What software protection?

[TDK1044]

Does anyone have any idea which software protection system Ubisoft is considering for SH4? I don't want to start a rant about 'Starforce' which is old news and not in the picture for SH4, but I wondered if anyone knew anything about what system Ubisoft might be considering?

[fire-fox]

well, if its got StarFarse then it will not run under windows Vista

[TDK1044]

Ubisoft have announced that they won't be using Starforce in the future, so we know it won't be SF.

[AVGWarhawk]

I believe once the game is loaded off the DVD on to your hard drive, the disc itself destructs right in the DVD tray. :know: This feature was designed by Bernard.

[rls669]

To prevent piracy, SH4 is played directly from the DVD. Of course, that means it's now turn-based.:arrgh!:

[Ducimus]

If it has starforce, i won't buy it until a way around it is found. Starforce i seriously beleive ate one of my DVD drives, and having replaced it, ive done what was neccessary to ensure that this new drive does not get eaten by that rotten peice of russian gorillaware. Put up with starforce, never again. NO way.

[Dantenoc]

Ubisoft have announced that they won't be using Starforce in the future, so we know it won't be SF.

Wow, that's good news indeed :yep:

One good way to insure that people buy a legal copy of the game is to include good extra features in the boxed version, such as a comprehensive manual, a high quality map of the pacific, a good ship identification book, etc. etc.... that way you REWARD people for doing the right thing.

And of course, they have a right to implement some anti-piracy mechanism in the game itself, but please, nothing that penalizes or unnecesarily burdens the legitimate owner :yep:

[d@rk51d3]

And include a little enigma machine for decoding your.........

oops, I forgot, in SHIV we change sides....:oops:

[goldorak]

Ubisoft have announced that they won't be using Starforce in the future, so we know it won't be SF.

Wow, that's good news indeed :yep:

One good way to insure that people buy a legal copy of the game is to include good extra features in the boxed version, such as a comprehensive manual, a high quality map of the pacific, a good ship identification book, etc. etc.... that way you REWARD people for doing the right thing.

And of course, they have a right to implement some anti-piracy mechanism in the game itself, but please, nothing that penalizes or unnecesarily burdens the legitimate owner :yep:


It will not happen.
Times have changed and its a miracle if you still get a cd/dvd in a paper sleeve in the box. :roll:

[_Seth_]

I believe once the game is loaded off the DVD on to your hard drive, the disc itself destructs right in the DVD tray. :know: This feature was designed by Bernard.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[kylania]

Hopefully none, it's become completely obvious that "copy protection" does absolutely nothing to protect against copying a game with every single scheme thought up for it being hacked nearly instantly.

All copy protection does now is cause headaches for users and additional (and long term) support requirements for the gaming company.

Dantenoc's idea really is the answer. Produce a quality product and people will pay for it. You shouldn't charge twice the price because you're giving things to people, that will just make people want to pirate it, but if you make a quality item with something tangible in the box, that's what will make the product sell.

[Wulfmann]

Hopefully none, it's become completely obvious that "copy protection" does absolutely nothing to protect against copying a game with every single scheme thought up for it being hacked nearly instantly.

All copy protection does now is cause headaches for users and additional (and long term) support requirements for the gaming company.

Dantenoc's idea really is the answer. Produce a quality product and people will pay for it. You shouldn't charge twice the price because you're giving things to people, that will just make people want to pirate it, but if you make a quality item with something tangible in the box, that's what will make the product sell.


That will be followed by all taxing done on a voluntary basis because it is good that people support society and do their part to help their fellow man and pay government officials a nice salary. No need to audit as all will be trusted to do the right thing and pay their fair share. Goom bi ya my Lord Goombi ya!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Wulfmann

[Immacolata]

Hopefully none, it's become completely obvious that "copy protection" does absolutely nothing to protect against copying a game with every single scheme thought up for it being hacked nearly instantly.

All copy protection does now is cause headaches for users and additional (and long term) support requirements for the gaming company.

Dantenoc's idea really is the answer. Produce a quality product and people will pay for it. You shouldn't charge twice the price because you're giving things to people, that will just make people want to pirate it, but if you make a quality item with something tangible in the box, that's what will make the product sell.

Alas Free far outweighs quality. A game without a copy protection will a commercial suicide these days. So many ways to swap copies, so many incentives to get the game now. We can only hope that the game copy protection will be less than insufferable, but it will be there, or the game is doomed.

[goldorak]

Alas Free far outweighs quality. A game without a copy protection will a commercial suicide these days. So many ways to swap copies, so many incentives to get the game now. We can only hope that the game copy protection will be less than insufferable, but it will be there, or the game is doomed.


Would you care to explain to me then how is it that Galactic Civilizations II is such a great success ?
Did the pirates just go on a vacation on Mars while this game was being released ? :roll:
Falcon 4 AF has no copy protection and it sold very very well, much more so than SH III.
So, who is right and who is wrong ? :hmm:
I just think that big game companies don't give a rats ass about the consumer, and consumers don't care.

[Wulfmann]

I actually believe a SH sim would not suffer from no copy protection because of the majority that understand we are few meaning if half of us bought it and passed it on there would not be enough sales to justify the next version.
We would not jeopardize its continuation.
That and I believe we have a higher level of people that believe they should pay for what they use.
I also believe UBI would never believe a word of it so expect serious protection but hopefully not intrusive and abusive like the evil Starforce.
Programs like SH3 are not the typical game which would, if easily pirated, have serious sales loses from copying.

Wulfmann

[Reece]

A good Idea I feel is to have the usual disccopy protection but registered users get maps etc posted to them, that way only original registered copies will get the goodies! Better than Starforce spyware/virus thats for sure!:up:

[SilentOtto]

One good way to insure that people buy a legal copy of the game is to include good extra features in the boxed version, such as a comprehensive manual, a high quality map of the pacific, a good ship identification book, etc. etc.... that way you REWARD people for doing the right thing.

And of course, they have a right to implement some anti-piracy mechanism in the game itself, but please, nothing that penalizes or unnecesarily burdens the legitimate owner :yep:

I cannot agree more with you on the first point. How many years has it been since we've seen any game with a good printed manual?? (AOD, Flight simulator anyone??).
That kind of thing, or a calculating ruler, ID book as you said, you can give buyers a printed ID book and not include it in-game for example. A nice map! Those can't be so costly when we talk about thousands of units sold.

On the other hand, copy protections are _always_ going to be a PITA for legit users. Crackers can and will crack anything you throw at them, theres lots of young people with the skills, time and impulse to do it, just to be "cool" in their own underworld, so I'm not too sure it would be a good thing.

If they give us a nice online gaming (not too easy for a subsim I know) they could use the method that ID software (QUAKE) or Blizzard (Diablo, Warcraft) have been using. The game is "easy" to crack for offline playing, but if u want to play online (and they should make us _want_ to play online) then you need a valid serial number which can _not_ be cracked.

But basically I'd crave for nice printed doc and maps...

[peterloo]

That should be SecuRom 7

Ubisoft has dropped StarForce and the recent games are all SecuRom 7 protected despite of the ease of SecuRom for hackers

[Really, I read other forums and saw many SecuRom 7 games are cracked within 1~2 days after street-date]

Still, you need your genuine DVD for verification, but SecuRom 7 is not as troublesome as StarForce

If Ubisoft doesn't make any change to its protection scheme, then Silent Hunter 4 will definitely be SecuRom 7 protected

[JSF]

If it has starforce, i won't buy it until a way around it is found. Starforce i seriously beleive ate one of my DVD drives, and having replaced it, ive done what was neccessary to ensure that this new drive does not get eaten by that rotten peice of russian gorillaware. Put up with starforce, never again. NO way.

I agree. Infact, I removed SH3 from my pc because of it. Total BS.

[nightdagger]

Hopefully none, it's become completely obvious that "copy protection" does absolutely nothing to protect against copying a game with every single scheme thought up for it being hacked nearly instantly.

All copy protection does now is cause headaches for users and additional (and long term) support requirements for the gaming company.

Dantenoc's idea really is the answer. Produce a quality product and people will pay for it. You shouldn't charge twice the price because you're giving things to people, that will just make people want to pirate it, but if you make a quality item with something tangible in the box, that's what will make the product sell.
Alas Free far outweighs quality. A game without a copy protection will a commercial suicide these days. So many ways to swap copies, so many incentives to get the game now. We can only hope that the game copy protection will be less than insufferable, but it will be there, or the game is doomed.

TES IV: Oblivion didn't have any copy protection. Nobody can say that didn't do great.