I found a site where serial codes, cracks and full versions of our (and I mean, the Dexterity forum members!) games are freely and happily distributed.

I know we always say "they won't buy your game anyway", but this got me really angry :mad:

These are kids, not crackers. So I think a product activation scheme (ie you buy the full version but must activate it by contacting to our server and "spending" a registration code) could be enough to stop them (since they could share full versions and serials without success)

My problem is how to make it so it's compatible with the publisher's mechanisms. I can set it up in RegNow or eSellerate, but what do bigger sites do, in general? What's your experience in this field?

Another thing, I heard that "the last version of Armadillo is out for six months and hasn't been cracked". Is that so, or is it an urban legend?

For anyone who might not be clear on the whole cracking scene: server-side product activation systems will force crackers to make actual cracks for our games, and keep them from simply being able to pass out full versions and serial codes. Without server-side activation, most of those fun anti-hack measures you read about are pretty much moot because the warez scene won't even bother to hack the game if they can just as well pass out the full version + a valid serial code.

This type of measure curbs casual copying and sharing pretty effectively. The game will still be crackable, of course, since someone could effectively modify the executable to bypass the online checks completely. At least they have to work at it though, and they'll be forced to crack it everytime a new version or patch update is released as well.

As much as I dislike the basic idea of server-side product activation, I have to admit that it is more appropriate in this forum beyond almost all others (save for MMORPGs). Most of us indie game developers have our entire business based online and therefore it isn't really much to ask that said user have to connect to a server to activate their product. An overwhelming majority of potential customers are obviously going to have internet access. I doubt many people pass our games around on floppies or CDs when they can more easily email a link to the download sites.

Ok, I put a online check to activate the copy.
Someone buys legally it, then activate the game, so he now has a working copy.
He just zip it and email to 10000 of his friends as attachment, or he upload it to a warez site or uses peer-to-peer program :)

Piracy is unavoidable... and the time spent on making more than a simple anti-crack scheme is time wasted, in my opinion.

Well the idea is that you're activation signals are stored in enough places as to make it rather inconvenient for the user to just zip up the installed directory. Set up a half dozen registry keys, for example: They don't even need to be related to activation... they can just be copies of the install dir for your game, forcing the user to have to use the installer to ensure all the needed registry keys get set up. I've seen lots of commercial games do just that. Distributing and re-importing a slew of registry key files isn't worth the bother when they can just buy the darned thing for $15-20.

The bottom line is that server-side activation gives you the same physical ties that a commercial game has with its CD, and in turn it gives you the same anti-cracker options. Then again, many commercial games are still cracked and put up for download before they even reach store shelves.

But it does certainly curb casual copying... my experience makes me more inclined to believe that casual copiers are people more likely to buy your product if they can't easily share it from a friend. Your active warez crowds will always have ties to getting what they want for free-- but many of them also tend to pay for stuff they really like.

To be honest it's pretty much impossible to stop them. Writing lots of entries into the registry or files to various dirs doesn't count for much when there's apps to monitor the machine and tell you what's been changed.

I agree with the idea that just try and stop the casual user from having an easy job making copies.

There's an article on gamasutra regarding the effort they put into Spyro to prevent hacking. The article was called 'Keeping the Pirates at Bay' ( http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20011017/dodd_01.htm )

Was Pax Solaris on that site? I ask since I use Armadillo + key codes for it and it is out for more than 6 months.

Actually, there's a request for a Pax Solaris code, and a reply by a certain Diodor saying "it doesn't work" :confused:

Oh, it's the listgame site? There was an answer to that request - but the code wasn't a good Pax code - it didn't even look like one (not enough digits, etc.) :)

Well for the "just zip it up" problem with serverside checks, you need to tie the key to the system hardware. That makes it a bit more trouble for them.

You can just zip it up because the new "home" will look a lot diffrent to the game and hence require a new activaction an which point to zap it before it get out of hand.

I would think that armidillo allready supports that basic aspect.

Online activation schemes are actually the best and worst method possible.

We used to use a setup like this and it worked wonderfully for a time - throughout our entire run with it, we never once had a problem with piracy.
The problem was that about 30% of our customers had trouble connecting to the server (whether they had a firewall and did not know how to use it, wierd computer settings, proxies, etc.) but this ultimately forced us to go offline.

And we chose Armadillo.

I am pretty sure Armadillo has not been cracked in quite a while....Their level 9 encryption is amazingly powerful.

And we still have not had a problem with piracy - surprising huh? I see requests online all the time for people looking for cracks and keys, and I have yet to find any (I check every 1-2 days).

I think it is a cop out to say that it doesnt matter "since it will get cracked anyway" or "someone will find a way around it."
The point here is maximize sales while minimizing loss...To do this, you must have the proper measures to deter _most_ people. The better your casual pirate protection is, the better your product will do in terms of sales. So lets stop talking about that its pratically pointless to use copy protection, and start figuring out good ways to deter the average consumer.

So online register is very nice, but its alot of upkeep. I would definately recommend a strong wrapper like Armadillo.


Alex

For New Star Soccer i tie the regcode to the players ingame name. This stops friends from casually sharing regcodes as nobody wants to be the premiership's top-scorer using their best friends name. The code itself however is ridiculously easy to crack, and has been. I'm interested in using Armadillo for the next version of NSS but i need to know if i can employ the same system. From reading the help file, it seems that i can use the registration name as the ingame player name, but is it possible for multiple users to be registered?