What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

Hola everyone,

What kind of DRM does Dominions 3 have? This is for the CD and manual version. Does it have like internet activation, limited installs, etc. I tried searching the forum, and found some stuff about the CD-key, but none of it simply said what the game had.

I read that the patch checks with a server, is this only in multiplayer games? Can I play single player, patch the game, and not worry about being connected to the internet? Or does it have to check with a server for single player too? I don't mind for multiplayer if it does.

I played the demo some, and I really like it, but nowadays I don't buy any newish game until I first find out what kind of copy protection it has.

Thanks very much :).

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

Only Key. No limited installs or other scary stuff.

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

Thanks for the swift reply :).

That's great to hear. What about the patch? It says it connects to a server. Does it connect to the server after you install the patch, or does it only connect when you start a multiplayer game? I was a bit confused on this.

Thanks again :).

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

No, you only ever need to connect to a server if you want to play MP games, and there is no official server for the game. Instead we rely primarily on two fan-made server's, gandalf's and llamabeast's.

Patches can be found here http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwint...DOM3_page.html

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

Super!

Thanks for the link and helping me out :). I'll see about ordering it in a few days. Now I have to force my sis to get the game too so I have someone to play with ;).

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

I have been playing hotseat (two human players on one computer with AI players added in) with my best friend, and he is now hooked on the game. It provides an easy way to teach a new player about things also - I would highly recommend it. You can have each player use a password if you want to keep things confidential.

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

You can also easily find people to play against on the multiplayer forum. If you make a thread suggesting a game you will almost always get someone willing to play pretty fast (oddly enough the number of multiplayer games seems to be limited by the number of people starting new threads to organise games, rather than the number of people signing up to play in them).

Hope you enjoy the game when you get it! It is, in fact, brilliant. Bit of a learning curve though.

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

The atomic bomb's a bit of a firecracker, too :D

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

Another vote that they did it right: It's based on the license key. Switching a game from my desktop to laptop when I travel is a non-issue. You can patch without having the system on-line. A patch hit while I was overseas with my laptop. I had internet access via an internet cafe machine and turns had to be copied back and forth via flash drive. I simply downloaded the patch to my flash drive and put it on.

So long as you have a legit key and don't try to use it from two machines in the same game at the same time you'll never see the DRM at all. (Switching machines between turns is ok.)

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

Add to that, ordering the CD gives you all 3 versions. Windows, Mac, and Linux. Something almost impossible for other DRM controls to keep track of. For someone like me who believes that Linux is for servers, Windows for desktop, and Mac for portables.. that is fantastic that I get to use it on all 3 with one key

Also very nice that the hosting machine for servers does not get a serial check

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

Basically it's CD-Key only. They are beating copy protection by

A) Designing a CD-Key generation algorithm that is fairly complex

B) Slowly adding more of the validation checks they originally designed to each subsequent version - you can think of this as the key generator having 20 'rules' and each patch has checked for an additional 'rule' so pirate keys that work with an earlier version don't work after being patched

C) 'Soft failing' for CD key checks that makes it very difficult to automate any testing

It is quite clever, but relies on the game being pretty niche and frequent patching to be effective. Overall a very 'user friendly' copy protection system that doesn't require aggressive DRM.

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

Not that I care one way or the other, but do you have any evidence for this? They do more checking each patch? Wouldn't have thought they'd bother.

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

There is some evidence on these forums that supports that theory.

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

oh! ok.

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

I love how some multiplayer games post-patch saw a large amount off players suddenly drop-out because their games stopped working.

Re: What DRM is in Dominions 3?
 

I loved how some of those were the loudest and rudest in demanding a new patch, then find out they cant play with it. :) Cant complain, the patches and upgrades are all free. And its not like that is WHY they put out a patch. They do it for real game reasons. They just try to remember to toss in a new DRM section each time.

The problem with free things on the net is that people forget how to pay for free things. Didnt your Mommy teach you the power of please and thank you?"