Encrypting and decrypting save data
Everybody has secrets, right? Well, sometimes secrets can be helpful, especially when you want to prevent anyone playing your game from messing with save and setting files. If you're reading this, then you have a healthy interest in creating games and programming. If you're interested in programming, or even just figuring out how programs work, you have likely browse through a game or application's files and open one in Notepad. Was it all nonsensical, gibberish, and random characters? I bet it was. This is because the file was encrypted. Developers need to encrypt the code in a program's files to make it unreadable in order to prevent a user from altering the code in any way and thus changing how the program works. In terms of games, imagine if, instead of playing the game as intended, a player changed some save files manually in order to unlock every item and achievement you worked so hard to code. Where's the fun in that? Well, you're in luck because...