Photics Cool Tip #10 — Using The Clock Attributes To Thwart Beta Piracy...

PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
edited November -1 in Working with GS (Mac)
I found out something disturbing today, while reading the Touch Arcade website...

http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?p=1893144

Apparently, if you have a beta test, with lots of beta testers that you don't know personally, you run the risk of your app being pirated... even before you get to release the game yourself.

So, how can you stop this?

Well, I think I have an idea for a deterrent. If you give out AdHoc versions of your game to lots of testers, then perhaps that app should have an expiration date. The Clock can be used to cause the game to cease functioning...

NOTE TO GAMESALAD: A SINGLE TIME ATTRIBUTE WOULD BE EASIER!

If game.Clock.Year is greater than 2011.
or game.Clock.Month is greater than 8
pause game

That means, if the game is played after a certain point... it will expire. After August 2011, the game is no good. Sure, players can mess with their clock, but that would get annoying.

The other idea that I suggested in the thread... SERVER VERIFICATION.

With the addition of the clock, GameSalad was no longer in a box. It had some information from the outside world. I think this should be expanded... with the ability to receive and post data to a web server. If GameSalad could grab/send attribute data to a PHP/MySQL server... wow... there would be so many gaming possibilities.

One of the possibilities would be beta game protection. The beta testers would have to login to the server to activate their game. Then, once a link has been established, it could be used to send useful testing data... how long did the tester play, where did they have trouble, how far did they get?

So basically... the clock may be of some help to stop piracy of your AdHoc beta versions.
...and this idea could be simplified/expanded if GameSalad supported...

• get/post attribute data to a PHP/MySQL web server
• Unix Timestamp

Ha... tags still work... so I made this one of my cool tips...
http://gamesalad.com/forums/tags.php?tag=photics-cool-tips

Comments

  • tenrdrmertenrdrmer Member, Sous Chef, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 9,934
    Interesting idea. Just don't forget to remove it on your app store build.
    Warning There was an error rendering this rich post.
  • PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
    tenrdrmer said:
    Interesting idea. Just don't forget to remove it on your app store build.

    Actually, this could be expanded to help thwart piracy on regular apps too...

    • Set expiration date to November 2011.
    • In early October 2011, release a new version of the game with a new expiration date.

    Now... two things will happen...

    Legitimate customers (that didn't already upgrade) will be reminded to update their game. You can leave a message... This version of the app will cease to function on December 2011. Update this month to keep playing. Then, in December, the app will stop working. Maybe not stop working... but have a really annoying message box on the screen. Developers can decide their personal nuisance level.

    Pirates will see the message and then do one of two things... pirate a newer version of your game... or actually go and buy it. The point is you're reminding them that they're stealing... and that it's not going unnoticed. If the app is pirated, I don't think it automatically updates. (I'm not sure.) So, that can be used to the advantage of developers.

    It forces players to upgrade and it basically becomes a form of marketing aimed towards pirates.
    HA HA!
  • beefy_clyrobeefy_clyro Member Posts: 5,394
    How do they pirate the beta builds in the 1st time, i thought the UDID would need to be registered so it plays?

    I guess they crack it but once your apps released for bottom price, they'll get the full version and crack it again. Its a simple idea worth putting in but i dont think its really going to combat piracy, i guess the best bit will be that it stops them playing before the final release.
    Warning There was an error rendering this rich post.
  • calvin9403calvin9403 Member Posts: 3,186
    I think sever clock will be awesome since I hate platers change there times

    so the will have to hack gamesalad which is not easy

    and i also will like to sea way to block pirates(besides using IAP and make your game free), maybe we can do is connect to the server and check the .plist or something like that

    CAlvin
  • DigiChainDigiChain Member, PRO Posts: 1,288
    This does sound like a good idea - but could possibly frustrate legit customers who haven't updated when every so often their games freezes up.

    In response to Beefy>
    Yeah i think you're right - the hackers can just keep repurchasing and cracking the game again, but... its the people who are playing the cracked game when it freezes that may decide to hust buy it, especially if they're really into your game and don't want to wait however long for someone to crack it again.

    Do others think Photics idea is any good?
  • PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
    Digi-chain said:
    This does sound like a good idea - but could possibly frustrate legit customers who haven't updated when every so often their games freezes up.

    ...so don't freeze things up. Just a little alert on the screen should accomplish the same thing. The trick is to make sure that the new version is out before the alert starts nagging people.

    That's where communication with a web server would make this even better. The message could appear immediately after an update.
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2025