[XP] Anti-Piracy Script

[Zilten]

I need help on creating a script which would instead of having the game play normal, take the player to a room if the game detects itself being of pirate origin

 

[Shaz]

I've moved this thread to RGSS Script Requests. Please be sure to post your threads in the correct forum next time. Thank you.


Um .... how is the game going to detect itself being of pirate origin?

 

[Teneven]

That sounds like a good idea...... I don't think it would be able to detect if it was pirated. Maybe a code would need to be entered. Idk how that could be randomized though. 

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

You can try to get a DRM, but note that it will only protect you to some extent.

 

[Tai_MT]

You could just have the game check for certain values via a bunch of events.  Most people who pirate a game don't actually care if the act of pirating it left it any kind of playable state (free tip, most piraters don't actually check to make sure all the code of the game still works... they're just looking to break the protection so they can distribute it for free to anyone who wants a copy).  There are several commercial games that had several layers of protection so that even if you cracked it so you could make copies of the game, it didn't actually leave the game in a playable state.  You'd play for so long and then the game would start trolling you and make the game unwinnable and leave you unable to even advance further.  Then, after that level was cracked by new pirates, there was another layer that prevented the player from advancing further again.  I believe one of the games that used this sort of copy protection actually had a point where you'd get close to the end of the game and it would wipe your save file and put you back at the first level again.

For the life of me, I'm not sure how you'd do such a thing, but I'd wager this is probably your absolute best option for dealing with pirates.  Multiple lines of defense that any normal pirate would never check for when they make their initial crack of your game.

 

[Ralpf]

You could just have the game check for certain values via a bunch of events.  Most people who pirate a game don't actually care if the act of pirating it left it any kind of playable state (free tip, most piraters don't actually check to make sure all the code of the game still works... they're just looking to break the protection so they can distribute it for free to anyone who wants a copy).  There are several commercial games that had several layers of protection so that even if you cracked it so you could make copies of the game, it didn't actually leave the game in a playable state.  You'd play for so long and then the game would start trolling you and make the game unwinnable and leave you unable to even advance further.  Then, after that level was cracked by new pirates, there was another layer that prevented the player from advancing further again.  I believe one of the games that used this sort of copy protection actually had a point where you'd get close to the end of the game and it would wipe your save file and put you back at the first level again.

For the life of me, I'm not sure how you'd do such a thing, but I'd wager this is probably your absolute best option for dealing with pirates.  Multiple lines of defense that any normal pirate would never check for when they make their initial crack of your game.

I don't have any experience with pirated games. This is all off the top of my head, and I'm not a programmer. 

But let's assume the DRM method that is used is the standard code entry to unlock the game, if the "pirates" simply strip away the need for that code you could use that against them to create a scenario like that. If the game in the default state was screwed up like you described and the act of activating the game also deactivated that code. Just an idea, again I have no experience in this area, from either side.

 

[Tai_MT]

Some of the more clever examples I've seen are listed on TVTropes.  They have a "Copy Protection" page with a list of specific developers and such.

One of the funniest I've seen was for a game where you make a video game company and try to make games to make a lot of money.  If the game detected it had been pirated, you could play the game for a long time...  Until you reached the "modern" eras of gaming.  At that point, if you made really fantastic games, the profit from those games would all be sucked down the drain due to massive pirating of the games you just made.  The game would even notify you that your games were being pirated and you weren't making any money because of it, despite the games being fantastic.

There were actually users who went to the video game website to ask how you get rid of the pirates in their game or how you combat them.  The funny part about that is?  If you play a legitimate version of the game, there are no pirates.  Even funnier?  The people who cracked the protection on the game didn't know about the problem because you don't run into it until really late in the game when you've almost done everything.

 

[Tsukihime]

One of the funniest I've seen was for a game where you make a video game company and try to make games to make a lot of money.  If the game detected it had been pirated, you could play the game for a long time...  Until you reached the "modern" eras of gaming.  At that point, if you made really fantastic games, the profit from those games would all be sucked down the drain due to massive pirating of the games you just made.  The game would even notify you that your games were being pirated and you weren't making any money because of it, despite the games being fantastic.


There were actually users who went to the video game website to ask how you get rid of the pirates in their game or how you combat them.  The funny part about that is?  If you play a legitimate version of the game, there are no pirates.  Even funnier?  The people who cracked the protection on the game didn't know about the problem because you don't run into it until really late in the game when you've almost done everything.

This one?


I like the approach


1. Release an official copy


2. Release an official pirated copy. Make sure you seed it. Make sure it is top seed. You want to be the first in the ring so that everyone will download from you.


Rig the pirated copy.

 

[Tai_MT]

Yep!  That one!  One of the most hilarious things I ever read.  Made all the more funny by people posting, "Uh... how do I stop piracy?".  Answer is simple, guys!  Don't pirate!  Ha ha ha.

 

[Zilten]

This one?

I like the approach

1. Release an official copy

2. Release an official pirated copy. Make sure you seed it. Make sure it is top seed. You want to be the first in the ring so that everyone will download from you.

Rig the pirated copy.

Hah hah, I might try that one. Seems the easiest.

 

[TheoAllen]

And in the pirated one, simply put this everytime the scene changed

Sprite.newThat could lead the game into RGSS Stopped Working for "unknown" reason.

 

[Tsukihime]

And in the pirated one, simply put this everytime the scene changed

Sprite.newThat could lead the game into RGSS Stopped Working for "unknown" reason.

Don't crash games just because it's pirated.

 

[TheoAllen]

Don't crash games just because it's pirated.

Why?

 

[Andar]

Because then everyone will claim that the game itself is instabil, not only the pirated copy.


Happened to several games I know of twenty years ago - the crash was the hidden copy protection, and the games got a reputation for unable to be played. By the time the distributor revealed the truth the rumors were unstoppable, and when they removed the copy protection it was said that that was a bugfix only pretending to have something to do with the copy protection.

 

[TheoAllen]

Then something that prevent player to advance the game would be better?

 

[Andar]

Yes, as long as it's made clear that this block will not be there in the purchased version.

 

[Tai_MT]

Something that upon the smallest of inspections looks as if the devs are messing with you is always much better than just outright crashing your game.  The games that have tried the "game crashed" method have gone on to make little to no actual sales because the pirates have then claimed that the game isn't even worth playing because it's designed so poorly and is so unstable.  I believe one of the Assassin's Creed games tried this approach in which the game would have progressively worse and worse performance issues the longer you played the pirated version.  This lead to rumors that the game was actually poorly optimized even though the legitimate copies didn't have that problem.  That went on to hurt sales and I think there were even a few reviewers who addressed the issue players were having without knowing that it was an anti-piracy measure.

If you must do anything, do it like that game dev tycoon game in which it's obvious what's going on, but also a bit funny.  That, or just a message box saying "don't play this pirated game!".

 

[Tsukihime]

If someone is playing a pirated copy, insert pirates. Like, just have lots and lots of pirate enemies show up for some reason and every few hours or so they would pillage your village and bandit random items from you.


In a way that makes sense of course.


And when someone asks why there are so many PIRATES in the game and others are wondering why they aren't seeing the PIRATES, well then.


A drawback is that your players might actually want to get the pirated version because it provides more challenge.


They can of course then PURCHASE a version that contains PIRATES.

 

[Jomarcenter]

If someone is playing a pirated copy, insert pirates. Like, just have lots and lots of pirate enemies show up for some reason and every few hours or so they would pillage your village and bandit random items from you.

In a way that makes sense of course.

And when someone asks why there are so many PIRATES in the game and others are wondering why they aren't seeing the PIRATES, well then.

A drawback is that your players might actually want to get the pirated version because it provides more challenge.

They can of course then PURCHASE a version that contains PIRATES.

yeah like a one particular game where an unbeatable/unkillable  non-story enemy follow you around the game and try to kill you but you can try to complete the game since it not part of the game anyways but it will be quite annoying if he kill you multiple times. Instead of pirate buying the original people who also brought the game also wanted a pirated copy since it also a special challenge for them.

You could just release your game in steam. They have a good DRM system in place.