My fear of Game Dev

Hello Everyone, maybe you can enlighten me on this topic of not so great stuff.

I create this game right, lets say it's oh so popular, in theory that's a great thing, however, you get into the dark side.

I scout the Internet out, and next thing I know, my friggin game is getting pirated. How do I actually combat that?

(This is all purely Hypothetical)

But it's one of my biggest fears.
Can I do like I can with my Nerual Networks I've made and make it give off GEO-Locations, Addresses, etc when you open the Application, (IN UNITY C# SCRIPT) I mean what can I really actually do to combat this threat?

Yeah yeah I can do a Serial Number on my games (Presumably) I would assume so.
But that's only as good as it is, there has to be something BETTER.



What is y'alls idea on this I would be glad to hear this as it may help in protecting our games better if we all band together and talk about this.


(MODERATORS - I HOPE THIS WAS ALLOWED) I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT DOING ILLEGAL STUFF, ONLY HOW TO HELP US PROTECT OUR INTERESTS AS GAME DEVS.

 

This discussion is as old as software development itself. Now, this is just my opinion, but if anything is to be learned from attempts to limit piracy in the last 10 years it is this. It really does not work. So what to do instead? Well, to start with, get some kind of really basic DRM (like the old school you need to insert the CD to play). Something that isn't intrusive but at least means not everyone is able to pirate your stuff.
Secondly, and most importantly, I believe the best way to combat piracy is to focus on encouraging buying instead of combating stealing. Take Netflix for example, you could go download all those movies but instead you pay for Netflix, because it is easy.
Take pretty much every FPS on steam. Sure, you can pirate it and play singleplayer. But if you wanna play multiplayer you need a registered account with a serial number. Of course, there are ways around that too, but by now you've already made buying attractive for 95% of all players and that's enough.
Intrusive DRM and elaborate schemes mostly end up backfiring. Look at Titan Quest. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I believe that if the game identified a crack being used it crashed on purpose. Gave it a reputation as being buggy crap. Serious Sam did a funnier version, if a crack was detected it spawned a huge red invincible scorpion that never stopped following you

 

Omg I love that last part!

People won't want to play the game if its cracked if you always die.
But then that comes into play - how would you implement that?

Someone might have legally bought the game and install it on two computers, which I don't mind as it was bought legally. But how would you make it understand which one is the crack and isn't? lol.

 

You don't really. That's when you start approaching "intrusive DRM"-territory. Warcraft 3 could be installed on as many computers as you wanted to, but only a single installation (tracked via serial number) could be logged on to their online service at a time. Sure, a few buddies could share that but... yeah not in practice.
Also, crack detection should really just be used as a temporary bandaid meant to ensure all the people who really *need* the game right away to go buy it instead of downloading. That is why games leaking onto piratebay before official release is a sales killer, all the must have now people download it instead.

 

I guess my question now is, can an outside application interact with a Unity game? Such as I build a program in C++, can I make it Interact with my Unity game? Such as Starting it, etc.
Or never mind that sounded stupid, change that around, can UNITY interact with an outside Application?

 

Assuming you own the pro version you can link in both c#, c++ and c dll's. So if it can be done at all, it can be done with Unity.

 

Sweet.

 

A pirated copy isn't always a lost sale.

Also, make several accounts on torrent sites and distribute broken copies, copies with viruses, and copies that are really shareware demos with a pay wall.

 

LOL is that even legal?

 

LOL, IDK. But who are they going to call, the police?

Mods: This is of course joking.

 

I'm thinking of doing a server check for my game I'm making. I'm good with Networking with SQL and stuff, I'm sure I can figure something out. At least to make it where only one copy of the game can run at once with the same serial number or something.

That will at least limit the ability to let people steal it and play it unless someone is offline... However that may be, how do you go about the legal stand points of it? Can I go and sue everyone or put them in prison? Or is it honestly not worth the fight?

Because, if just one person, I will make an example to the world that I'm not joking, plus PUBLICITY if it hits the news lol.

This is CNN a person named David is filing a mutimillion dollar lawsuit against a pirating criminal for distributing his game called (so and so) lol.. People will look it up then bwa haha. Easy and free Marketing BOOOM Figured out a plan, someone steal my game and distribute it!, I'll do it for you too, will be millionares in a week! lol JK JK JK. (HAD TO MAKE A JOKE OUTTA IT)

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA YEAH

 

If it's a singleplayer game, don't bother. You'd be spending valuable time writing a useless DRM that is patched out in minutes, instead of spending the time implementing cool gameplay features.

 

I'm assuming this is one of them ("Why Bother") Moments then? LOL.

 

This will only inconvenience those who legitimately purchased your game.

 

When Machinarium was first released, they saw something like 90% of the game was being pirated by people. What they did was start their pirate amnesty which, apparently, cause a huge amount of purchases. Pretty smart move.

Perhaps you could think of a way to reward/guilt the people that are pirating your game like they did.

 

Just don't worry about it, most people who can buy the game will, just for inconvenience and to add to there library. If I made a PC game I'd just have achievements and stuff through the store it's sold on and to unlock them you have to of purchased it(I'm assuming these stores have a Unity Package or something)

 

Think about it like this: If your game is pirated, that means it's getting noticed. Your real fear should be that your game wallows in obscurity forever.

 

All of you make good points.

 

Like others have said this issue has been around as long as their has been digital content. Back in the C64 days (early 80s) it was very common to see BBSs full of commercial games that had been hacked. At least that is what the magazines of the time said. Because, yes, even back then the "news" would talk about the piracy issue.

There is no way to prevent it from your software or a server. Whatever system is created to stop it... another thing will be created to get around it. There are people out there who basically spend all of their time just cracking games and uploading them to file sharing services.

Instead of focusing on trying to make it impossible or very difficult to crack your game and distribute it what I suggest you do is focus on reasons the player would buy your game.

First, many people such as myself will always buy the game if we like it. And we are not going to upload it to some file sharing service for the simple fact that we do not even use those. I have heard of Torrent sites for a long time but because at the time I found out about them I also learned they were distributing illegal warez I simply had no interest in them. So, this is your best target market.

Second, you can focus on ways to add value to the purchase. Maybe that means simply gathering the names and emails of the buyers of your games so you can offer them discounts on your other games, free updates to fix bugs and add enhancements and so forth. Maybe these registered users get access to a special forum on your website to discuss the game. Basically you are fostering a community which is something a lot of people like.

Remember this issue is not limited to just games. Music and movies face the same issue. Every MP3 I have on my computer or cell phone I purchased on Amazon. Every movie is still in its case. BUT there are tons of people (especially kids seem to love to pirate stuff) who will download hundreds or even thousands of songs and movies illegally from file sharing sites. This happens despite massive attempts by the music and film industry to stop it.

Basically, just look at it like those people are not your market. And for the people who are purchasing your game(s) reward them for doing so. Give them something a little extra if possible. And this should be enough to pull the ones "sitting on the fence" about whether they should buy or steal to come to the side of the light.

 

You should not worry yourself too much about piracy. First of all, pirates will figure out a way around every anti-piracy method. Second, legitimate customers will be happy to pay for software that they want even when the pirated copies exist for free online.

But most importantly, pirates might actually be helping you gain exposure in a very crowded market. There are examples of music and software that have been heavily pirated that actually had really strong sales after the pirating lead to broader exposure. So it is possible that pirates might be acting as publishers and promoters, even though the pirates are personally driven by a desire to play around with games without paying.

Anyway, the correct question might be how to properly leverage pirates so they will promote your game to the broadest audience possible. Then use that broad awareness to sell games to legitimate users who are willing to pay.

 

Aside from making it impractical for most people. These days that is nigh impossible, but I have to imagine Riven, which weighs in at five CDs, had quite likely achieved that when it was released in 1997. Back then the only way would have been to pass around duplicate CDs as even the vast majority of HDDs were too small for it.

 

Release it on Steam, price it cheap and include a demo. Profit.

 

@N1warhead:
Did piracy stop minecraft to become so much successfull and earn so much money ? NO
So just forget money or piracy , have fun making your game and focus in it instead, like how to make it great for people playing it. There is many small games success stories simply because the game was great and appreciated.

 

As others have said, people will pirate your game regardless of how hard you try to stop it. Put that energy into your paying customers instead.

 

I say you need to confront your fears and put a torrent of your game up.

The other side to this, I've seen a few games recently that are kind of doing the shareware model right. The game itself says nothing, but the sites are saying "you can download for free, but we'd love it if you toss us a couple bucks."

 

Yeah I suppose y'all are right.....

 

Yes it is legal.

 

^ I think in most jurisdictions knowingly and maliciously distributing viruses to unexpecting recipients would be breaking one law or another.

 

So is pirating lol...... So could they really do anything about it? Like one guy said, what are they going to do, call the police? Call 911 (Um yes, I pirated this game off (unnamed) website and my computer caught on fire!), well, he broke the law as well, so what can he or she even do about it? If they try to file a law suit or criminal charges, I'll be like, well, did you PURCHASE my game? Then counter sue and/or press charges lol.

 

Yes, I get what you are saying, essentially "who will complain?".

My response was to the claim "Yes it is legal.", and although IANAL it seems clearly obvious that in many jurisdictions knowingly distributing software with intent to infect the recepient's system with a virus (or cause any other form of harm) will be considered a crime.

Beyond any strictly legal consequence I would consider that any developer/publisher that engaged in these practices to have demonstrably questionable ethics and would not trust their products be they paid, pirated or free.

 

Yeah I know what you're saying.

I wasn't saying I'd do that though lol.

 

They may have actually contributed to its success. Microsoft bought Minecraft for the community, not the actual game and any potential sales income. So any additions to the community, legitimate or otherwise, could be seen as beneficial. Not to mention any publicity they may have caused that attracted yet more people to the game.

Piracy is not always a negative as the big companies would have you believe.

 

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6698/principles_of_an_indie_game_bottom_.php?page=1


I came across this a while back. We know you can't sell software in the real world. The author contends that what you can sell is a sense of self satisfaction. Reward paying customers by letting them know how amazing they are, and that they are a part of something. If someone feels like they "know" the creator, or that they're part of a community, they're much more likely to purchase a copy.


Big corporations, on the other hand, everybody steals from them. They're so rich and greedy, anyway, that most people who pirate feel completely indifferent, or even good about ripping them off.

 

Great article!
Yeah I am making a Banjo kazooie style game, of course it's not Banjo, it's just the way it was played, E.G. - the small little worlds with puzzles and stuff to get something, etc.

The new Banjo SUCKS!
I'm talking about the ones we grew up playing.

But there's a catch to the game, it will look different than most games, that's where my niche is gonna be at in it. That's why i haven't posted pics or anything about it yet, I'm waiting until I think *it's ready* to be seen.

 

You're too excited about this stuff. I just spent the last two hours looking up GUI layout and styles in the documentation... I don't feel like typing any exclamation points.

 

I Refuse to use the GUI. I make my own graphics and either enable or disable the Mesh Renderer if needed.

Id rather sacrifice a few draw calls than do what you just did for just a button.

I have a tutorial on using 3d objects as a GUI on the tutorials forum. Should be in the first 3 pages somewhere if you want to check it out.

 

The way I like to see it... by the time your game is SO POPULAR that piracy is a real problem...you probably finished paying for the pool for your house. Protip: pools are great to relax and forget about piracy problems.

 

Hahahbahaahaha yeah I hear you bro.

 

I think it's convenient. Now that I have the basics, I just need to write some local methods to display different elements, and I can use a delegate to call the active menu's method. I can build the whole ui with just code, then it can be completely customized with different styles, so then people could choose their skin real easy. Yeah, it was two hours of just going... "how the eff do I make text centered/change font size" but once I get it figured out I'll be able to crank out ui's like nobody's business.

 

This. It's the eternal irony of any kind of "fight against piracy" that the only people it's bothering are your legitimate users. Your server side check requires the user to be online to play your game (and hope that your server or client side code is bug free). The pirate has removed the check and the illegitimate user won't ever be bothered by it.

The Quixel tools have built in checks for tampering with their executable files. Such things can be easily circumvented, so the only place you're likely to find someone bothered by it is on their polycount forum - because a user stumbled upon it due to a bug in it causing him - as a paying customer to not be able to use it.

Allegorithmic have slightly old-fashioned ideas of how to transfer a software license, which only inconveniences me, as a paying customer, when I naively install Substance Painter on an old PC right before I get a new one, meaning I have to contact them and plead for a license transfer. The pirates have no such issues.

Just as the only people forced to look through stupid un-skippable "Piracy is a crime" videos at the start of their DVDs are the people who didn't pirate the film.

It really bugs me. And in the end any way of "securing" a "message" is defeated the moment you want a lot of people to be able to "read" it. Because you're then forced to give a lot of people the key, hidden or not. They only have to find it. And they will.

 

So, devil's advocate... if publishers are willing to add security measures that ultimately punish paying customers, add cost to production (which customers are asked to pay for) and provide no real deterrence for, y'know, actual piracy... why should anyone feel guilty about clicking that "generate key" button?

These companies are saying, in effect, "We don't trust you. You can't be trusted to do the right thing and buy the game and we know it. If we didn't make you register this/log in/whatever you'd all steal it."

You're already guilty in their eyes. Whether you pirated it or not, you pirated it, and you must prove that you didn't. And even if you prove you didn't, you did. You just got away with it, for now...

 

Release your game as free to play with all data and critical logic stored on the server side.
That's your best chance of avoiding piracy.

Otherwise, no matter what you do, it will eventually get hacked.

Don't even worry about it. Make a good game and there will always be people who will buy it.

 

Hard to disagree with that, from my perspective. But that approach, appealing to people's sense of respect for the rights of others, doesn't seem to work when there's free stuff involved, does it?

 

Hehe I'm glad to see this came out to be a fully peaceful debate!
It's always nice to see what people think about stuff, it's actually helped me a bunch with how I'm going
to do with my game.