Network CD-Keys

BugRoger · #1 January 19th, 2004, 02:30 AM

I recently attended a LAN party and showed the game to my friends. I didn't know that it isn't possible to play a LAN game with just one key and played some single player on a video beamer. I tried to get some people to remember our old paper PBEM days and get a game going. After the intial enthusiasm the appeal of Dominions soon faded when we noticed that we couldn't even try the game in MP. They resumed to play Starcraft.

That kept me wondering why people are still playing Starcraft with so many RTS-Games out there. I really think that it's the multiplayer spawn installation. You can play a 4 player game with a single copy. But you know what? Nobody was playing with a spawned installation. After playing Starcraft for years everybody bought his own copy.

We even checked out the Online store to see if you can buy and download Dominions Online. I could imagine that some folks would have bought a cheap MP-Key. And some of them (I am sure) would have loved the game and probably would have come back to get the full Version as well.

I know that the comparison between Starcraft and Dominions isn't really fair. Nonetheless would it be nice to have the possibility to somehow play a MP-Game without a full Version for every player. Heck, I can't even play a network game with my girlfriend (who has her computer in the same room as me) without buying a second copy.

I understand this is Shrapnel Games' decision and I can see their point. But from a player's perspective it sucks.

#2 January 19th, 2004, 02:34 AM

[ January 18, 2004, 12:50: Message edited by: Zen ]

Gandalf Parker · #3 January 19th, 2004, 02:43 AM

The game supports multiple machines playing together as long as each machine has a unique CD-key.

The game supports multiple people on one machine (hotseat) allowing them to play all on the same CD-key.

But LAN would require multiple machines all having the same CD-key and some way of recognizing that its on a lan. Not as easy as the other 2. Illwinter has not tried to program that in.

The idea that there is a cost break by not printing a CD and manual in order to provide a cheap CD-key Online (maybe $20) is not a programming question. Its not in Illwinteres territory but is in Shrapnels territory to decide that. Apparently their experience says NO.

Unwise · #4 January 19th, 2004, 02:51 AM

Actually, I think the comparison between Starcraft and Dom2 is fairly apt. The reason people are still playing Starcraft six years after its original release isn't because their are free multiplayer installs, it's because the game-play still hasn't been completely eclipsed by a comparable game.

Sure there have been a truckload of RTS games with better graphics and incremental innovations, but these are trivial at best and interfere with the game at worst.

People still play Starcraft because they can look past the dated graphics and see the superbly balanced game underneath. It helps, of course, that Starcraft was polished to a glossy sheen before release and the interface is still very intuitive.

BugRoger · #5 January 19th, 2004, 02:51 AM

What Gandalf said. LAN play with just one key isn't possible. I recently thought about playing a MP-Game in which every player plays 2 nations. Even that doesn't work...

#6 January 19th, 2004, 02:57 AM

Yes

Gandalf is correct.

Free Multi-player would be great, but I can see the business reasoning and profit margining behind this particular way. I hope that in the near future they would be able to sell just CD Keys (whether or not they are sold Online or not, is another issue) for a diminished price. But I don't get my hopes up. That may be because I'm of the opinion that Dom2 is worth every penny of the $50.00 I spent on it. The same I did for Starcraft years ago, and even bought another copy when I lost the CD a year or two later when I could have just as easily burned or downloaded a new copy.

Either way, you'd have to try to send a petition to Shrapnel and not IW for it.

BugRoger · #7 January 18th, 2004, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
But LAN would require multiple machines all having the same CD-key and some way of recognizing that its on a lan. Not as easy as the other 2. Illwinter has not tried to program that in.

A check if the turn was submited from on of these IP-Ranges does the trick:
10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix)
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix)
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)

This isn't a technical problem. It's politics as well...