Opening downloaded game files...

Once a game has been released to the App Store/Play Store and downloaded to the user’s phone, is there any way the user can then open the downloaded file and access the individual files to alter the gameplay or access the graphics files etc?

Once a game has been released to the App Store/Play Store and downloaded to the user’s phone, is there any way the user can then open the downloaded file and access the individual files to alter the gameplay or access the graphics files etc?

Unfortunately yes, but it's possible to access the resources of any game, whether indy or AAA, so it's pointless worrying about it.

That’s disappointing. In which case why don’t we see more games being hacked and players accessing and sharing in-game secrets and achievements that normally only come with getting better at the game?

Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

I'm going to assume that a relatively little population wants to buy/play a game to hack it. Most people would rather just play the game...

Hackers usually want to show off to other people or to ruin other players' experiences. There are steps you can take to mitigate this. Two common targets are leaderboards and multiplayer.

1 - Reality check for leaderboard submittal, or culling of obviously doctored submissions. Friends-only leaderboards works well too.

2 - Authoritative host for multiplayer.

For a single player game where hacking will not affect the experience of anyone other than the hacker... don't worry about it, just let them do their thing. They're having fun their own way with your game, and you should be happy that they are enjoying your game.

Regarding secrets... ever since the internet happened there are no secrets anymore for those who look for them. RIP.

For achievements, either use some sort of reality check or just don't worry about it. Really isn't a big deal.

Datamining happens quite often, even if you try to hide it well. I´m just gonna drop this here:

[quote:34x4u2w7]

https://youtu.be/UJVuLvGjPOc?t=8204

Vinny: You guys put a lot of secrets in Isaac, a lot of codes, a lot of seeds. I remember how you didn't want people to discover them right away. My question to you guys is-

Edmund: You already fucking fucked it up! They fucked it up.

Tyrone: They swallowed a hundred dollar steak in one bite.

E: Yep. It's... man. Tyrone's analogy is right. It's true. They couldn't resist it, they had to break it apart. And even though people were actively working on some of the biggest secrets that would have taken awhile to unfold, they said "NOOOOO! I WANT IT ALL NOW!"

V: And then they spoiled it for the rest of us.

E: It's disheartening. It sucks because we're gonna start working on an expansion soon, but we sure as hell aren't gonna fucking take all the time that it took - especially with Simon, who tried his best to really bury the stuff so it would deter people from doing this, but all they see is a challenge, so they're going to dive right in and do it anyway. I can say right now that I don't think the expansion is going to feature any buried secrets that anybody will care about.

T: It was months of our life, between me and Ed and Simon. Ed had this really crazy idea, we were like "let's do it, it'll take months, some people won't find this for years!" Nope, one week.

E: Nobody likes to wait anymore. They like to eat it now!

T: I'm going to challenge the dataminers for the expansion, because I have something that I haven't even told Ed about that guarantees that they won't be able to mine shit. It'll take at least three days this time! (laughs)

E: There was some stuff in the original Isaac that I thought wouldn't be uncovered for awhile. It ended up being uncovered legitimately, but faster than I thought it'd be. I thought I'd go even further [with Rebirth], but I think I've learned that there's no point in really doing that stuff, and the best way to hide a secret is to lock it in a very challenging area. I think if we end up doing anything like that in Rebirth, it'll just be behind a barrier of entry; having a certain amount of skill. Not something that I thought was going to be a really fun and community-based ARG, which would have been nice if it was allowed to take place, but you know... whatever.

Sadly the era where you could actually hide secrets is sort of over. If people wanna know they will tear your game apart as they see fit. If you toss roadblocks into their way, they will just try anyway and find a way around. I mean, you might be able to that by using some heavy encryption, and having a server that does the decryption, making the game requiring online just for that. And even then, people can still figure out the decryption, maybe send "fake" data packages to your server to decrypt them so they can just decrypt anything they want.

Long story short, it´s either a huge chunk of work for very little reward, or you just simply accept the fact that people will datamine your game.