manes@vger.nsu.edu ((Mark D. Manes), Norfolk State University) (02/27/91)
Boy the rumors are flying right and left! BLAZEMONGER III is near release.
The excitement mounts as this new version cures the problem of the software
not running under the latest version of UNIX as well as AmigaDOS. This has
been a sticking point for the longest time, and certainly been difficult
to implement, however according to the Bandito it is near, oh so very
near to release.
The current problem seems to be who will be distributing it and what
type of protection it should have. Many have suggested getting the
fine folks at Psygonis to put their fine protection mechanisms in it,
but they are even balking at the amount of protection the authors of
BLAZEMONGER III want.
This new game boasts "the most protected game of the year award" and
of course "we had to sacrifice so much of the machine, not just the
OS, to make this game, THE game of the 1990s."
Anyway, I alway try to keep you all on the cutting edge.
I hope you aprreciate this "heads-up".
-mark=
+--------+ ==================================================
| \/ | Mark D. Manes "Mr. AmigaVision"
| /\ \/ | manes@vger.nsu.edu
| / | (804) 683-2532 "Make up your own mind! - AMIGA"
+--------+ ==================================================
hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Adam Hill) (02/28/91)
My vote for a copy protection mechanism is my $29.95 "Sooper DNA
Sequencer". This 8'x 2'x 4' module hooks into the Cray Microdot to
provide "ABSOLUTE PROTECTION". All it needs is a small piece of tissue
or body fluid (WHICH body fluid is left up to the purchaser.) to
INFALLIBLY identify the owner of the piece of software, and whether or
not you are it.
To further the severity of the protection we also sell "IQ-Dropper
Nerve Gas" for $9.99. When hooked up in parallel with the Microdot, it
will release a GAS that will drop a person's IQ by 10 points when a
UNAUTHORIZED person tries to use the SW. It becomes inert in 10
minutes thus possibly causing your housemates to take a ANTI-PIRACY
stance as well.
My company "Protection For The Paranoid" hopes this will further
the SPA's goal of a 0% piracy rate. An example:
Quote from Dallas Morning News :
(APPLICATION ASSISTANCE CENTER)Ronoake TX - IBM still has no
explanation why several of its programming staff are taking "extended
vacations". Rumor has it that one of its employes were beta testing
the "Sooper DNA Seqencer" with the "IQ-Dropper" add-on for Windows. A
bogus copy was obtained by some people who's PS/1 was equipped with
the add-on, without their knowledge.
IBM maintains that this will NOT have any affect on the release of
OS/2 2.0.
I hope the developers of BLAZEMONGER III will consider this
copy-protection rather than making it "NON-HD Installable (TM)". Also
is the fact that I have patented making games "NON-HD Installable" and
Refrac Inc has bought the right to enforce the patent!
Peace And Goodwill To All Programmers :-)
--
adam hill -- hill@evax.uta.edu
I programmed for three days Make Up Your Own Mind.. AMIGA!
And heard no human voices. Amiga... Multimedia NOW!
But the hard disk sang. - TZoP Born To Run SVR4limonce@pilot.njin.net (Tom Limoncelli) (02/28/91)
I heard that Blazemonger III has the new copy protection scheme
described below:
The Ultimate "Look Up The Word" Protection Scheme
-------------------------------------------------
When the disk is duplicated, a 2 gyroscopes are set in motion in sync.
The wheels of the gyros are have numbers on them from 0-64K.
One gyro is connected to your computer (through the printer port....
don't worry! It's transparent!) and the other gyro is kept at the
duplicating center.
When the game starts up, it sends a pulse of light to the gyro, and a
laser pulse to the gyro at the duplicating center. Basically, if the
sensors detect the same number flashed on both gyros, they know you
have not tampered with your gyro, and you have an original copy from
the duplicating center.
The only problem here is that your computer must be in line-of-sight
to the duplicating center. This is fine, because the duplicating
center is on top a really tall building... someplace in Germany.
Oh, the gyroscope will spin on it's own for about 2 minutes if you have
a power outage.
Does anyone see any problems with this scheme?
Tom231b3678@fergvax.unl.edu (Phil Dietz) (02/28/91)
To the WORLD's excitement....BLAZEMONGER III is a leap forward for the
computer industry!
Psygnosisis, its publisher, has gone all out and made BLAZEMONGER III a
piece of art!
Not only will it run on the A333, A500, a2000, a3000, aVAX, A3000 IIci,
but it also has NO copy protection whatsoever! wow!
Yes, no dongles..no look-ups...no grinding groaning or grunting sounds
by your floppy!
Psygnosisis has even gone to the extent of making it HD/ Floptical/ WORM
drive installable!
Do you want to multi-task...you sure can cuz it fits in a window and
hogs only 1% CPU!
All these new enhancements are in part to a productivity increase. Ever
since Psygnosisis has obtained Newlist4.7, they've been productive as
hell! :-)
Phil Dietz
<<<=================--------- Cheap Ad ---------===================<<<
Phil Dietz SWL Lincoln 665 MEGS! 2 lines
231b3678@fergvax.unl.edu (402)421-1963 AMIGA, IBM, MAC, GIFS
"What a deal! I bought an ENIAC for 5 bux, but can it play Tetris?"barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) (03/01/91)
>[Many feeble attempts at guesing BMIII's copy protection scheme deleted.] No, I am afraid you are ALL WRONG. BLAZEMONGER III does not use any of those WIMPY protection methods. First, let's look at a little history. Here is a description of the copy protection from the original BLAZEMONGER: >Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga >From: barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) >Subject: The ONLY way to get RAW, UNBRIDLED SPEED in an Amiga program >Date: 7 Dec 90 17:18:14 GMT > > Copy protected? You BET!! BLAZEMONGER uses disk protection, dongle >protection, "look up the word in the manual" protection, "look up the word >in the DICTIONARY" protection (Webster's 4th edition), 40-number YALE >COMBINATION LOCK protection, and an impenetrable TEFLON COATING around the >entire disk!!! And for your added safety, your high scores are written to >the super-protected MASTER DISK, so the pesky scores CANNOT ESCAPE and post >themselves to THOUSANDS OF BULLETIN BOARDS, bragging about their MAGNITUDE! BLAZEMONGER II, as I reported a few weeks ago in this newsgroup, was so fast that it shot into into outer space before we could market it. This is, perhaps, the ultimate form of copy protection. But we OUTDID this on BLAZEMONGER III, and WITH EASE. Here are a few of the failed CP methods we toyed with: o Oversized disk (3.6") that cannot be inserted into the drive. o Custom startup code that seeks out and destroys all executable programs containing any output functions, thereby preventing copying. o Hallucinogenic coating on the packaging that makes you THINK you are copying the disk, when in reality you are inserting it into your kitchen toaster. (Toaster included.) But these all FAILED our EXTENSIVE ANTI-ANTI-ANTI-copy protection TESTS. We instead are using the latest ULTIMATE CP TECHNOLOGY, while at the same time GIVING AWAY THE GAME FOR FREE. IMPOSSIBLE?? NO! Thanks to our ULTIMATE PROGRAMMERS, BLAZEMONGER III can now be encoded in MINIMAL DISK SPACE. After some negotiations with Sony, a copy of BLAZEMONGER III is now encoded on EVERY BLANK SONY DISK THAT YOU BUY. It appears, however, to be nothing but random, unformatted media... BUT IT'S THERE! BLAZEMONGER III IS ON YOUR BLANK SONY DISKS!!!! AND YOU CANNOT FIND IT, EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN YOUR HANDS RIGHT NOW!!! Go ahead, you scurvy PIRATES. Just TRY to copy the program. And even if you succeed, you have yet to encounter our latest "Level Two" protection..... <ominous music up and out>. Dan //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | Dan Barrett, Department of Computer Science Johns Hopkins University | | INTERNET: barrett@cs.jhu.edu | | | COMPUSERVE: >internet:barrett@cs.jhu.edu | UUCP: barrett@jhunix.UUCP | \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////
mike@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Smithwick) (03/02/91)
In article <691.27cb84db@vger.nsu.edu> manes@vger.nsu.edu ((Mark D. Manes), Norfolk State University) writes: >This new game boasts "the most protected game of the year award" and >of course "we had to sacrifice so much of the machine, not just the >OS, to make this game, THE game of the 1990s." > >Anyway, I alway try to keep you all on the cutting edge. > I undestand that BLAZEM0NGER III won't even supply a disk. Now THAT'S copy protection! -- "outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend, inside a dog, it's too dark to read"-Groucho Mike Smithwick - ames!zorch!mike
xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) (03/07/91)
hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Adam Hill) writes: > My vote for a copy protection mechanism is my $29.95 "Sooper DNA > Sequencer". This 8'x 2'x 4' module hooks into the Cray Microdot to > provide "ABSOLUTE PROTECTION". All it needs is a small piece of tissue > or body fluid (WHICH body fluid is left up to the purchaser.) to > INFALLIBLY identify the owner of the piece of software, and whether or > not you are it. Ah, yes; I can see the ad copy now: "BLAZEMONGER III -- costs an arm and a leg, and keeps on costing!" Kent, the man from xanth. <xanthian@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <xanthian@well.sf.ca.us>
bryand@tektronix.TEK.COM (Bryan Duff) (03/08/91)
The truth now that I know it clearly dims all these rumors of the copy protection scheme. Not only will BLAZEMONGER III run on a standard A500 (It will, however require 1 Meg of Memory) it also runs faster than it could a supercomputer peripheral. Let me explain. The disk supplied is a standard 3.5" format AmigaDos disk. You can copy this to your hearts content and distribute it everywhere and the program will run. It will run soooooo slooowwww that it takes approx 3 hours to to load the title screen (and that's the fast part!) Only the original disk will play at BLAZEMONGER III speed. It seems that embedded in the disk is a magnetic field that when spun creates a localized time distortion. This causes the disk to be set back by one day so any 'future' disk access actually occured yesterday!!! talk about fast!! This game actually knows what you are doing before you!! What a wonderful world we live in. Bryan Duff The Man who Never Sleeps, and the Amiga who keeps him company- bryand@tektronix.tek.com
dave@cs.arizona.edu (Dave P. Schaumann) (03/08/91)
In article <21702@tektronix.TEK.COM> bryand@tektronix.TEK.COM (Bryan Duff) writes: >The truth now that I know it clearly dims all these rumors of the >copy protection scheme. Not only will BLAZEMONGER III run on a >standard A500 (It will, however require 1 Meg of Memory) it also >runs faster than it could a supercomputer peripheral. Let me explain. I'm not sure how old the Subject: line of this thread is -- I've had my BM III for weeks, now. As to copy protection -- I can assure you all that there is *none*. My copy appeared in RAM: after a power surge. After that happens, all you need to do is copy it to a blank diskette, and you're off!! BTW, I'm already up to -59 points! -- Dave Schaumann | dave@cs.arizona.edu | Short .sig's rule!
orovner@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Oleg Rovner) (03/09/91)
Uhhhh, sorry to disappoint you people, but you lot have PIRATED Blazemonger III beta versions, and your machines shall self destruct within 15 boot attempt. The REAL Blazemonger III will be in ROM (what do you think the sockets on GVP 3001 boards are for? Unix???)! The only thing delaying the release is that the developer is waiting for CBM to release the OS 2.0 ROMs. They want to make sure NO accidental compatibilities occur between BLAZEMONGER III and OS2.0. OR -- ************************************************************************ GOD BLESS AMERICA! SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND OUR ALLIES! FREE KUWAIT! ************************************************************************