Thread: Re: [GD-General] Protecting our game
Brought to you by:
vexxed72
Menu
▾
▴
gamedevlists-general
|
From: brian h. <bri...@py...> - 2002-12-29 22:01:54
|
> How is this usually solved? Depends on who you are and what type of guy and how it's distributed. If you're a commercial, widely distributed game, then you'll have to invest in disc copying protection schemes. If you're a shareware game, then it's not worth your time to do anything but the most basic protection. Brian |
|
From: brian h. <bri...@py...> - 2002-12-30 00:20:28
|
> Well, it's a shareware game distributed through internet. Then don't worry too much about people bypassing your stuff. > I just don't want people reinstalling it to play 20 games again. Who is your target market? Savvy gamers? Or more casual players? If it's casual players, then you can use the registry and very few will actually bother trying to figure out what key to reset. If you're targeting hardcore gamers, then piracy will be rampant no matter what you do. The thing I've learned is that past a certain point, you're rapidly hitting diminishing returns and your efforts are better spent trying to increase conversion rates than reducing piracy. > I imagine some easy ways of > handling that, for example, creating a 'secret' file in the system > folder... Do not do that. You'll only aggravate people that hate programs that litter crap all over their system directories, and there's a good chance that on tightly locked systems you'll trigger a warning/error requiring admin privs. Brian |
|
From: Josiah M. <jm...@ma...> - 2002-12-30 10:43:42
|
> > I imagine some easy ways of > > handling that, for example, creating a 'secret' file in the system > > folder... > > Do not do that. You'll only aggravate people that hate programs that > litter crap all over their system directories, and there's a good > chance that on tightly locked systems you'll trigger a warning/error > requiring admin privs. That is a really good point there. The tech unsavvy potential customer will interpret such a message as meaning that your game is a virus if an anti-virus program catches it. That is sure to lose a buyer. |
|
From: mike w. <mi...@ub...> - 2002-12-30 22:48:57
|
i know of more than a few programs that use the 'random' registry key for their lock/unlock code, and it is very successful (i've tried to defeat a few - albeit unsuccessfully ;)... Personally, i find this very annoying - leaving garbage all over my registry - the registry is a bloated nightmare at the best of times without every stupid little shareware program i install leaving their own custom garbage along with the 'normal' stuff...but again, only the technically savvy will even realize what you are doing - in particular with the registry - and you won't trigger antivirus programs by writing a registry key...and it WILL work as an option. probably the best way 'technically' to do it - that or having a global 'key' like the wonid system most big games use these days, but i guess that depends on how much money/effort you feel like putting into securing your game - and how many customers you feel like aggravating & turning off of your game before they even start...but this is really only an option for games that are online-specific - you can find wonid's galore for games that will work for the singleplayer - you just can't play online, that type of thing... i'm fairly interested in the new garagegames setup - sounds like an interesting option - and one that seems targetted towards gamers, as opposed to some big publisher that doesn't care about annoying half of their game community (ie tribes 2) - the gg guys have 'been there, done that' as far as horror releases goes - i'm hoping they have the savvy to avoid duplicating that ;} cheers mike w www.uber-geek.ca >Subject: Re: [GD-General] Protecting our game > > > > I imagine some easy ways of > > > handling that, for example, creating a 'secret' file in the system > > > folder... > > > > Do not do that. You'll only aggravate people that hate programs that > > litter crap all over their system directories, and there's a good > > chance that on tightly locked systems you'll trigger a warning/error > > requiring admin privs. > > That is a really good point there. The tech unsavvy potential customer will > interpret such a message as meaning that your game is a virus if an > anti-virus program catches it. That is sure to lose a buyer. |
|
From: brian h. <bri...@py...> - 2002-12-30 02:25:42
|
> well, it depends on how 'casual' you casual player is. In my case I'd > think that most casual players have no idea what the registry is, so > I should be safe until a someone decides to put a .ref file somewhere. Exactly. People tend to grossly overestimate the technical sophistication of the average user. There is tendency to project our own particular biases and proclivities onto that of the "mass market", and this often ends up making developers waste a lot of time. The vast, vast majority of users have no idea what a registry is. In fact, most don't even know where files are -- they click on icons. This is one reason why so many shareware games put an icon on the desktop -- if they don't, the users often can't/won't find it. Sad, but true, and I speak from experience. > Anyway, I don't think the additional download > is a good thing. "Register and get the key" seems to be more > attractive to me. This seems to be the consensus I've found with a lot of people. The extra bandwidth really isn't that big a deal compared to a typical 1% conversion rate, but it's a hassle for many users to register, then click a link to an FTP site, etc. etc. They'd much rather click, register and go. Brian |
|
From: Bob <ma...@mb...> - 2002-12-30 04:09:06
|
brian hook wrote: > Exactly. People tend to grossly overestimate the technical > sophistication of the average user. There is tendency to project our > own particular biases and proclivities onto that of the "mass market", > and this often ends up making developers waste a lot of time. You are right about that, I admit. But my bias is a similar gripe to those of the registry entries and hard drive garbage that pops up during the next trojan hunt. No matter how explicit your description of the demo functionality, both the pirate and the cracker will jump on time/execution limited software. For the pirate it's easy warez on someone else's bandwidth, and for the cracker it is something akin to fixing an annoying bug (especially when a twelve hour file transfer offers only one hour or a handful of executions -- RealArcade, anyone?). For the common demo user intent on stealing, it is no less trouble to go Google for a ready-made patch/crack than to re-install. And the honest customer (with impeccable ethics and no technical savvy) will probably forget about the demo come payday since it was deleted right after it stopped working. |
|
From: brian h. <bri...@py...> - 2002-12-31 19:00:22
|
> So, if you just want to turn down the casual users who have > no idea what the registry is, it's good "regiquette" to > place your already-installed flag in > HKLM\Software\YourCompany\YourProduct. Make that HKCU. HKLM access is protected unless you have Admin Rights. The only problem with using HKCU is that the game becomes "unregistered" for each user. Brian |
|
From: <phi...@pl...> - 2003-01-06 20:09:20
|
Bob <ma...@mb...>: > For the pirate it's easy warez on someone else's bandwidth, and for the cracker it is something akin to fixing an annoying bug For the cracker, it's often more fun removing the copy protection, than playing the game itself. Cheers, Phil |
|
From: <cas...@ya...> - 2002-12-30 00:11:24
|
brian hook wrote: > > How is this usually solved? > > Depends on who you are and what type of guy and how it's distributed. > If you're a commercial, widely distributed game, then you'll have to > invest in disc copying protection schemes. If you're a shareware game, > then it's not worth your time to do anything but the most basic > protection. Well, it's a shareware game distributed through internet. I just don't want people reinstalling it to play 20 games again. I imagine some easy ways of handling that, for example, creating a 'secret' file in the system folder... I'm just wondering if there is a better way of doing that. Ignacio Castaño cas...@ya... ___________________________________________________ Yahoo! Postales Felicita las Navidades con las postales más divertidas desde http://postales.yahoo.es |
|
From: Noel L. <ll...@co...> - 2002-12-30 00:36:49
|
On Mon, 30 Dec 2002 01:13:10 +0100 Ignacio Casta=F1o <cas...@ya...> wrote: > I just don't want people reinstalling it to play 20 games again. I > imagine some easy ways of handling that, for example, creating a > 'secret' file in the system folder... > I'm just wondering if there is a better way of doing that. Don't do that! Some people, including me, feel very strongly about programs that leave "stuff" behind. Leaving files in system directori= es is a big no-no, but I'd argue that leaving stuff in the registry is a= lso something you should avoid. As Brian said earlier, most people who are interested enough in playi= ng it over and over, will do so no matter what, so don't waste your time and don't piss potential buyers off. I would suggest changing how you deliver your game so it's not limite= d to a certain number of uses or a fixed time. Instead let them play whatever levels/characters/whatever all they want, and buy the full g= ame to get the rest of the content. Problem solved. If you can't do that, then just letting them know their period has expired and forcing them to uninstall/reinstall should be enough of a deterrant for most people.=20 One other possibility is to make your game time-limited for a single session (like the RollerCoaster Tycoon demo). Whatever you do, please, be very explicit about about what your demo = can and cannot do. I hate downloading something that is supposed to have unlimited usage just to find out I can only run it for 30 days (I usually delete it right there without running it a single time when t= hat happens). --Noel ll...@co... |
|
From: <cas...@ya...> - 2002-12-30 00:59:30
|
Hell you are right! its targeted towards casual players... sometimes I feel a bit paranoid. ;-) Thanks for your suggestions! Ignacio Castaño cas...@ya... ___________________________________________________ Yahoo! Postales Felicita las Navidades con las postales más divertidas desde http://postales.yahoo.es |
|
From: Bob <ma...@mb...> - 2002-12-30 01:57:30
|
Even 'casual' players can't be trusted not to hack. In my not terribly humble opinion, the casual player is probably more inclined to fiddle with your files than play the game. In truth, time and usage limited demos are hard to resist cracking (ahem... not that I would actually admit to... er... ever do something like that). To me it seems that the best method with shareware is the old way; distributing an infinitely functional version that only includes a fraction of the resources. This makes your demo version smaller, saving on bandwidth, and you can add a layer of security by using cgi evaluated and logged passwords for the full version or additional resource package download. It won't stop pirates, even coupled with password or other activation schemes, but it will not challenge otherwise fair-minded individuals who spent time downloading the demo to crack the time/use limit. --Bob Ignacio Castaño wrote: > > Hell you are right! its targeted towards casual players... sometimes I feel > a bit paranoid. ;-) > > Thanks for your suggestions! > > Ignacio Castaño > cas...@ya... > > ___________________________________________________ > Yahoo! Postales > Felicita las Navidades con las postales más > divertidas desde http://postales.yahoo.es > > ------------------------------------------------------- > This sf.net email is sponsored by:ThinkGeek > Welcome to geek heaven. > http://thinkgeek.com/sf > _______________________________________________ > Gamedevlists-general mailing list > Gam...@li... > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gamedevlists-general > Archives: > http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=557 |
|
From: <cas...@ya...> - 2002-12-30 02:19:50
|
Bob wrote: > Even 'casual' players can't be trusted not to hack. In my not terribly > humble opinion, the casual player is probably more inclined to fiddle > with your files than play the game. In truth, time and usage limited > demos are hard to resist cracking (ahem... not that I would actually > admit to... er... ever do something like that). well, it depends on how 'casual' you casual player is. In my case I'd think that most casual players have no idea what the registry is, so I should be safe until a someone decides to put a .ref file somewhere. Actually, the shareware version of my game is bigger than the complete version, because it contains the nag-screens. The additional levels of the complete version do not need additional resources, and the size of the level data is not significant to make a difference. In fact, the levels are hardcoded in the executable... Anyway, I don't think the additional download is a good thing. "Register and get the key" seems to be more attractive to me. Ignacio Castaño cas...@ya... ___________________________________________________ Yahoo! Postales Felicita las Navidades con las postales más divertidas desde http://postales.yahoo.es |
×
Want the latest updates on software, tech news, and AI?
Get latest updates about software, tech news, and AI from SourceForge directly in your inbox once a month.
Thanks for helping keep SourceForge clean.
X