Some idea's

[Anthropicus]

Kerflumoxed wrote:

Have been following this thread and agree 100%+ with Norb! If the game meets your needs and standards, then buy the doggone thing...if not, choose one of the competitors!

Keep up the good work!

J

I don't think anyone here disagrees with that part. I, personally, will buy whatever this company produces without hesitation. I know that it will be a quality product.

[IronBMike]

I don't have much knowledge of what makes a game crackable or anything, but isn't multiplayer impossible on cracked games? It seems to me that 1) that would bode well for your game and 2) it will push developers to develop multiplayer focused games.

Am I wrong in thinking this?

[norb]

It depends on how you design the mp. Some games require you to connect to a server and verify the reg code before you play. In that case it would be hard, but not impossible to crack. Nothing is not crackable. There is nothing inherent in mp that would make it harder to crack. It's all about how you approach the solution.

[Joshua l.Chamberlain]

I have a idea though I think it has already been tossed around abit. Can you make a character sprite for the corps and army commanders such as: Lee, Meade, Hancock ect.?

[Anthropicus]

norb wrote:

It depends on how you design the mp. Some games require you to connect to a server and verify the reg code before you play. In that case it would be hard, but not impossible to crack. Nothing is not crackable. There is nothing inherent in mp that would make it harder to crack. It's all about how you approach the solution.

I'd say there is considerable inherent protection - it's usually beyond the means of pirates to connect to the public matchmaking server even with only a simple CD Key protection scheme. There is sometimes a way to get around that and connect directly to each other with a bit of sweat and toil to emulate the server, which usually isn't bothered with. For games that support LAN play, there's always a Local IPX-over-TCP/IP tunneler like Hamachi - which is why few developers like Blizzard are moving away from that.

What I'm getting at is that unlike most DRM schemes, it is entirely possible to exclude pirates from the game's main community even if they find a way to play directly. In other words, you are not rewarding the pirate and punishing the customer.

[norb]

But none of what you've written is inherent to MP, they are all design decisions. If you meld the copy protection with your approach to designing the game you can do some innovative solutions to the problem, like what you have written. But many developers don't think about this stuff until it's too late, then they can end up with an easily crackable solution. Others just depend on their publisher to provide the protection. This usually requires their exe being run through some program that adds the protection, this also gets cracked a lot since it's the same method for every other game from that publisher.

The CD key that you mention is one way to protect mp games, since they can keep a database of valid codes and make sure that no two people connect at the same time with the same code. Then they can deactivate a code on their end. So this is a major incentive for people to keep their codes private. But it requires extra investment on the dev side to monitor this scheme and run the servers. We cannot afford to run a full time server. But hopefully we will some day as we have a ton of ideas on how to make this even better.

[Anthropicus]

Are you saying there isn't going to be a matchmaking server? Are we going to have to enter IP addresses and organize games on the forum just to play?

[norb]

No, there will be a lobby service. We connect to it in the game, but it's not ours. Thanks for the reminder, gotta get that on the testing list

[UglyElmo]

I believe a better way to discourage pirating is to make MP the main feature of your game, then offer up weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly patches, which offer small additions to the game (maybe units, maybe features, maybe interface improvements). With everyone eager to continue playing the MP side of the game, and with a check-sum? protection system (I believe it is called that: Where the MP program checks both player's games to insure they exactly match file-per-file before letting them play online.) This would keep the pirate programmers busy having to re-hack the game for each weekly iteration and would keep the pirating players busy having to search, download and install new hacks every few weeks.

To make this successful you must have the following:

1. A game which focuses on MP and a single-player game which trains players, and actually encourages them, to play online. It could be as simple as an advert upon starting up the game, saying how much fun it is playing online, or some other means of promoting the MP game.

2. Developers who are willing to continually tweak their games . . like I said, it could be just as simple as adding in a new unit or feature each week as an update . . these could be programmed ahead of release, and then offered up piece by piece over an extended period of time. MP players especially appreciate it when the developers appear to take an interest in their needs and who are willing to show their appreciation to their fanbase, by offering up small tokens as "Thanks". The good will generated alone would keep players coming back to buy the next game in the series. A lot of Developers (CA/SEGA for example), seem to do their best to ignore the MP community and to be disrespectful by creating MP functions which offer less and less features and options.

3. Make sure that players must have the latest patch/updates to play online. (Doable?) If you make it difficult or work, for the pirates to keep up with the latest update/upgrade/patch, then they normally will give up and move on to other games . . . possibly even purchasing your game if they REALLY like it. It also would discourage the casual pirate, who will not go out of his way to tweak/install hacks unless they are simple and few.

4. Have the checksum protection feature mentioned earlier to insure each player is playing with the same updated files. (Easy to program or not?)

5. Ask for, and take seriously, input from the MP community. (Which you guys already do, which is why I am here.)

6. Actively help players advertise their clans, tournaments on your game's official forums and website.

7. Don't lie or deny problems with the game, whether perceived or real. If a problem is just a misperception on the player's part, it is still a problem and needs to be addressed through explanation or other solution. CA/SEGA has lost more TW fans because of this, than most game developers could wish for. Ignoring your fanbase eventually comes back to bite you in the "flank".

By doing all of the above, you don't really need any fancy, expensive copy-protection method that penalizes/aggravates legal purchasers of your game.

[Joshua l.Chamberlain]

It seems I have to repeat myself again. I have a idea though I think it has already been tossed around abit. Can you make a character sprite for the corps and army commanders such as: Lee, Meade, Hancock ect.?