I know that in practice it's impossible to keep a game from being pirated and I don't really sweat the hard core hacker types who want to go dissassemble my code and figure out a way to get a free game. What I do concern myself with is more casual piracy. Currently I basically do nothing to deter people from sharing games and I thought maybe a small effort might make a big difference. So my question is twofold...

1) Has anyone gone from nothing to using a small measure of protection like having the user enter their name with a registration password to enable the game and noticed any difference in sales as a result?

2) What simple measures might be easy to implelement without being too much of a hassle for honest paying customers but still providing enough hassle for your average joe to pay the 20$ instead of just grabbing a copy from somewhere?

I had the same thought exactly.

I KNOW i cant fight the hardcore hacker, but what bothers
me is the casual copying that can be done by anyone.

i thought of couple of solutions:
1. provide a date-based key. pro's: easy to produce. con's: if user
want to re-install it he has a prob. can turn back date.
2. provide a machine based code (using hd volume/bios): pro's: it
can be used number of times and only on one comp. con's: if the
user want to use it on his home comp? a gift? new computer?

id be happy to hear any other ideas and what does everybody
else use for piracy protection

Well I actually think internet activation is pretty good for us, but I'm looking for a deterrent that requires little or no implementation hassle. It could even just be a psychological deterrent. Something where they think they might get caught, but really there's no protection there. Like an alarm sticker for your windows.

I was thinking abou this the other day and one idea crept into my mind. If you control the download server for the full version you could do a custom build on the fly that included the name of the buyer in the splash screen. Not build the whole program but maybe just some resource compilation combined with a anti debugger shell like Armadillo. Having your copy branded with your name would maybe make the bar a bit higher.

I once saw a program in which the registration code was partially derived from your credit card number. That is without the credit card number you can't use the registration number.

Pro: Nobody is going to be passing out there numbers.

Con: Hard to give as a gift

prob with crdit cards: when theyre expiring, the number
is no longer at use. so theres no prob in copying the game then.

prob with name on splash screen:
whats the problem to register as "Hacker" or any other name?

Originally posted by gilzu
prob with crdit cards: when theyre expiring, the number
is no longer at use. so theres no prob in copying the game then.


Number stays the same, they just send you a new card with a new expiration date.

I don't have a problem with people copying my game and giving it to a mate or 5. Simply because - by and large - there is a fairly small circle of friends in any one area who keep in touch. If I sell one game in every town in the world I'll still make a mint, so that's no problem.

Ever borrowed a book off someone to read? There you are.

Kazaa on the other hand - that's another matter.

<later> I just did a Kazaa for Dweep Gold and Strange Adventures and what do you know - neither of them came up. You can find nearly anything on Kazaa but registered shareware games look like they're not being shared - is this out of respect? Fluke? Accident?

Cas :)

Interesting... You know, that could be changed into an experamant.

People are on at differant times of the day, and differant days of the week. Every day for one week, you could try that at differant times (lets say morning, noon, night).

This way you could really comb through those who have scheduals to keep.