SH III Encore edition: Starforce or not?

[Antonin]

Today I finally received my copy of the Encore edition of SH III. It's a CD-sized pack that contains a SH II DVD and a SH III DVD. The pack is called "Strategic Simulations' Silent Hunter" and it says "2 games in one".

My understanding in purchasing this was that this version of SH III does not have Starforce.

However, on the back of the pack, along with the "Hunt. Hide. Kill" slogan and the screenshots and the Ubisoft, Quicktime, Encore and other logos is a "system requirements" paragraph that says at the end: "NOTICE: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some DVD-RW and virtual drives."

This is the same message that was on my original copy of SH III, the one that caused problems with my DVD drive.

My question: is this a simple case of all the text that was on the original SH III box just being copied onto the Encore edition box?

In other words, does anybody know if this Encore version of SH III has Starforce?

Thanks for any clarification anyone can provide.

[kylania]

What happened when you installed it? I'm assuming it's pretty cheap so might as well open it and find out and let us know? Please? :)

[Reece]

When you install SHIII Starforce isn't installed untill you run it, if you have any files called Protect in the SilentHunterIII folder (not sure of the extension) then you have the Starforce files, if not you should be ok to run it,:yep: anyone else confirm this?:-?
If you do Run SHIII and you then have to restart your computer you now have Starforce, but fear not you can always run the removal tool, this does work.:yep:

[kylania]

Can you still run SHIII after removing the StarForce stuff? I'm just sick of having to swap in the disc I've paid for twice, every time I want to play SH3.

[Reece]

No!:oops: When you remove starforce all is ok till you run SHIII again, then you are directed to reboot!:doh:

[ReM]

The budget version (€ 5,00) comes without Starforce....maybe you would have been better of with that one...

[owner20071963]

Can you still run SHIII after removing the StarForce stuff? I'm just sick of having to swap in the disc I've paid for twice, every time I want to play SH3. I too had the same problem on the first purshase of SH3 years ago,It would not play on my new Computer,So I got Starforce,at Starforce.com,Downloaded it,Now All my Old Games Play,though some do complain,for me I've never encountered a problem,,This tool makes Old Games Compatable,With Xp or Vista,Regarding inserting the Disc?with most old games,you need to do this,to play them,Mostly a Disc Security issue,Unlike most new games all You need to do is open your Desktop Shortcut Icon,
Hope this helps those who Purchase Old PC Games,
Happy Hunting,:arrgh!:
Happy Captains,, http://www.ComSubsPac.spruz.com (http://www.comsubspac.spruz.com/)

[Antonin]

What happened when you installed it? I'm assuming it's pretty cheap so might as well open it and find out and let us know? Please? :)

I did not install it yet because after my last go-round with the original SH III I do not want anything to do with Starforce. I do not even want it on my computer.

I was hoping maybe someone here had bought the bargain SH II/SH III edition and could confirm whether or not it uses Starforce.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide clarification.

[Antonin]

The budget version (€ 5,00) comes without Starforce....maybe you would have been better of with that one...

I bought this particular "encore" edition from NWS Online store in the US. I don't know if that is the same bargain version sold in Europe. That's kind of what I am trying to find out here.

[Jimbuna]

Starforce removal tool:

http://www.onlinesecurity-on.com/protect.phtml?c=55

[kylania]

Hehe, Amazon has a forum and people were discussing Starforce there. Some dweeb from EA was posting about how great DRM is and how it's for your protection and if you need to reinstall your game more than 3 times maybe you should have bought a computer that could play it in the first place.

EVERY post by this guy was marked as 'unhelpful' and one was even deleted by Amazon. Shame these companies keep putting this crap in their games.

[Jimbuna]

Hehe, Amazon has a forum and people were discussing Starforce there. Some dweeb from EA was posting about how great DRM is and how it's for your protection and if you need to reinstall your game more than 3 times maybe you should have bought a computer that could play it in the first place.

EVERY post by this guy was marked as 'unhelpful' and one was even deleted by Amazon. Shame these companies keep putting this crap in their games.

Fully agree....certainly in the case where it can actually harm other computer files.

[Erich dem Roten]

I never, EVER, allow StarForce on my computers.

[Reece]

What always annoys me is that the genuine purchaser has to keep feeding in CD/DVD's and put up with these programs running in the background, but the pirate can run the game without any of this crap!:nope:
Seems all they are doing is promoting piracy! They should just concentrate on protecting the disk from being copied only!:-?

[Blacklight]

I've never found Starforce to be too bad. At least they didn't use SecuRom for their DRM. :shifty:

[nirwana]

Any protection since the days of the Data Becker -1 sector protection was neutralized within a week. The best they could do was to make a deal with the groups whose sin of life was to kill the protections to suspend spreading their tools for a few months.

[KaleunBier]

I also have that Encore edition it contains Sh2 and SH3 and at the top of the box it says "Strategic Simulations" correct? I'm sure we're talking about the same thing and no it doesn't have starforce :D

[Jimbuna]

If it doesn't contain SF, that has to be a plus.

[Fenris_Wolf]

Still, isn't it quite simple to remove starforce and play stock, GWX, or whatever without any difficulties at all? :hmm:

[Task Force]

Why do they put this crap on games.:shifty:

[Jimbuna]

Still, isn't it quite simple to remove starforce and play stock, GWX, or whatever without any difficulties at all? :hmm:

You run the risk of reinstalling the bugga when you insert your game disc.

[sidslotm]

Many thanks to all you moders for making a truly great sim so much better, thanks to Ubi for wrecking my DVD player.

You may well improve SH4 after a few more years by changing the paciffic jelly into a reasonable water, like SH3

thanks:cool:

"the reasonable man conforms himself to the world, the unreasonable man conforms the world to himself"

[Murr44]

The budget version (€ 5,00) comes without Starforce....maybe you would have been better of with that one...

I bought this particular "encore" edition from NWS Online store in the US. I don't know if that is the same bargain version sold in Europe. That's kind of what I am trying to find out here.

I bought my copy 3 months ago from NWS for about $9-$10 US & it is not the "Encore" edition: no mention of "encore" anywhere on the case. According to the readme file it's the 1.4 EMEA English version. It has the same blurb on the back of the dvd case as my original game but it does not require the dvd to be in the drive to play once the the game has been installed so I am assuming that this version does not contain Star Force.

All that I can suggest is that if you don't want this "encore" edition contact Chris Dean at nws-online@nws-online.net & see if he's willing to exchange your copy for the version that I have (1.4 EMEA English). I'm not saying that he'll agree to it but from my dealings with him he seems to be a pretty reasonable guy.

[Antonin]

Yeah, I have exchanged emails with Chris over this and he was even kind enough to send me a utility to remove the accursed Starforce if my DVD had it. He was reasonably sure that it does not.

ANYWAY...I finally worked up the courage to install and run the game, and it appears that there is no Starforce, in spite of what the pack says on the back.

Thank goodness for that.

I began doing the Naval Academy missions last night and my golly is this game beautiful!

[Murr44]

Yeah, I have exchanged emails with Chris over this and he was even kind enough to send me a utility to remove the accursed Starforce if my DVD had it. He was reasonably sure that it does not.

ANYWAY...I finally worked up the courage to install and run the game, and it appears that there is no Starforce, in spite of what the pack says on the back.

Thank goodness for that.

I began doing the Naval Academy missions last night and my golly is this game beautiful!

Well I'm glad that you're all sorted out & happy with your game.:up: Yes Chris is a pretty decent guy to deal with. I remember the very first game that I had ordered from his company; he even called me at home up here in Canada (and I hadn't asked him to either) just to let me know that my order had been shipped. He's pretty good too if you need help gettting your game to run: seems to know all the right people to ask & will refer you to them asap.

[U443]

I don't know if mine has Starforce or not. The removal tool says no drivers found but I still get the error "This application can be launched with a realese version of Microsoft 95, OSR2.1/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP/ Server 2003 only"

What gives? .....Please!

Vista home premium 64.

[carioca1000]

Greetings from Brazil,

I have ordered one Encore Edition, but have received a Focus Edition.

I suspect that the Focus Edition has the StarForce in it. Am I right?

Please, how can I assure the seller that the Focus Edition does contain the Starforce bug? Anyone has already stated that the Focus Edition does or not contain the Starforce bug?

What does the Encore DVD Version differ from the other ones with the Starforce bug?

Many thanks in advance for your attention and patience.

Best regards,

Felipe