION_NUMBER]
17

# -eof-

    sQKToA1.png

    OUbNcc8.png

    VWMMcB8.png




    The different files under the AUDIO folder have a date from somewhere around 2015 so they are probably modified radio stations with removed songs due to expiring licenses, thus also explaining the smaller size.


    This is weird because the files that are not modified are all earlier in creation compared to the released ones, and it makes me question why didn't they just modify the released ISO instead of a master disc of a final test build.

    Also, why the hell is CAPCOM the publisher? lmao
Edit 2: For some reason this reminds me of the revived drama of Rockstar using cracked executables in their steam releases, this being a Master Disc image would probably be playable using mechapwn so in some sort of way we can say it's a "cracked" or DRM-free build.
 
Last edited:
So just an update, answering one of the questions I had regarding CAPCOM being the publisher, turns out CAPCOM is the publisher for Grand Theft Auto games in Japan which makes a bit of sense. Still, the image is for the North American release, even having the same files as the North American release (except for audio), so it stops making sense, why CAPCOM if it's the North American release?

AFAIK the Japanese releases are censored in a bunch of ways, so it makes no sense for this to be based on the Japanese release, unless it's an "early" build they used as a base for the Japanese release and they had it lying around and decided to use it for the Digital release on PS3, idk and idc that much to keep investigating the CAPCOM thing lol, maybe it was just a mistake.

Japanese Grand Theft Auto Wikipedia page where CAPCOM is listed as publisher.
 
Berion said:
Maybe it have also patched infamous "coffee"?
Click to expand...
The binary is the same as the v3.0.0 so Hot Coffee is certainly patched. The only change seems to be the audio, but it still confuses me why they even bothered with a seemingly pre-release build, I guess they could have just modified the released version.
 
blckbear_ said:
The binary is the same as the v3.0.0 so Hot Coffee is certainly patched. The only change seems to be the audio, but it still confuses me why they even bothered with a seemingly pre-release build, I guess they could have just modified the released version.
Click to expand...
probably lack of final 'glass master'.

do the original game developers earn anything from these Classics?
 
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