How did the developers of this sim get all this information?

[VMFA117_Poko]

matter and antimatter ;)

[Verdungo]

As long as it isn't StarForce, I think everyone will be happy.

 

Actually I wouldn't be happy if ED were going to use some copy protection that requires an internet connection. When I buy a game, I want to be sure that it is possible to play the game ten years after buying it. That is why I'm not going to buy Mass Effect or Spore.

 

I don't even see a good reason to use copy protection as high detail flight sims are not mainstream games. I think that most of the people who download Black Shark are going to try it and then remove it after realizing that it really is a simulator, not an arcade game.

 

There are also alternative ways to reduce piratism. For example, ED could create an update manager that would be, at first, the only way to get game patches. Using that manager would require a cd-key so warez guys couldn't download patches using the update manager unless they have a real cd-key. Also, if there was an in-game server browser, the same cd-key would be required to get the server list and to join servers. ED could also publish a collector's edition which would include, for example, a cool Black Shark poster, concept art, making of videos, an instruction manual and so on. For those who are going to play other DCS titles as well, it might be more encouraging to buy Black Shark if the buyers of the previous modules got the latest screens and videos before other people. The main idea is: Instead of punishing the people who actually buy your titles, why not give them something the others are unable to get?

 

Other games have sold well too regardless of the fact that they lack a powerful copy protection. For example, The Witcher role-playing game has sold quite well (over 700k copies IIRC) and it doesn't include a nasty copy protection. In addition, CD Projekt - the developer of The Witcher - was not even well-known in the gaming culture before releasing The Witcher. Another example is Sins of a Solar Empire, a scifi real-time strategy from Ironclad games. Ironclad Games has profited over 10 million US dollars from selling Sins of a Solar Empire and it has no copy protection at all.

 

This is practically the only thing that worries me about DCS. It is also the only thing that determines whether I'll buy this game or not as the game itself seems to be so darn good.

[VMFA117_Poko]

Actually I wouldn't be happy if ED were going to use some copy protection that requires an internet connection. When I buy a game, I want to be sure that it is possible to play the game ten years after buying it. That is why I'm not going to buy Mass Effect or Spore.

I own RACE 07 where are the options for online and offline installation. No need to have internet connection to play it.

[CAT_101st]

I have race07n as well I don't like the 2 instals. I just want 1 install and can pick how I want to play it from a screan.

[Verdungo]

I own RACE 07 where are the options for online and offline installation. No need to have internet connection to play it.

 

That doesn't really differ from regular game installations. In most games you just install it without internet connection and in order to play online you obviously need a connection. In Race 07's case if you want to play online you need to use the online installation. So it's practically the same thing, you just need the internet connection at different time. I have nothing against separate offline and online installations but I really don't see what's the point in that. I hope you got my point, it's kind of hard to explain.

 

By the way, does Race 07 require online installation to play in LAN?

 

PS: Actually I understand the point of two separate installations IF the game uses Steam. However, that isn't really useful for a game that doesn't use steam. It would be cool to see that feature in Black Shark, though.

[Ferocious_Imbecile]

As for copy protection somebody was talking about Steel Beasts. That is the model and paradigm for Black Shark DCS; both are highly detailed attempts to model modern warfare in a way that isn't necessarily "entertaining"...they won't appeal to most 14 year old boys that play BF2. They're study sims that require a lot of work to learn...therein lies their value. And what does Steel Beasts use? A dongle.

 

I think a dongle would be a very cool route to go for BS DCS even if it made the sim more pricey..

[GGTharos]

SB PRO Copy Protection is only a good model because it's a low-volume product. Those USB keys flake out.

[Slaunyeh]

No anti piracy system is worth its money.

 

Actually 90% of the APP (Anti Piracy Programs) are broken in less than 24H after launch. The rest less than 2 weeks. And their protected is on the net for free.

Internet connection and security applications like steam are useless, as pro pirates use a logger to know who say what to whom, and then just replicate the expected answers. Then compile and send to internet. All someone need to do is to shearch the right places. (Which i wouldn t dare go, for the sake of my PC, Much cheaper to buy then have the risk to have its bank account emptyed, his HD formatted or whatever)

 

A version of Lomac SFless was on the net less than 12H after release.

 

The best anti piracy Atitude you can have are :

1rst above all : A good game, that people will be willing to play.

2) Worldwide launch - If unable, downloadable worldwide at max 1 week from launch.

3) Paper manual, no e-manuals, if possible.

4) A cheap APP, just to scare off casual pirates. (Most population)

 

BS has a lot of characteristic that will made it hardly attractive to pirate :

- Its a flight simulator

- Complex, very few people want complex games. When i showed my printed verfion of FC i just brought from copy bureau. People at my work where totally disgusted and labelled me as freak weirdo. All they want is drive a car and press 5 buttons (forward , backward, left, right, shoot)

Thats why FPS are so populars, and always more of the same.

 

So if ED prefer to invest money in polishing the game instead of wasting money in wanna be protection it seems pretty good to me.

[deviletk]

I dont know anything about copy protections, but for for example Live For Speed has a server(?) that keeps your login/password and if someone not have baught it try to go online, they simply cant as it doesnt recognize their name/pass. I dont know if that is a cheap and effective protection though? Maybe login/passwords can leak out if it gets hacked. (Shait hackers grrr).

 

And if it can be downloaded and played easily it will overflow torrent sites with maybe the juicy name "Black Shark Attack Helicopter Simulator", and downloaders wont know it comes with a huge manual plus they might not take "complex" serious enough since you can set most systems to "easy" (i think?). If there will be public servers for BS then those servers can get seriously crippled with people that doesnt give a flying f*ck about team work etc.

 

I just hope there will be some form of protection to secure online gaming, and securing that the money goes to the hard working devs. I dont want a hardcore protection that might mess things up either, but in some form yes.

[hitman]

I don't know what ED will do for copy protection, I figure that will be announced at release :)

So long as they dont put it in a demo, providing they have a demo and warn potential customers beforehand.

[Groove]

Please stick to the topic name.

[Wags]

Back to the original topic...

 

We have a great relationship with Kamov with resulting access to flight documentation and SME pilots. All system in Black Shark are non-sensitive in nature.

[xhaos]

Its my understanding that you have a contract for Russian army to develop a sim for the Ka-50 and you got license to downgrade it so that you can make a commercial version also.

my question is, how far downgraded BS will be? and in what areas?

 

If i put 200hrs in this sim and find my self inside a real and fueled Kamov, will i be really able to start up and fly it without crashing it?

[GGTharos]

Um, no. Flying a sim might be good for procedures - you might be able to start one up and whatnot, but flying it without crashing? No. When you're in a real aircraft you experience things very differently, and you'd be lucky not to hurt yourself if you just sat yourself down inside a Ka-50, the very first time you'd ever fly anything ...

 

DCS is an entertainment simulator, and no one can seriously tell you it'll teach you to fly the real thing even though the simulation is authentic. That would just be asking for it.

[Ferocious_Imbecile]

Um, no. Flying a sim might be good for procedures - you might be able to start one up and whatnot, but flying it without crashing? No. When you're in a real aircraft you experience things very differently, and you'd be lucky not to hurt yourself if you just sat yourself down inside a Ka-50, the very first time you'd ever fly anything ...

 

DCS is an entertainment simulator, and no one can seriously tell you it'll teach you to fly the real thing even though the simulation is authentic. That would just be asking for it.

 

Now I'm going to go off and be sad for a while. :(

[GGTharos]

Why sad? Flying a real aircraft requires instruction for very good reasons.

Not even the big commercial simulators claim to make you ready-to-fly ... for an entertainment sim to make such a claim, no matter how authentic it is, is just silly and asking for all sorts of legal trouble.

 

No one's saying that DCS won't be realistic; it simulates operating a Ka-50 just how you operate a Ka-50, but no one who produces a simulator should ever tell you it'll make you ready to fly, replacing hours upon hours of actual instruction. That's just silly.

[nscode]

But it would nicely get you ready for a "big" simulator :D

[GGTharos]

I'd imagine so ... for the most part you'd have a leg up on operating the various on-board devices ... ;)

[EvilBivol-1]

If i put 200hrs in this sim and find my self inside a real and fueled Kamov, will i be really able to start up and fly it without crashing it?

You would be very familiar with the cockpit and might be able to start it up, but flying is another matter. Imagine you had 200 hours in a hockey sim - would it teach you to ice skate?

[muamshai]

If this sim gonna consider all real life variables then it won't be available for general public. If it were available for general public then it was gonna cost over 500€/copy :)

[DarkWanderer]

it was gonna cost over 500€/copy

And a government secret non-disclosure subscribiton.

 

Just read the MiG-29/Su-27RLE. Falcon manual is left far behind ;)

[amalahama]

Its my understanding that you have a contract for Russian army to develop a sim for the Ka-50 and you got license to downgrade it so that you can make a commercial version also.

my question is, how far downgraded BS will be? and in what areas?

 

If i put 200hrs in this sim and find my self inside a real and fueled Kamov, will i be really able to start up and fly it without crashing it?

 

if you installed BlackShark in a full-motion, profesional sim, with all the real switches round here, you might have luck when get a rid in a Ka-50. With a standard joystick and keyboard - definitively not.

 

Regards!!

[xhaos]

Actually i understand everything about legal, complexity and so on, but the real question i meant to ask is:

how far degraded is BS if to compare with the real simulator used for training, and also you try to give us (and i appreciate it) as close as you can, the feeling of flying ka-50, so how close to the truth is the feeling i will receive?

[GGTharos]

It's as close as it gets without leaving your office chair? :) There are a few things that aren't modeled (ie. oxygen control, temp control, stuff like that) but as far as operating the aircraft goes, I think there's very little missing. Just my opinion.

[Rhino4]

Do you even need oxygen controls on a helicopter? I wouldn't think so.....Makes no sense imo.