schimmel

Exactly that's what I believe. Why? Because either way there will be a cracked version. Look at HL2, Panzers, Race Driver 2... On the other hand, those who would have bought the game maybe won't buy it now and a certain number of potential customers will try the emule version. But to be honest. That's not my problem. I care what I get for my money. The business issue is for ED to decide, not me.

First I need Windows as an OS to play a game and I don't NEED Lock On because there are other games to have fun with. Fortunately I still have a choice when buying a game. And it's not about the money. I pay 10$ a month for a MMORPG. And I don't use the activation of Windows XP because I have an OEM version by Dell.

It's a very personal decision and we should respect each one's choice. Either you accept it or you don't. It depends on how you set your priorities, thus you can't convince people even if all the facts are on the table.

Re: OK - MY thoughts on the v1.1 Copy Protection Why open a new thread if there's already one with the very same topic? :roll:

Hmm... It's really strange about what ppl get upset here. THIS is the important thing IMO: Now I don't know if ED or Starforce is still around in 5 years. This activation thing, as such, is really no big deal. Every time you buy computer hardware at an online shop, you leave behing a lot of information.

The speed of sound doesn't change with the pressure but only with the temperature! At 20°C it is 1236 km/h whereas at -50°C it is 1078 km/h. That doesn't seem too much of a difference. So it must have something to do with the instruments.

Hardware based limits and Steam is basically the same. Will Steam still exist in 3 years? Not sure about that. I'm not the kinda guy (as most Lock On players IMO) who buys a game and throws it in the dustbin after a month. Let's say C&C Generals had an activation system. They just stopped all the support for that game (no patches but still bugs and exploits in the game) after just 1 1/2 years! Imagine that! Now I should trust ED that activation still works in 2 years? And no offence, but the future of ED is pretty uncertain...

The main problem for me is not only the security issue, but also the installation limits. I don't buy a game that I can't install anymore in a few years. Yes I still have my Civilization 1 copy and I want it to work. The problem with activation is that there's no guarantee that it will still work in 5 years. I hope you make a wise decision. I have nothing against copy protection as long as it doesn't hurt the paying customer. Further I'm really sceptical about wether a strong copy protection increases the sales number. Edit: So you seem serious about it. Well I don't blame anyone Dmut. I just won't support such decisions. I won't buy the game if it has an activation system.

Oh ok. Thank you. So the AWACS only shows me the enemy on the MFS. I thought I could also use it to actually target the enemy without EOS or the onboard radar, thus making me only visible after the launch of a radar active missile.

First thx for your help. That's what I did. I put an aircraft on the map with AWACS as its task. So you only have 1 aircraft as an option. Then I made it fly a loop at a distance of around 30km away of the enemy units. Altitude is 8000m. Now when I switch to EOS or radar mode in BVR I get "SCAN" sign on my hud. Nothing about AWACS. As I said I used a Su-27. But I can use the AWACS to give me directions to refuel or land.

How do I get AWACS support on the mission editor? I put an AWACS on the map but I don't can't an AWACS mode in BVR on the Su-47. I only get "SCAN" on my hud. Guess I have to put targets on the map... Did a search on both Lock On forums, but no results.

This sounds very important to me. I only play games I could test before. Now if there's no demo, ppl have the option of emule which could prevent them of actually buying the game. Very good move IMO. Now back at reading the manual :D .

Now to not lose any time after I got my hands on FC: Do I have to reinstall Lock On? Can I import my control prefs?

This are news to me. I hope you are right. But since you're from Germany, you also know that the numbers of games published only in Germany is steadily decreasing over the last years. Today you need a huge budget to develop games like Lock On, compared to games 10 years ago (like indy 3 :)). Maybe I'm too pessimistic on this. Now let's have fun with 1.1 :D.

heh... okay... I also have to admit that the unit growth rate was 16%. So even if we are at 50 million today. The 140 million were US only. There is still whole Europe, Japan, Australia... And how many are high-end computers needed for Lock On? Now I'm tired of numbers :P. Anyway... I think the Russian market is too small for a PC platform flight sim if you do it the conventional way, but I hope that I'm wrong. Edit: At least? lol. Now I don't want to be harsh, but this claim just sounds ridiculous to me. Besides... the size of a market usually depends very little on the location of the development team.

Do we really know how big the Russian market is? I have to admit I have no clue. Russia is quite big with millions of inhabitants, but how many who can afford home computers, I don't really know. Thus, I also don't know anything about how much money this game can possible bring in. I have numbers from 2001. 6-8 million computers in Russia compared to 140 million only in the U.S. These are numbers by the US Department of Commerce. On this issue I think we can trust the government :D.

LockOn is basically a single player flight sim atm. This means that this game is optimized for aircraft movements with a basic network code. Now how to change this game into a multiplayer game like battlefield with the resources of ED, is behond me. I don't even consider a massively online game. Now no offense to the Russians... but by selling a game to the Russian market only (I don't consider the download option as a real market access), I don't see a huge cash flow in the near future. I don't blame this situation on anyone. That's just how it is on the flight sim market. ED can't afford to make major changes atm. They can only make small cheap steps. Which also means to let the community participate to some extend in the development (cheap). This, combined with the monthly fee idea I posted on the dedicated server thread, would lead to more popularity IMO. Single player for free, multiplayer you pay.

Just wanted to bring this up again :D. This is VERYIEST IMPORTANT. Not only for me :D, but for you ED. Every game's success on the PC platform today is related to its multiplayer playability. Especially in times where broadband access is becoming a convenience. Till now you couldn't really play LockOn in multiplayer, except if you have some friends who play it too (but since I have no friends... :)). Suggestion: Why not open an online server with a monthy fee to pay as a first step? IMO ED is in need for money atm, so this would be a nice compromise. We get our multiplayer experience and you get your cash :D. This would also resolve to some extend the dyncamic campaign issue. What is more dynamic than real ppl? Really... IMO you have to put this on the top priority list.

why do you have a preferred mug to drink a cup of tea? it just feels better. if you want to do something against pirating, you have to make ppl feel special when they buy a product (remember the times when there was actually a MANUAL in the box?) then there's the issue about life expectancy of a burned cd and a hard disk. you want to keep Lock On for years not, months (same thing with films...). although a cd is not a must for me, I think it is the cleanest solution. Is the bandwith of the downloads really cheaper for you than a cd?