Spintires Blowout – Fake Update Crashes Game

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
It looks like there is currently a bit of controversy in the Spintires community. Game publisher Oovee is claiming that an unauthorized update via Steam is causing the game to crash minutes after launch. No one really knows who, what, where or why but that isn't stopping the rumors from flying. Hit the link for all the info and a link to a current user-made hotfix.


Speaking unofficially, a forum moderator has tried calming the waves with candor, noting that an examination of the unauthorized update’s code indicates it “behaves like a timebomb” but that they are not sure if that was the update’s intent or a byproduct of something else. It hasn’t helped that a similar bug took down the game back in February 2015, leading one gamer to ask if this wasn’t Zagrebelnyy’s “layoff countermeasure”.

*UPDATE* The game's creator has issued a statement claiming:

But there is in fact a time-related bug (a self-check uses time functions to see if game wasn’t cracked by pirates) which was not fixed in time (because we have little to no communicating with Oovee.)

Game publisher Oovee weighed in with the following:

We believe we have now identified the problem and are now testing at this very moment a hot fix provided by Pavel, who is also ready to help further if needed. We’re fully focused now on making the game work properly again, so please allow us to get this sorted first and we’ll then be able to explain what has caused this and then carry on with future updates we have planned."

Thanks to Blade-Runner for the heads up.
 
The publisher screwing over the dev was on news sites several months ago. I wonder if he wasn't able to get enough attention to get some help from a lawyer to get a fairer arrangement, or if the contract he signed was too bulletproof so he was screwed under any scenario.
 
eagerly awaiting Pavel's next effort, fuck oovee or whatever they call themselves
 
So, to recap, a mysterious update from nowhere breaks the game, and someone on the Internet pipes up and says "hey, just use this dll I wrote that magically fixes the problem".

free-hugs-here.jpg

Don't be a wuss, just install it!
 
I played the demo of that game when it came out and thought it was cool but it didn't have a in-car view.
I do not like 3rd person driving games. Wonder if they ever added a in-car view.
 
And once again, paying customers get bit while cracked copies continue to work fine. Good thing I haven't tried to play it lately. I purchased it. Guess I should be playing cracked copies of games I purchased.
 
Steve said:
*UPDATE* The game's creator has issued a statement claiming:

But there is in fact a time-related bug (a self-check uses time functions to see if game wasn’t cracked by pirates) which was not fixed in time (because we have little to no communicating with Oovee.)
Click to expand...

Horrible DRM implementation or malicious dev patching, i don't know what's worse :p
 
emmjawsX said:
Horrible DRM implementation or malicious dev patching, i don't know what's worse :p
Click to expand...

The dev isn't really to blame, he's being stiffed by his publisher for royalties. The update put out by the publisher was a version intended for their internal use only.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top