I wonder how old paper-based copy protection schemes like the Starflight wheel would fare nowadays?
(Probably not that well actually, as someone would within days have some kind of internet file for download with all possible combos.)
Or, as I used to do back in the olden days, just take the wheel apart, photocopy the individual sheets, cut the holes, and stick a tack through the final product.
-Joe
I do get nostalgiac for old copy protection schemes involving wheels or reading specific words in manuals. I mean it’s a pain in the ass, but there’s something novel about them.
I’m guessing it’s the same reason I’m “The Trop,” instead of “tr0psn4j.”
Nah. Very short version: “The name SenorBeef is already taken as a Live ID. If this is you, enter your password now” “Okay, so it’s your account, so pick a new name” “but… I just…” “SHUT UP! PICK A NEW NAME!”…
It was really a bizarre sequence of events that’s a little more intricate, but that was the basics. Essentially it made me prove who I was, linked it properly to my live account, and then told me it didn’t matter, I couldn’t use the name because it was already in use… by me.
That sounds about right…
That’s true. However, Steam’s standard claim has been that if they ever do go belly up, they would release patches to their games so that you could download them, store them, and play them offline. Lip service, but take it for what it’s worth.
As for GTA4, I downloaded it after the steam sale. I skip past the social club thing every time I open the game, which irritates me to no end. But the actual game play is ok. Loads faster than the 360 did, driving and animations are smooth, no obvious gfx tears or anything. Admittedly, my system is a bit of a beast at the moment, so clearly YMMV. No obvious bugs so far, but I’m only a hour or so in.
SecuRom is a POS. Always has been, always will be. It causes a ton of problems and doesn’t really prevent piracy. mostly because the first thing the pirates do is circumvent it. New iterations of securom take a week or two longer to break. But once broken, the same method will work on every other game using that version of securom. Honestly, it makes it more attractive to pirate than purchase.
My wife had issues with the a legitimately purchased game a year ago. I replaced the exe with the cracked version and suddenly, the games plays just fine. I buy my games because I want to support the devs and continue having good games made. It irritates me when I need a pirated copy to fix incompetent security.
Where are all these pirated games coming from?
Don’t break any rules in your answer, of course – speak in generalities.
Is it just a simple matter of finding a torrent? But don’t those have to be hosted/seeded somewhere? And how do you tell legitimate copies (er, work with me semantics-wise on that one) from malware-infested ones? Didn’t music companies take a similar approach for a while – putting tons of broken MP3s online? Surely SecureROM or publishers must take all this into account and try to squoosh the Jell-O.
Is it a word-of-mouth thing? Kind of how I got my copy of M.U.L.E. on the C64?
People leave comments. You should always read them.
You’re right, and you know whether it’s good or loaded with malware the same way you do if you download anything else from the internet - typically the comments on the page for the download.
ETA: Curse this crappy keyboard that forced me to go back and correct spelling mistakes!
-Joe
I got GTA4 for the PC for Christmas, but haven’t installed it. I think I might return it after reading that. Too much garbage.
I’ve finished GTA4 on the PS3 but wanted to play it on the PC for better graphics and my Internet connection used to be much better on my PC for multiplayer.
I’ve forgotten the jargon, and it’s probably changed by now anyway. These days, bittorrent has brought anonymous piracy to the masses, but I imagine the network that gets things to the torrent sites is much the same as it always has been. The short version is that there’s relatively small groups of avid hobbyists who fixate on doing this stuff at every step along the line.
First, there’s a long logistics line in game production. Development, marketing (reviewers!), publishing, disc factories, warehousing, distribution, retail. At any step there can be an employee pulling double duty as a mole, doing the spy work of obtaining new releases often long before they hit shelves. Whichever group(s) the mole is affiliated with is supplied the raw data through very private (and very fast) servers.
Then the group’s crackers, the deprogrammers that break the copy protection, have a go at it. For a highly anticipated game, or a new copy protection scheme, this stage is a frenzied race, with the prestige of scooping competing groups at stake. For a well-known scheme this can be little more than merely running a script on the executable.
Then comes packaging and testing. Less technical than the cracking but no less frenzied, as the race is still going. Skimping on testing can result in pushing out a broken crack, which gives a competing group the opportunity to release their own version of the game, with an nfo undoubtedly full of crowing about how much better they are than the incompetent first group.
Then comes the distribution, as the packaged data is proliferated across a very private but less closely guarded network of (still very fast) servers. This part frequently involves people in positions of authority at service providers, universities, tech businesses, and other gatekeepers of fat pipes. These servers then feed other servers, which feed other servers, until it gets down to the one used by that guy your friend knows.
And that guy might be the one that posts it on some torrent site. But he better not remove the crediting (and instructions) nfo from the original supply group, because as underground as the initial food chain is, access can be revoked at a whim, and petty vengeance is swift and terrible. And then how will you get your leet zero-day releases? You might actually have to a whole week after retail!
The speed with which the process works is astonishing. I’ve often wondered how many people are losing how much sleep, purely for the competition to be the first and best of the groups. It’s a testament to the power of talent and devotion. Motivation is equal parts challenge, competition, espionage thrill, and gamer fanaticism. Money in the process is almost solely an expense, not an income. There’s a fair bit of overlap with the technically sophisticated computer art scene, and the average guy on the street would probably be surprised just how many games are legally purchased (although maybe not promptly after release…) despite the main-line access to any title one could name.
Man, those were the days. I still remember dutifully copying every single entry of the *Simcity *copy protection leaflet (which was printed black-on-burgundy, so impossible to photocopy. Impossible to read, too :rolleyes:). A few thousand cities, with their populations, and a little logo for each. Took me a week’s worth of history classes but I did it, goddammit !
Remember “Leather Goddesses of Phobos”? It included a cave map that was absolutely essential to finishing the game. I remember spending 3+ hours trying to draw a map myself - you couldn’t drop things to identify rooms, all you could do to distinguish them was figure out which of the 8 (or 10) possible directions were available from each room. I finally gave up in disgust.
Oh yeah, fun times. I love the directions to get through that part, though; not only are there the twists and turns, but you have to hop, clap, and say “KWEEPA” at various junctures.