Very important question for people who have the full game...

[martinblank]

A question directed to the people who have the full game. Does it come with any kind of DRM, like starforce or securom or anything like that? Or is it just like UT2004, no drm on the disc but you need a valid cd key from an official database (pirated key will not work) to play online?

[VACkillers]

strange post... but i wouldn't think a quality developer like epic would ever use starforce as it damages your hardware over time.

[martinblank]

There are many valid reasons to be concerned. It was in Bioshock and it has been included in many games published my midway as well.

Please, do NOT bring this thread off topic and someone try and get me the answer asap because I think the thread will be closed :(

[VACkillers]

what security exactly did bioshock have? i dont own it so...

[martinblank]

securom:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SecuROM

[Raven1337]

Very interesting question, one which could change my decision to buy this game.

Yes, I'm in Germany, and I haven't bought it yet.

[astroboi]

I'm pretty sure the original release of UT2004 had copy protection (securom?) on the disc, and then it was removed in a patch.

[martinblank]

No it didn't. All it had was that it originally required the play disc to be in the drive for you to play it. This was defeated by nocd cracks and later removed in the first patch.

[astroboi]

Ah ok.. well CD check is still a form of copy-protection I guess.

[martinblank]

I don't care about a CD check. I care about active drm software like starforce and securom. Cmon, I know a number of people here have the game, can't you tell if it has it or not?

[Luseferous]

I'm really eager to get an answer on this as well.

If it uses SecuRom then there will probably be a hidden folder in C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data named SecuRom.

(Application Data is also by default a hidden folder)

If you have or had any other games that use this S@#! then it wont tell you much as SecuRom will not uninstall without a great deal of user effort.

[for Xp, Vista uses a different folder structure I think]



Some background :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SecuROM
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SecuROM)

[Luseferous]

***bump***

[Sharpfish]

Like bioshock you mean?

I would most certainly hope not because then it would go from a 'wait and see' to a 'definite no' regarding purchase. Mind you the lmited install BS on BS was worse for me personally because whoever thought that hairbrained scheme up didn't figure on what would happen if every game started doing it when it came time to reinstall windows (imagine uninstalling all that software just to get a credit back rather then just wiping the drive/reimaging).

[ToxeCryz]

If they have starforce or securom in UT 3 then I won't buy it.

[LordLuzifer]

Don't know what kind of protection there is if there's any but if you create an online account you can start the game without having the dvd in your disc drive.
If you don't have an account you always have to enter your cd-key (!) when starting the game and of course you need the dvd then.

[martinblank]

So , err nobody knows??

[Nocman]

it seems to be using nothing, cd-key only.
just tested it without dvd and tried to play the sp and it worked.
so no copy protection

[DX860424]

There is no protection on it as far as i can tell...

Like the dude above me said you can play without a dvd in your drive if you have a working key

[ixiWildflowerixi]

it seems to be using nothing, cd-key only.
just tested it without dvd and tried to play the sp and it worked.
so no copy protection

If true that's just one more reason to buy the game. Thanks Epic & Midway!

[Xandros]

That's sort of good news I guess, but it depends on how it works; could you please elaborate on it?

So, say you created an account and used a valid cd key so now the disc is not required, will it still work without needing a disc if you then decide to play offline without logging in? For instance, by using the offline account if you just want to play bots or single player but not actually log in to gamespy, will it still play without the disc?

[Luseferous]

Thats really good news, a big thumbs up to both Midway and Epic.http://www.observationdeck.org/lip_images/Jesus%20Christ%20Thumbs%20up.jpg

[DS3]

Like the dude above me said you can play without a dvd in your drive if you have a working key
Quoted for truth.
No need to insert disk. CDKEY check is best protection :P

[DX860424]

That's sort of good news I guess, but it depends on how it works; could you please elaborate on it?

So, say you created an account and used a valid cd key so now the disc is not required, will it still work without needing a disc if you then decide to play offline without logging in? For instance, by using the offline account if you just want to play bots or single player but not actually log in to gamespy, will it still play without the disc?


After that you have enterd your cd key and made an account, And you wish to play offline next time you start up the game.

Just fill in your info and click on play offline i just tested this and it works fine.

[BiscuitWaffle]

So I have three computers here networked. Does this mean that say, my friends can come over and we can play each other offline with just my copy and the same CD key on all the comps?

I remember a game I used to play (no clue what it was) but the game wouldn't see the other computer on the network because they both had the same CD key. I defeated it by finding a fake cd key.

[MikeHunt]

sounds good, i always like to try and either make a mountable disk image or make a backup copy of the original disk just in case. alot of games now you cant do that so if the disk gets broke you have to go buy another one which sucks.

[ixiWildflowerixi]

So I have three computers here networked. Does this mean that say, my friends can come over and we can play each other offline with just my copy and the same CD key on all the comps?

I remember a game I used to play (no clue what it was) but the game wouldn't see the other computer on the network because they both had the same CD key. I defeated it by finding a fake cd key.

I think if you have 3 people playing at 3 PCs you should need 3 keys. Perhaps give it some leeway so that 2 PCs within a LAN can use the same one. That'd also help mod-makers to test network stuff. But more than that? What if you have a big LAN party with 50 people.. all using one copy of the game?

Common, Epic/Midway were nice and are one of the few companies that don't treat their customers like thieves and install invasive rootkits and the likes. Don't break that trust.

Not saying that UT3 will work this way since I don't have it yet.

[BiscuitWaffle]

Well the reason I asked was because I'm buying the game and so are my friends. But they aren't bringing their computers over to play cause I have my own.

So it would be far more convenient to just use my copy. I don't feel that I'm pirating anything because all 3 people playing have bought the game.

For all it matters, I could use their keys on my other two computers, but that still applies to my question of can multiple computers have the same cd key?

[MikeHunt]

in theory they can use their keys on your computer as long as they don't go online, then there could be problems but within a network this would work ok, i'm not sure how the online key reg works but if the network you set up is not connected to your broadband then there would be no problems.

[zool3r]

who cares, securom and starforce r easy to break now...

[Luseferous]

who cares, securom and starforce r easy to break now...

Not the point.

[Dangerdog]

I hope this holds true for the US release, having only a cd-key is perfect. I really don't want to scratch my original disc and no matter how careful you are it can still get scratches.

[Sharpfish]

Great news if true and immediate redemption points to epic if it doesn't even need the DVD in out of the gates (rather than in a later patch). PC gamers should start rewarding the companies that go easy with DRM to send out the message that the bad DRM isn't acceptable for much longer.

Ok.. so one fear off my checklist, seen some very nice screens of maps too so all I need now is the FOV for widescreen sorting out and the MOUSE to be 100% accurate and I'm up for a buy :)

[iycgtptyarvg]

I just tried out the German version and can confirm it does not contain any Draconian copy protection (as far as I can tell!). I just installed and played without any problems and hassels. You don't even need the DVD in the drive.

Epic and Midway: Thank you, thank you, thank you for not hurting your customers.
When the game comes out (normal version) I will buy it immediately.