Purchased Pirate Copy

[sonicninja]

I think I may have purchased a pirate copy of SH3 on Ebay :arrgh!:
It stated that it was "NEW,ORIGIONAL & SEALED", it looks new, smells new but it dont taste new:down:

I cant do the following actions on it:-

1.Patch it to 1.4
2.The Gramma Phone doesnt work in the Radio Room
3.Cant load external torpedos into the submarine
4.Cant install the Grey Wolves supermod

:damn:
Ive emailed the seller and he swears it the "real thing" but I dont understand why these issues have come up if it is a "Genuine" version???:hmm:

[SteamWake]

Well there are several versions. CD/DVD Europian / US etc etc.

Insure that you are attempting to apply the proper patch version.

[Herr Russ]

My gramaphone did not work until I had it patched w/ 1.4B.

Did you get an error message?? After installing, playing, patching & adding GW, I had to wipe it & re-install but the patch would not work. I ended up having to run a registry cleaner to remove traces of the original install..

Ditto on checking for the correct patch..

Good Luck!!

[fredbass]

I think I may have purchased a pirate copy of SH3 on Ebay :arrgh!:


I only purchased software one time on Ebay and that was because the game was no longer produced for retail sales anymore. Maybe that was your situation and I don't live in the UK, but my advice to everyone who wants software is to always purchase new retail if possible, which will almost guarantee you will get an unscratched usable CD, a legal authorization code, and a manual etc.

I hope you get it going though, good luck.

[VonHelsching]

I think I may have purchased a pirate copy of SH3 on Ebay :arrgh!:
It stated that it was "NEW,ORIGIONAL & SEALED", it looks new, smells new but it dont taste new:down:

I cant do the following actions on it:-

1.Patch it to 1.4
2.The Gramma Phone doesnt work in the Radio Room
3.Cant load external torpedos into the submarine
4.Cant install the Grey Wolves supermod

:damn:
Ive emailed the seller and he swears it the "real thing" but I dont understand why these issues have come up if it is a "Genuine" version???:hmm:

Once you know which version US / EMEA etc, you will be able to patch to 1.4b.

Once you patch it, the rest will work.

[_Seth_]

Sounds weird.... Strange that this small things (like torpedo loads etc...) should be affected if this was a piratet copy. The only thing that can explain this, is if there is missing some files. But then the whole shabang wouldnt work... :hmm:

[sonicninja]

Its definately the European Non DVD version, i suspect that the disc may be an ISO copy and some how there are files missing somthing to do with an engine dll file in the data folder, im not too sure as im not to clever with the gubbings of a game program...

wish i had hung out with the geeks in school back in the 80's :know:

:lol:

Im still sure this is a pirate copy, if it is then the selller is in trouble with Ebay for spoiling my gametime and ruining the gaming industry :nope:

[_Seth_]

Well, i cant give you any further advice, because that would implement illegal procedures. Maybe someone else could give you some more info on this. I hope you get this fixed, mate! :yep:

[sonicninja]

Any advice at this stage would be a start :cry:

[AVGWarhawk]

First of all, did it have the starforce/protection code? Mine was located inside the CD holder and I had to use it for the game to run. If you have no code and did not require it to start the game...I would say you have a pirated copy. :nope: let us know.

[sonicninja]

yes i had a serial code inside the box, it looks pretty genuine but then if it is a pirate its the first ive ever seen as i always usually buy my games from play.com, they were just out of stock on sh3 so i used ebay.

[AVGWarhawk]

yes i had a serial code inside the box, it looks pretty genuine but then if it is a pirate its the first ive ever seen as i always usually buy my games from play.com, they were just out of stock on sh3 so i used ebay.

If the game asked for that code I would suspect it is the genuine article. If that is the case, you need to detemine if it is the UK or USA version. What I would do is uninstall everything...all files and folders. The game also installs a fold in MY DOCUMENTS. Dump that also. Do a search of all files and folders off search function found off the start button. Delete all that is found. I typed in SHIII and found some folders that I did not know was on the hard drive. I found this out when I did a fresh install for GW and could not get the 1.4 patch to load. Once that is done, install the game again, get patch 1.4 for the USA version and install. It should go in I hope. If not, start the whole process over again and use the 1.4 patch for the UK version. If that does not work, find a skeet range and load. Scream "pull"...fire your shortgun! Let us know what happens.

[Boris]

I'd say even if it was pirated... there is no reason for it to have any missing features or extra bugs.
Does the DVD even look dodgy?

[sonicninja]

No the dvd looks tip top, i just tried the game again and this time i couldnt even get the damage control party to fix minor damage :cry:

My whole crew is falling apart, maybe they dont want to be on a pirate boat anymore.

:arrgh!:

[AVGWarhawk]

No the dvd looks tip top, i just tried the game again and this time i couldnt even get the damage control party to fix minor damage :cry:

My whole crew is falling apart, maybe they dont want to be on a pirate boat anymore.

:arrgh!:

Dude, were you in silent running mode? Crew will not fix and torpedoes will not load. After all, they are being silent.

[kiwi_2005]

Before you go blaming this guy, you must be 100% certain it is pirated. The first thing to spot is the dvd cover does it look like the art is copy/pasted - looks like it's a scanned, copied and paste job? Also the dvd itself - mine has silent hunter written over it with a uboat being depth charged and the art on it is genuine meaning it doesn't look like a copy/paste job, mine also has the key written across it, check the manual as well does it look new? or does it look like the manual was a copy/past onto a home made book. Really it comes down to this pirates are cheap & just plain stupid, they must think we're all colored blind or something as all the above ive mentioned are the giveaways. The biggest giveaway is pirated copies cannot play online so load SH3 up and see if you can join a multiplayer game, if its a copy theirs no way ubi.com will let you play online - they will check your key and know its cracked.

Also if you recieved the game sealed in plastic im sure its genuine. Then again they might of just got more clever?

[DasBootGhost]

If the fellow selling it to you went through all the trouble of finding a box with cd code, all packaging and in plastic I say he's earned his money. I don't think anyone pirating a game would go to that length :know:

[AVGWarhawk]

If the fellow selling it to you went through all the trouble of finding a box with cd code, all packaging and in plastic I say he's earned his money. I don't think anyone pirating a game would go to that length :know:

I agree. Take your time on the clean up and re-install. Judging by the post of yours with the crew not fixing things. I believe you have a lot to learn in this game. Get your patches straighten out then go play:rock:

[sonicninja]

i have just recieved an email from the guy i bought it from and he has confirmed it was a "back-up" version....which to me is a pirate copy plain and simple:stare: .
He has given me the option of a refund, or to prevent me from reporting him he has offered me a further 10 "back-ups" of the top 10 selling pc games, can you believe this guy :doh:

I have requested a full refund and past his details and emails on to ebay. I must now look in the shops for a trusted, legit, mint, real macoy version of SH3.

Agreed, i do need some practise and experience with the game to learn how to run a U-Boat as shallow as a worms grave, but it helps when the game can be patched etc to iron out those little bugs :lol:

Thanks to everyone who help me out on this thread :up:

[danlisa]

You did the right thing there:up:

FYI Amazon have SH3 in stock...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/203-2333713-3516745?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=silent+hunter+3&Go.x=0&Go.y=0
£12.99 for the DVD, that's cheap enough. Actually cheaper than that after I looked (£4.99) can this be right?

[AVGWarhawk]

I believe you can get a good clean unused game right here at Subsim.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:up::up::up::up::u p: