My thought was that the unique id per computer would not be generated but rather be something burned in their hardware (and a piece of hardware that everyone has) such as their processor serial. But a bios switch (default set off) controlls whether or not the processor serial is available to apps.. feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. In response to Andrew, a usb dongle wouldnt be feasible for one big reason.. not that the hardware can be hacked, but that the hardware might not work for everyone. USB doesnt work with NT4, and I once used NT4 to play HL, and I have talked to quite a few others that use it still. Also controlling software would have to be multi-platform (meaning windows, linux, etc compatible) for those that use Wine to play to be able to go with it. Also, another flaw is the design and production costs of it. Many pieces of software use a parallel port "key" which looks and is no bigger than a gender changer, but the software that requires the key will not run without it in, and if it is removed, the application will cease functioning. Again, production costs are more than Sierra is probably wanting to put into a game that has hair turning gray. -- leming
At 12:35 1/6/2002 +1100, you wrote: >The problem is how do you generate the unique id, and how do you force a >client to stick to one ID... They could just hack the HL binary to report >any ID they want... Or alter something about their machine to make the new >id (the GID in windows can be generated from random numbers alone...). _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
