Will,
You ask so what if people hack it? The reason that is a big deal is
this: As much as Tom probably enjoys making games, and wants people to enjoy
his creations, he is likely not doing this purely for his amusement. I
assume, unless he has stated otherwise, that he is attempting to make money
with USA Games. If he doesn't take steps to prevent people hacking his
games, it will not be worth his time and effort to produce games at all
because he is spending to much of his time making money through more
lucrative ventures. As gamers, and as people who wish to see this industry
flourish, we have to be willling to let developers to do what ever the deem
necessary to prevent people from ripping them off. Unlike the mainstream
industry, fifteen or twenty lost sales due to piracy makes a huge difference
when you may only sell a few hundred copies... even if you sell a few
thousand copies. Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, etc. can afford to lose a little
money when they're making billions of dollars from the games they sell.
HTH,
Vapour
----- Original Message -----
From: "will" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 3:07 PM
Subject: Re: audyssey: USA Games news.
> hi
>
> i'd just release the game now and if people hack it so what, it gonna
> happen
> that the way of life
> as liam says, honest people will buy it, dishonest, won't
> To be fair this security issue should have been checked out before
> development, if this was an issue with dot net
> not flaming just pointing out and commenting
> regards, will
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Thomas Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 9:37 PM
> Subject: Re: audyssey: USA Games news.
>
>
>> Hi, Shaun.
>> yes, that is correct. we have to start over from scratch if we switch to
>> C++.
>>
>>
>> shaun everiss wrote:
>>> so this means you need to redo the usagames engine to then?
>>> At 08:58 a.m. 21/02/2006, you wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi, Shaun.
>>>> I really can't even begin to make a guess at when the updated STFC 1.0
>>>> would be ready. As you might guess some code can be directly copied or
>>>> salvaged, and some of it has to be rewritten do to C++ specific
>>>> language
>>>> requirements.
>>>> One thing right now is I don't have the USA Games engine now that it
>>>> has
>>>> the same security issues as the game so everything is upside down, and
>>>> needs to be rethought from the ground up.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> shaun everiss wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I understand, gmagames have a system hardware id bassed system, and
>>>>> others have simular id based systems.
>>>>> Just don't go the way of ms with activation punnishing the lagit guys
>>>>> thats all.
>>>>> Also if you decide to make your data files non hackable, there are
>>>>> those of us that contribute sound and like to look at our sounds we
>>>>> put
>>>>> in places.
>>>>> When will the stfc port be ready in the new c++ code?
>>>>> At 09:53 p.m. 20/02/2006, you wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi, Shaun.
>>>>>> While it is true there is no way for a developer to absolutely secure
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> product from theft, cracks, and piracy there are ways to make it
>>>>>> harder
>>>>>> and minimize the chances.
>>>>>> If you think of it this way you can't completely secure your home
>>>>>> from
>>>>>> burglers, but you will do whatever is necessary to make it harder.
>>>>>> Before you leave you check the windows to make sure they are down and
>>>>>> locked, lock the doors, and if you have one arm the security panel.
>>>>>> Noone I know of in a high crime neighborhood leaves for work with the
>>>>>> back door unlocked, an open window for people to crawl in to, or owns
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> security panel and decides to leave it off. They would at least do
>>>>>> those
>>>>>> security measures to make sure their home was safer than it would
>>>>>> otherwise have been.
>>>>>> As for piracy in this comunity sad to say, but I recently found out
>>>>>> there were an alarming number of accessible gamers pirating GMA's
>>>>>> Shades
>>>>>> of Doom 1.0. Even though there were plenty of honest gamers like me
>>>>>> who
>>>>>> baught their copies GMA and my company USA Games must protect our
>>>>>> games
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> >from those less than honest people as best we can.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> shaun everiss wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Well I suppose you know what you are doing.
>>>>>>> Its however good to note that nothing is secure, as you can't
>>>>>>> secure
>>>>>>> for everything and or anything.
>>>>>>> I would never hack a program though.
>>>>>>> I am not like that.
>>>>>>> At 08:55 p.m. 20/02/2006, you wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi, Matt.
>>>>>>>> Thanks. I only wish I had taken more time to research security
>>>>>>>> before I
>>>>>>>> began writing STFC. If I had known how security week the final
>>>>>>>> product
>>>>>>>> would be I would have of course done things much different. As it
>>>>>>>> stands
>>>>>>>> I can not release the game as is, as any reasonably compatent
>>>>>>>> hacker
>>>>>>>> could crack the game in a matter of minutes which is not
>>>>>>>> exceptable.
>>>>>>>> However, on the bright side of this I am finding out some good
>>>>>>>> alternatives to doing things and if I choose that route USA Games
>>>>>>>> not
>>>>>>>> only will be more secure, but there are some extra bonuses
>>>>>>>> involved.
>>>>>>>> I am currently strongly thinking of converting all projects to C++.
>>>>>>>> Not
>>>>>>>> only would I have a better security for the game there is better
>>>>>>>> documentation for writing game scripting engines, better support
>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> SAPI tts engines, etc.... So this might have a bright side to it.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> matt wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> That is bad news. I must commend you though for being a game
>>>>>>>>> creator who
>>>>>>>>> comes out and says when something is going wrong. I do not mean
>>>>>>>>> anything bad
>>>>>>>>> about anyone else just saying that is a cool thing to say. I wish
>>>>>>>>> you the
>>>>>>>>> best of luck in fixing the problem. Later, Matt
>>>>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>>>>> From: "Thomas Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>>>>>>>> To: <[email protected]>
>>>>>>>>> Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2006 11:25 PM
>>>>>>>>> Subject: audyssey: USA Games news.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> USA Games News
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> 2/20/2006
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> STFC Release in Doubt
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Greetings gamers,
>>>>>>>>>> We at USA Games have some good and bad news for our fans of STFC.
>>>>>>>>>> The
>>>>>>>>>> good news the game is practically complete and is pretty
>>>>>>>>>> reliable.
>>>>>>>>>> The
>>>>>>>>>> bad news is that recently we have discovered some security issues
>>>>>>>>>> with
>>>>>>>>>> the product which is of grave concern to me inparticular. As a
>>>>>>>>>> result
>>>>>>>>>> this security issue could set development back for months, and at
>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> least a few weeks.
>>>>>>>>>> Unfortunately, the nature of the issue forces USA Games to choose
>>>>>>>>>> between two options. the first option is to pay a quite a sum of
>>>>>>>>>> money
>>>>>>>>>> to purchase licenses for pro grade security applications. The
>>>>>>>>>> second
>>>>>>>>>> option USA Games rewrites STFC in a language in which this
>>>>>>>>>> security hole
>>>>>>>>>> is not a factor. As USA Games does not currently have the funds
>>>>>>>>>> for the
>>>>>>>>>> former choice it will likely come down to the second choice.
>>>>>>>>>> However,
>>>>>>>>>> after just completing the game I am not in any mood to start over
>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>> port the current game to something new.
>>>>>>>>>> As a result of this security discovery USA Games is haulting
>>>>>>>>>> production
>>>>>>>>>> on all of our titles until a suitable security can be devised. It
>>>>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>>>>> possible some projects may have to be rewritten from scratch, or
>>>>>>>>>> at the
>>>>>>>>>> very least wait until USA Games has enough funds to complete them
>>>>>>>>>> using
>>>>>>>>>> pro grade security software.
>>>>>>>>>> I hope that in the future USA Games will be able to bring some
>>>>>>>>>> truly
>>>>>>>>>> awesome titles to you all, but for the time being we will be
>>>>>>>>>> returning
>>>>>>>>>> to research and experiment. Once we have something we are sure
>>>>>>>>>> will work
>>>>>>>>>> for us we will continue production of our titles.
>>>>>>>>>> Thanks, and happy gaming.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
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