Lazy Bastard: Among quite a few other things, you hacked over 30,000 codes for Turok (N64). What inspired you to do so? Viper187: Needed something to do, I guess. I realized there were a lot of aspects of each enemy that could be manipulated and started hacking them Lazy Bastard: What is your favorite code/hack that you hacked? Viper187: Depends on if you go by usefulness or just cool factor. I always thought my Exploding Enemies hack for Turok was pretty neat, even though I haven't actually spent that much time using it. Lazy Bastard: What is your favorite code/hack of all time? Viper187: Para's "Jesus Mode" for Mario 64. That's just all kinds of 1337. Lazy Bastard: Who would you say influenced you the most in the video game hacking scene? Who did you 'look up to' when you first entered the scene? (doesn't have to be the same person for both) Viper187: I definitely looked up to macrox and learned a lot from him. I probably learned the most from Parasyte though. Lazy Bastard: What was your first code/hack? Viper187: Well, first thing I ever did for myself was Infinite Health on SF Alpha 2 with an actual SNES Pro Action Replay 3. First thing I ever submitted was Offensive/Defensive Attributes modifiers for CAW on WWF Warzone (N64) as Viper316. Lazy Bastard: What do you think is the most difficult type of code/hack to hack, and why? Viper187: Well, 2 things make codes difficult, IMO: the programming of the specific game (1), and the tools available (2). Timers can be the easiest or most impossible code you'll ever try to hack on a game. It took me 4 years to crack one once. As for tools available, some things can become very simple if there's a debugger to be used, and utterly impossible without it because of random addresses. Lazy Bastard: What is your favorite type of code/hack? Viper187: I'd have to say Invincibility, although it's overly difficult to hack most of the time. I always liked Mega Jumps and Infinite Jumping too. Basically, codes that are almost always assembly based hacks. lol Lazy Bastard: Which game did you find the most fun to hack, and why? Viper187: hmm...I'm thinking Mario 64. The game was just awesome to begin with, and it left a lot of hacking opportunities to the open-minded folks with skills. Lazy Bastard: What was the most difficult, 'hair-pulling' hack you've ever accomplished? Viper187: I literally spent years trying to figure out Infinite Turbo for Gretzky 3D Hockey. One of those incredibly simple things that was apparently programmed by crackheads. Lazy Bastard: Was there ever a code you just couldn't get to work quite correctly (something you hacked/attempted to hack)? Viper187: Too many to list, really. You run across a lot of odd little things that just refuse to work when you hack as many codes as I have. The flashlight on Turok 2, Boost Anytime for Star Wars Racer, 4WD on Mariokart64, etc. I don't know that I'll ever sort those out. Lazy Bastard: Aside from hacking and gaming, how do you like to spend your time? Viper187: Watching movies and screwing with computers/programming/web design. Lazy Bastard: What do you think must happen for the video game hacking scene to continue to thrive? Viper187: Somebody needs to find a way around this DRM shit, whether legal or not, and release some proper hacking software for PS3, Xbox360, etc. The code encryption also needs to die for good. And people need to start writing better emulators. lol Lazy Bastard: One last question: if you had one thing to say to current, aspiring, and future hackers, what would it be? Viper187: Code hacking is an acquired skill, much like programming in some ways. Some even consider it an art. Once you master the basics, nearly any hack is possible if you have the right tools for the job and you can deduce how exactly the game would handle the type of activity you're trying to modify. The important thing is not to give up on a hack easily. Keep looking for new methods, get other hackers' thoughts, etc. Good luck.