Deciphering the 0xA104 (Launcher News) packet format for the sro_open client

EDIT: If somebody figures this out and PM's me, we can discuss compensation.

Hi folks.

I have been working very hard on a full login/gameserver emulator for the kSRO 60 cap open beta client, and I soon hope to launch a server for this client for others to enjoy.

You may have seen this client being talked about before in [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] thread. If you have read that, you would know that the packet structure for news packet (0x600D MassiveMsg with 0xA104 News) is unknown, and many attempts to figure it out have failed.

I'm posting this thread so we can all collaborate to decode this packet. If we can get it working, it will greatly speed up my server launch for all of you to enjoy!

I believe we can figure this out using OllyDbg and seeing when it reads the news packet, and what information it reads (word,dword,string) and in which order. However, I am not very good with OllyDbg so I need your help. So, I will provide you with a simple login server so you can start the client successfully. Here are the steps:

1. Download the official client from joymax [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
2. Extract, and install the client.
3. Add a hosts file entry to redirect "gws1.sr.game.krs.yahoo.com" to "localhost" so the login server can connect.
4. Depending on your system, you have to change the compatibility settings to Windows 98 or XP. Try them out.
5. Download my sample login server [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], or build it yourself using my sources [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] You will need Netty 3, and Commons Codec 1.9. You can run this server simply with "java -jar LoginServer.jar"

My simple login server will allow you to start the launcher only, which should be enough to start dissecting it with OllyDbg, and figure out the structure of this packet. I really hope we can all work together on this and figure it out. If someone does figure it out, can you PM me and we can discuss payment.

Thanks,
desmin88 :)

Bump! Remember if someone figures this out, PM me and we can work on payment!

I don't quite understand why you trying to use a client that is THAT OLD.
It don't know how different the packet structure in total is compared to a client now days but if they are you're gonna get hard time deciphering every packet only without having any reference.
Could you tell me the pros and cons of using this client rather than "downgrading" for example the ecsro client?
You should be able to edit the ecsro client to look like the open beta client.

@DaxterSoul

Mainly I want to do this because of the challenge and for the authenticity of a real 60cap client, rather than downgrading the ecsro client which isnt true 60cap. But, that is an interesting idea.

Bump!