Is it possible to protect your game from hackers?

[Poryg]

No. Enigma is a wrapper to wrap your code files. It's not a copy protection/DRM and as such won't have any influence on how easily can I share/resell your game. Only in case you'd have a DRM, you could use Enigma as a wrapper to have an additional layer before I can start tearing apart your copy protection.

 

[Elliott404]

Oh. I thought that it doesn't sound bad to wrap everything to an .exe file. At least anyone would know that you'd need another software to unpack the game's folders.
Then, what do you suggest of a better solution?

 

[Poryg]

Enigma virtual box is a wrapper, but doesn't change the functionality. Meaning if I copy the folder, nobody needs to extract it or anything in order for it to work. EVB is there to just wrap your code, not protect your whole game from getting pirated.
I have already made a suggestion. An entry into the windows registry during installation.

 

[Elliott404]

Oh, right you did. Sorry.

Thank you for that suggestion. I'll keep it in mind, unless it's quite pricey.

 

[Aesica]

In a single word: No.

If hackers want to get into your game, they're going to do it no matter how hard you try to safeguard everything. If triple-A companies can't keep hackers out of their games, what makes you think you can succeed where they failed? While it's true, you can make it harder for a casual person to dig through your files, you have to stop and ask yourself if the extra effort and potential headache will actually pay off for you.

• How likely is it that people are really going to want to pirate your game? Free RM games are plentiful. Many RM games are only a few dollars on Steam.
  
• Are your game assets actually valuable enough to warrant stripping out? If it's lots of high quality custom assets you paid for, then perhaps, but basic RTP? Naw. (Again, note that a determined hacker will still find a way to extract them)
  
• Are you prepared to deal with extra customer support time spent on issues that might arise from using extra layers of security? "This game doesn't run on my machine, but I can run other MV games just fine!" *Sends negative review and refunds the game*

 

[dulsi]

Also keep in mind pirated software does not mean lost sale. People who pirate may not have liked your game enough to buy it but tried the pirated version because it was free. Or it may be that they pirated five games but only had enough money for one so if they didn't pirate they wouldn't have bought all the games. Music and movie industry like to say a pirated copy is a lost sale but that is not the case.

 

[Elliott404]

@Aesica
I know that there are plenty AAA games still got hacked despite the amount of security set into them, but isn't it better than nothing?

• That I haven't thought of seriously yet since I'm taking it as a probability matter.

• To me, the assets are valuable (including the free ones) since they're not mine. They're other ppl's hardwork, that's why I wanted to secure them at the very least. The RTP, especially the sprites, will all be custom made since I'll plan on recruiting a teammate.

• That never crossed my mind, so thank you for pointing that out. Indeed, it will be problematic if the amount of players who couldn't run the game higher than the ones who could.


@dulsi
I understand where you're coming from, but I still find it not fair to pirate something that others have worked hard on.

 

[Soulrender]

@Elliot404 I understand your point of view so to save your trouble you could use assets licensed on Creative Commons 4.0 and that's it
(Many Indy GameDevs do that and they don't bother with securing their games)

 

[dulsi]

@Elliot404 If I have a to inconvenience a customer to prevent a pirated copy, I'd rather just let the pirate go. Given the choice of a game with DRM or one without, I will chose the one without every time. Keep in mind nothing talked about here is going to prevent ripping assets. If you can take a screenshot of the game you can extract the assets.

 

[Phenax]

The best way to protect a game from being pirated is to frequently update the game. Nobody likes playing an old version of a game and it will get annoying for pirates when there are frequent updates. It also helps to have things like achievements and leaderboards. A lot of people pirate games just to test them but if the legal version doesn't provide anything the pirated one doesn't then they probably won't buy the game even if they like it.

 

[Elliott404]

So, all in all, some ppl will always pirate a game no matter what?

I know I've asked this before but I don't think I've worded it correctly (and it might still sound stupid), but, is it possible to create a data(?) that'd only works in legal copy?

If the game detected that this data is missing, it'll tell the pirater that he won't get anything since that one data isn't found, and he'll have to get the legal copy?

You can dismiss it if it's impossible.

 

[dulsi]

It's impossible. The closest you can get is network authentication. This is not an easy thing to do right. It's very easy to create one that doesn't really secure your product. The DRM will be broken if pirates want your game. At which point people with a pirated version have a better experience than paying customers because they don't have to jump through the DRM hoops.

 

[Elliott404]

So it's like 50/50. Either watch someone pirate the game silently, or get it legally.

EDIT: I don't think this one counts but, do those who pirate the game never pay because they think the price tag is too much than it deserve?

 

[Poryg]

People don't pay for various reasons. For me as a child coming from an extremely poor family piracy was my only way of getting new games.
In some cases people do it to try out the game before buying. We've run out of demos in 2018 and as such for many games piracy is the only way to try it out. Of course we now have steam refunds etc., but these systems are not to be abused and can lead to not refunding you one day if you do it too much.

 

[Elliott404]

I'm sorry if I sounded harsh, and thank you for pointing that out. I didn't think that pirating isn't necessary for malice intent.

And after what I've got so far, I think I'll stick to that asset protection you have.

 

[lianderson]

The best way to protect a game from being pirated is to frequently update the game. Nobody likes playing an old version of a game and it will get annoying for pirates when there are frequent updates. It also helps to have things like achievements and leaderboards. A lot of people pirate games just to test them but if the legal version doesn't provide anything the pirated one doesn't then they probably won't buy the game even if they like it.

This.

 

[ChampX]

I would honestly worry more about legal protection on any assets you put in your game over physical protection. Given that theft and/or piracy is just an unwinnable cat and mouse game, I wouldn't do any more than necessary in terms of physical protection. You should definitely do more than RM's default (as tools on google exist), but very determined people will always find a way. Instead, it is better to just take legal action as needed against offenders.

 

[Elliott404]

@ChampX
I don't get what you meant by physical protection term. But, are you suggesting to focus on securing the assets more than the game itself?

 

[Marquise*]

I fell on this;
and thought it was pertinent.

 

[Poryg]

@Elliot404 Legal protection means applying legal methods against pirates. Taking down copies shared online for example.
Physical protection is using DRMs and other things to make piracy a tad difficult.
Essentially he is right. It's best to just use some sort of basic protection than to overprotect your game, because... DRMs in the end only hurt legitimate consumers. And that's to always remember. Nevertheless, while piracy is spoken to be bad, there's one thing many people forget about it.
It's free publicity. You don't have to pay anyone to share your pirated game and as such it may reach a wider audience and not just pirates. I said it once and will say it again. At first I started at Don Miguel's pirated RM2k3 in 2009. And as of now I have all copies of RM, legally purchased, and my investments in RM are at more than 300€. And it's not just that, I've purchased 30 or 40 games I wanted, but couldn't buy in past, but RM is the branch I've invested in the most.
Believe it or not, I'm not the only one who now goes to legitimately purchase games they couldn't buy 5 years ago. So for some companies my, and not just my piracy ended up even profitable. I got my hands on games I wouldn't even consider today as the market is evolving and as such they got themselves a customer.