No cd protection in Civ4 - they are USELESS

[tR1cKy]

I think the title is self-explanatory. CD protection are useless. They don't actually prevent illegal cd copying in any way and are only an annoyance for the legitimate player.

Civ3 is protected by Safedisc and has a cd-check at the start that prevent you from playing the game unless you've inserted the Civ3 cd on the reader. But...
1) The safedisc protection can be easily borked. To know how, all you need to do is a google search. And the necessary programs are widely available on the net.
2) Altering an executable in order to skip the cd detection is an easy task even for the average cracker. All you need to do is to locate the right ASM instructions, typically conditional jumps, and substitute them with NOPs or sequences of INC EAX - DEC EAX. It's widely known that, when a new game hit the shelves, it's only a matter of days (and sometimes hours!) before no-cd patches are released in the wild.

So, why bothering? Pirates will copy the game anyway. And honest people will buy the game anyway. It's better not to waste time and money on all that useless crap.

 

[searcheagle]

However, it makes it more difficult for the illegal CD user. Anything that does that will discourage illegal use will pretty much thwart the ability of the average computer user to use it- not the average hacker- the average user.

 

[warpstorm]

Firaxis will have little or no say in what copy protection is used. That will be in the hands of the publisher. Unfortunately, I haven't seen anyone from TakeTwo on these boards yet.

 

[tR1cKy]

However, it makes it more difficult for the illegal CD user. Anything that does that will discourage illegal use will pretty much thwart the ability of the average computer user to use it- not the average hacker- the average user.

Then, how difficult will be for the "average user" to search the net for a patched executable?
With the no-cd patch available, it's a non-issue even to make a copy of the disk. You simply copy and paste all the files and the directories of the cd, leaving out only the "laserlok" directory, into a folder. Then copy the cracked exe. Then burn the cd. You have a pirate copy which installs flawlessy and, once applied the patch, will work perfectly.

I know many "computer illiterates" doing this. There's no difficulty at all.

 

[Pentium]

And Civ4 was the first game I intended to buy. Now i'm not so sure.

 

[sealman]

Then, how difficult will be for the "average user" to search the net for a patched executable?
With the no-cd patch available, it's a non-issue even to make a copy of the disk. You simply copy and paste all the files and the directories of the cd, leaving out only the "laserlok" directory, into a folder. Then copy the cracked exe. Then burn the cd. You have a pirate copy which installs flawlessy and, once applied the patch, will work perfectly.

I know many "computer illiterates" doing this. There's no difficulty at all.

There is more difficulty then doing if they did nothing and just opened themselves to pirating.

If the CD protection stops 1 pirate, then it is doing its job.

 

[mikehunt]

a serial number does more to discourage (at least if you want to play online) than requiring the cd in the drive
plus it's one of Sid's games. the fans will pay for it

 

[rhialto]

CD copy protection of the kind that says "must insert CD to play" tends to shorten the playing time of games dramatically? Why? Because I have many games, and swapping CDs is a royal pain in the butt. Given teh choice between playing a game by running the exe, and playing a game by inserting a CD then running the exe, the no-CD game wins almost every time.

I can honestly say that if I didn't have a no-CD crack for civ3, I would have stopped playing it years ago. Please developers, don't waste money deliberately shortening the game's play-life in a manner that doesn't even defeat the pirates.

 

[The Fjonis]

Then it's proven once and for all. CivFans = LazyArses

 

[mikehunt]

it's also a huge pain to have to take a bunch of cds with you with your laptop if you play games on it
and I always seem to get game cds that are unbalanced and vibrate like crazy in my cd drives (in multiple drives so it's not the drive). really annoying

 

[tR1cKy]

If the CD protection stops 1 pirate, then it is doing its job.

Sealman, please. This is nothing more than a useless slogan.
Think about numbers. Considering the amount of copies sold in the whole world, and the number of pirates copying and cracking games, if the CD protection stops 1 pirate it's completely worthless.
But CD protection technologies ARE licensed and everyone who want to use them must shell out big bucks. If these bucks are paid as royalties, then YOU and anyone who buys the game is paying for that useless crap. And pirates copy the game anyway.

The belief that "such things make piracy more difficult" is just a myth. Power users have no difficulties of getting rid of the protection. And even mediocre users have an amazing ability to find illegal stuff on the net. Complete lusers usually ask a friend to do the job.

The only one who get stuffed is the honest player who has to shell out more bucks because the company has to pay the CD protection licensing costs.

 

[carlosMM]

I agree with the thread starter: anti-pirating techniques that annoy honest users (laptop user most of all) but are virtually useless in the face of internet access (such as CD-ROM presence checks) are nothing but an annoyance.

I would rather support a license number system, where you can DL or copy the game for free, test it for say 5 days, then NEED a number to run it.

 

[Pentium]

But you can get numbers on internet.
And @rhialto: I keep the Civ3 cd in my drive. I have two, so I use one only for Civ.

 

[carlosMM]

But you can get numbers on internet.

By far not as easily as no-CD-patches.
Also, it is btw much easier to get at someone spreading a number by legal means than at someone who makes a no-CD-patch.

 

[rhialto]

But you can get numbers on internet.
And @rhialto: I keep the Civ3 cd in my drive. I have two, so I use one only for Civ.

So you want me to buy an extra CD drive to get around the CD protection? As I have a laptop, that isn't practical advice anyway. I have one CD drive, and putting a second in this laptop ain't gonna happen.

 

[tR1cKy]

But you can get numbers on internet.
And @rhialto: I keep the Civ3 cd in my drive. I have two, so I use one only for Civ.

This will shorten the life of both the Civ3 cd and the player.
About serial numbers, actually it's a fairer practice, and also more effective in deterring piracy.
A good thing has been done by the publisher of Galactic Civilizations. The game comes with no cd protection. You must insert a serial number instead. Ok, nothing special for now.
BUT... the basic game comes with lots of bugs. And when you go to the site to download updates and patches, you must insert your game's serial number to obtain them. If you are using a key found on the net, you DO get the patch downloaded, but when you run it, it refuses to install saying "You are using a well-known warez key, please insert a legitimate serial number blah blah blah..."

 

[Pentium]

They're doing well for now (about a year of ejecting only in special cases). And it's not hard to create another CD if you have an image and CloneCD.

 

[teccuk]

What!? why would anyone want to copy civ? im dumbstruck.

I like to copy games that i might not like too much and want to try out but copy civ? - blasphemy!!!

I reckon i spent about 80 quid on civ over the years and it was the best 80 quid i ever spent!

 

[sealman]

Sealman, please. This is nothing more than a useless slogan.
Think about numbers. Considering the amount of copies sold in the whole world, and the number of pirates copying and cracking games, if the CD protection stops 1 pirate it's completely worthless.
But CD protection technologies ARE licensed and everyone who want to use them must shell out big bucks. If these bucks are paid as royalties, then YOU and anyone who buys the game is paying for that useless crap. And pirates copy the game anyway.

The belief that "such things make piracy more difficult" is just a myth. Power users have no difficulties of getting rid of the protection. And even mediocre users have an amazing ability to find illegal stuff on the net. Complete lusers usually ask a friend to do the job.

The only one who get stuffed is the honest player who has to shell out more bucks because the company has to pay the CD protection licensing costs.

And whining about having to use the CD is just that, whining.
The developers have the right to protect their product any way they desire. if you don't like it, don't buy it. That is your right.

 

[777]

System what Valve developed for HL2 and CS was efficient IMO and I guess that in near future most of games will go that system. Sooner or later...