Run form cd/dvd
BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Programming/Run form cd/dvd
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| I am finishing a Blitzmax game which I'd like users to be able to run only from their CD/DVD Rom drives. Is there any way to do that? |
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| Have a look at Brucey's bah.volumes mod. It might allow you to check to see if the drive the executable is on is CDFS format. Another way might be to check the amount of free space on the disk. I'm sure that a CD always shows 0 free space regardless of what's actually on it. |
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| Off the top of my head, GetDriveType(Null) would probably do it for Windows. Ask Mr Google for more details. |
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| You should only need to make changes for saving/modifying data, which could be stored in a user's directory regardless of where your game launches from. Brucey's awsome volumes mod can help with that as well (locating user data dirs etc.) |
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| Just out of curiosity, why do you only want users to run the game from cd? |
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| @Yan and GFK Thanks for your suggestions, will investigate. You should only need to make changes for saving/modifying data, which could be stored in a user's directory regardless of where your game launches from. Brucey's awsome volumes mod can help with that as well (locating user data dirs etc.) That has already been handled thanks to greyalien, Indiepath, Gman and GfK (thanks a million guys!) http://www.blitzmax.com/Community/posts.php?topic=73305 Just out of curiosity, why do you only want users to run the game from cd? Copy protection. I'm dealing with a market that will mainly perform casual copying, so it's the only way I can think of that would stop it. If anyone has a better idea, I'm all ears. My main problem is, I can't find any replication services which would include some sort of copy protection (hexalock seems nice) in Melbourne, only in Sydney. |
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| Copy protection. Hmm. Sorry I can't offer any reasonable (cheap) advice on that one. 1. CD/DVD copy protections don't work. 2. Have you contacted any big game firms? (Steam?) :D I do wish you the best of luck! |
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| Keep in mind that restricting running the installers from CD only can also cost you sales. For one thing, netbooks don't come with optical drives, and the inability to install from thumbdrive or download could keep people from buying it. |
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| What would keep somebody from making a copy of the CD and running it from there? How does forcing someone to run your program from CD make it copy protected? |
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| What would keep somebody from making a copy of the CD and running it from there? How does forcing someone to run your program from CD make it copy protected? As I mentioned, I'm looking into a replication company that can offer basic copy protection. Running the game from the CD, is an extra step I'm looking into, in case copying to the hard drive cannot be handled by the copy protection software, or can be very easily overridden. In the end I might, or might not need this extra step. 1. CD/DVD copy protections don't work. As already stated, I only wish to stop the casual copying which is the main, if not the only kind of piracy that takes place in the niche I'm dealing with. Very basic copy protection will do just fine for a long time. 2. Have you contacted any big game firms? (Steam?) No. It's not the kind of game that would sell on steam. I have immediate access to my target group, so I don't need any of the game portals anyway. Keep in mind that restricting running the installers from CD only can also cost you sales. For one thing, netbooks don't come with optical drives, and the inability to install from thumbdrive or download could keep people from buying it. Most people own a desktop or laptop along with their netbooks. My biggest enemy at the moment is casual piracy. I will carefully test the market, and make changes in the distribution model if needed. |
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