|> I just bought the renowned "World Circuit" from MicroProse, and
|> its copy protection is quite bothering me.
|> It requires me to type a word in a line in a paragraph in a page,
|> everytime I start the game. According to its manual,
|> they had to use this scheme to protect the illegal copies.
|> But I do not think that it is quite right to annoy innocent people
|> from which they get money.
|>
Personally, I find this to be a rather unobtrusive copy-protection scheme.
Until EVERYTHING is on CD-ROM you have to give the software developpers a
break. If I spent the amount of time and money it takes these days to
develop a top-notch program, I would probably try to do something to
discourage pirating, and manual lookups are a lot better than copy-protected
disks. Also, there is a well known crack for WC that bypasses the
manual lookup. If you think manual lookup is a pain, try using a big-buck
package (ie. ANSYS finite element analysis) that requires a hardware key to
run and that key is on someone else's PC at the other end of the building.
|> Another thing is, how come this World Circuit, which is known as
|> a good driving simulator in PC, is much worse than
|> more than 10-year old "Pole Position" (I think that this game is
|> 12 years old) in game rooms ?
|> Better to spend quarters from time to time in game room and
|> enjoy quality auto simulators/games.
|> This World Circuit is not worth while to waste one's valuable time.
World Citcuit: first-person visual perspective, highly accurate depiction
of six*** real world tracks, reasonably good modelling of vehicle dynamics,
useful car set-up screens, opponents that drive like real drivers (except
for timid braking). A program that rewards smooth, consistent driving and
punishes you severely if you F#$% up your entry into a corner.
Pole Position: cheesy "chase view" depiction of car, ultra-flat topography
that depicts real-world GP tracks in name only, only two gears, take any
line you want driving style encouraged, idiotic swervo-matic opponents.
Just put it in high and bash the other guys off the corners.
I think you'll find little sympathy here. If I charged myself a quarter
for every time I've booted up WorldCircuit I'd be a very poor man by now.
I can think of no program I've come across that still has my interest over
a year after purchasing it.
|> If you know any products which uses this "manual protection",
|> please let me know - so that I never buy them.
|>
IndyCar, GP Unlimited, Wing Commander, probably lots more.
Stephen
