But the cracks themselves developed their own unique form of decay. The links were famously ephemeral:

Many early cracks for AC1 corrupted save files if you reached 40% synchronization. The Shah crack allegedly used a different bypass method (inline patching vs. loader-based) that kept the save encryption intact.

Here is how Cracks of Shah and the original Assassin’s Creed are linked not by code, but by the very culture of the PC gamer.

The most secure way to experience the start of the franchise is through the Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition

"LookING 4 Shah CrACK for AC1 v1.02 no DVD plz" "SHAH LINK dead, re-up??" "Cracks of Shah - Assassin's Creed 1 PC Game Links [MEGAUPLOAD] [RAPIDSHARE]"