View Full Version : So Im a dinosaur and dont get it.
Mush Martin
08-26-07, 09:30 AM
Being Genuine twentieth century man
I am a little fuzzy on some of the subtlety's of the
future.
could someone please fill me in
What I dont understand is what is so useful about a no cd patch
outside of piracy?
that is to say what legitimate function is there for it?
melnibonian
08-26-07, 09:49 AM
MM I don't think you will get an answer in this question. Let's say it's too delicate ;)
The number 1 reason 'a friend of mine' likes to use them is that the CD/DVD disc is preserved. The 'friend of mine' have had numerous occasions where he have been going thru his games and found some very good old game he wants to play again, so he inserts the disc to his drive just to notice that it is too scratched to be used anymore. :-?
Besides, it's easier than to make a backup of the disc (AFAIK, everyone has a right to make 1 backup of the disc you have purchased).
joegrundman
08-26-07, 10:04 AM
Why should it be delicate? After all Ubisoft decided to bundle SH4 patch 1.3 with a nocd patch. Why would they do that if they didn't acknowledge that it makes life easier? I ask you, having patched SH4 to 1.3, do you still want to use the CD?
My last SH3 DVD broke from over use. I've had to buy the game again. Thankfully it's not very expensive, but if it had happened when it was still on first release price, i'd be less than thrilled. It was a hassle enough to get it shipped out to me as I live in Tokyo, and the price of the Japanese edition was just too much.
In addition, my DVD drive gets tired of being opened and closed all the time. Every now and again it throws a connection and then I have to reboot my PC. I guess I should fix it somehow.
Finally, my 18month old daughter just LOVES to play with my CD's left lying around, or extracted from the DVD drive, while I'm focused on nailing that Grosse Ladung.
None of these things cause problems for me when playing SH4, but I'm just not into that game quite so much....so yeah...I'd love for Ubisoft to release an official nocd patch. They've already done it for the expensive SH4, so why not for the budget price SH3?
Still, I'm a little bit curious as to WHY they released a nocd patch for SH4...
Mush Martin
08-26-07, 10:07 AM
Thanks guys I just feel a little Naive somedays.
Oh good point
well at least im in touch with my feelings.
melnibonian
08-26-07, 10:11 AM
Why should it be delicate?
Because it is right on the border with the Forum Rules :yep:
AFAIK most "backups" of disks are unplayable without a No CD patch anyway.
StarFox
08-26-07, 11:12 PM
there are pro's and cons for and against it
As some one who as without wanting to destroyed CD's having a no cd patch can come in handy now and then. however if you hard drive dies....your screwed
its really not hard to get around needing a cd, all you need is to know you way around the internet.
I dont so much mind having to use a cd. what i really hate is how some game companys, such as Sierra put the CD keys one little tiny slips of paper that are easy to lose. finding Key generators, now thats a bit harder.....and if only they printed the CD Key onto the manual...then it would not be a problem
sorry if im ranting, but it bugs me a bit
Packerton
08-27-07, 12:33 AM
I have no problems with people useing them if they own the game, they just make life easier then.
Pirateing is a big no no however. :dead:
BarjackU977
08-27-07, 12:51 AM
Easier life: you don't need to swap CDs in your reader when you change of game
Longer life for your CDs: no risk of scratches (including for those CDs you leave on your desk, when your children are around)
They sometimes solve protection compatibility problems with your PC/DVD reader, which prevent you to play even with a genuine disk.
Improved game loading time: you save a couple of seconds that a protection takes just to check the disk in the reader
Some rare protections even mess with system files of your Operating sustem, which is unacceptable (Starforce, or some music CDs) ; one of those protections happened to bring a vulnerability in the OS.Only advantages. But they also happen to be the target of the most bad-intentioned pirates: some include viruses, trojans in those patches, sometimes to simply steal your genuine CD key to play online instead of you.
The sad thing is that the video gaming industry puts CD protections to fight a high level of piracy. And that is because of those people playing without paying that genuine customers also happen to suffer from those protections. Yet, some protections became so technically complex that they happen to cause problems that can be solved by a no-cd, nowadays. That's a weird situation.
I buy every game I play, because devs deserve a salary for their work, because I want to reward them and I want them to go on developing games.
Without customers, there wouldn't be so many grat games being developed. There just would be a few free titles, maybe.
Heibges
08-27-07, 01:02 AM
Company of Heroes is playable out of the box without the DVD in the drive.
BarjackU977
08-27-07, 01:12 AM
For me, the perfect game, from a protetion perspective, would be:
a game that I can still play in 10 years on a new computer, if I want (no online activation: you don't depend on the availability of activation servers to be able to play)
a game that can be played from the HDD, without CD
A game that requires a registered, valid account with a genuine key to play.But for the moment, only "pure Online" games match those requirements.
I think it can't be done for SP games. I see no technical solution for the moment :cry:
joegrundman
08-27-07, 02:06 AM
I think publishers could do a compromise situation. For example, they could arrange it such that you only have to put the CD in on every 5th occasion that you start the game. And after, say, 50 game starts it could just accept that you are a genuine owner and stop requesting the CD altogether.
This would reduce wear and tear dramatically and thereby lengthen the average CD lifespan.
I use a NO CD for EVERY game I own. I have done so for a long time. I can still remember wanting to install Delta Force again (man, did I spend a lot of time online snipering koth games) but not being able to get it done because the CD was scratched. From that day on it was NO CD patches and I haven't had any trouble since.....
After installation, my cd's leave the comp to the security of the jewel case, never to leave again, except for reinstalls. They remain in pristine condition.
CapnMike U-69
08-27-07, 04:32 AM
I just (2 weeks ago) had a friend buy a real/original SH3 in Germany for me, and it was already patched to version 1.4, and after installation (Intel Apple Mac) I ejected the DVD out of the drive. Cost was Euro 19.99 in a small town high-street store. Dead easy to install GWX over - even for a total Windows idiot like me !
I guess it will never have to go in my computer again (unless I need a re-install) 'cos I've screwed up the mods somehow !
I have also managed to make a back-up copy of it (ONLY for my own personal use) without any trouble at all - and tested it by installing on my machine at work (for when I'm not busy, and lunchbreaks etc you know!!)
Happy Huntin'
CapnMike
You found the budget version which comes patched to 1.4, with no Starforce and the need for the dvd in the player....but you payed way too much money for it. It can be found for as little as € 5,99!
It is money well-spent nonetheless......
Kaleu. Jochen Mohr
08-27-07, 09:00 AM
i have one for SHIII... and i gave it to a few persons to help them.
i wont put on name's couse they PM me or i PM them about it. ;)
i dont give it to anyone just like that.
i give it to ppl who NEED it
Learn to master the art of google.....
IrischKapitan
08-27-07, 10:28 AM
Just take care of your cd's, put them in there box when not using them, dont leave them so kids get at them and dont leave them lying around!
I have games from the Windows 95 era that are still playable because they stayed in there box! :smug:
IrischKapitan
08-27-07, 10:29 AM
I just (2 weeks ago) had a friend buy a real/original SH3 in Germany for me, and it was already patched to version 1.4, and after installation (Intel Apple Mac) I ejected the DVD out of the drive. Cost was Euro 19.99 in a small town high-street store. Dead easy to install GWX over - even for a total Windows idiot like me !
I guess it will never have to go in my computer again (unless I need a re-install) 'cos I've screwed up the mods somehow !
I have also managed to make a back-up copy of it (ONLY for my own personal use) without any trouble at all - and tested it by installing on my machine at work (for when I'm not busy, and lunchbreaks etc you know!!)
Happy Huntin'
CapnMike
I have that version too, Its brilliant!
Sailor Steve
08-27-07, 11:59 AM
Some of us are real dinosaurs. I can remember the days before CDs: Floppies Forever! (:dead:)
Games like Silent Service came with a big manual, and every time you started the game it asked you to identify the ship on page 43; LucasArts' Their Finest Hour, which came with its own whiz wheel, and you had to line up the different icons and type in the answer.
Ah, the good old days.:roll:
IrischKapitan
08-27-07, 02:25 PM
Some of us are real dinosaurs. I can remember the days before CDs: Floppies Forever! (:dead:)
Games like Silent Service came with a big manual, and every time you started the game it asked you to identify the ship on page 43; LucasArts' Their Finest Hour, which came with its own whiz wheel, and you had to line up the different icons and type in the answer.
Ah, the good old days.:roll:
Ahh, I can re member a time when a tape walkman was ''advanced''.... Also a time when Windows 3.1 and MS DOS were of the cutting edge... :yep:
Foghladh_mhara
08-27-07, 04:48 PM
Just take care of your cd's, put them in there box when not using them, dont leave them so kids get at them and dont leave them lying around!
I have games from the Windows 95 era that are still playable because they stayed in there box! :smug:
The only place you can put cd's where kids cant get them is in a deep hole in the back garden. Children are resourceful little beggars and mine seem to have a streak of evil in them when it comes to discs.
Seeing as I'm a creature of happiness and light I can only assume they got it from their mother :yep:
BelegDraug
08-27-07, 05:03 PM
I could use a NO-CD patch just for tat: no using my CD/DVD, preserving it from scratches and all that stuff... Here in Argentina, DVD games are not such affordable liki in Europe or USA, just because we need to convert it to our local money. In that change, plus shiping and all the sales' stuff, the prize goes high easy. Another example: I use NOCD patch on some games, with my notebook... I don't wanna loose any more CD's, just 'cause I'm too disorganized (mmmh? Is that word well spelled?) THX!
Sailor Steve
08-27-07, 07:37 PM
Ahh, I can re member a time when a tape walkman was ''advanced''.... Also a time when Windows 3.1 and MS DOS were of the cutting edge... :yep:
"Walkman"?
I remember when reel-to-reel was the only way to go, because cassette tapes were too 'warbly', and 4-and-8-track tapes always changed tracks in the middle of long songs (so In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was right out).
I spent almost $50 on a state-of-the-art stereo system in Subic Bay in 1970.
I remember that I installed my first copy of Windows from am multitude of flops.....
but the manuals in those days:rock:
Sturdy, spiral bound, hard covered, well researched books really, touching everything from history, vehicles, tactics etc....gave you your money's worth. (the Falcon 4.0 manual...lol) A lot better that the crap that accompanied my beloved SHIII....
i_b_spectre
08-28-07, 05:47 AM
...and don't even get us started on what music we were listening to while doing these things :rotfl:
As primitive as it all sounds now, we probably had as much fun back then with what we had and looking forward to the day when we'd have games like have now. Imagine what it'll be like in another 20 years! :o
joegrundman
08-29-07, 05:00 AM
You found the budget version which comes patched to 1.4, with no Starforce and the need for the dvd in the player....but you payed way too much money for it. It can be found for as little as € 5,99!
It is money well-spent nonetheless......
I didn't know they'd already released a budget version with a nocd patch included. However, my new SH3 budget CD "Ubisoft Exclusive" still comes with Starforce attached.
Captain Nemo
08-29-07, 07:57 AM
Some of us are real dinosaurs. I can remember the days before CDs: Floppies Forever! (:dead:)
I can remember the days before floppies, cassette tapes. I had a ZX Spectrum with a whopping 48k of memory and all my games had to be loaded using cassette tapes. It took some games 5 minutes or more to load and the loading process wasn't always reliable. The first time I used floppies was with my Commodore 64 with a 1541 disk drive which used 5.25 inch floppies (the true floppy). Fond memories!
Nemo
Load
Press play on tape
Run
Seems like ages ago....my beloved commodore 64...
Damn I sound like an old fart already, and I haven't even reached 40 yet.....
I use the no-CD patch because I'm fed up of my girlfriend taking the SH3 dvd out of the drive, replacing it with her Sims2 dvd to play her game, and not putting the SH3 disc back afterwards. I can never find where she's put it (I mean, how on earth does a SH3 box/dvd end up in the bathroom???) when I want to play and have to spend 20 mins searching.
No-cd patch - no problem - no arguments - better relationship - more time for SH3.
Kaleu. Jochen Mohr
08-29-07, 08:42 AM
I use the no-CD patch because I'm fed up of my girlfriend taking the SH3 dvd out of the drive, replacing it with her Sims2 dvd to play her game, and not putting the SH3 disc back afterwards. I can never find where she's put it (I mean, how on earth does a SH3 box/dvd end up in the bathroom???) when I want to play and have to spend 20 mins searching.
No-cd patch - no problem - no arguments - better relationship - more time for SH3.
exactly :up:
i patched all my versions with the no-cd patch. (GWX, Vanilla (like they say here),WAC,RUB and NYGM)
Sailor Steve
08-29-07, 11:19 AM
Some of us are real dinosaurs. I can remember the days before CDs: Floppies Forever! (:dead:)
I can remember the days before floppies, cassette tapes. I had a ZX Spectrum with a whopping 48k of memory and all my games had to be loaded using cassette tapes. It took some games 5 minutes or more to load and the loading process wasn't always reliable. The first time I used floppies was with my Commodore 64 with a 1541 disk drive which used 5.25 inch floppies (the true floppy). Fond memories!
Nemo
As I said, I was an adult (and in the navy) roughly 10 years before the first personal computers. And there are some around here who can call ME kid!:dead:
Jimbuna
08-29-07, 11:31 AM
Some of us are real dinosaurs. I can remember the days before CDs: Floppies Forever! (:dead:)
I can remember the days before floppies, cassette tapes. I had a ZX Spectrum with a whopping 48k of memory and all my games had to be loaded using cassette tapes. It took some games 5 minutes or more to load and the loading process wasn't always reliable. The first time I used floppies was with my Commodore 64 with a 1541 disk drive which used 5.25 inch floppies (the true floppy). Fond memories!
Nemo
As I said, I was an adult (and in the navy) roughly 10 years before the first personal computers. And there are some around here who can call ME kid!:dead:
Don't look at me ;)
Foghladh_mhara
08-29-07, 01:07 PM
I can remember the days before floppies, cassette tapes. I had a ZX Spectrum with a whopping 48k of memory and all my games had to be loaded using cassette tapes. It took some games 5 minutes or more to load and the loading process wasn't always reliable.
Nemo
Ah the old Sinclair Spectrum ZX :hmm:
I remember getting it for christmas and a game called Star Commander. Took ages to load up and when the game eventually did the TV screen was a mess of white dots that was supposed to be stars. Every time I launched it I was dead in 5 mins and never saw anything but them white dots! The picture on the box looked cool though.
(Remembers...) :hmm: Jet-set Willy on the ZX Spectrum (I too had one).
Possibly the best game in history - ever. :rock:
Jimbuna
08-30-07, 05:53 AM
(Remembers...) :hmm: Jet-set Willy on the ZX Spectrum (I too had one).
Possibly the best game in history - ever. :rock:
:roll: ......................:hmm: ....................No :nope:
Well guys, many points here! I would guess that this discussion isnt finished yet.. If you would like to do something about it, please state your wish in a YES or NO form in the "petition to ubi..." thread:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=108602
BTW: Since this thread is in direct violation of the forum rules, i will close this one down.:up:
vBulletin® v3.8.11, Copyright ©2000-2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.