It wasn't unheard of for Mac games to store their copy protection passwords as plaintext strings in the resource fork, where even the most novice of hackers could find them. In this game, they'd find only two lines of interest among the STR#s: "dCOY" and "512". This clue points to dCOY resource 512, "Code wheel comp.", which consists of some backwards text with "†Nu" where the spaces should go.
Decoded, the text reads:
You've been HAD buster ! These are not the codes...If you wanna be a pirate you'll have to try harder than this.
In testing under emulation, this message recommending System 6.0.2 or later only showed up in System 4.0 and earlier. In Systems 4.1 through 6.0.1, the game would try to load but usually crash before long.The one thing confirmed to set off Pick'n Pile's virus self-check is the presence of an nVIR resource, whether it's the actual nVIR virus or an empty resource you created yourself in ResEdit.The alert indicating a corrupt resource is also displayed if you try to clear and then view the high scores while the application is write-protected.If the game lacks the system resources to animate the whole screen, it will suggest trying an undocumented feature: on a color system, holding Option at launch will force it to use the smaller graphics meant for 512x384 displays. Holding the Option key will have the side effect of showing the secret French about box in place of the title screen.Switching to a different bit depth is an immediate game over.A catch-all crash handler.
