posted on Jun, 17 2009 @ 01:23 AM
I've never been much in favor of the attitude many developers have to copy protection.
Some of the most used systems like starforce and securom are really only punishing their loyal customers, and do nothing to stop piracy of the
games.
But today I learned of a system that comes with the new game from Bohemia Interactive, ARMA2, and I had to laugh out loud.
The FADE copy protection system was first introduced in their hit Operation Flashpoint, where if you were playing a pirated version of the game the
quality of the graphics would slowly degrade until the screen was just occupied by colored squares. This system, as far as I know, was never conquered
by crackers and pirates and still stops many people from pirating this game .
The FADE II that is used in ARMA2 is just hilarious. If the game detects that it is a pirated copy, the accuracy of all weapons is reduced to 0 and if
the player continues to try and put up with the game they are transformed into a seagull.
I think it is hilarious. On another forum I regularly visit I noticed idiots having a cry about it today that their copies are broken etc etc because
they keep turning into a seagull mid game and that their ironsights on the weapons aren't accurate.
When asked where they got the game they all replied: downloaded it.
So I say a big thumbs up for Bohemia for finding a non-invasive and hilarious way to stop their game being pirated.