Re: Disturbing Facts
 

i admit i priated GTA1 and 2 i later bought GTA 2 (i got them at hte same time) and i don't play GTA1 anymore. I pirated driver b/c hte demo didn't give me a good enought taste of the game to decide. I found out i hated it, uninstalled the pirated copy and never bought it. I got the SE3 demo, wow it was so good i kept playign new games until it stalemated at the tech line or i won. I got he SE4 demo and i bought the game a few weeks later.

Both of the Last two had good demos so i never felt the urge (and Shrapnel and MM are so cool, if i could pirate windows i would b/c i HATE microsoft) to get the whole game to test it out.

And also think that a person who pirates a game and never buys it probably wouldn't ever buy it, so its not really money lost. I let my friend try SE4 (the full Version) and after about a month he purchased the CD to support the company, and he is scrappign together allowance for GOLD.

On the drug use, i condone marijuana use in a safe manner. I mean we consider alcohol and tobacco safe so i can't see why marijuana is so much worse. It's jus the fault of a bunch of politicans with sticks up their @$$'s. hope no one is incredibly offended those are my views, and dont' worry, i gave a speech for Communications on this so i have evidence. Just look at hte dutch for instance, they don't sit around stoned all day (most dont').

Re: Disturbing Facts
 

"could pirate windows i would b/c i HATE microsoft"

I'm not condoning piracy here, but that's a pretty funny statement. Considering that those games you mentioned have copy protection and Windows DOESN'T.

solution for internet piracy: make the game so freaking big no one bothers to download it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Phoenix-D

Re: Disturbing Facts
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr> solution for internet piracy: make the game so freaking big no one bothers to download it <hr></blockquote>

Or just put the game on a DVD. By the time DVD burners are common, the game will probably be out of print. I guess the trade-off is that not everyone has a DVD-ROM drive.

Re: Disturbing Facts
 

DVD Can still be pirated: I'm ashamed but I do have some DVD movies ripped and put uder DivX format in my computer... And It's surprising how much ripped DVD movies are out there.

The big file doesnt matter as long as they have some Download Programs or/with Broadband, As download programs allow you to pause when the server is at its worst and allow you to continue at your own pace when no one is looking around.

The Best Hope yet are CD keys, which can be overcome by malicious programs, such as CD key generators or Rip/Fake CD's.

In my opinion, if the programmers can Incorporate some Absolutely Crippling Flaws into the game, hard code it, and make it so that it can only be fixed by giving the registered distributors registered CD keys which then in turn give you a patch that would fix those problems.

Just my two cents...

Re: Disturbing Facts
 

Your weak link is still any user who has the patch.

The only way to get complete control is to have proprietary hardware.
Package the games inside the machine, and make it self-destruct if the case is opened, too. Have it run on batteries, and use a tiny infrared port for input/output.
Lots of self-destruct triggers near that port, since it is a weak point.

Re: Disturbing Facts
 

Yes, proprietary hardware. Put the games on propreitary hardware. And don't sell them for goodness sake. You don't want people having access to them long enough to copy them. You can open up little shops and have these proprietary hardware consoles that people come in and pay a fee to play. Maybe call them "arcades" or something like that.

I don't know, it might work... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif

Geoschmo

Re: Disturbing Facts
 

Ah, but remember the security guards. Can't let anyone get inside, and you don't want to have to buy new machines when they self-destruct.

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I worked in one in Ottawa. At the famous Billings Bridge Mall. What a hole.

1990 to 1992.

I had alot of classic games there.