MP8! Hardcore Player GUI

A lightweight, pure Win32 C-based GUI frontend for the MP8! Hardcore Audio Container.

Architecture: Process Isolation

This repository contains the GUI source code and the compiled closed-source core binary (mp8.exe).

To keep the encryption algorithms isolated from the open-source frontend, the GUI does not link any decryption libraries. Instead, it invokes the core engine via subprocess creation (CreateProcess):

• Open-Source Frontend: You can read, study, and compile the Win32 GUI (player_gui.c).
• Closed-Source Core: The AES-256 encryption, KDF, and audio decoding are strictly handled by the proprietary mp8.exe binary.

How to Build

You only need GCC (MinGW) and the Windows SDK. Double-click build-gui.bat or run:

gcc player_gui.c -o mp8_gui.exe -O2 -mwindows -lcomctl32 -lole32 -lshell32 -static -s

Usage

1. Ensure mp8.exe (the core engine) is in the same directory as mp8_gui.exe.
2. Launch mp8_gui.exe.
3. Click Select Folder to scan a directory containing .mp8 encrypted files.
4. Enter the password and click Play. (Note: If the password is incorrect, playback will not start. Please verify your password.)

🛡️ Anti-Reverse Engineering Notice

• Fake Information: The info command in the CLI intentionally reports a fake "XOR Payload" and "XOR Key" to mislead reverse engineers.
• True Encryption: The actual audio payload is strictly encrypted using AES-256-CTR with a 10,000-iteration KDF.
• Easter Egg: Attempting to brute-force or crack the binary may trigger a "psychological attack" (red terminal text and a 3-second sleep) if the validation fails.

Third-Party Libraries

This project uses the following open-source libraries. We are grateful to their authors.

Frontend (Open-Source GUI)

• Win32 API - Provided by the Windows SDK (Microsoft).
• comctl32, ole32, shell32 - Native Windows system libraries.

Core (Closed-Source Binary mp8.exe)

• minimp3 - A minimalistic MP3 decoder.
  • License: CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain)
  • GitHub: lieff/minimp3
• tiny-AES-c - A small and portable AES implementation.
  • License: Unlicense
  • GitHub: kokke/tiny-AES-c
• miniaudio - A single-file audio playback and capture library.
  • License: MIT No Attribution (MIT-0) / Public Domain
  • GitHub: mackron/miniaudio
• mp3enc - A lightweight header-only MP3 encoder (mp3enc-*.h).
  • License: MIT License
  • Source: ServeurpersoCom/acestep.cpp

Note: The specific algorithms and closed-source core logic built upon these libraries remain proprietary. The open-source licenses of these third-party libraries do not extend to our proprietary core.

⚠️ License

This project is licensed under the SimpleTools Studio HalfOpenSource License (SHL) v1.0. You may view and study the open-source GUI source code (player_gui.c). However, commercial use, distribution, and reverse engineering of the closed-source core binary (mp8.exe) are strictly prohibited. See the LICENSE file for full terms.