Classic copy protection

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Frobozz

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 15, 2002
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yes.. an "old fart" thread. :D
So I was digging around WAY back in the junk closet looking for something to load on this 486 laptop I unearthed and came across this:



Ah.. Alone in the Dark... It may have been the begining of the survival horror genre. I know I spent way too much time playing it. How I managed to not lose this freakin small book I have no idea.. I guess it's something I can load up on the laptop if I can find an OS for it. :eek:

Anyone remember other fun copy protection methods? I remember Quarantine had a card with a grid on it.. I think it figured damage of weight of a person vs speed of impact or something fun like that.
 
I remember having to look for a certain word on a certain page of the manual for a couple of games a long time ago.
 
While not copy protection, Leisure Suit Larry's quiz to test your age brings back fond memories.
 
Ultima 7: Black Gate asked for specific map coordinates in order for you to leave the first town. The Silver Serpent asked for something else, but I can't remember off hand..
 
CodeEx said:
I remember having to look for a certain word on a certain page of the manual for a couple of games a long time ago.
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many old dos games used this method.
 
Palooka said:
While not copy protection, Leisure Suit Larry's quiz to test your age brings back fond memories.
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Yea I remeber those questions. I think the manual had the answers in it. I know the deluxe 7 disk pack I got of all the lsl games had it listed. That was one the first game? Didn't like one of the others asks for chicks phone numbers from the manual or something?
 
In Wing Commander I they gave you blueprints for some of the ships and the game would ask for a certain spec (like max velocity)
 
I miss the days of fun copy protection, those wheels bring back memories.
 
Oh God, I hated having to look up stuff for the copy protection. This one Terminator game (I think?) was like "What word is on page 7, line 3, fourth word?". I hated having to look that stuff up.

But on the other hand, I might perfer something like that again, instead of copy protections that cause the game to not even run :rolleyes:
 
I still have the original Civilization manual. I remember the "An usurper is trying to claim your throne!" Which if you think about is slightly more realistic than the same line of rulers lording over a civilization for 8000 years. Although the fact that in 3000 BC your wise men ask you for the prerequisite technologies for some technology symbolized by a picture of a stealth bomber is comical.

I played that game so much I could answer all the questions by memory, knowing what tech the picture was of and what techs it required.
 
Space Quest had some fun puzzles which required the manual. You had to rewire a PDA or something to send out a signal for somebody to rescue you.
 
F/A 18-Hornet 2.0 and 3.0 (from graphsim) for mac had you type in a word from a specific page of the manual...anyone remember the manual for this game??? it was about 400 pages long and not only went over the sim aspects of the f-18 interceptor/attack aircraft, but included the full military SOP's for the machine as well......
 
Matrox462 said:
Oh God, I hated having to look up stuff for the copy protection. This one Terminator game (I think?) was like "What word is on page 7, line 3, fourth word?". I hated having to look that stuff up.
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On the other hand, if you play that game enough, you'd have memorized it :D I think i managed to do that with prince of persia :p
 
I still have my "holy grail diary" (of copyprotection) somewhere in my house from Indy and the Last Crusade :p
 
Back in pre-PC days, Project Stealth Fighter for the c64 had a neat idea where you were required to identify a jet fighter from a profile schematic drawing, the corresponding diagrams were in the manual. Good idea and inkeeping with the game.

More recently, Uplink reverted to these methods - they use a grid with various two-letter groups on it which you need to type in to start a new game. It's printed in matt black on a gloss black card so it can't be photocopied!

[k]
 
I remember the Civ manual copy protection. I'm not sure how effective it was--you eventually memorize the tech tree.

There was this game a friend of mine had--I don't remember what the name was, but it involved equipping a combat helicopter and going out to destroy various enemy installations or pick up things. You had wingmen whose choppers you could also equip. Earning points let you get better weapons and choppers. Kind of like a very early RPG almost. It was very well-done, especially for very-early 90's. Its copy protection was a six-digit challenge code, and you had to look in the manual to find the response code. So I just copied (by hand!) the chart.

Does anybody know what game this was?

 
Matrox462 said:
Oh God, I hated having to look up stuff for the copy protection. This one Terminator game (I think?) was like "What word is on page 7, line 3, fourth word?". I hated having to look that stuff up.

But on the other hand, I might perfer something like that again, instead of copy protections that cause the game to not even run :rolleyes:
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Damn! you bet me to it. I always remember that one :)
Same with King's quest games.
 
Another method I remember from the old days was having print that was impossible to tell what it said till you put a piece of red clear plastic over it then you could read what they where asking you for.
 
[k]ar| said:
Back in pre-PC days, Project Stealth Fighter for the c64 had a neat idea where you were required to identify a jet fighter from a profile schematic drawing, the corresponding diagrams were in the manual. Good idea and inkeeping with the game.
[k]
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Yep...all the old MicroProse games had this kind of system. Red Storm Rising showed profiles of Russian subs and surface ships, and Airborne Ranger showed pictures of the various medals/ribbions you could win. For the life of me I can't remember if Gunship had this kind of scheme, though.......
 
IcedEmotion said:
I miss the days of fun copy protection, those wheels bring back memories.
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I have a copy of Bard's Tale for C64 around here somewhere with that setup as well. I'll post a pic later if I can find it.

 
I think the most recent game I have with that sort of copy protection is called Uplink! I too wish they would bring back the grids and manuals, rather than have to deal with safedisc and starforce!
 
Killdozer said:
In Wing Commander I they gave you blueprints for some of the ships and the game would ask for a certain spec (like max velocity)
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"Chuck Yeagers Air Combat" did the same thing.. And I remember that people cracked that copy protection too.. Look how far this little coldwar has come.. :D
 
Xaeos said:
I think the most recent game I have with that sort of copy protection is called Uplink! I too wish they would bring back the grids and manuals, rather than have to deal with safedisc and starforce!
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I had heard that Starforce is being removed permenantly. In fact I had heard that all games that were bundled with it were being recalled and new copies wre being issued without it. I guess they finally got tired of people bitching that Starforce destroyed their rigs.

I too agree, they should go bad to supplying you with content like manuals, schematics and blueprints in games and then asking for certain words and things from them as copy protection.

It made the game more engaging having to know what the max velocity of the Excaliber was in WIng Commander Prophecy to get the game to work rather than typing in a lame ass CD key.

*Edit*

Sorry it was actually Sony's Rootkit that is being recalled because it destroys people's rigs.
 
Moose777 said:
I had heard that Starforce is being removed permenantly. In fact I had heard that all games that were bundled with it were being recalled and new copies wre being issued without it. I guess they finally got tired of people bitching that Starforce destroyed their rigs.

I too agree, they should go bad to supplying you with content like manuals, schematics and blueprints in games and then asking for certain words and things from them as copy protection.

It made the game more engaging having to know what the max velocity of the Excaliber was in WIng Commander Prophecy to get the game to work rather than typing in a lame ass CD key.

*Edit*

Sorry it was actually Sony's Rootkit that is being recalled because it destroys people's rigs.
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Damn it!!! For a second there I was jumping in glee and getting ready to order some games that I didn't get because of the stupid copy protection... (like UFO: Aftershock)
Sigh, I wish game companies spend less money on these stupidly invasive copy protections that actually screw their customer base...

Back on topic: those are some really really nice copy protections!!! I mean they are actually interesting and make you want to go out and get the real game!
I wish I got into gaming when sooner... I definitely missed out. :(
 
Did anybody actually learn to read Klingon after playing that startrek game?

Moose777 said:
I too agree, they should go bad to supplying you with content like manuals, schematics and blueprints in games and then asking for certain words and things from them as copy protection.
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Does any of the new games come with a five pound manual? Not a bad thing, i actually enjoyed reading X-Wing specs. :)

@Moose777
Do you have a link? It'd be interesting to see how a piece of software can kill the hardware.
 
Only problem with using the manual for copy protection, is the keywords/sentences would be on the net within seconds, if not before release.
 
Hey, the net wasn't as popular back then ;)
I applaud the effort that they used to put into games back then. Nowadays, the boxes are just for show. How many times have we opened a box to find a couple CDs in a sleeve and a slip of toilet-paper like substance asking you to register?

Who remembers cracking open those old Lucas or Sierra games, in comparison?
 
Sly said:
Did anybody actually learn to read Klingon after playing that startrek game?



Does any of the new games come with a five pound manual? Not a bad thing, i actually enjoyed reading X-Wing specs. :)

@Moose777
Do you have a link? It'd be interesting to see how a piece of software can kill the hardware.
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http://news.com.com/Sony+recalls+risky+rootkit+CDs/2100-7349_3-5954154.html

And I remember opening old Sierra games back in teh day. I always feel disappointed whenever I open a new game today. It comes with some CD's and a shoddy manual and an advertisment for something or other.

I liked the days of opening that new Wing Commander Game and getting a flight manual, a few ship blueprints a 2k page manual and actually having something to read while I was taking a dump. Now, most of the time I throw the manuals the games come with along with the box away.
 
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had one of the best copy protections.

It waa psudeo version of Sean Connery's diary from the movie, complete with sepia pages, sketches, diary entries, and coffee stains.

You had to use the diary to pass certain puzzles.
 
steviep said:
Hey, the net wasn't as popular back then ;)
I applaud the effort that they used to put into games back then. Nowadays, the boxes are just for show. How many times have we opened a box to find a couple CDs in a sleeve and a slip of toilet-paper like substance asking you to register?

Who remembers cracking open those old Lucas or Sierra games, in comparison?
Click to expand...

You can still get those, you just have to add $20 to get the special package :p
 
Spare-Flair said:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had one of the best copy protections.

It waa psudeo version of Sean Connery's diary from the movie, complete with sepia pages, sketches, diary entries, and coffee stains.

You had to use the diary to pass certain puzzles.
Click to expand...

Now THAT's Cool!
 
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