| Just Adventure News : |
| Home - Forum Home |
| Page 1 |
| 18 AUG 2007 at 4:40am | |
SirDaveGuild Master  Posts : 4941 Joined: 17 OCT 2002 Location: US Status : Offline | Some people probably remember how inflamed I got when I first signed on to receive the separate episodes of Sam and Max only to find that you had to go through a rather complicated verification process to download and play the games which consisted of: download an installer-downloader-> download the installer-> install the game-> play the game just before which you must be on the internet to have a virtual key unlock your game. (It wasn't help by my misunderstanding that you had to always be connected to the internet to play- which isn't true, of course.) So, fast-forward to the present where, since I had prepurchased the entire season, I was to receive a 'free' Dvd with all episodes which Telltale Games hyped as not requiring any internet verification; it was all yours to play with unencumbered. Well, I grumbled a bit about the $8.50 s&h fee, but figured that perhaps it was worthwhile given that it was a Dvd and all. And I was looking forward to being able to play Sam and Max on any of my tiny/travel gaming laptops. So, I receive the Sam and Max Dvd and merrily install it on my new Samsung Q1 Ultra mobile tablet PC (with no onboard cd/dvd player), but when I went to start up episode 1- wouldn't you know it- IT REQUIRES THE DVD TO BE IN THE DRIVE-!!! EVEN AFTER A FULL INSTALL !!! The first thing I did is check for a no-cd fix on the internet and, sure enough, there is one...but it doesn't work when there is no cd player on the computer to bypass in the first place. So, what did I end up doing? You guessed it! One by one I went thru the agonizing process of installing each single episode using the internet verification just so I could play Sam and Max on my laptop. Oh, the irony!!!
The future ain't what it used to be! |
| Profile Search | |
| 18 AUG 2007 at 5:54am | |
InlandAZGuild Master Posts : 5586 Joined: 4 MAY 2007 Status : Offline | |
| Profile Search | |
| 18 AUG 2007 at 6:03am | |
pjlamboIntergalactic Janitor  Posts : 27 Joined: 17 DEC 2006 Status : Online | |
| Profile Search | |
| 18 AUG 2007 at 7:17pm | |
SirDaveGuild MasterPosts : 4941 Joined: 17 OCT 2002 Location: US Status : Offline | Originally Posted By InlandAZ (18 AUG 2007 5:53am)The first thing I did is check for a no-cd fix Yup, same site. FWIW: I don't consider a no-cd fix to be anything related to pirate activity (and I know you being a no-cd believer agree). IMO, it is well within Fair-Use for me to use my fully-purchased copy of a game any way I see fit as long as I'm not passing a copy of the game onto someone else. Telltale and the other publishers are both limiting the use of these games and kidding themselves when they tie the game to a cd/dvd in the drive. Although, I dislike the concept of internet verification and keys, I have been dragged kicking and screaming to accept the concept that there might be a central internet service that you could become a member of much like PayPal or Ebay whereby publishers would register their games with that service and then when a buyer such as me purchases a game such as Sam and Max, I would, on installing the game, be briefly connected to the internet and my copy verified so that henceforth I wouldn't need the cd/dvd in the drive. Although, I hate the concept in principle and would far prefer that we be able to do full installs w/o the cd/dvd in the drive thereafter and would continue to recommend the same to developers/publishers, if the choice has to be between the cd/dvd in the drive vs. a quick internet verification, then I'll take the latter.
I'm going to put some px up before long. It's a beautiful way to play AGs on the go or just sitting on your lap in a chair or on the bed. Of course, I have to limit it to games that run with an 800mHz CPU and under and which I can set up with a full install or using a Virtual CD program. At the moment, I've got Alida, Barrow Hill and the full Ssn 1 of Sam & Max. What a great 7inch screen it has! But yes, protecting it is a challenge. So far, I'm using nothing because the only screen protector out there is for the old Q1 model and it doesn't fully cover the screen...and they want $30 for it!! However, $30 or no, I'll buy the protector when it comes out sized for this model. Incidentally, I'm also playing movies on it- works great and have loaded my full program suite of Sudoku, the latter being my latest passion!
The future ain't what it used to be! |
| Profile Search | |
| 18 AUG 2007 at 7:48pm | |
AyaGrand Inquisitor  Posts : 7277 Joined: 16 OCT 2002 Status : Offline | |
| Profile Search | |
| 18 AUG 2007 at 8:36pm | |
SirDaveGuild MasterPosts : 4941 Joined: 17 OCT 2002 Location: US Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Aya (18 AUG 2007 7:48pm) Yup, have been using Virtual CD forever (I mentioned it in my previous post' ) The thing is that based on previous experience, I don't install a virtual cd program right away because it can sometimes screw up installation of some AGs: Secrets of the Luxor (or is it Amber? Nope I think it's Secrets) won't start up at all with a virtual cd program installed. That's also true of Syberia and possibly Syberia 2. However, I will install it on the Samsung, once I'm done with Alida and Barrow Hill and any other games that allow a full install that I have yet to play. Continuing with the whole cd-in-the-drive thing: I really got bummed out setting up the Samsung for AGs. I really was fired up to play Rhem 2 on it and ran into the the cd-in-the-drive thing after I did a full install. I MISSPOKE ABOVE- IT WASN'T Sam & Max THAT I TRIED A NO-CD ON, IT WAS RHEM2- IT'S TOO EARLY FOR A NO-CD FOR THE Sam & Max DVD. The no-cd thinger didn't work with Rhem2 on the Samsung. Every unplayed game in my collection that allowed a full install had the cd-in-the-drive requirement or had CPU requirements above the 800mhz limit. Anyway, if all goes well playing Alida and Barrow Hill, I'll go the Virtual CD route.
The future ain't what it used to be! |
| Profile Search | |
| 18 AUG 2007 at 8:54pm | |
AyaGrand InquisitorPosts : 7277 Joined: 16 OCT 2002 Status : Offline | |
| Profile Search | |
| 19 AUG 2007 at 12:02am | |
SirDaveGuild MasterPosts : 4941 Joined: 17 OCT 2002 Location: US Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Aya (18 AUG 2007 8:54pm) Oh, I see what you meant now- sorry. Yes, I tried Daemon Tools some time back and found it less intuitive than virtual cd, though that's just me- I've heard pretty much nothing but good things about the Daemon Tools/Alcohol solution. My guess is that the problems I ran into with Secrets of the Luxor & Syberia would occur also with Daemon Tools because the problem wasn't anything to do with copy protection (well, maybe it did with Syberia- not sure about that), but the inability of the installer to figure out what the virtual drive was and what happened to the hardware drive. Hmmm, that's interesting about the Rhem 2 nocd because it didn't work at all. However, if it was malware, it didn't nail ole SirDave because that cagey bast*rd restored a previous image backup before moving on after installing the games that didn't work. But then, come to think of it, ever since trying the nocd patch, there's been this porn pop-up in the right upper corner of my screen!
The future ain't what it used to be! |
| Profile Search | |
| 19 AUG 2007 at 3:27am | |
AndromusGuild Master Posts : 5538 Joined: 6 NOV 2002 Status : Offline | I appreciate the info on Daemon Tools. I've been wanting a way to play my games without the cd in the drive, but the no-cd crack sites always sounded risky, what with the possibility of picking up viruses. And though I had heard of Daemon Tools, I didn't want to give it a try unless I knew for sure it wasn't going to be troublesome to use, or otherwise destablize my computer. I just installed it, and gave it a try with a game, and it seems to work like a charm!
|
| Profile Search | |
| 19 AUG 2007 at 4:31am | |
InlandAZGuild MasterPosts : 5586 Joined: 4 MAY 2007 Status : Offline | |
| Profile Search | |
| 19 AUG 2007 at 4:51am | |
Jenny100Guild Master Posts : 3510 Joined: 12 OCT 2002 Status : Offline | |
| Profile Search | |
| 19 AUG 2007 at 3:14pm | |
SirDaveGuild MasterPosts : 4941 Joined: 17 OCT 2002 Location: US Status : Offline | I did the manual full install and it still asked for the disk. In the manual, right after the instructions for the manual full install, [s] Mueller says 'You only need the disk [2] for the copy protection'. Mueller appears to have used exactly the same pattern as for Rhem. However, with Rhem, the disk-in-drive was thwarted by installing with and using a virtual drive & disk image. Perhaps that's true with Rhem 2.
The future ain't what it used to be! |
| Profile Search | |
| 19 AUG 2007 at 8:00pm | |
Jenny100Guild MasterPosts : 3510 Joined: 12 OCT 2002 Status : Offline | |
| Profile Search | |
| 19 AUG 2007 at 9:09pm | |
Lucien21Guild Master Posts : 4876 Joined: 9 JUL 2003 Location: 0 Status : Offline | |
| Profile Search | |
| 19 AUG 2007 at 9:43pm | |
SirDaveGuild MasterPosts : 4941 Joined: 17 OCT 2002 Location: US Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Lucien21 (19 AUG 2007 9:09pm) Well, Lucien ole buddy, I don't think I appeared to be 'shocked'. I guess I forgot that little bit about having the disk in the drive that you reprint in that post. But regardless of whether one wants to accept things because it is just 'Standard copy protection', I think it's a crock since all it does is hinder the use of the game and force people to go to a no-cd solution which is going to be available eventually anyway. More and more I'm beginning to think that the one-time internet verification is not so bad after all (if it means being able to use the game in a truly portable way) as long as you're allowed to do it for more than one computer (within reason of course). BTW: Back to Rhem2 for the moment: I tried installing Rhem2 using Virtual-CD and it didn't work- startup searches for a hardware drive and isn't fooled by the virtual drive. It's obvious that there are 2 types of cd-in-the-drive that can be used because some of my older games that required a cd-in-the-drive have worked with Virtual-CD and no disk in the hardware drive. I suppose it's possible that some virtual drive programs account for this- would be interested to know if that's true of the Daemon Tools/Alcohol solution.
The future ain't what it used to be! |
| Profile Search | |
| 20 AUG 2007 at 8:08pm | |
texasx96Intergalactic JanitorPosts : 7 Joined: 31 OCT 2005 Status : Online | |
| Profile Search | |
| 20 AUG 2007 at 9:49pm | |
SirDaveGuild MasterPosts : 4941 Joined: 17 OCT 2002 Location: US Status : Offline | Originally Posted By texasx96 (20 AUG 2007 8:07pm) I would stay away from the term 'cd crack' since it is a term associated with pirating; the term 'no-cd' IMO is preferable. There isn't any Sam and Max no-cd solution yet. In any event, remember that the Sam and Max disk is a Dvd. If you don't have a Dvd/Cd drive then you're not going to see anything.
The future ain't what it used to be! |
| Profile Search | |
| 20 AUG 2007 at 10:11pm | |
texasx96Intergalactic JanitorPosts : 7 Joined: 31 OCT 2005 Status : Online | |
| Profile Search | |
| 22 AUG 2007 at 9:20pm | |
SirDaveGuild MasterPosts : 4941 Joined: 17 OCT 2002 Location: US Status : Offline | FWIW: It seems that I've solved the mystery of Rhem2 not recognizing my Virtual CD image of Disk2 and still demanding the disk to be inserted in the physical drive. After checking the FAQ on the Virtual CD site, it turns out that the answer is ridiculously simple, though not necessarily intuitive. I ordinarily set my virtual drives to be letters such as J,K,L etc. so that they won't intefere with regular CD drives or flash drives. However, it turns out that when games, even with a full install, require a physical disk in a drive, some of them assume that the disk will be in the first letter drive after the last hard disk drive letter so if the last hard disk drive letter is D, the virtual drive must be letter E. I now have Rhem 2 running full screen on the Samsung Q1. What a beautiful screen! So, with Alida, Sam and Max and Rhem 2 on it, I'm in 1st person, point & click Heaven! Incidentally, I'm running Virtual CD 4.5, but they're now up to Virtual CD v9. I did some comparisons with Alcohol 120% and I would still go with Virtual CD. The FAQ and other documentation for Virtual CD seems to be more extensive than Alcohol and Virtual CD now allows things like insertion of a cd image in a physical drive letter so if the game insists on seeing a disk in your physical drive letter D, then you can insert the image in letter D even though it's not a virtual drive. Of course, until you eject the disk image from the drive D, it won't recognize any physical disk that's in the physical drive.
The future ain't what it used to be! |
| Profile Search | |
| Page 1 |
