Forums > MobyGames > Game group: media-based copy protection
NewRisingSun (1009) on 4/22/2014 5:47 PM · Permalink · Report
Now that we have groups for manual lookup, code-wheel and 'feelie' protection, how about making the series complete and creating a game group for media-based copy protections, i.e. games requiring the original floppy disk or CD? Or has this been proposed already, and I missed it in my simple "protection" forum search?
The only argument against it I could think of is that on some platforms, almost every game might fall into it, although for the late 80s to mid 90s time period, that would also apply to manual-based copy protection.
Given that many publishers used commercial protection products (i.e. SecuROM/Safedisc/StarForce with CD-based games, Softguard/Cops Copylock/IBM Interlock/HLS-Duplication on PC floppies, V-MAX/Vorpal/Rapidlok on C64 floppies), the "technical specs" section could be used to list the particular protection type (if known), given that most are easily identifiable, and for C64, there already is a database (http://c64preservation.com/database).
Indra was here (20755) on 4/22/2014 6:14 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
It's been proposed. Search for SecuROM or StarForce. Previous owners didn't like the idea, indicating it may expose negative press to certain companies (as if we're the only gaming website on the internet).
Quoting from Foxhack back in 2009:
"I argued over adding game groups for certain harmful copy protections such as StarForce and SecuROM, and I was told it wouldn't be a good idea because certain companies wouldn't like that."
Personally I'm all for it. Just need a green light (or at least no comment) and whiff up a description. It's also on my pending game groups list on meine rapsheet e.g. 37. Copy Protection: SecuROM DRM, 38. Copy Protection: StarForce DRM.
<hr />The requiring original diskette or CD is more of a tech spec concern.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66362) on 4/22/2014 6:24 PM · Permalink · Report
Just remember, Reed and Simon may not share Corn Popper's biases.
Indra was here (20755) on 4/22/2014 6:31 PM · Permalink · Report
Aye. Hence, waiting for green light unless a fatwa is explicitly expressed.
Indra was here (20755) on 4/22/2014 11:51 PM · Permalink · Report
Doesn't matter. If it annoyed gamers at one point of the version, it's still annoying. :p Plus, such removals usually is backed up by a trivia entry in the game (which should be added soon anyway if it doesn't have one).
NewRisingSun (1009) on 4/23/2014 7:32 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
"Copy Protection: SecuROM DRM, 38. Copy Protection: StarForce DRM."
So it should be one game group for each protection type? Because if you also include floppy disk protections, that would amount to a whole lot of groups, hence my suggestion to just have one group "Copy Protection: media-based", and putting the protection type into the tech specs section. Since tech spec entries are clickable as well, one could still search for all games using a particular type of protection.
As for changing protections across versions: I don't know how free-form the tech specs section is, but couldn't it look like this:
Ultima IX: Ascension
Copy Protection: SafeDisc V1 (versions up until version 1.18), none (version 1.19)
Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress (PC):
Copy Protection: Cops Copylock (1983/1984 Sierra On-Line release), Softguard (1985 Sierra On-Line release), OSI-1 (1989 Origin Systems release), none (CD-ROM versions)
That would free the trivia section of protection-related information, which in my opinion shouldn't be there anyway.
Игги Друге (46653) on 4/23/2014 7:50 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start NewRisingSun wrote--] So it should be one game group for each protection type? Because if you also include floppy disk protections, that would amount to a whole lot of groups, hence my suggestion to just have one group "Copy Protection: media-based", and putting the protection type into the tech specs section. [/Q --end NewRisingSun wrote--] While what you say is correct, it is troublesome with multiplatform games. Having a game in the group "Copy protection: media-based" can be seen as applying to every platform, whereas "Copy protection: Rob Northern Copylock" obviously only applies to the Amiga and Atari ST versions.
[Q --start NewRisingSun wrote--]Since tech spec entries are clickable as well, one could still search for all games using a particular type of protection.[/Q --end NewRisingSun wrote--] Free-form tech specs aren't clickable.
NewRisingSun (1009) on 4/23/2014 8:17 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
"Free-form tech specs aren't clickable. "
True enough. The ideal solution would be to make tech spec entires applicable to specific entries from the "releases" section. This would also take better care of games like Battle Chess which upon their initial release only supported EGA but added VGA in a later release. It's probably cumbersome to program and maintain though.
Simpler solution: Ultima II PC has three clickable attributes in a specs->protection section, one for each protection, with the specs->notes section explaining which one goes with which release.
"it is troublesome with multiplatform games. Having a game in the group "Copy protection: media-based" can be seen as applying to every platform"
True, but that is also the problem with manual-based protection, which typically is only true for floppy-based versions of a game.
Since game groups can't be restricted to particular platforms or releases, they should be as general as possible. For that reason, maybe copy protection should not be a group at all but merely a specs attribute, because they're always separated by platform?