Gutted

[JudgeDredd]

I just heard that Armed Assault has Starforce.

Once I realised that Starforce slowed down my burner to a crawl and also required me to reboot immediately on starting a burn before allowing me to burn at a VERY SLOOOOOOOOW rate, I removed the games from my hard drive with starforce and removed the starforce prog and promised NOT to buy a game with Starforce again....

And I was soooo looking forward to this.

This isn't a Starforce hate thread...just gutted that, even after a lawsuit against a publisher and said publisher withdrawing support for the protection tool, that it's going to be on one of the most anticipated fps wargames since Operation Flashpoint!

[Jevhaddah]

Sigh, I feel your pain [:(]

I bought X3: Renunion when it came out and its only now that the official NOCD patch is out that I can actually play it as it no longer requires Starforce.

Cheers

Jev

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

Well, it looks like someone brain farted again doesn't it.

Starforce = how to tell all your customers, and only your customers "go f**k yourself".

Because, it's just a simple matter of downloading the game from an "illegal" source with the Starforce forcibly ripped out, to be able to play the game WITHOUT need of concern for Starforce.

It just boggles my mind, that companies can be so casual about pissing off the ONLY people willing to both pay for the game and play it.

And with so many other options available to attempt protecting ones digital property, using Starforce is really the same as admitting "hey I'm a dumb jackass".

And that is all Starforce means to me, an admission the person involved in selling the game is a jackass.
Someone in production is an idiot.

[JudgeDredd]

I've also just heard that Starofrce is on teh Czeck version but Securom is use don the German version....so I'm not sure now. I heard Starforce was used and panicked, wanting to post and know more.
 
Now I know more, but am still non-the-wiser as to whether Starforce will be on the game or not....so here's hoping someone somewhere with some level of intelectual sense will NOT supply the game with Starforce so I can buy it.

[Hertston]

Just as long as they make it clear on the UK packaging whether it is does or doesn't.  Like you, I won't touch anything 'protected' with Starfarce with a twelve foot battle lance.
 
I really thought being dumped by Ubisoft would be the beginning of the end, but sadly that doesn't seem to be the case.  I just don't get it.  Sure Starforce doesn't make your computer blow up, or even your DVD drive, but it causes grief of some sort to huge numbers.  I've had various incarnations of SF installed on three systems now, with completely seperate components, and SF has caused grief of some description every time.. in the last instance a slowdown in burning (although nowhere as bad as yours from the sound of it) and a 'failure' every time according to the verify routine.  Its the verify routine itself that's screwed, of course, and most burns are OK but the whole POINT of verifying is so that you KNOW its OK.  Yet the publishers never seem to get it, and buy the Starfarce line that the whole thing is some sort of urban myth.  Those publishers are, I'm afraid, idiots. 

[JudgeDredd]

As far as I'm aware, and their policy may have changed, but I believe Codemasters games are starforced. I don't know about all of them, but their recent one, TOCA Race Driver 3, had it. So I was pissed off twice...once for Starforce being on the game and the other for nuying a crap game!

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

As far as I'm aware, and their policy may have changed, but I believe Codemasters games are starforced.

But they aren't publishing Armed Assault, are they? They have the rights to the 'Operation Flashpoint' name, I know, but I thought they and Bohemia Interactive had parted company?

[Hanal]

Here is a list of current games using Starforce but it was last updated in September....
 
http://www.glop.org/starforce/list.php

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: Hertston

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

As far as I'm aware, and their policy may have changed, but I believe Codemasters games are starforced.

But they aren't publishing Armed Assault, are they? They have the rights to the 'Operation Flashpoint' name, I know, but I thought they and Bohemia Interactive had parted company?

Correct...they ARE NOT (thank god) producing Armed Assault

[ravinhood]

ORIGINAL: Jevhaddah

Sigh, I feel your pain [:(]

I bought X3: Renunion when it came out and its only now that the official NOCD patch is out that I can actually play it as it no longer requires Starforce.

Cheers

Jev

Where is the link to the NOCD patch Jevhaddah? I too quit playing X3 because of Starforce, was just too much hassle to remove it and put it back in everytime I wanted to play, too much rebooting both ways.


@Herston "Sure Starforce doesn't make your computer blow up, or even your DVD drive"

Would you like to take a look at TWO of my ROMS after Starforce was installed on my system? Both are FRIED and within a couple of days of each other as well. My system will not even recognize these ROMS anymore. I put a CD in them and it says on both of them "no cd detected please insert ect. etc.". I even tried them in other systems I have and they wouldn't even recognize them as even installed. So, don't tell me Starforce doesn't make my ROM's blow up.

[JudgeDredd]

Here you go ravinhood
 
http://www.egosoft.com/download/x3/patches_en.php

[Valgua]

I'll tell you my little story with starf*** (you decide what the "f" stands for). One day I put a DVD in my dvd player and I noticed that the sound quality was very bad. In fact all the sound (even in games) that came directly from the DVD was stuttering and terrible. Fortunately the same didn't happen with my cd burner, so I used that to listen to music and to play games (but it could not read DVDs).

One day I read the word "starforce" in a forum and I became curious. Well, I had the damn driver on my computer! I removed it and everything returned normal again. So I had to listen to bad quality DVD sound for 6 months because of STARFORCE... That made me ANGRY. Why in heavens was I not told of starforce? Why was it HIDDEN in my computer? It's MY computer and it's up to ME to decide if I want to accept something like STARFORCE on it. Instead during the installation I wasn't told once about this little detail...

By the way, because of SF I couldn't buy Silent Hunter III. Good job Ubisoft! A potential customer that refuses to give you his money because of the so called "protection".

Filippo

[Neilster]

Starforce=virus=no sale. A pox on anyone who tries to foist this on me.

Cheers, Neilster

[Harry Flashman]

Yep, I was pretty bummed that Silent Hunter III has it. I wish UbiSoft would patch it out like X3 so I could actually play it. Hopefully SHIV will not have it. [/align]

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

@Herston "Sure Starforce doesn't make your computer blow up, or even your DVD drive"

Would you like to take a look at TWO of my ROMS after Starforce was installed on my system? Both are FRIED and within a couple of days of each other as well. My system will not even recognize these ROMS anymore. I put a CD in them and it says on both of them "no cd detected please insert ect. etc.". I even tried them in other systems I have and they wouldn't even recognize them as even installed. So, don't tell me Starforce doesn't make my ROM's blow up.

I stand corrected! [X(] OK, Starfarce CAN blow your computer up. [:D]

[ravinhood]

Thanks for the link JudgeDredd, now, I am safely enjoying X3 again. Wow, I had forgotten the excellent gameplay that it was and the graphics. (here in single player 1st personlike games graphics ARE impoortant) I wish they would NoCD patch "Gangland" as well. That was the starforce protected game that destroyed two of my roms, but, it still was a pretty good game. I've got a CDV game here that I got for .99 cents on ebay (unopened) "Codename Panzers Phase One" that has starforce on it also. Sure need CDV to get rid of starforce as well and patch this to nocd also.

[rhondabrwn]

I guess that it might be a valid option to install your SF protected games right before playing them and then run the StarForce removal tool afterwards (and do not try to use your DVD drive for burning or ripping until you run the removal tool). Actually, as I understand it, you can leave the games installed, but if you run them they will automatically reinstall StarForce each time (requiring another removal pass). Go back and look at the StarForce threat here on Matrix for all the details and links to the removal tools.

Personally, I have too much to lose to risk another meltdown like I had last year with StarForce. At least now I know what to look for if a game slips it onto my drive! Although, I stick with Matrix and HPS games and forsake all others as being too risky to try!

I did a quick search and here's some details that I posted last July that you might find useful:

I'm not sure where I got this information, I copied it into a Word file that I keep in my emergency maintenance folder. Therefore, I can't give proper credit to the author.

*********************************************

Starforce Critique

Starforce is a
TrojanKit:
Definition:
1. Security Applications installed without end user consent.
2.Software that grants Ring 0 access to Ring 3 (user level) applications.
3. Interferes with other software such as virtual drives, SCSI/SATA etc.
4. Puts its own virtual protection drivers on the system.
5. Interferes with other applications Windows registry settings.
6. Can be exploited with replacement malicious versions to grant Full Ring 0 access

Starforce once installed is constantly checking your system and sending info to drives interferring with streams back and forth.

SF is so over zealous about its sector checking that if it loses these it will refuse to function. On top of this, XP reads this as a disk I/O error. Which in turn causes it to step down the IDE speed to compensate. Eventually it will step down to the older 16 bit mode which disables DMA access altogether. No DMA means.

1. No Digital access to play audio CD’s
2. Unable to play DVD videos from DVD
3. Most current CD/DVD Games/Application will not run [or slow down to a crawl!)
4. CD/DVD writing becomes almost impossible (Up to 2 hours for a full DVD on 16x DVD writer) and it will make many coasters even on burn proof drives.

The issues concerning DMA can be cured by uninstalling SF and then uninstalling the CD/DVD drivers as well as the Primary and Secondary IDE controllers. Forcing XP to reload those drivers.

Hardware failure:
A lot of new CD/DVD hardware is not PIO mode compatible. Thus any period of time being used in this old 16bit mode can be interpreted by some drives as attempts to Overburn/Read an excessively over burned disk. I.E in over burning you force the laser to go right to the edge of the disk. This results in the laser in many cases hitting the side casing of its guide and in turn stripping the threads off the worm gear. Basically it trashes the hardware.

Some drives also interpret the search for specific sectors indicated by SF as an over burn read/write command.

Security:
SF opens up Ring 0 (super user level) access to Ring 3 (User level applications).

**********************

This kinda explains things doesn't it?

There is a 10th Circle of H*LL waiting for the StarForce people

[Jevhaddah]

Greetings[:D]

@Ravenhood,Sorry I missed yer X3 Query I am doing the pre-yule reformat of the PC ritual and have not been on [:D]

I too am looking forward to trying X3 again after I reinstall all my GFX and Programming Apps....soooo sometime in the new year then [X(]

Cheers

Jev

[ravinhood]

Don'tcha just love those reinstalls of Windows OS? With the speed of which Microsoft and all those little hidden goodies we get from every game and online I've pretty much given up on reinstalls of the OS and just go with defragging my drives once a year. (takes just about as long lol) Once service pak 2 gets in your system you're screwed anyways I think and if you play any of todays modern games you not only have to have directx to the 9th power of C, but, service pak 2 as well. Blah, computer gaming is getting too annoying really these days. Gotta have this, download every driver around then OUR game might work on YOUR system. lol I spend more time downloading than I do playing anymore I think. lol

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

All depends on what you know ravinhood.

http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/

Thanks to that site, I was able to build a custom OS disc, it loads ALL the updates, the service packs and I even have EVERY driver known to man incorporated.

To me, re installing the OS is just "insert dvd, boot from disc, and in a while answer a few questions and presto the OS is loaded, no fussing with updates, or drivers or anything. I reload a few fav programs and I'm good to go.

In 2 hours I can have my computer totally wiped clean, totally ready to go, and with all the usual "schlock" that will eventually creep onto a system purged. Defrag can never compare top that.

It's basically a case of some know how to do it the easy way, but most usually don't.