The hack doesn't look locked to me. I just downloaded Grand Poo World 2 from the Hacks section and I was able to view all the levels just fine in Lunar Magic. Maybe you're patching it incorrectly? Or maybe the hack really is locked, but whatever technique that was used to lock it is incompatible with the version of LM that I'm using (3.20)?
Recover Lunar Magic doesn't always work, because there are various methods people can use to lock the hack from being opened in LM. I've never heard of a locking technique that just replaces every level with the test levels though. That's not something that RLM will be able to help you with.
QuoteThing is, why? The only reason the hack is possible is because the original game was opened up in some way for editing. A "modder" of any kind is an hypocrite when he closes his own work. Its against the very spirit that allowed him to do his work (hack or mod) in the first place.
Well first of all, there are various ways in which an SMW hack can be "locked" out of LM to begin with. I think the most common is when people use a hex editor to change the ROM's internal name from "SUPER MARIOWORLD" to something more personal. That's a good reason why someone would lock their hack, since doing so gives the game a rather professional flair - though the "locking" is unintentional in this case.
But as for your main point about why someone would want to close their work to begin with, it really just depends on how you look at hacking, or just content creation in general. Some people look at it as a means of contributing to a vast community of growing resources and knowledge, and one that they wish to help expand in some way. Others may see it as a way of expressing their views in a way that is special and unique to themselves.
I think most people fall into both categories, but to varying degrees; but those who more strongly align with the former category (i.e. you!) will be more prone to keep their work open, and those who mostly align with the latter quality might have a stronger inclination to lock their works. Why do those people keep their hacks locked, you ask? I don't know, it really just depends on the individual's perspective. Maybe their hack is full of secrets that they don't want to be easily spoiled. Maybe they see the hack as an extension of their creative self, and something that they feel is almost private, in some sense. Maybe they want the ins and outs of their work to be knowledge that only they themselves possess.
You can disagree with any of those reasons, but they're valid reasons nonetheless. Many people have taken your stance in the past, and many arguments on this site have arisen because of it; but it's something where we ultimately must agree to disagree.
And quietmason, SFJake isn't saying that it's hypocritical to "not want your work to be tampered with", at least not in general. He's suggesting that it's hypocritical to not want your work to be tampered with
in this case, where your "work" was based upon the tampering of someone else's work to begin with.
Is it hypocritical to edit someone else's content, and then refuse to allow anyone else to edit your newly-created derivative work? ...Maybe? I really think it's just a matter of opinion here. You may lean towards "yes", but it's not something that there will ever be a consensus on. I can see both sides of the argument, honestly.
Besides, some people do create a lot of original content for their hacks! Take WYE's or Eevee's hacks, for example; both of these hacks are filled to the brim with custom graphics, stories, characters, and maybe even music that was made specially for the hack. These hacks may have been built upon another game's engine, but they come with tons of new content, too. This is a much grayer area now than just a simple level edit in Lunar Magic, and it's a lot easier to see why someone may want to privatize their works in that case.
tl;dr: It's just something you'll just have to deal with. If it causes you problems, then that's too bad, but if there's no alternative way to unlock the hack then you just need to move on.
Though like I said, this particular hack isn't even locked anyways, so...
EDIT: Okay, I just found out that this specific hack was only locked in an earlier version to avoid potentially spoiling later events in the game, just in case a player decided to poke around in the ROM. If you want this issue fixed, download it again from the sections - the hack was updated recently to remove this.
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