SHIII & StarForce - consensus opinion?

[Smecty]

Hi all,

I've posted a few comments on SHII in the Classic Subsim section, but this is my first post in the SHIII forums.

Basically my question revolves around the dreaded StarForce that comes bundled with this game. I've own SHIII since it came out, but only installed it once on an old Pentium in what now seems an eternity ago. When I found out about the StarForce I actually re-installed the WinXP OS to make certain I'd gotten rid of its drivers. I now know that it's much easier to get rid of them, but that's really not my point here.

The gist is this: I've heard terrible things about what StarForce does to CD or DVD drives, and with my shiny new XPS 630i I'm reluctant to endanger my expensive acquistion in any way.

Yet obviously there are just a ton of guys playing this game, and in another thread I've seen many of the regulars here laud this game as a good beginner's game, given the Naval Academy and the ability of the A/I to do routines that you can eventually take over on a manual basis once you've got your feet wet, so to speak.

I'm not a beginner (my first subsim was AODCD), but I've had this game sitting on my shelf now for years and it's just bugging me.

So what decision did you all make? Did you accept the danger and go ahead and install anyway? Or is the danger overstated? Has anybody actually had their CD or DVD drives deteriorate under StarForce? What's the scoop?

Thanks,

Smecty

[Barnacle Bill the Sailor]

Check PM

[popcorn2721]

Originally Posted by Smecty

Hi all,

I've posted a few comments on SHII in the Classic Subsim section, but this is my first post in the SHIII forums.

Basically my question revolves around the dreaded StarForce that comes bundled with this game. I've own SHIII since it came out, but only installed it once on an old Pentium in what now seems an eternity ago. When I found out about the StarForce I actually re-installed the WinXP OS to make certain I'd gotten rid of its drivers. I now know that it's much easier to get rid of them, but that's really not my point here.

The gist is this: I've heard terrible things about what StarForce does to CD or DVD drives, and with my shiny new XPS 630i I'm reluctant to endanger my expensive acquistion in any way.

Yet obviously there are just a ton of guys playing this game, and in another thread I've seen many of the regulars here laud this game as a good beginner's game, given the Naval Academy and the ability of the A/I to do routines that you can eventually take over on a manual basis once you've got your feet wet, so to speak.

I'm not a beginner (my first subsim was AODCD), but I've had this game sitting on my shelf now for years and it's just bugging me.

So what decision did you all make? Did you accept the danger and go ahead and install anyway? Or is the danger overstated? Has anybody actually had their CD or DVD drives deteriorate under StarForce? What's the scoop?

Thanks,

Smecty

yes, with out a doubt the game that I play the most is SH3...has been since the day it came out. Ive burned up a dvd drive (my lone dvd burner bit it after a few months) and after a few years the DVD its self has a half inch crack across the center from the harmonic chatter. Im actually going to return this one to UBI in the next few months as they will replace it for around 5 bucks (nice to have the retail version, eh?)... I have my game up and going

[Brer Rabbit]

The best advice I can give is for you to cough up $20 and download SH3 from UBI or other legal download site would be the best way to go. The d/l comes patched to 1.4 and does not have SF on it.

[Sailor Steve]

Brer Rabbit is probably right, but I've been using my original SH3 disc for three years now and never had a single problem.

On the other hand, it only takes one time...

[Fincuan]

I installed SH3(back when there was SF-less versions), patched it up, removed Starforce with their own tool, made sure it has been removed and played. Worked Now that SF-less versions are available do what the others said and get one. Makes life a bit easier.

Btw I already knew from prevoius experience that SF would cause trouble on my PC , even though it apparently doesn't do so for everyone.

[Smecty]

Originally Posted by Fincuan

I installed SH3(back when there was SF-less versions), patched it up, removed Starforce with their own tool, made sure it has been removed and played. Worked Now that SF-less versions are available do what the others said and get one. Makes life a bit easier.

Btw I already knew from prevoius experience that SF would cause trouble on my PC , even though it apparently doesn't do so for everyone.

Now this turns out to be a promising approach! While 20 bucks for the downloadable version is certainly not an exhorbitant fee, I hate to pay Ubi twice for the same game. But if you got the game to work by removing the SF, then that's the way to go. Costs me no more than what I originally paid for the game (SHIII was that rare game that I actually paid full price rather than waiting until the price came down) and so my original investment will actually bear fruit!

Thanks to one and all who responded to my query.

Cheers,

Smecty