CV on LAN

[RRtexasranger]

I just think it is so silly to have 2-3 copies of the EXACT same game sitting around the house to play LAN with my family. That's $150 of the same game if I want to buy it on launch day.

And I don't know if Ahriman's method will work or not. I believe I tried that with games such as L4D and I had no luck. However, what you could do if you are only interested in playing LAN and not as much on online as a whole is buy a legal copy of Civ 5, "acquire" another copy, and then use Hibachi servers or something similar to run the game in LAN.

 

[Ahriman]

Oh, I wasn't suggesting my method would work for online or LAN or anything multiplayer; just for pure single-player on two separate machines.

 

[LDiCesare]

Licenses say stuff and Firaxis sometimes say differently. I remember reading (I think it was Soren Johnson) the Civ IV DRM (disc must be in computer when launching game, not when running it) had been chosen specifically in order to allow LAN parties, even though you're supposed to buy one license per computer.

 

[RRtexasranger]

Oh, I wasn't suggesting my method would work for online or LAN or anything multiplayer; just for pure single-player on two separate machines.

Oh, okay. That should definitely work.

 

[KMRblue1027]

You can play LAN on Steam game fine with the same CD key. I used to do it with Counter Striker Source when me and my brother had only one copy of HL2. But internet mode works too as long a the 2 ppl are NOT in the same game. You just need to log into the same Steam account to use the game.

 

[Col Kurtz]

I'd just like to point out, for what it's worth, that you can play LAN with the Steam version of Civ IV on multiple machines with only one copy of the game. I believe that's the case with almost all Steam games for LAN. With CivIV, you can even play online on multiple machines with one copy (because MP for IV isn't tied into Steam, you can use it in offline mode, on multiple machines). With Civ V, you'll probably only be able to have one machine for online games at a time. But I'd say there's at least a 95% chance that we'll be able to do LAN with only one copy.

Oh, also, the LAN I've been doing with Civ IV has been between a Mac and PC... because Steam recently made the Mac versions available and free to everyone who has already purchased the PC version on Steam. Oh, and I bought those versions, Civ IV Complete for $10 during a sale. Most of you will learn to love Steam if you haven't already.

 

[mjs0]

The issue unfortunately is a little more complex that this and this is the key quote from your post

(because MP for IV isn't tied into Steam, you can use it in offline mode, on multiple machines)

Civ4 is a standalone game that just happens to be sold via Steam. It has its own implementation of multiplayer of all types that does not involve Steamworks.

Civ5 has been announced as using Steamworks for its community/multiplayer support, to me this would imply that to provide standalone (non-Steam) LAN play the developers would have to create their own multi-player just for use on the LAN since it wouldn't be needed for online multi-player.

It is for this reason that I am doubtful (although not without any hope) that Civ5 will have offline (non-Steam) LAN play.

 

[Osama Bin Davis]

Yes.


If the game is playable on a single machine (eg hotseat, or team-play console games on a single machine) then you're fine. But making 2 copies so that they can play it simultaneously on 2 different machines, yes, that's piracy. It doesn't matter whether they're kids or strangers; you are purchasing a software license that allows you to run the application on one machine at a time.
Running it simultanesouly on 2 machines is a violation no matter whether the people are doing it are kids or adults, whether they're siblings or strangers, whether they're in the same building or in different cities.

If you want to get technical, so is when you buy or rent a dvd if you read the fine print it is for only the person who bought it or rented it to watch it, but as if this would ever be enforced or even thought about being enforced.

 

[Mercade]

If you want to get technical, so is when you buy or rent a dvd if you read the fine print it is for only the person who bought it or rented it to watch it, but as if this would ever be enforced or even thought about being enforced.

I don't know what style of CD's you're renting but mine only say it's not for public broadcast, that is: only meant for private viewing, be it alone, with family or with friends.
However, the point of the above discussion is that regardless of what specific legal language was written in the license agreement, in practice a family could play together with one CD just as a family can watch a video together indeed.
With the integration of steamworks, it may now actually be possible to enforce the draconian license terms and prevent people from playing LAN with a single CD. As if your DVD came with a motion detector that would block playback if it sensed more than one person in the room.
In that context it's a legitimate question whether it will be possible through Firaxis, Steam of whomever codes that part, to play MP on a LAN with a single CD/license.

 

[Auncien]

Yeah even though I have my personal issues with the system, Steam is, in fact, very scalable as a platform and it gives a lot of flexibility to the game developer. If they want you to be able to play over LAN they can easily make it happen and Steam can stay out of the way.