[fortunefocused]

Hi, so this is my first post. I have been a lurker of forums for many years never really posted much just kind of sit back and learn so forgive me for weird formatting or something.


So basically I picked up The C Programming Language 2nd edition by Dennis Ritchie

I got the inspiration to learn C as I want to get a deeper understanding for computers and programming as a whole. I come from a background of a lot of automation in higher level languages like python or scripting in PS, bash e.g. . I don't have any CS background I really just tinker around and have learned enough to build things that just work for me. I also have an interest in malware analysis and find that the two industries collide pretty nicely.

My small goal: be able to reverse engineer simple games like saints row 3 for example and create a simple trainer and then further my goals from there

My question is.. would you say I should just jump right into RE / game hacking or should I complete this book(I have been doing all the exercises along with taking notes) and if so what should be my next step towards that small goal? Or maybe a combination of all of these( kinda what I am doing regarding educational content consumption) ?


Thanks

- FF 🕵️

[sudowoodoking]

Hi, so this is my first post. I have been a lurker of forums for many years never really posted much just kind of sit back and learn so forgive me for weird formatting or something.


So basically I picked up The C Programming Language 2nd edition by Dennis Ritchie

I got the inspiration to learn C as I want to get a deeper understanding for computers and programming as a whole. I come from a background of a lot of automation in higher level languages like python or scripting in PS, bash e.g. . I don't have any CS background I really just tinker around and have learned enough to build things that just work for me. I also have an interest in malware analysis and find that the two industries collide pretty nicely.

My small goal: be able to reverse engineer simple games like saints row 3 for example and create a simple trainer and then further my goals from there

My question is.. would you say I should just jump right into RE / game hacking or should I complete this book(I have been doing all the exercises along with taking notes) and if so what should be my next step towards that small goal? Or maybe a combination of all of these( kinda what I am doing regarding educational content consumption) ?


Thanks

- FF 🕵️

I think FF in modern times the best way to start since we have already bypassed the hardcore age is that you study assembly and read how to read a debugger. A good disassembler back then was OllyDbg, sometimes it is still used others have already been migrating to Ghidra and x64dbg. Another best tool is IDA Pro you should try that as well.

Before diving into this, I suggest you find the book called Practical Malware Analysis then find the samples from the book. I think you can access the book via the author's website.

Also do not hesitate to watch YouTube videos and courses. There are tons and everywhere, you just have to let go of the anxiety and doubt that it won't work and be effective. Doing what you simply want just takes time and patience. Reverse engineering is not really easy for a beginner unless they have in-depth background or basically they are gifted.