Painkiller - safedisk issue

[Mr. Natural]

Over the weekend I happened to look over the new issue of CGM and the chief editor wrote in his column that he couldn't get Painkiller to run on his pc due to the safedisk anti piracy program which comes with the game.

According to him the game will not run if certain programs or games are recognized on your pc including complete and legitimate programs. He finally had to resort to a cd-crack in order to get the game to run. Interesting to me since I read in the back of the magazine that the same editor gave the game 5 stars and said it was better than Far Cry.

I was considering getting this game, but now not sure. At first I'm thinking if folks are having safedisk issues, I don't want to support a company which advocates that crap being installed on your pc with their game. But then I read this review which peaks my interest once again.

At this point I'm on the fence on this and unless I can be convinced otherwise, unlikely to purchase now. I hate safedisk and all anti piracy programs and definitely don't want them on my pc. They're known to be buggy and can wreck havoc on your pc. I DO NOT pirate games and always purchase my games. Hackers easily can bypass these types of programs and all it does is give us regular users headaches.
Feel free to give your thoughts.

[OldsterHolster]

I'm with you, Tim. If you're going to incorporate an anti-theft measure, it absolutely should not affect innocent people.

Actually, the primary reason I haven't bought Painkiller is because I read that its like Serious Sam, with hordes of enemies, constant, mindless shooting, and no real story; so this is just another reason to pass it up. I just don't know what to play, next. I really had fun with Far Cry, and Halo and Tron II were OK, but nothing else out there really appeals to me, right now. I got Call of Duty a week, ago, but I've finished it already. It was OK, although I'm tired of WWII shooters; but damn, it was short! I guess it was mainly designed for online multiplayer, rather than the single player. I guess I'll go ahead and play BF 1942, also, and then I'll be caught up on war games and maybe Doom III or Half-Life II will finally arrive. Let me know what you get, next, and how you like it. Edward.

[DanTheManPR]

I guess it was mainly designed for online multiplayer, rather than the single player.
It has great multiplayer. At one point I got tired of it, but now I'm playing it again.

</threadjack>

Anti-piracy measures irritate me to no end. CD-keys are OK, but I can't stand write-protected disks. CD's are NOT invincible! They get scratched, and they eventual rot (which is starting to happened to a bunch of my older CD's). Call me lazy, but I don't like to have to pop in a CD just to be able to play, either (ESPECIALLY when all the data is already on the computer). no-CD cracks are nice, because 1) you don't have to get up and search for the CD just to play! 2) You're CD's wont get scratched because you aren't handling them all the time.

I can live with copy-protection, but installing anti-piracy crap that takes over you're computer is just going many steps too far. If you're like me, you get hives when some bloatware creeps into your system *shudder*

Painkiller looks sort of cool (I like mindless shooters), like something I'd pick up in the bargain bin. But the thought of having something extra anti-piracy software crap running is like having a scorpion crawl into my pants and then not be able to get rid of it.

[Nova]

Hmm, a very small patch that fixes this problem (for PK) has been released approximately a week after the game came out and is available on the official website. I had the same thing happen to me, but now it works well, so I wouldn't let that keep you from buying it. Granted, it's another mindless shooter but it has some good points. The levels are great-looking and original (except for chapter 1) and the enemies are fun to blast. Just don't expect a Half-Life 2 :):

I can't say I like copy protection stuff either though. It creates too much problems, most of the time.

[Ojnod]

I have never ran into a CD that I could not make an ISO of with Alcohol 120%. I mount them in my clone drive and I am good to go.

NOTE: Some cd's take more work than others, but you can come out with a working ISO.

[SupaTroopa]

I have never had any safe disc issues with PK, and yeah there's a patch.

It's actually a very polished game and I haven't noticed a single bug (no MP yet).
A co-op mode and MOD's for this game would be outstanding, but not sure either will ever exist, shame, great engine.

If you enjoyed SS then you'll find it worthwhile, the physics are fun to play with (although all new 3D games these days should sport the same type of physics I'm guessing). I could go through the whole game with the stake gun and have fun with it, it's a very good throwback game with good boss encounters.

I would hope someone picks up this engine and does something really cool with it - I could only dream of an RPG type of game done with it. 1st/3rd person RPG's alway seem to be so clunky and it would be nice to see those types of games sporting an engine like this one. It would change the entire experience - which is what COH has done (albeit poorly ultimately), which is create a Diablo style game in 1st person mode.

[Rattlesnake8]

Ive got both single player demo's and i think they are great! I'll be getting the full game when the price drops a bit.

[MasterChief]

Oldster, if you don't plan on playing BF1942 online you really shouldn't bother at all with the SP. It sucks. Hard.

[OldsterHolster]

Thanks, MasterChief, but its too late. I "one clicked" at Amazon, and its on the way. I guess I should have gone with Painkiller or UT2004, huh? Oh well. I'll play through it, anyway. Edward.

[Circlebreaker]

SP in BF1942 is pretty much the same as MP, but with bots instead of other players. To make it even worse, the bots have no AI whatsoever.

About the safedisk issue, I agree with everyone else. All it does is punish the honest users that have actually bought the game. The problem is that many publishers really feel the pain of piracy, and have to do something to protect themselves. Safedisk won't stop any serious pirate from copying the game, but it will stop most kids that just want to make a few copies for friends, but aren't interested in any serious piracy. To the publishers that already makes a big difference, unfortunately for us.

[DanTheManPR]

The thing that pisses me off the most is that it doesn't stop even a half-assed attempt to copy it. Like Donjo said, Alcohol 120% lets you copy it no problem.