Hello, I may have found a gem here.

[Benny Moore]

I'm a long-time user of extremely realistic simulations (I am one of the very few people in the world who realizes that the IL-2 series is a very unrealistic joke). I have had even more trouble finding a realistic space combat and exploration simulator than I have for aerial combat simulators. So far, I've only found a handful of the former, and none of them very good.

So when I saw a relatively new one which appears to be a work of art, I immediately begun looking it up. It turns out that the development team is primarily one man. That's a huge plus! This game will probably be a labor of love on his part.

However, there's not nearly enough information on the official site to convince me to buy it, especially because I'm rather short on spending money and have to be careful. I need to know more. But the first thing which concerns me is not gameplay; it is security. What kind of copy protection is this running? I've been burned quite a bit lately by some of the viscious copy "protection" programs which have been installed onto my computer without my knowledge or consent when I buy games or download demos. I refuse to buy a game with malware on it. It is a matter of principle; fight the pirates, not the customers.

Secondly, I'd like to know if there is any sort of copy protection in the demo. I was about to check out the demo of a popular game which was just released, but then I read that the demo contained very intrusive copy protection. What's worse is, it was not mentioned in the liscense agreement or anywhere. So now I'm extra paranoid about what kind of crap is being hidden in playable demonstrations these days.

Thanks for your time. I'm hoping to buy this game. If I do, you can be sure that I'll not only tell all of my friends about it and urge them to buy it, but also advertise it on many of the forums I attend. I do my very best to support the few ethical and original developers still in the market today.

[wdboyd]

ORIGINAL: Benny Moore

But the first thing which concerns me is not gameplay; it is security. What kind of copy protection is this running?

Secondly, I'd like to know if there is any sort of copy protection in the demo. I was about to check out the demo of a popular game which was just released, but then I read that the demo contained very intrusive copy protection. What's worse is, it was not mentioned in the liscense agreement or anywhere. So now I'm extra paranoid about what kind of crap is being hidden in playable demonstrations these days.

There is no copy protection on Starshatter:TGS [:)]

I never dealt with the games demo... but if the final game doesn't have copy protection, it is unlikely that its demo would.

I'm amazed. What in the world is the point of copy protecting a game DEMO? A demo is meant to present a game to prospective buyers. Copies of a demo shared with more people would mean increased possible sales of the whole simulation. Still, so be it.

What I personally love about Starshatter is the modding capability of the simulation.

Shuttle over to starshattermods.com when you get a chance. [;)]

http://www.starshattermods.com

[Benny Moore]

ORIGINAL: wdboyd
There is no copy protection on Starshatter:TGS

Excellent! I'm very happy to hear that. I show my appreciation for honest game developers by buying their products and advertising by word of mouth. I show my disgust with dishonest developers and publishers by not buying their products and recommending that my friends do likewise.

ORIGINAL: wdboyd
I'm amazed. What in the world is the point of copy protecting a game DEMO?

Some developers (actually, I think it's the publishers rather than the developers in most cases) do not seem to have any ethics. They'll install a piece of "protection" software without your knowledge or consent (not even in the E.U.L.A.), and it's impossible to uninstall this malware without formatting your hard drive. Yes, even if you uninstall the game, the malicious copy "protection" remains. Often it interferes with other programs (perfectly legal ones). And it can make your computer less secure. Why do they do it on a playable demonstration? I'm not sure; I think they just like to have their Nazi software on your P.C., as sort of a pre-emptive strike. They automatically assume that you're guilty.

So, that's why I'm so happy to hear that this game doesn't have any nasty stuff in it. I plan on checking out the demo as soon as I can find the time, and then buying the full game. I hope to see you on multiplayer soon.

[Benny Moore]

Oh! There's one more thing I'd like to talk about. Due to recent hand surgury, I can no longer use a joystick. How is the mouse control? I'm happy to hear that it can be either relative or absolute, but I would appreciate some discussion on how people like it. By the way, just out of curiosity, does the game allow joystick control curves to be configured?

[Benny Moore]

I've downloaded and tried the playable demonstration. I'm enjoying it immensely. While the demo is unpolished (hopefully Starshatter: The Gathering Storm will be much more complete), I love it already. I'm almost certain to get the full game now.

[milkweg]

They put CP on game demos so crackers can't use the demo to help them crack the full game.

The Starshatter demo you played is not quite the same as the latest version of the game and it is more polished now. My only complaint is minor, I wish the ships graphics had an option for higher resolution textures and made use of pixel shaders for shiny surfaces on ships. I'll have to check out some mods and see what they offer graphically. Yes, I'm a graphics whore.