So yeah, I'm u/Frontzie. I doubt anyone will read this but there's probably a slight chance. I'm a moderator or r/gameverifying, and this is one of the ways I'm trying to get into a counterfeiter's state of mind of creating fake games. This subreddit is to document my travels through learning different processes to bootleg games and how the community of r/gameverifying can see the hallmarks counterfeiters leave. As a result, every game will have my own version and not be 1:1 to the originals. I would seriously laugh my arse off if anyone attempts to sell these as legitimate games.

Posting shit

I'll probably post on this sub when there's an update to a repro I'm working on. I'll allow posts to this sub for requests of "Bootlegzie Originals". I'll also share a run-through of how I worked on these creations when the final product is finished.

Buying shit

Some Bootlegzie Originals can be purchased from my website. These are ultra-limited editions and once they're gone, that's it. I won't recreate them again.

https://actdesigners.co.uk/category/bootlegzie

Here's a list of the equipment I've been using to create my bootlegzies. I'm starting to like that term. Bootlegzies... This will be amended throughout this project as I learn different methods.

Some Bootlegzie Originals are up for sale!

https://actdesigners.co.uk/category/bootlegzie

Equipment List

Computers

• Monolith - R5 3600X, 16GB RAM, GTX1080

  Yeah, Monolith is my main workstation. Expect most bootlegs to be created on this. Windows 10 machine, roughly £1200 spent on this at the time.

• Khan v0.5 - Celeron J1900, 4GB RAM, Onboard graphics

  Khan is a severely cut-down version of my first built PC back in 2014, utilising salvaged parts from my first rig (Khan), and cheap surplus equipment I obtained from my previous employer. In total, this PC in its current state has cost me £40. Benefits from dual-booting Windows XP and 7 (8 was removed due to reliabilty issues) for software I can't utilise on Windows 10.

  Khan has now been reconfigured to be integrated into B005.

Yes, I name my computers. I also name my consoles. It's weird but that's just me.

Printers

• Brother HLL3230CDW Toner Printer

  Primarily for cover art on glossy paper, and labels for r/gamegrading.

• Canon Pixma TS705 Inkjet Printer

  Mostly for drafts, although the ability to create CD labels is what had drawn me towards this cheap printer.

• Creality bEnder 3 Pro 3D Printer

  Used for preparing casings and other projects.

• Custom Ender 2.5 Pro 3D Printer

  Used for preparing casings and other projects. Based on a cheap Ender 2, fully re-built from the ground up with a larger print bed and 24V electronics.

Software

• AutoCAD 2023
• Fusion360
• GIMP 2.0

Miscellaneous shit

• A4 Guillotine
• Long crafting scissors
• A4 Matte 80gsm printer paper
• A4 Semi-gloss photo paper
• Copious amounts of coffee/beer/vodka
• eSun PLA+ Filament

Costings

In a handy-dandy table so you can see what each project has cost.

Oh boy... This one. This was a quick design and print shortly after Poop Slinger, so it's not as in-depth as the previous post. Follows the same principles as Poop Slinger, same equipment and consumables, etc.

If you've never heard of Crazy Justice, that's because this game is a complete scam, searching for funding from Fig backers (Kickstarter for games), then buried with time. The two "devs" run their own "consultancy" firm in Hungary. I stupidly backed this in October 2017, never did get anything from it. I was very lucky to get a refund after 6 months through contacting Fig. "Early Access" was released on Steam in 2018, and boy, was it BAD. They were using Steam as a way to prevent people accessing the game, but as the game had no DRM, you could copy the files and run the buggy game off of a USB drive. The devs promised a release in June 2019, that date came and went. Devs were then un-contactable through Twitter, Discord or Facebook. Asking for a refund on Discord or Twitter led to an immediate ban from their pages. There's plenty more about this scam over on r/CrazyJustice, archived by me and a few other members of the community who were victims of the Welker brothers.

Still, people are waiting for the game to be released. So let's give them what they want.

Cover art

For the disc, I've left something special. A copy of the Steam Early Access version, as no DRM was used to prevent copying. At least it has some form of physical release that was promised after 4 years.

Disc

This is where I'd usually put the "Thanks to" section, but fuck the Welkers. The amount of grief they've put over 600 people through over four years, to run off with $100k and start another company? Nah mate, they'll get what's coming to them. Everything is documented.

Read up on:

• Creevlock's article about Crazy Justice
• RGT85's video on Crazy Justice
• u/officialfabs's in-depth YouTube playlist about Crazy Justice

This is it. The first completed Bootlegzie (patent pending).

Programs used

• GIMP 2.0
• Canon Easy-PhotoPrint Editor

Equipment/consumables used

• Monolith (R5 3600X, 16GB, GTX1080)
• Brother HLL3230CDW Toner Printer
• Canon PIXMA TS705 Inkjet Printer
• A4 Epson Semi-gloss Photo Paper
• A4 HP 80gsm Printer Paper
• A4 Guillotine
• Verbatim Printable DVD-R

Similarly to the PS4 cover art template in the previous post, PS4 disc templates are also plentiful. I'm using dAsh1412's (from DeviantArt) PS4 template. As images for the Poop Slinger disc are rarer than a golden turd, it's time to make our own... Wipe the "logo" off the template, make the background orange.

Orange disc template

Now we have the background out of the way, I've cropped the main typeface and character out of the cover art (layers are a godsend), and spliced behind the text and PS4 disc info to complete the print. I still have the guides on the template, these are necessary for the next step.

Design ready for printing.

Perks of using another printer, especially a cheap inkjet one (£60) that prints on CD/DVD's. Technology has come so far, it's a lot cheaper than I thought it would be to create bootlegs. Saved the template as a transparent image (png), imported the image on the "disc label" template for the Easy-PhotoPrint software (free with Canon printers) and positioned using the guides I kept earlier, save and print!

Template on print software

It didn't print.

Latest Windows 10 update bodged the printer software according to a quick Google search. Updated and try again. It worked! Due to printer limitations, the white background is still visible on the borders, but this is still viable proof that yes, disc games can be faked, very cheaply. The disc took less than 45 seconds to print, not accounting to burn the software onto.

Finished disc.

Onto the printing the cover. PS4 cover arts use glossy poster paper, unfortunately the closest I could get to the paper used was semi-gloss photo paper at short notice. Definitely a thicker paper. Test print to ensure I had the correct size on standard paper worked well.

Matte print.

Shifting over to the semi-gloss paper, forgot to amend the Brother printer's settings, cleared two jams and got a shitty print...

Skidmarks...

Re-jigged the settings, cut the print out with the guillotine, slid into a reclaimed case, et voila. The finished product.

A poo worthy of display.

Corny blurb

Poking its ugly head out

Whilst it's not perfect, this proves that anyone (with the right setup) can make a fake game. Convincing? Not really, but with a little bit of tweaking and more time, who knows what be created. This is why at r/gameverifying, we put a lot of effort into verifying whether or not your games are legitimate or fake.

Video of the disc in action.

Thanks to:

• dAsh1412 on DeviantArt for the PS4 Disc template.
• Most importantly, my partner for putting up with me nattering on about this project. I don't know what I'd do without you. ❤❤❤

So, Poop Slinger.

You can tell by the title, you're probably gonna be flinging shit like a chimp. A game that supposedly bankrupted a company contracted to make the physical games. 84 known in existence. Sealed copies on eBay listed for £9.5k, with the mailer that came with it. The digital game is £3.99, but where's the fun in that?

Being a total cheapskate, and far less than £9.5k to my name, I thought I could design and create a reproduction for a lot less than an absurd amount.

Programs used (so far)

• GIMP 2.0

Equipment/consumables used (so far)

• Windows 10 PC (R5 3600X, 16GB, GTX1080)

Templates for PS4 games are plentiful on the web. I'm using ETSChannel's (from DeviantArt) PS4 template. It's not spot on for Poop Slinger, but it's a great jumping off point for this game (as if Poop Slinger uses 45GB). As the template utilises the ESRB E for Everyone rating, it's time for rating to get a bit older. I may aswell change the grey background to something similar to the actual box art.

PS4 Cover

Next part is to get the publisher's logo onto the template. As information on Limited Rare Games (not affiliated with Limited Run Games) is hard to come by with their demise, VG247's article on Poop Slinger is the closest I could find to their actual logo. Wipe the background out, invert the colours and stick the logos in similar positions to actual games (a lot of guesswork was made by me, being that it was about 1am when I got to this point).

Added publisher's logo

Being as OCD as I could be in my sleep-deprived state, it's time to get the typeface correct. Not many high quality typefaces of Poop Slinger about, so I screengrabbed GamePitt's review image, cut around and feathered areas to make it as crisp as possible, and totally not shitty at all. I them moved the layer into position roughly where it is on the actual box art. This is starting to come together nicely!

Added typeface

Oh boy, that character. Couldn't find it anywhere, save cropping and scaling up the character from the typeface in low-res with a shit-eating grin, glaring at me. Here I decided to stray from making a true, original copy to one of my own design. Poop emoji time.

Shit on shit

No PS4 game is ready without a blurb. I've never played Poop Slinger (nor do I think I will ever), so I improvised. There's a slight hint here for the next post in this project, I'll get into the nitty-gritty soon.

Added corny blurb

Thanks to:

• ETSChannel on DeviantArt for the PS4 Cover template.
• VG247's article on Poop Slinger, which made me aware of the game's existence.
• GamePitt for their image of Poop Slinger, which was the only high-res image I could find of the typeface.