I realize the necessity for copyright protection and all, but is there any way to play Civ4 without the DVD? I want to know for two reasons:

1) I left my copy at work today and want to play at home tonight! ;)

2) I have a powerbook, and like to play when I fly, and having the DVD in the drive causes it to spin up a lot which drains the battery much faster.

I realize the necessity for copyright protection and all, but is there any way to play Civ4 without the DVD? I want to know for two reasons:

1) I left my copy at work today and want to play at home tonight! ;)

2) I have a powerbook, and like to play when I fly, and having the DVD in the drive causes it to spin up a lot which drains the battery much faster.
2) As I understand things, it only needs the DVD for startup. After you launch you can eject the DVD. That said, the way this thing taxes the CPU and GPU you aren't going to get stellar life on batteries anyway - an hour, maybe less?

You should be able to get more than 1 hour. I was able to play for about 45 minutes on the train last week- when I got to my stop, my battery meter said about 50%, and that was with the processor set to highest.

but yes- would be nice to be free of the DVD.

As I understand things, it only needs the DVD for startup. After you launch you can eject the DVD.

That's good to know. Thanks!

Aspyr's upcoming game download service, Gamerhood, will allow you to download their games this fall. It would be great if at some point Aspyr let you register your boxed game with Gamerhood, allowing you to play without the DVD. One can hope.

I realize the necessity for copyright protection and all, but is there any way to play Civ4 without the DVD? I want to know for two reasons:

1) I left my copy at work today and want to play at home tonight! ;)

2) I have a powerbook, and like to play when I fly, and having the DVD in the drive causes it to spin up a lot which drains the battery much faster.I've got a solution. Try ejecting the DVD after Civ IV starts up.

[Edit: Whoops! Someone beat me to it!]

My iMac wouldn't release the DVD while civ4 is loading, so unless I encountered a new bug... I'd say that without some sort of... unofficial means... its not going to be possible.

I really dislike having to have the disc in the drive. I don't like my desk to be cluttered, so my software sits in boxes and shelves unless I need it. This sort of protection doesn't stop anyone who intends to steal the software, and certainly inconveniences those that have purchased the product.

This whole thing has soured me on buying any more Aspyr products. Civ 4 is likely to be the last boxed game I ever buy for my Mac.

Well except for the last sentence I fully agree with you. It's really annoying to have to insert the DVD every time you just want to spend a couple of minutes playing Civ 4. I never understood why the Gaming Industry was so keen on this protection, as software pirates only laugh about it...

At least you can eject the disc while Civ 4 is in the main menu and so it's no problem to play network with one disc. I am thankful for that, other companies even seem to expect you to buy another copy for playing 3 hours / month LAN. :lol:

Aspyr's upcoming game download service, Gamerhood, will allow you to download their games this fall. It would be great if at some point Aspyr let you register your boxed game with Gamerhood, allowing you to play without the DVD. One can hope.

Yeah, It would sure be great if they made a patch for their existing titles to allow you to choose between online verification and verification by disk.

I know that would make it possible for 2 people to play the same copy (one by calling home, and one by disk) but I feel that will only couse a nuance compared to the goodwill this would create: Aspyr will give a strong signal that it has heared the complaints from paying costumers about their CP shemes, and is comitted to finding some kind of a solution.

Though still not ideal, it would be an improvement.

I just find myself being a bit disappointed with the games that I've purchased. Between bugs and poor design, I spend too much of my leisure time feeling annoyed. Shareware-type games from smaller developers usually aren't as buggy, as you can try before you buy.

Back in the old days, games had to be of decent quality before they shipped. There just wasn't a chance to patch them. They had great manuals and supplements. Copy protection was often looking up a word or answering a question. For whatever reason, I never found myself overly annoyed by that.

I buy very few Mac games now. Last year I bought Railroad Tycoon 3, and was very disappointed. Now I feel similarly about Civ 4. I have purchased quite a few Xbox games, all of which have been of merchantable quality. The shareware games that I've bought have been as well.

None of them have unnecessary and ineffective copy protection schemes that are intended to inconvenience legitimate purchasers.

I have to admit that there have been times I've wanted to play Civ IV for 30 minutes or so, but haven't because of the hassle with inserting and removing the CD.

Hmm. Is it safe to leave a disc in the drive when shutting down the computer?

Gatekeeper

I always just leave a disc in until I need a different one. But I never shutdown any of my rigs. But it doesn't hurt to shut a machine down with a disc in it.

With Civ3 I used to just rename my hard drive. That trick doesn't work for Civ4, which is a bummer. So what'll happen? I'll end up finding the no-CD crack when it comes out, and I'll violate my legitimate license by using it. Thanks so much, Aspyr, for not actually preventing piracy but pushing honest folks such as myself towards violating our licenses. Sharp thinking!

With Civ3 I used to just rename my hard drive. That trick doesn't work for Civ4, which is a bummer. So what'll happen? I'll end up finding the no-CD crack when it comes out, and I'll violate my legitimate license by using it. Thanks so much, Aspyr, for not actually preventing piracy but pushing honest folks such as myself towards violating our licenses. Sharp thinking!

Umm. I hate to say it, but I really think you're making a mountain out of a molehill. It's just not that big a deal. You seem to be fine with having to dig out the XBox disk to play a game there. Just think of it that way.

Thanks for minimizing my opinion. I appreciate it.

With the Xbox, you have to have the disc to play. The content is actively read off of it. With Civ4, it's a designed and intentional annoyance. Those aren't the same things.

Civ IV is by far not the only game that uses CD copy-protection. Get over it.

And stop blaming Aspyr! They don't get to set all the rules, guys. TakeTwo has a BIG say I imagine.

It's the only game I play on my Mac that requires me to have the CD. Why should I get over it? I dislike it, and I'm far from the only one. I'm a consumer that's paid for the product, and I dislike it when I'm treated as a criminal.

Civ IV is by far not the only game that uses CD copy-protection. Get over it.

And stop blaming Aspyr! They don't get to set all the rules, guys. TakeTwo has a BIG say I imagine.

Though your post was probably directed at 5150, just to be sure...

I'm not 'blaming' anyone, and its not like I'm losing sleep over it, but I would sure like it if this annoyance is removed, not just in CIV, but in any game, developed or published by anyone.

I'm trying to communicate my displeasure to any party involved, and motivate other people to do so as-well. ( "not buying" being the last option, as I don't like that either.)
If enough people communicate their displeasure then (some of) the parties involved will be moved to think of alternative solutions. If they do, and even if the annoyance is at the very least reduced, if not removed, then that would already be an improvement.

The idea that one should "just accept" this feature is counter to my objective.
I hope you are on our side in that you would like these negative features to be removed.

I have a no-dvd crack, I dont know the rules on this forum though. If it is ok for me to host, Ill post a link. If not your sol.


The rules here are quite clear. Read them.

The site has zero tolerance to piracy, and will not allow posting of any information that encourages or enables it.

I've started leaving the CD in my drive, and it's no problem whatsoever.

Just to be sure, I checked with the person who oversees our Apple computers at work and she agreed: Leaving the CD in the drive, even when the computer is being turned on or off, causes no harm.

I've done just that and, so far, it's an agreeable solution rather than having to handle the CD everytime I want to fire up a game of Civ IV.

Gatekeeper

I have a no-dvd crack, I dont know the rules on this forum though. If it is ok for me to host, Ill post a link. If not your sol.


The rules here are quite clear. Read them.

The site has zero tolerance to piracy, and will not allow posting of any information that encourages or enables it.

Thanks couldn't find the forum rules, looked around but couldn't find which topic it was in. Thats why I didn't post it, figured it was a no-no. Just a note, I wouldn't say a no-dvd crack is piracy, it is often used for piracy (and because of that I understand why there is a rule) but if you bought the game I see no reason why a crack is bad. *shrug*

They're accessible at the bottom of every forum screen. You also supposedly read and agreed to them when you signed up - or at least you said you had.

Also, no-CD cracks are illegal in the US no matter how they're used. They can be used for piracy, therefore they're illegal under the DMCA.

Also, no-CD cracks are illegal in the US no matter how they're used.

This is entirely untrue.

Also, no-CD cracks are illegal in the US no matter how they're used. They can be used for piracy, therefore they're illegal under the DMCA.
Breathing is also illegal under the DMCA if I understand it correctly - so I could just trot out everyone's favourite Ayn Rand quote here.

And the clash between fair use and the DMCA has not been properly tested in the courts. A number of bogus uses of the DMCA with regard to printer cartridges have been defeated in courts. It would very much depend on the legal specifics of the use. There is no copyright violation if someone with a legally purchased copy of the game makes a backup or other copies for their private use. The invocation of the DMCA would be very much circumstance dependent.

But, IANAL.

The discussion on DMCA is moot. This board has its own rules and there's a link to them at the bottom of every page. You will not discuss or distribute information about No-CD cracks here.

Incidentally, it baffles me that copy-protection these days is so bad. Requiring the CD to be in the drive is a weak stopgap. I've never had any experience with required online verification but I think that would work a lot better..

Online verification has two issues I'm aware of ... maybe more:

1. You may not be online when the game next wants to check. There are ways to allow play to continue for a limited period or whatever, but I suspect most of them will either cause similar grief to the CD system, or they will result in loopholes that can be exploited to overcome the protection.

2. A lot of people are very suspicious of phone-home software. Call it paranoia, but it's out there.

PS. Look at the trouble M$ got themselves into with it in the latest Windows phone-home scandal.

Online verification has two issues I'm aware of ... maybe more:

1. You may not be online when the game next wants to check. There are ways to allow play to continue for a limited period or whatever, but I suspect most of them will either cause similar grief to the CD system, or they will result in loopholes that can be exploited to overcome the protection.



That's why there should be both. If you're not online, use the CD; if you are online, and the game doesn't detect the CD, it'll verify your copy. Best of both worlds.

FWIW I'm sorry if this is too touchy a topic. I was hoping someone had a neat trick or something along the lines of civ3 and renaming the HD.

FWIW I'm sorry if this is too touchy a topic. I was hoping someone had a neat trick or something along the lines of civ3 and renaming the HD.

Pure rule-technically, even if someone had such a trick, we would not be allowed to tell you according to the forum rules. ;)

Not wanting to be a rule-lawyer...:mischief:

... even if someone had such a trick, we would not be allowed to tell you according to the forum rules.
That is correct.

I've made the rules quite clear. Cease and desist! This is an official warning. AlanH

Is a crack for a game you have a license for really piracy?

Depends where you live.

In the US and some other countries using such a thing is breach of the EULA and thus illegal. However the EULA is trumped by local law (ie. those sections of the agreement forbidden by local law are not considered binding) and in some countries the ability to modify it in such a way is part of garanteed consumer rights.

And in some countries EULAs aren't valid at all and everyone gets the same rights and restrictions on all software.

Fun isn't it?

Is a crack for a game you have a license for really piracy?
It's irrelevant here. We don't allow discussion and dissemination of cracks that can enable piracy, regardless of your personal reasons for using them.

Deleted

You really don't read what I say, do you?

These forums do NOT permit discussion of No-CD cracks

:lol: Ever feel like you're talking to a brick wall, Alan?

At least brick walls reflect what I say, and therefore, occasionally, talk sense :lol:

what i said had something to do with cracks?
since when did said thing become a crack thing?

See my earlier post. If you insist I'll repeat the point:

Any technique that allows the game to be played without the publisher's copy protected CD enables piracy, regardless of your personal motives for doing so. We do not permit discussion of such techniques in these forums.

thank you for clarifying

Official Warning. We do not condone, let alone promote, piracy here.

I've closed this thread, since it is simply a magnet for more people incapable of reading or understanding the Site Rules.