The computer thinks my game is a virus.

[MoPark]

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: Select all

#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!

[papillon]

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.

[MoPark]

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.

[Blue Lemma]

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.

[redeyesblackpanda]

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

[jack_norton]

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!

[MoPark]

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: Select all

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.

[jack_norton]

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

[Hijiri]

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

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.)

[papillon]

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!

[LVUER]

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.

[PyTom]

So remember to back your files up regularly.

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

[michi 18]

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

[LVUER]

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.

[michi 18]

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