how stardock figths warez

[MarkG]

don't understand what Brad means when he says "I delete the galaxy class ". Can someone explain what the implication of this is

the game will delete a file if it finds something wrong with the serial number. after that, the game will stop functioning

puting in the file again wont work as the game will delete it again next time

[Mestro77]

I've been spending a fair bit of time trying to find the new "piracy cut-scene" that Brad says was enabled with the bonuspak. There doesn't seem to be any new .bik files. Very few files changed at all after the bonuspak. I thought it would be fun to try to "fake" having a pirate copy by renaming the pirate cut-scene to be the intro movie, but can find no such new cut-scene.
So I tried trawling the newgroups to see if there's been a great hew and cry from the pirate serial users after updateing with the bonuspak. And there seems to be no mention of games going non-functional. Pirates are very vocal, and I'm sure word would have spread quickly if there was a bomb in the bonuspak.
All this strikes me as being more likely that Brad is just bluffing about the anti-piracy code. Not a bad tactit probably - I image a lot of would be pirates would read what he said and immediately abandon trying to pirate or crack the game.
The original article on the Apolyton web page said that the comment from Brad came from the official GalCiv forum. I also can't find any such comment from Brad there.
Sounds to me like a big red herring.....
Oh well - would have been fun to try and see the new scene that all the cheap pirate buggers will get!! hehe

[billybaruch1]

Oooooh look! A neoliberal, randroid, or other variety of capitalist ideologue. Are you sure you even know what 'dialectical materialism' is?

Yes, thank you. I'm quite sure. But you may not be aware that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is, in essence, PRIVATE PROPERTY. Got that?

If all you can do is spout labels, go take a hike. You'll find out what's important if you live.

[Mestro77]

I just found a newsgroup article that Brad himself posted on Mar 5. In it he SPECIFICALLY says that there is no copy protection. That instead they rely on "Instead, we've
taken the route of providing long term feature support".

Seems pretty clear to me now that the whole BonusPak bomb issue is an anti-piracy bluff on Brad's part. Kudos to him, of course, for trying - we all hate piracy. But it's not likely to work since most people will try the game even after the bonuspak and find that it still works just fine.

Can anybody rebut my conclution that there is in fact no anti-piracy measures?? I'm chatting with a guy inside of Stardock Central who says he wrote part of the code and that it's for real - but of course he won't offer any actual proof. So I'm not buying it....
Anyone know of a way to force the game into displaying the anti-piracy cut-scene or otherwise demonstrate that it's not all a bluff?

[Mestro77]

Oops - forgot to give the link into Google's newsgroup archive where you can find the article in question. Here it is:

http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&selm=1LqcnYv-ffchKvujXTWcpQ%40comcast.com

It's kind of weird looking so I hope it works when pasted.....

[ravagon]

Hmmmm. I just had a bit of a poke around the stardock site and wandered through the dl links.
Trying to dl the patch (for example) gave me a screen to manually enter in e-mail and serial #. Is this the only "check" in the dl process? Obviously the # will be integrated into "my" patch which will then cross-check with my installation when I've run it, but it really doesn't look as though there's a requirement to check the installation itself before dl...

Is the "registration" process similar by any chance?

ie: Can I register using just my serial #and e-mail, entered manually, without having to have the actual installation/serial # checked?

This would actually work for me if true.

[MarkG]

The original article on the Apolyton web page said that the comment from Brad came from the official GalCiv forum. I also can't find any such comment from Brad there.
Sounds to me like a big red herring.....

we dont post stuff that dont exist. try harder

[campfreddie]

Well, since Brad (Draginol) posted on this thread, I think we can trust that this is true!

[Lemmy]

ravagon, if you want to dl updates without having the game installed, you'll have to enter your email and serial in the dl page found on the site. But AFAIK only the big updates will be available to dl at the site.
If you want the smaller more frequent updates, you'll need to use stardock central, and then you must have the game installed to dl the updates.

[Mestro77]

Hi Mark,
I didn't mean to imply that Apolyton would deliberatly most inaccurate information. But IF the anti-piracy scheme Brad is talking about is in fact just an elaborate bluff, then Apolyton may have just been swept along in the deception.

Not really a bid deal of course - I'm sure I've already spent more time on this thread than it's worth.....after all, I started off just curious to try to see the pirate cut-scene....

Anyway - I challenge you (in a friendly way) to find a link to the original article on the GalCiv site that supports the original statement allegedly attributed to Brad about the BonusPak piracy bomb. I've searched the forums there as thoroughly as I can and find absolutely nothing. I don't want to beat a dead horse - so if neither you nor anybody else can offer actual proof that this anti-piracy scheme is in effect, then I suggest we let this particular thread drop. I'm speaking just for myself of course - anyone can contribute here if they want. But personally I'm concluding it's a bluff/hoax since there is no supporting evidence - despite what Brad himself has posted here (if it was even actually him).

Cheers.

[kinkkupa]

Well.. here's a bit from a NFO spreading site's board:

Galactic Civilization updates FUNNY

If anyone is dumb like myself you will download stardockcentral and try to update the game well the good news is now it lets you...the bad news is you get a random event that occurs that well basically is hysterical. unfortunately it disables the game and you have to clear your registry and re-install.

"Greetz Warez Doods" from the developers if your bored with the game just download the patch and start a new game after about 30 turns the event and message shall appear.

Nice.

[Inverse Icarus]

4) The 'full-featured demo' players who have been burned many, many times by shoddy companies and refuse to be burned again so they d/l full versions to test them, and demos don't really do the trick, either, since the content and play are so limited: These folks are (listening to buzz) being convinced that GalCiv is indeed one of those industry gems that truly deserves your money.

that's me. i'm glad i didn't buy moo3

but i'm not angry that i cant test galciv, i'm going to buy it eventually, when i get the money up.

[Saurus]

While I do not aprove piracy in general, I DO understand how frustrating it is when the game just IS NOT AVAILABLE through ANY legal channel.

I have a legaly bought copy of such TBS- games as
CIV3, HOMM3 + expansions etc...

I have bought them legaly because:

1) I get the printed manual by doing so.
2) I wan't to show my support to the TBS-game genre.
There are way to few TBS-games available anyway.

I WOULD have a legaly bought copy of GALACTIC CIVILIZATION as well, IF THE DARN GAME
JUST WOULD BE AVAILABLE!!!

I live in Finland. (a modern, european country)
I cannot get a credit card since I only have a part-time job (witch is not enough to apply for a credit card here)
No stores in Finland carry the game so I can also not buy the game localy even if my bank account currently has more than 20 times the cash needed to pay the indeed (IMHO) reasonable LOW price of Galactic Civilization.

Frustrated, I also sent an email to Maria Loreto , Sales Cordinator of strategy first, expressing my concern for
the game simply not beeing available to common people
in Europe. I also kindly asked for advice about how I could get me hands on the game.
I even pointed out that if the game only would be available in any NEIGHBOURING country, I could always travel there and buy a copy of the game, and then return home very happy!
This was 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, I have not to date received ANY kind of response.
I also called my friends, who lives in Sweden, to
keep an eye on THEIR local stores but even them have not seen the game available anywhere.

To the designers and artist of stardock, who probably have made a great game, I would like to ask the question wheter it, in their opinnion, is fair that I, as a buying customer, has to just wait and wait...maybe for months, or even years, for a game to appear on the shelves. As an European, to constantly beeing treated as second class customer to the degree we are not even worth responding to when asking about the
availability of a product, is taking its toll and will be remembered the next time a product is launched by Stardock or Strategy first.


Ethics about playing a warez-version of the game?
Ha! Why would I care about ethics if none are shown towards me? I have done EVERYTING in my power to get a legal version of the game, I really have.

And then...
now I am here reading about how the staff at
stardock congratulates themselves for doing such a good copyprotection. Well, folks, this is NOT amusing.
It just makes me angry.
The reason is that this all just demostrates that instead of actually doing something to assist Europeans in get the change to buy the game legaly, the Stardockers are more concerned in stopping pirated versions for non-americans.
Congratulations, Stardock & Strategy First!
Continue on this path and you end up in a
"HOMM4" disaster where people stopped
bying the game and expansions - simply because they
were being treated badly.

In this regard, Playing a warez version in the future, remains a reality even if I would have to "watch a player going to prison"-cut scene.

I will still wait, however, for some month or so.
Should I get an opportunity to buy a LEGAL copy I will run to the strore, run run run...and buy the game right away and will become very happy I am sure.

Should I have to wait for months and months, It is however, very questionable if I still consider the prize worth the money. Not because the game itself would be bad but because of the bad treatment of me as an customer.

Many customers have a long memory in this regard and that may be critical the next time stardock launches a new product one might be intrested in.


Lastly back to the point, instead of focusing on copy-protections, focus on how to make the game legaly available for all fans!

DO THAT!

-S

[Mestro77]

edit be markg: you've got to be kidding me

[unic]

Saurus - and you don't know anybody with a credit card either? Relatives, friends, anybody?

I don't have a credit card either, and that's what I did... asked a friend to order it for me, and payed him in cash. (Though, of course, it would have been preferable if the game was distributed here in Europe...)

/unic