An Interview with Jon North
The following interview was conducted by Richard P. Swann, who kindly donated it to this site.
Jon North is a hacker. Normally, hackers are feared and despised by sofware companies, but this one seems to get on well with them, even getting programs for free off them! It's because he's been writing game POKEs for all three Spectrum magazines for many years (including his own "How-To-Hack" article), and is probably the best person to help you get maximum enjoyment out of your software, provided you want to be a down-and-out cheat!
Could you give me some brief information on your background?
What's that? Oh, I started off life living in Carshalton, then I moved to Cheam, and now I'm living in Sutton [all in SW London]. I got my first Speccy when I was 11 and starting messing about on it straight away.How did you become involved with Spectrum hacking?
I read an article called Tony Kendall's Arcade Addicts Handbook in PCW magazine ages ago.How did you learn how to hack?
I met a hacker called ZZKJ (who wrote Super Hang On) at a computer show, and it turned out that he lived in Kingston, which was near to where I was living. So he came round to my house a couple of times, and taught me how to hack. In fact, I think that ZZKJ has been my only ever influence in Spectrum hacking.What was the first game you succesfully hacked?
Lightforce, by Gargoyle Games. I produced an infinite lives POKE for it, and I was very pleased with myself. The first POKE I wrote that was printed in a magazine was for Dragon's Lair, which actually went in both Your Sinclair and Crash at the same time.How did you become invovled in writing for "real" magazines?
I had contacts with two ex-YS writers, ZZKJ (those are his real initials!) and David McCandless, and had sent them many complex and original hacks, plus a complete POKEs tape which was published in YS a few years ago.I started working for Sinclair User in 1989, then switched to Your Sinclair a year later after David McCandless left.
What's your preferred setup for hacking?
I use a Soft-Rom (a pheripheral which plugs in the back of the Spectrum and allows the user to stop programs at any time by installing your own software in a virtual ROM), with a dissassembler (a program which translates unintelligable machine code into assembly language which can be understood by humans). I only ever use a rubber-keyed 48K Spectrum for hacking.The best way to hack infinite lives is to do a forwards-trace (which involves starting at the beginning of the program and logically working through finding code which keeps track of lives, energy etc.). Failing that, I use backwards trace (starting at the GAME OVER message and working backwards), or "not working at all" (using a Multiface to stop programs in the middle of important parts of the program).
How long do POKEs take to write?
It depends how easy the game is to hack. Multiface POKEs take up to 2 minutes, usually less, whereas stand-alone hacks can take anything up to a day. One example I remember is Star Wars, which had a complicated decrypter (program which changes garbage into executable code using various algorithms). I'm pleased I cracked it, because the authors thought it was unhackable.What's your favourite protection system?
Well, I quite liked the "Star Wars" protection for the above reasons, but my favourite was a program called Movieload featured on a game called Moonstrike five years ago. It had lots of messages and pictures which pop up on the screen while the game loads. It was also quite difficult to hack! I also liked the Search Multiload which appeared on games such as Rana-Rama and Deflektor.Have you written any programs other than hacks?
I've done a lot of POKEs programs for magazines, especially YS, where I've written two bumper pokes packs with over 100 games hacked on each one! I've also written a protection system called XLR-8, which uses very complicated code, and I'm confident that it's impossible to hack!Some people say protection systems on the Spectrum are pointless, and cannot stop piracy because of tape-to-tape copiers. What do you think?
I have actually found that copies of my own protection system are very unreliable. (laughs) I think protection systems do serve a purpose.Firstly, they stop mere mortals from cheating.
Secondly, they do make copying harder by preventing a user from breaking a program and resaving it, and work well in conjunction with code sheets and Lenslok (a plastic lens used in software protections, which required the user to determine an access code by looking through the lens), because they prevent removal of the Lenslok/code sheet code.
Thirdly, they're fun to hack, because someone like me can sometimes find messages for them hiding in programs, or because then you can gloat over the writer of the protection system!
What do you think of the future of Spectrum hacking?
I am the future of Spectrum hacking. (laughs) Actually there are hardly any hackers around anymore. Five years ago, everyone was doing it, but now there's only really me and Graham Mason (who wrote for Crash and Sinclair User), plus a few other people who turn up every now and again.Most of the new faces of hacking are one offs who send in one POKE and nothing else - ever, or idiots who rip off other people's work and claim it as there own. There have actually been a couple of people who've sent me my own POKEs claiming them as their own. Even people like Graham Mason and Adrian Singh (ex-writer for Sinclair User) reprinted some of my POKEs and got them printed in magazines. Bastards.
Now I'm getting a bit sick of working with Spectrums after all these years, and I think that the Spectrum is on its way out, because of all the computer newcomers buying 16-bit computers and consoles.
Do you use any computers other than the Spectrum?
I've got an Amiga, which I use to write a column in ZERO magazine. I used to have an ST, but it kept going wrong all the time, so I got rid of it.Do you have any other interests apart from Spectrums, such as books, music or TV programmes?
Most of my interests are best not discussing!I'm a great fan of Transvision Vamp, and have got several rare records by them. I'm also into House Music a bit. I can't play any musical instruments, but I know good taste when I see it!
My favourite TV programmes are Red Dwarf, Doctor Who and Whose Line Is It Anyway.
I don't do that much reading, apart from computer literature. I've got a box overflowing with letters sent in from YS readers which can be really funny to read sometimes. Sometimes, I have trouble understanding what they're talking about! I've got a couple of computer magazine rarities, including a signed copy of Crash.