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. 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.

[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.

[_Seth_]

Originally Posted by 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. 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.

[Dantenoc]

Originally Posted by TDK1044

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

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

[d@rk51d3]

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

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

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by Dantenoc

Wow, that's good news indeed

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

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.

[SilentOtto]

Originally Posted by TDK1044

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

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