A Pirate's Guide to HITMAN 3 (World of Assassination)

Steam Version, using the Demo/Free Starter Pack


Please read this guide in "dark-mode" (moon icon at very bottom of page) as "light-mode" may be too hard to read in some places due to the formatting.

The purpose of this guide is to explain all you need to know if you want to get the game fully setup and working as if you bought the game and all the DLC. It will be using the Steam version of the game downloaded directly through the user's steam client for free.

This guide was written by a member of cs.rin.ru using information shared there by other users. Credits go to anyone whose work or words may be used or referenced in this guide, or anyone who may have been missed in the credits section.

You can find the thread for HITMAN 3 on rin here.
You can find a ton of useful info and links in the main post on page 1, and anything you can't find in there you can usually find by searching the thread.


Table of Contents


Intro

You can skip to this section's Wrap Up if you already know about the online-only status of the game and peacock's important role in playing the game for us pirates.

Let's get into it, first off you need to know a couple things about the game and how it works.

HITMAN 3 is a fully single player only game, the online mode that you may hear talks of is actually just an online-only form of DRM the game has which makes it so that when not connected to the IOI servers (or Peacock's server replacement, more on that below and in Setup Cracked Peacock) much of the games content is locked and unplayable.

When you try to play the game, upon loading in past the main menu the game will first attempt to authenticate with the IOI servers to verify that you own the game, if this fails you will be stuck into "Offline Mode" and won't be able to experience the game for what it really is. Past that, once the verification is complete, just about everything the game does/needs is handled server side, meaning without a way to replace the IOI servers responses to what the game requests then a crack to the game will only get you as far as playing in "Offline Mode" with only the content that is able to be played in that.

This is where Peacock comes in, it's possible that without it we pirates to this day would still be stuck in "Offline Mode".

Peacock is a 3rd party server replacement for HITMAN 3 which is locally hosted, that essentially emulates the use of IOI servers in the game.

However, the devs behind Peacock do not support piracy, so there is authentication checks through Steam/Epic & IOI to verify you own the game before allowing you to play on Peacock's server, just as IOI does officially.

Due to this, the only way to use Peacock with a cracked/pirated copy of the game is to also use a cracked copy of Peacock.

When using a cracked copy of Peacock, after passing the menu screen the authentication checks that peacock and the game do will be skipped or bypassed and when the game requests what entitlements you own (what DLC have you purchased for the game) it will return every DLC, therefore allowing you to play with your cracked copy of the game in "Online Mode" and have full access to everything including all of the DLC maps and items etc..

By default Peacock doesn't support the Demo/Free Starter Pack. So if you plan to use them together, you will just need to use a crack to force the appid of the game from the demo to the full version, letting cracked Peacock work as normal. (assume that the cracked copy of Peacock you use will not support the demo since official doesn't and just get a game crack from Setup Crack)

Wrap up

- You can't play the game in multiplayer at all, short of some specific mods for certain game modes (no real MP in the game)
- You can't play most of the game even with a crack on a pirated copy (without cracked Peacock) due to most of the game's events being handled server side after authentication
- You can't use a legit copy of peacock with a pirated/cracked copy of the game as it has it's own authentication for owned games/DLC
- You can't use the Demo/Free Starter Pack with a cracked copy of Peacock unless you use a crack for the game to change the AppID to the full version

- You can play everything the game has to offer and have all of the DLC unlocked using the Demo/Free Starter Pack if you use a cracked copy of Peacock and a crack for the game!


Install Game

This section assumes you already have a steam account and have the steam client for windows installed. You don't need to purchase the game!

Click this link to install the demo directly, it should ask if you want to open the URL in steam, just click yes and then install it.

Alternatively you can search the steam store to find the full game, and install the demo with the button shown here.
backup-image-link

You should then see this in your downloads section in steam:
**Unable to load image!**
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Even though this is the Demo/Free Starter Pack, all of the full-game's files are included with the download as there is only a single depot that the game has, which they share. (notice the download size ~75 GB)

After the download is complete, head over to the installed files location and it should look more or less like this:
**Unable to load image!**
backup-image-link

The Demo/Free Starter Pack is now installed and you can play it through the steam client if you only want the demo with no DLC.

If you want to properly play the game and have access to all of the DLC, continue to the next section..


Setup Crack

This guide uses Goldberg's Steam Emulator's Steam Client Loader Method to crack the demo so that it will be recognized as the full game by Peacock. I find it better to use this method compared to the CODEX crack or the older method of GSE, as you can avoid modifying the game files but still crack the game. Meaning when you need to update all you have to do is download the update through steam and your crack is still applied. (although if there is new DLC added with said update you may have to edit the steam_settings/configs.app.ini file and add it's ID there/download an updated crack from the thread)

Other cracks and the method of GSE replacing steam_api64.dll still should work fine (and currently do) but I prefer this method for various reasons. You can use any crack you wish, as long as it works!

The easiest way to get a crack setup for the game is to just download one from cs.rin.ru in the HITMAN 3 thread, if it's in the post on page 1 then it's confirmed working.

Read the main post of the thread as it will always be updated with links to anything important (including cracks) that get shared there.

**Unable to load image!**
backup-image-link

In this section of the OP, all of the links colored like this are cracks for the version/platform of the game listed, you can find older versions in the archive section below if needed.

If you wish to use a pre-setup crack then just download one from there and follow the instructions there for setting it up (if it's GSE just extract it to the game's root directory), then continue on to Setup Cracked Peacock.

If you want to change the SteamID and/or Username used by GSE for the game, you can do so like this:

To change either, head into the steam_settings folder located in your game install directory.
Create/Edit the file named, configs.user.ini.
Copy and paste the below code into this file and edit the account_name & account_steamid fields as you wish.

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[user::general]
# user account name
account_name=gse orca
# Steam64 format
account_steamid=76561197960287930

You can get your SteamID from here.

Optional:

If you wish to setup the crack using the GSE SCL method yourself, instead of downloading a pre-setup one, then read this guide.


Setup Cracked Peacock

The best place to find cracked versions of peacock is, once again, here, on rin.

Just check the OP of the H3 thread and anytime there is a new version of peacock cracked it will be linked in there.

Please do not go to Peacock support when using a cracked copy of Peacock or pirated copy of the game

After you download the latest copy of cracked Peacock from the thread for your game version, you will want to extract the archive into a new folder (just name it Peacock or add the version & "cracked" if you want, it's up to you).

This folder can be anywhere really, after you extract the files into this new folder it should look like this:
**Unable to load image!**
backup-image-link

Something to note is that the Peacock server is run in 3 separate steps, resulting in the game connecting to the local hosted server instead of the official IOI server.

The first step is to run the PeacockPatcher.exe file.

This is the Patcher, it does as it says and patches the game during runtime to change the server it calls out to and more.

Next up, we run the Start Server.cmd, this runs the actual server itself that we want the game to connect to. This will open a command prompt. (the cracked server)

Finally, we must run the game, once we do the PeacockPatcher detects the processID of the game and patches it, redirecting it to whatever server you have selected in the address bar in the window (127.0.0.1/localhost).
Now once you go into the game and try to pass the main screen everything is routed to the cracked peacock instead of official servers.

There are a couple ways that you can slightly automate this task of opening all 3 files and closing them after, please check the OP of the H3 thread, on rin for more info to links of community submitted scripts for doing this etc.. They may require some manual setup which won't be covered here as of now.

Also, if you want to have everything unlocked by default (items, weapons etc..) and not have to rank up and unlock them, you can change these settings in the peacock's options.ini, which is generated after the first run:

gameplayUnlockAllShortcuts = false > true
enableMasteryProgression = true > false
getDefaultSuits = false > true


Play the Game!

That's pretty much it! You should now be able to fully enjoy HITMAN 3 without having to buy anything!

Assuming you used the GSE Steam Client Loader crack for the game then the following will apply to you.

In order to play the game there are some important things you need to keep in mind:

  1. You can't run the game using the legit Launcher.exe or the legit HITMAN3.exe because it will open in steam and just play the demo, not the full game. Instead, you need to launch the game with steamclient_loader_x64.exe, this will use GSE/the crack to launch the game and not require steam at all, forcing the AppID to be the full game's and spoofing all DLC. - (CODEX and other cracks may work fine using the regular executable)
  2. You must always be running the game, Peacock's patcher, and Peacock's server to be able to properly play all modes/content included in the game.
  3. Your game files are still CSF (clean steam files) plus a few extra (GSE) so those will be ignored by Steam and you can use the steam app to verify and update your game files anytime you need, without your crack being disturbed or needing to be re-applied. - (again this only applies to GSE SCL)
  4. There are still some (very few) things which can't be done on a pirated game, even with a cracked copy of Peacock. Mainly these things are downloading/browsing contracts (custom missions) from other players without manually entering the contract ID.
  5. You can use Simple Mod Framework to install mods to your game. However SMF also has anti-piracy checks so normally you would need to use a patched/cracked version or follow the method/guide in the OP on the H3 thread on rin about how to use SMF with a pirated game, but since we didn't modify any of the game's files SMF will think we have a legit copy and work fine as long as you have the correct version for your game.

You can make a shortcut to steamclient_loader_x64.exe on your desktop or wherever you want and change the icon of that to match the one from HITMAN3.exe or anything else, if you want to have a way to easily launch the game from your desktop.

You will still need to manually run both Peacock and the Peacock patcher every time you want to play unless your shortcut actually points to a script to automate these things.

"Whenever something goes wrong for whatever reason, don't re-patch the game or go back to the main menu and attempt to go back online, instead close everything (game + server + patcher) and restart all." - wizark952

Please buy the game and support the developers if you have the ability to and enjoy their work!


Updating

Updating the game is extremely simple as all you need to do is update through steam like you own the game!

If your game has missing content/issues after installing/uninstalling mods, you'll need to verify your files with Steam, or get a clean copy of the latest update's Runtime/packagedefinition.txt & Retail/thumbs.dat from the H3 thread on rin or wherever and replace the files you have with these and then your game should work again, then you can re-install any mods you wish.


If you need any help head on over to the H3 thread on rin and make sure you read the OP on page 1 and use the search bar to search the over 300 pages in the thread to see if you can find a solution to your issue before posting.

If you can't find a solution and you still need help, feel free to post in the thread and explain your issue, being as detailed as possible to have the best chance of someone being able to help.
(or if it's related to this guide you can also PM me on rin using the link at the very bottom of this page)

Keep in mind this isn't a support thread but there are a decent amount of people who enjoy the game and should be able to help in there with most issues related to pirating the game.

cs.rin.ru - Hands down the best website for finding/sharing cracked steam games and related subjects.
HITMAN 3 thread on rin - The thread dedicated to pirating this game and all things related to it.
Install Demo - This link opens the H3 Demo installation page in steam.
Goldberg Steam Emulator - The official emu from Mr.Goldberg.
Goldberg Steam Emulator Fork - The fork of the above, by @wizark952 on rin.
GSE thread on rin - The thread dedicated to Mr.Goldberg's Steam Emulator.
Achievement Watcher - The best tool to use with GSE for tracking achievements when pirating games.
Achievement Watcher thread on rin - The thread dedicated to xan105's Achievement Watcher.
Peacock Wiki - Do not go to the devs when using a cracked copy of peacock/game, but the wiki/FAQ has useful info if you want to read it.


Credits

All usernames here are the names used on rin:

Name Credited for
Mr.Goldberg GSE
wizark952 GSE fork & Peacock crack
xan105 Achievement Watcher
Arn0lo Peacock crack
jmga Peacock crack
Cybah - PM APG:H3 (this guide)

Edit Report
Pub: 31 Mar 2024 02:46 UTC
Edit: 06 Jul 2024 01:42 UTC
Views: 24274