Bioshock stuff

[Ishtvan]

If they can already identify what machine it's on, why the fuck would they limit reinstalls on a single machine? Even the "fixed" DRM only allows 5 reinstalls per machine? What the fuck is that shit? When did it become against the law to decide to uninstall and reinstall a game over 5 times?

[OrbWeaver]

I didn't get that part either -- perhaps they are worried that it might be possible to convince the game it is being reinstalled on the same machine over and over again, when in fact somebody is installing it on all of their friends' machines?

 

Either way I'm not wasting money on crap like that.

[Maximius]

So what are you supposed to do if you periodically clean off your HD and reinstall everything? Thats fucking insane. I'll never spend a penny on that.

Edited August 25, 2007 by Maximius

[Ishtvan]

Yeah, I guess it could be a failsafe if their system to detect which machine it's on fails. Rather shitty from the user's perspective though.

[greebo]

Wow, that's really a brilliant way of losing customers. The people downloading it instead of buying will download it anyway. And a (small?) portion of people willing to buy it will skip that and choose to download it as well.

 

I hope it will hurt them so much that they will rethink that decision (and fire their marketing people), but I somehow doubt it.

[Ishtvan]

Yeah, the majority of customers probably won't ever try to reinstall it over 5 times, and won't care about people who do and get screwed. These are the same corporate ethics that make it okay to keep a product on the market that's been found to kill people, and just absorb the losses from settlements with the small number of people it kills.

[New Horizon]

In addition to the five installs, they also let you reclaim the install when you uninstall the game now. I think they're coming up with a little utility for that. Either way, the game has been cracked already, so it's a moot point on all fronts. lol

[Redface]

It hasn't been cracked yet, all the cracks are fakes. You still need a valid serial to run the game.

[sparhawk]

Bioshock DRM:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/24/dr...hock_drm_eased/

Game over.

 

Well, a torrent is already available and soon there will be a crack as well. It's not worth to download right now anway, as it will be buggy as hell. Once I downloaded it I will see if it is ok, and then I decide if I should buy. Seeing how this goes, I probably wont buy it though. Just like HL2. What a pity, because I was curious about this game. Anyway, I guess I have to buy a new compter first anyway, because mine starts to get outdated, so I planned to buy a new one in a few months (when I can afford it).

[Macsen]

I'm thinking of getting this game, but do I need an internet connection to play it? I keep my best PC in a rented flat where I live Mondays to Thursdays, but there's no internet there.

[Redface]

Yes, you need internet connection on that PC to be able to play the game. And doublecheck the minimum specs for the game - your best PC might not be good enough

[Nyarlathotep]

2KGames has lost a sale with me. This is simply too much.

[Unstoppable]

Well they are gonna do a utility where you can remove it from 1 pc and put it on another as many times as you want. Also they will probably end up removing the whole thing anyway. I'm sure they wont' do this again after the outcry of the community. They aren't perfect and at least Bioshock is a great game eh .

[SplaTtzZ]

I had difficulty installing this game myself. The first time I installed it and registered it went ok; but in the graphics options of the game i realised that you can't get full Directx10 support unless you have Vista installed. Figuring it was time to dust off the old box which has been sitting on my shelf for ages; I formatted XP then reinstalled Vista. After putting Bioshshock back on; surprise surprise; I couldn't register. I kept getting message that my activation attempt had failed. After trying every few minutes for a couple of hours I finally decided to mail Securom, here's a transcript:

 

To Whom it may Concern;

 

I purchased the standard PC edition of Bioshock today in Sydney, Australia. Upon installing the game I proceeded to activate it without problems and play it. However, after realising that I cannot use Directx 10 graphics options with Windows XP Professional; i have formatted my computer and installed Windows Vista. After reinstalling Bioshock now; i can no longer activate it and play. I receive the following error:

 

The activation server is unable to complete your request. Please contact the software vendor.

 

I wish to reiterate that i have entered the code correctly (with and without dashes/caps) and have tried to activate the game numerous times. I have searched the knowledge base at http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/support/ for answers to my problems but have found none. I have prepared the following information as requested:

 

 

Registration Code: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

 

Unlock Requestcode: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXX

 

Any suppport you could offer me in this regard is most welcome.

 

The minute I posted the damn email I tried to register again and it worked straight away. Howevere I sure feel sorry for someone who couldn't do that as the support that Securom offered me was on the lines of:

 

Dear customer,

 

this is to inform you that we have received your mail you sent to support@securom.com. We highly apologize for all inconveniences caused so far and can ensure it is of highest priority to solve any anomalies occurred at your side as soon as possible .

 

In case you have experienced any anomalies during the activation process of your program we kindly ask you to try again. Please make sure that you enter the correct serial key, especially be careful not mixing up similar characters such as 1 and I.

 

In all other cases, we kindly ask you to send us a detailed description of the anomaly you experience. Our team will be very happy to assist and once again apologizes for all inconveniences caused so far.

 

I guess they don't even bother to read emails and just get bots to send crap back, I dunno I figure my email was clear enough, they must have a policy of treating everyone like some kind of moron. I even read on some forums of people having to scan their game manual with the code on it before Securom will allow them to unlock manually. I think my error had something to do with their server being to busy but if thats the case it was busy for over 2 hours.

 

Anyway i've finished the game now; and there were some pretty interesting things in there. I particularly liked the way they handled the AI, later on in the game you can get like 50 enemies to fight one another using plasmids; its very amusing. I think thats why they made it game of the year, its just an average fps really but when you screw around with the factions its awesome; getting a Big Daddy to fight enemy splicers is a ball.

[sparhawk]

Well they are gonna do a utility where you can remove it from 1 pc and put it on another as many times as you want.

 

How generous of them.

 

Also they will probably end up removing the whole thing anyway. I'm sure they wont' do this again after the outcry of the community. They aren't perfect and at least Bioshock is a great game eh .

 

If it's gonna removed, I will buy it. Otherwise certainly not.

[sparhawk]

I guess they don't even bother to read emails and just get bots to send crap back, I dunno I figure my email was clear enough, they must have a policy of treating everyone like some kind of moron.

 

Never had to deal with a hotline that did NOT think all their customers are idiots. Only exception was IBM, before they started to use a "professional" hotline. Then they were the same as everybody else.

[Macsen]

Yes, you need internet connection on that PC to be able to play the game. And doublecheck the minimum specs for the game - your best PC might not be good enough

Um! My PC could run Bioshock with its cables tied behind its back. It's a giant steaming monstrosity of a computer with so many cooling fans I've had to anchor it to the floor lest it take off. There's a whole other PC in there that will activate in the year 2030 when it's finally needed to run the latest games.

 

Would I need an internet connection every time I loaded it up? Could I just take my PC to where there's a connection, install it, then take it back to my flat?

[SplaTtzZ]

Would I need an internet connection every time I loaded it up? Could I just take my PC to where there's a connection, install it, then take it back to my flat?

Activation is only a one off-process after an install; so once it's activated you won't need an internet conection anymore. You will need the disk to run it, but I would advise against using any cracks or other stuff to by-pass the activation. When I had trouble activating it I tried about 6 cracks from a torrent site, 4 of them had trojans and not one worked.

 

As to the hardware requirements I'm running everything on full and its fine, I actually think it runs faster than Stalker when I had it installed though that might be my imagination. Maybe it's just more stable Certainly an Nvidia 8 series or equivalent Ati card will be able to handle it easy, though if you want Directx 10 features you need Vista; though if you hate Vista alot I wouldn't bother, i didn't really notice any change in the graphics when I selected the DX 10 option.

Edited August 27, 2007 by SplaTtzZ

[Ishtvan]

Would I need an internet connection every time I loaded it up? Could I just take my PC to where there's a connection, install it, then take it back to my flat?

Yes, then if it happens to get damaged when you're transporting it, you can sue 2KGames for necessitating such a ridiculous task.

[Ombrenuit]

Well I think I'll pass on this one; I have so many games at this point with no time to play them and no patience to finish them--hell I've never even finished the first Thief nor the third! I just can't afford to upgrade my computer anymore, and I doubt it would be worth my time to spend hundreds on Bioshock.

[Freakboy]

It's not that graphically intensive.. I played it maxed out and Source gives my computer a harder time than Bioshock did.

 

I honestly don't know what the hub-bub is all about. It's not the best game ever, not by a long shot. Nor the best FPS. Nor the best anything... Average at best.

 

I will give it that it's longer than most games these days, but not by much.

 

Maybe I was expecting too much.. :\

[Ombrenuit]

It's not that graphically intensive.. I played it maxed out and Source gives my computer a harder time than Bioshock did.

 

I honestly don't know what the hub-bub is all about. It's not the best game ever, not by a long shot. Nor the best FPS. Nor the best anything... Average at best.

 

I will give it that it's longer than most games these days, but not by much.

 

Maybe I was expecting too much.. :\

 

I can play Oblivion and Stalker on medium settings yet I could only play the demo for this game on the lowest possible, and it looked like complete crap. Also I have to say another turn off was the immersion factor: the fact there just about was none.

 

A ) Staged killing just when you arrive. Come on, now you KNOW you're in a game.

B ) The fact that your enemy just "gives up" and suddenly it's safe to just walk around the area now? They just left? They aren't waiting for you around the corner?

C ) "Grab a wrench of something!" Availability of weapons and ammo is ridiculous. Considering the mayhem that is supposed to be this place, any resident with any brains would horde firearms. The wrench was too conveniently placed, and you get a tommy gun and enough ammo to storm a fortress two minutes later! Like splicers would want lethal weapons just hanging around for them to be shot with...

Edited August 28, 2007 by Ombrenuit

[Freakboy]

I can play Oblivion and Stalker on medium settings yet I could only play the demo for this game on the lowest possible, and it looked like complete crap. Also I have to say another turn off was the immersion factor: the fact there just about was none.

I can run Oblivion and Stalker at maxed settings. Oblivion I tweak to get a bit more out of it..

 

A ) Staged killing just when you arrive. Come on, now you KNOW you're in a game.

B ) The fact that your enemy just "gives up" and suddenly it's safe to just walk around the area now? They just left? They aren't waiting for you around the corner?

C ) "Grab a wrench of something!" Availability of weapons and ammo is ridiculous. Considering the mayhem that is supposed to be this place, any resident with any brains would horde firearms. The wrench was too conveniently placed, and you get a tommy gun and enough ammo to storm a fortress two minutes later! Like splicers would want lethal weapons just hanging around for them to be shot with...

 

I didn't play the demo, but I've heard that the demo isn't exactly like the actual game. Furthermore, the demo is merely the first stage of the game. To introduce you do the game. You keep focusing on the part where you fight people as they come to you until you can get away. There's only a few of those in the game.. It's nothing major. The respawning people will speak of is if you clear out an area, leave, and go back sometime later there will be more baddies there.

 

I played the game on hard. Ammo wasn't very abundant, baddies took more to kill. This is why I fell back onto the wrench and eventually used it for the rest of the game. It's the best weapon there is: no ammo and there are plasmids to upgrade it.

 

And he said "Find a crowbar or something." Little referance to Half-life.

[SplaTtzZ]

I'd agree with you about it not being the greatest game ever; it is just an fps really and too linear for my tastes. I think that title could more aptly be applied to the first Deus Ex, which really gave the player a variety of ways to accomplish the game and where your actions do affect the gameplay and outcomes.

 

I did however like the way that Bioshock has AI factions; and that certain Plasmids like Enrage and Security Target could allow you to get your enemies to fight each other. Nothing is more hilarious than seeing a Big Daddy get up close to a bad guy and absolutely pulverise him with the drill he has on his arm. I've seen him actually throw guys off balconies and stuff, and the ridiculous attack he has where he flies at his target like he has a jetpack or something can be really funny when its aimed at them and not at you. And getting 2 Big Daddies to fight each other is a pretty awesome sight.

 

My only qualm is not being able to kill the little sisters with your wrench, the developers said the game would present you with a hard moral choice but its just bullshit. When you want to kill them to get Adam the screen just blacks out, no body or anything; I didn't feel any remorse or regret at all and went through the game systematically murdering every one that I could find. That might seem really callous but ever since I played FEAR and saw The Ring creepy little girls in smocks scare the bejesus out of me. They would have been better off making you murder puppies or something like that, i think it would have a greater effect on the player.

Edited August 29, 2007 by SplaTtzZ

[Crispy]

And he said "Find a crowbar or something." Little referance to Half-life.

I loved that reference.

 

I've played some way through the demo, and I think it's pretty damn good. It never claimed to be anything other than an FPS with lots of environmental interaction; that's what was promised, and that's what we've got. Taken at that level, it's a brilliantly-realised game. This one's definitely going on my to-play list (though I might wait until they patch out the SecuROM crap).

 

Is it the best game ever? I don't know. I don't particularly care. Since when was this a pissing contest?