Lemma Soft Forums • View topic - The computer thinks my game is a virus.

View unanswered posts | View active topics

Board index » Creator's Corner » Creator Discussion

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]

Forum rules

Ren'Py specific discussion will be moved to the Ren'Py support forum.

The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Page 1 of 1

[ 15 posts ]

Print view

Previous topic | Next topic

Author

Message

MoPark

Post subject: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:48 pm

Regular

Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2011 7:05 pm
Posts: 98
Location: DC
Projects: Kangaroo, Terminal Love

My problem might be too technical for this forum, but I might as well try asking here.

I am coding a terminal-based game in C. It's sort of like a visual novel, but not entirely.
Anyway, certain platforms think my game is actually a virus. Problem is, I don't see a consistent pattern for why they do.
This obviously is a major setback, because I want people to actually play it.

For context, I am using these non-standard libraries.

Code:

#include "inc/fmod.h"   // Audio functions
#include "inc/fmod_errors.h"
#include <windows.h>    // Windows functions
#include <conio.h>      // _kbhit() and _getch() functions

The game does have a little bit of code where it reads/writes files, which is how I store save data and whatnot, and that might lead to an antivirus program thinking my game is malicious.

If this problem is beyond you, do let me know, and I'll seek out help at a more technical forum, but thank you for your responses!

Top

papillon

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:37 pm

Arbiter of the Internets

Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2003 4:37 am
Posts: 3354
Completed: Cute Knight, Fatal Hearts, Date Warp, Magical Diary, Long Live The Queen, The Royal Trap
Projects: Black Closet
Organization: Hanako Games

Depending on what exactly is reporting your game as a virus it may have nothing to do with your code. A number of overzealous 'protection' tools lately identify ANY unknown executable as potentially dangerous. That means, of course, that games made by indies are going to get smacked with the dodgy-stick.

It's also common for there to be temporary flareups of false positives if you're using the same *compiler* as someone who's written bad code, even if there's nothing wrong with your code itself.

You're better off investigating the problem on the antivirus end, there's nothing you can do that will guarantee your program is not flagged suspicious.

_________________
Hanako Games

Top

MoPark

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:35 pm

Regular

Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2011 7:05 pm
Posts: 98
Location: DC
Projects: Kangaroo, Terminal Love

That's a good point. I'll have to include some disclaimer saying to ignore your antivirus. I have seen a computer though fully delete the executable on sight, which was incredibly annoying. As for compilers, I use MinGW, which is one of the more common choices. I can try using MSVC++ later on with the same code and see if that'll affect it, but yes, thank you for your input.

Top

Blue Lemma

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:31 pm

Forum Founder

Joined: Sat Jan 25, 2003 2:32 pm
Posts: 1977
Completed: ToL, Shoujo Attack!
Projects: [secret!]

I know in the case of Norton, you can submit a form that will remove your executable from their untrusted list if it's a false positive. A web search should yield some useful links (try including the terms "false positive" or "whitelist".) There should also be a button/option for more details when the flag pops up that will give a link. I know this because when I was about to release one of my games, my AV was flagging it for not having enough users. Talk about a Catch-22 since you can't get any users if it's getting flagged and removed when someone tries to use it!

You should only do this on your final release version and only if you expect a wide distribution outside your own personal circle. It's a bit of a pain.

_________________
“Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.”
- Napoleon Bonaparte

I've retired from forum administration. Please direct admin/mod issues to PyTom or the other mods : )

Top

redeyesblackpanda

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:29 pm

Eileen-Class Veteran

Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 4:26 am
Posts: 1000
Location: United States
Projects: Eternal Memories, plot bunnies that won't die.
Organization: HellPanda Studios

Gah! Avast just thought Ren'Py itself was suspicious on my computer...

_________________

Know some awesome people? Want to thank them? Do it here!

Eternal Memories!

For up to date info on my VN projects: HellPanda Studios Blog.

"Free File and Website Hosting for VN Related Items" Project

Tsundere VN
My new policy: All my games will have a redhead. Period.

Not really checking the forums any more due to time constraints, so if you want to contact me, PM. I'll get a notification and log in. :mrgreen:

Also, I've been hit and run posting, which means I don't see many replies. If you want to respond to something I've said, also feel free to PM me.

Top

jack_norton

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:32 pm

Lemma-Class Veteran

Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:41 pm
Posts: 3423
Projects: Planet Stronghold: Warzone, Loren The Amazon Princess, Queen Of Thieves, DIM, Undead Lily, and more...

When that happens for my games, I usually use this site: https://www.virustotal.com/
It checks your .exe using lots of antivirus. Obviously, if 99 antivirus says "safe" and 1 (Norton? lol) says is a virus, the players can understand who's telling the truth!

_________________
follow me on

computer games

Top

MoPark

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:36 am

Regular

Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2011 7:05 pm
Posts: 98
Location: DC
Projects: Kangaroo, Terminal Love

That is a really useful site, wow. It was able to get me a list of included functions, too, though I think the list in msvcrt.dll is a tad incomplete.

Code:

fmodex.dll
   FMOD_Channel_GetMute, FMOD_Channel_GetPosition, FMOD_Channel_IsPlaying, FMOD_Channel_SetMute, FMOD_Sound_Release, FMOD_System_Close, FMOD_System_Create, FMOD_System_CreateStream, FMOD_System_GetVersion, FMOD_System_Init, FMOD_System_PlaySound, FMOD_System_Release, FMOD_System_Update

KERNEL32.dll
   DeleteCriticalSection, EnterCriticalSection, ExitProcess, FillConsoleOutputAttribute, FillConsoleOutputCharacterA, FreeLibrary, GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo, GetLastError, GetModuleHandleA, GetProcAddress, GetStdHandle, InitializeCriticalSection, LeaveCriticalSection, LoadLibraryA, SetConsoleCursorInfo, SetConsoleCursorPosition, SetConsoleScreenBufferSize, SetConsoleTextAttribute, SetConsoleTitleA, SetConsoleWindowInfo, SetUnhandledExceptionFilter, Sleep, TlsGetValue, VirtualProtect, VirtualQuery

msvcrt.dll
   __getmainargs, __p__environ, __p__fmode, __set_app_type, _cexit, _getch, _iob, _kbhit, _onexit, _setmode, _winmajor, abort, atexit, calloc, exit, fclose, fflush, fgetc, fopen, fprintf, fputc, free, fwrite, getchar, malloc, memcpy, printf, putchar, puts, rand, signal, srand, strcpy, strlen, time, tolower, vfprintf

I ended up getting a detection ratio of 1/42. Oddly enough, the one that flagged it down as malicious, but that one isn't the same as the antivirus my friend had when it deleted my game. Huh.

Top

jack_norton

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:27 am

Lemma-Class Veteran

Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:41 pm
Posts: 3423
Projects: Planet Stronghold: Warzone, Loren The Amazon Princess, Queen Of Thieves, DIM, Undead Lily, and more...

Antivirus have really become useless, IMHO. Just never download from a warez site if you want to be sure :wink:

_________________
follow me on

computer games

Top

Hijiri

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:32 am

Eileen-Class Veteran

Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:35 pm
Posts: 1083
Location: [DATA REDACTED]
Completed: My Beautiful AI (GUI), Death Rule: Fear Complex, Amity: One Tale
Projects: Amity: White Package Edition, Death Rule:lost code, Aeternam Conquest: Dual-Chain Rhapsody
Organization: MESI Games (Team Repeated Fear, Team Dead Samurai)

jack_norton wrote:

Antivirus have really become useless, IMHO. Just never download from a warez site if you want to be sure :wink:

Thinking like that is bad. Those peiple who make viruses and malware get smarter and target people from legidemate sites. (ex. Gamespot had a problem a while back with a scareware program that hijacked your browser to their site at random.)

_________________

MESI Games/Personal Twitter/Death Rule: lost code Demo

Hijiri's Law: There will always be a body count.

Top

papillon

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:34 am

Arbiter of the Internets

Thinking that your antivirus program is always right is ALSO bad.

But yeah, simply browsing safely doesn't completely protect you. IT does help though!

_________________
Hanako Games

Top

LVUER

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:36 pm

King of Lolies

Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:57 pm
Posts: 4177
Location: Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
Completed: R.S.P

And never forget that anti-virus (even a good reputable ones) could actually mess and damage your system. It happened to me more just several times, with different anti-virus too... So remember to back your files up regularly.

_________________
"Double the princesses, quadruple the fun!" - Haken Browning (SRW-OG Endless Frontier)

DeviantArt Account
MoeToMecha Blog (under construction)
Lolicondria Blog (under construction) <- NSFW

Top

PyTom

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 4:48 pm

Ren'Py Creator

Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2004 10:58 am
Posts: 10850
Location: Kings Park, NY
Completed: Moonlight Walks
Projects: Ren'Py
IRC Nick: renpytom

LVUER wrote:

So remember to back your files up regularly.

This is good advice for a lot of reasons. Things break.

_________________

Another Old-Fashioned Bishoujo Gamer
Supporting creators since 2004; Code > Drama
(When was the last time you backed up your game?)

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face in marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming" - Theodore Roosevelt

Top

michi 18

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:41 pm

Veteran

Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:11 pm
Posts: 463
Location: Philippines
Completed: none at the moment's notice
Projects: The Universal Hope;Wisdom Revival
Organization: Pridal Heavens Inc.

well yeah thats da point is their really a virus in diz game? Cuz i wana play it

Top

LVUER

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:08 pm

King of Lolies

Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:57 pm
Posts: 4177
Location: Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
Completed: R.S.P

If you make your own game and an anti-virus think it's a virus, you know it's not.

But if it's someone else's software, you could try scanning it with other kind of anti-virus... though in the end, it's all up to trust. If you trust the person making that game, you can a bit sure that it's not a virus.

Top

michi 18

Post subject: Re: The computer thinks my game is a virus.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:28 pm

Veteran

ok thanks though ............... i think i trust the maker of this game so ill play it

Top

Page 1 of 1

[ 15 posts ]

Board index » Creator's Corner » Creator Discussion

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum