Slippery Jim -

The fact is that Securom installs a hidden folder and hidden registry keys just the same as a rootkit. From my meager understanding of the situation just like with the Sony CD Rootkit it isn't fear of what Securom/Sony installs, it is the malicious code that some other hacker may hide behind the Sony rootkit at a later date.

A month down the road you scan your drive and see a Securom folder and say "ah I am safe, it is just Securom" but in reality someone else is hiding a special payload behind it."

Securom has done this for a pretty long time, as I remember it. We need better detection tools to better identify the contents and a way compare them to valid signatures. Their are several real products that bypass the API so better security tools and online db would be helpful.

I don't think that people will win the fight in products not ever writing to hidden areas to try and avoid detection. But their should be a good way to catalog them.

This comment was edited on Aug 27, 19:19.

Only little kids run around screaming rootkit are to blame, as if they know what it really means or the implications of it. I guess that includes someone who didn't understand what rootkit detector tools really show.

I smirk every time I think to myself, it will be funny when these rootkit alarmists get a "real rootkit" and "real malware" when downloading a future NOCD crack that has a nice gift included for them, the effects of which they will be too clueless to detect. LMAO

"EDIT: HARDCORE what are your specs? I'm curious...."

ok,
C2D @ 3 Ghz
8800 GTS 640
4GB RAM
Gigabyte 965p ds3

I have no worries for quite a while.

"SecureROM activation scheme will eventually be going away:"

Been saying that for days, it was obvious that was the plan from the beginning.
But what will people complain of next.

And I thought the raising of 2 to 5 would take a couple months, when I actually needed it. 5 is fine for now.

Pretty cool of them giving a 8800 to a community member for a FOV workaround. Although their are many user fixes to issues with games, it's rare to get such quick gratitude, and not with only words.

This comment was edited on Aug 23, 22:43.

Lol! OG, he's obviously a little kid (or a self-righteous, delusional adult who never learned to write). I haven't read comments as sophomoric as his in a long time.

I had no idea I was surrounded by literary seniors like yourself. In the future I'll endeavor not to water things down for you in a sophomoric sense (yeah right). As for this venue, sophmoric is par for the course if not freshmanic, people can't even stay focused on subject. If only you could have added actual substance to the topic at hand, I may have actually been in awe of your self implied literary capabilities.

So how else are they to prevent hundreds of thousands of people downloading it and installing it without buying it on release day???
How???

Those people are STILL downloading and installing it without buying. The fact the game has SecuROM doesn't mean shit. It's already cracked.

And how to prevent it? I dunno. Make a great game that people will want to play, and stop worrying about the piracy? Oblivion had no copy protection whatsoever, just a simple disc check. It sold... what? Four million + copies?

Stardock has put no copy protection on their Galciv 2 game (nor its expansions). All they asked was that if you install it on multiple PCs, that you please don't play it on those PCs at the same time. There's no check for that. They just asked, and NICELY, I might add.

Galciv2 has sold enough that they've already released several patches that includes tons of new features, they've released a patch that implemented a whole new GRAPHICS ENGINE, and they're working on their second expansion pack.

Much as the publishers would like for you to believe it, it's definitely possible, and FEASIBLE, to release a game without copy protection and still make plenty of money. Bethesda and Stardock have done so, and made out like bandits.

Egosoft, to quote another example, chose to go with Starforce, and found their sales to be very low for X3, partially because of it.
(and partially, I think, because X3 = X2 + better graphics, but okay.)

If I buy a game I expect to be able to install it 75,000 times if I want to, without having to call Pradip in India who doesn't speak english, and having to try to explain to him that if my fucking harddisk dies, it means I have to reinstall shit.

Creston

Where is a working crack and download for the game? I am not aware a real working version is out there to bypass the online authentication yet. As for the securom disk check, yeah that does nothing and is easy to bypass.

Starforce sucked hard and needed to die, I don't really put securom into the same bag yet.

Stardock just had great timing with so much starforce hate. They announced no copy protection, were applauded for it. I even applauded them for it. But not every game can do that today, they had great timing because people were at the apex of starforce hatrid.

I still think the solution is remove the ease of piracy, something few fighting against copy protection really want to see happen. Remove the actual cause, then devs don't have to fearful of putting their business and lives on the line in trusting people not to download it for free. I couldn't trust my patrons to buy things and not steal. I wouldn't do it in a retail store by leaving it up to peoples ethics (some people don't have them), nor can you really do it online.

Overall, copy protection is crap and is worthless and penalizes the buyer. I understand this quite well. An online authentication is what I have been asking for for years and is far better, but seems to have it's drawbacks with this implementation. I Ghost too so I won't be immune, but I am not going to attack the game or devs for these decisions. I still think it makes perfect sense that 2k can have Securom pull the 2 install limit in a few months when the game sales severely decline.

"I may as well communicate with a wet paper bag. Atleast it wouldn't change the topic to an unrelated plastic bag"

Dude, really, a word of advice: Get someone else to write your wisecracks for you, or at least run them by someone else first. I'm actually starting to feel sorry for you.

That wasn't a wise crack or trying to be funny. Reading comprehension and context should be your friend. It's interesting how evident it becomes that when people fail at discussing the merits of an argument, they resort to trying to insult the messenger. Feel sorry for me, good to hear it.

so thats your demonstration of "expertise"? the "ground breaking" information that no pirated versions are available on release day means the devs "won" or are "successful"?? i got news for ya, mr. expert - the pirated version of most games are not available till at least one day after release (just like this one) however bioshock WAS available as a pirated 360 release last week... so that just fucks up your little "expert" theory, doesnt it? = unsuccessful

Oh I'm sorry I didn't know you were complaining about Securom and the 2 install limit on the Xbox360. Foolish me, I was talking about the Securom and 2 install limit that this topic is about.

We are talking PC and the security meassures they employed on it which worked. Try and stay on subject when you are making your points. Switching to discussing the 360, which doesn't employ the security measures that are being discussed here in this discussion, continues to show that logic has far less meaning to you than wanting to be right.

Your opinion has some value to it when at least makes some logical sense. I may as well communicate with a wet paper bag. Atleast it wouldn't change the topic to an unrelated plastic bag.

Edit: Oh and BTW, I didn't know I should have been demonstrating any expertise to you. I only mentioned I am far from naive since you called me naive on the subject I happen to make a living on. But if you want a demonstration, then I will oblige, but first please demonstrate you are not as ignorant as your posts continually make you appear.
This comment was edited on Aug 22, 19:02.

At best this program makes reselling the game more difficult, and makes running the game in an internet cafe more difficult. For people who want to give it to 10 of their friends I have no doubt that they will wait for a crack and it will be here very shortly.

@Tumbler - good point. Maybe the 2 install aspect is a bit short sighted and over eager in that current implementation. But I don't know a better solution that wouldn't be more intrusive. Maybe they should have allowed mass repeated installs or maybe more like 3-5 to avoid potential issues down the road (especially since cafe's aren't going to be a serious problem without MP). The inconvenience could be a real one for some people or just wipe a drive, which would include me. So modifying the limit of 2 installs will likely change in future Securom iterations.

I actually would not be surprised if 2K will remove Securom eventually in a patch (including the online component 2 install check down the road), like many companies do, after they hit the sales decline in a couple/few months.

Yeah...don't explain

I'd be delighted to explain.

Nine out of ten days I don't care what some tragically uninformed individual -- such as yourself -- thinks, about anything.

But on that tenth day... I don't know. Maybe I dreamt of something that pissed me off the night before. Maybe the caffeine was a little light in the coffee this morning. Maybe I'm hypersensitive to planetary alignment. I don't know. But on that tenth day, for whatever reason, when I see someone like you saying things that range from wildly inaccurate to way fucking wrong, I choose to call you on it.

Not only are you wrong, you're also not bright enough to just shut the fuck up when someone points out your error. You can't help yourself. You are compelled beyond your will to prove to me just how big an idiot you really are. You'll most likely do it again, after this.

And that, my friend, is why I don't bother listening to you nine days out of ten.

By the way, I don't care about the copy protection in this game. My only interest here is that you'll spend the rest of the day knowing you were wrong.

LOL, good one.
It's funny how people ask for explanations, but yet lack the ability or desire for a cohesive system of logic to understand the explanation that they ask for. Good post.

I don't, I think they will just keep working until they crack the game and then get to play it free for later...

How do developers end up with more money by making it take a day or 2 to crack the game?

OK...
Do you think that the people that were highly anticipating this game, which also download games for free when they can, would have bought the game on release day if they have already played through it for the couple days they have been playing it before release? I would say a huge majority - No. Very few people would buy it after the fact and say that was a good game so let me go to the store and buy the DVD(which i don't need) just so I can pay the devs.

We would be talking tens or hundreds of thousands of people if it was an easy torrent. Most of those would be sales otherwise.

Alot of people when they anticipate a game, especially with review scores like this one, want in the first couple days it is released. Ofcourse you may have those that never buy a game either way, they are scourge and yes you won't get anything from them. I think most people that download for free would buy when they have to, if they really want it.

@Space Captain..

So how else are they to prevent hundreds of thousands of people downloading it and installing it without buying it on release day???
How???

They arent. Period. How many times must you naive little fucks be told? Pirates ALWAYS win. I know it may send shivers up your throbbing sore anus to feel like you and "the good guys" stand alone on top of a mountain of righteousness, but unfortunately thats nothing more than a childish fantasy. Speaking of that, people like you are why the matrix exists.

Keep on bleating, you stupid fucks. Enjoy your "bliss".

Naive? I'm sure I have forgotten more about networking and application security than you will ever know, considering it is my area of expertise. But you seem to be another person that doesn't understand what "release day" means. They succeeded in releasing the game without any pirated versions available anywhere. So if people wanted to play it the last couple days, they had to buy it = Success. I think their is only fake cracks currently, nothing real yet.

To say that it will be pirated eventually, as if you are providing some ground breaking information, well, let's just say that's a naive statement - like duh. LOL
Maybe they should just spend 20 million dollars on development, not try and dissuade people from downloading it for free, just give it away for free then promptly send the team to the unemployment line and close the doors. Is that your solution?

Steam like authentication could be a different solution in calling home each time the game starts, but that would cause other issues in dialing up each time and many people hate steams authentication so you can't please everyone.

"Of course it's the pirates' fault these measures are in place Captain Obvious. The pirates never stop getting their free games, ever."

I said "release day". As obvious as I was in writing that, you seemed to obviously miss it. The demand on release day or preemptive cracked releases, is what they avoided and that will return lots of money which they deserve. if their are a few ruffled panties or broken egg shells, it's worth it.

I suggest you do your part to curb people pirating, that is the real cause as you agree, not trying to attack some developer for trying their best to insure they get return in the first week when demand is high. Nothing is perfect, and it isn't starforce, so be happy for something.

I think this is great!
Online authentication for games is great. Securom still needs some work though.

The devs needs to make back money for the millions they spent. Being that it isn't an MMO or a multiplayer game, their are no servers to authenticate with.
So how else are they to prevent hundreds of thousands of people downloading it and installing it without buying it on release day???
How???

These measures are in place because of a large section of PC gamers think it is cool to steal software that cost millions to make and they are honoring devs by playing it for free. As with most laws, it's those peoples fault procedures like this are necessary.

There has been more whining little children whining about this game than I have seen in a long time. It's crap like this developers don't need, as much as it sucks to say it, it actually makes sense to leave PC whining girls behind and just produce for consoles.

If anyone has a better solution to make sure they get money back on release day, feel free to share your wisdom, otherwise your complaints are worthless.
This comment was edited on Aug 22, 16:36.

Dunno if this was posted yet...

The nvidia beta drivers that are supposed to be out today for the demo are up in all flavors...

http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_rel70betadriver.html

The foliage moving when you move through it could very well be an OPTION that you can turn off and on, depending on the power of your system?

We can hope. Like all games they have a dirty cutting room floor, so hopefully that isn't one of those things they found they couldn't really pull off. Then again, maybe it will be an option, or something reserved for DX10 to really make it look like you are getting something for using Vista.

It's strange that it's missing from a hands-on press event like this though. You'd think they would have been putting their best foot forward and running uber boxes with everything cranked up (which is what all publishers usually does).

This comment was edited on Aug 15, 00:31.

It doesn't sound like a pure RTS, since they allude to X-COM style research, recruitment, base building, etc., but they asked about real-time strategy and he answered. Also, he mentions the large market for strategy games, which has to be real-time, right?

Fair enough. But if they tried to transition the game they were making into an RTS as we know it, in a years time = failure. I'm just thinking they added some deeper layers beyond just mechs fighting. Anyway, we will see what it all means, theirs plenty of latitude in strategy, although many devs seem to forget that. But making a large change in the last year and a half of development to the core concept of the game, seems like a tricky proposition for it not to feel tacked together.

Pttf!

It's spelled pfft. Not worried, will still buy the game unless catastrophe strikes regardless, just stating some subtle things I noticed in recent months. But I doubt it can come close living up to the hype graphically, knowing just a bit about the scaling limitations that come when targeting those minimum specs.

I don't think you see so much of that from Russian developers (Star Wolves, Star Rangers, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Cossacks). They probably can't afford the licensing fees. And I have a hard time believing that moving a game from an action shooter to a RTS is catering to the console crowd.

Where do you see RTS?

Strategy and the connotations of RTS are completely different. Civ 4 is considered a strategy game with some action. Then there is RPG elements, again not soundling like a RTS.

I think putting this into the cookie cutter implications of RTS may not be accurate on your part. Hopefully what they mean by strategy is just some depth beyond just shooting things. But I don't walk away with pure RTS connotations.

Maybe it's not a console related issue with this game, but games in general are often effected as of today (not years past). The games you mentioned are good PC games not flawed by console, which makes my argument that it's not about the PC platform dying as much as it is about games in general (additionally when they target younger, more simplistic, console audiences).

As to screen shots, the early ones from a year ago looked alot better. Recent ones look pretty bad by that link.
This comment was edited on Aug 14, 19:17.