Game Distribution Protection

This may have been mentioned before, but I can't seem to find any active topic discussing this now.

I'm still months, if not, a year away from having my latest game complete. As most of you know, I plan to have a free demo of the game available but intend to sell the full version.

I've been thinking about it a lot recently and I'm concerned about security and potential piracy issues with the RPG file. By default, it's pretty easy for anyone to distribute any OHR game however they want.

My fear is that someone can get ahold of a copy of the full version and host it somewhere or share it with multiple people. I realize that in a perfect world I'd still only make a total of tens of twenties of dollars on this game, but at the same time I'd rather people not share a full version of the game with someone who did not pay for it.

I understand that some of this will happen regardless of what I do, but is there any real way to force a "license-like" tag on each RPG file that is sold? I really doubt that it will be a huge issue considering the game will likely have a very small audience, but id still like to be able to combat security issues if I am able to do so.

I'm not really concerned with security issues on Android, it is PC-based installs that concern me. Any thoughts or input would be much appreciated.

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Cornbread Chemist

I've been wondering the same thing but figured its too early on for me to ask. I would like to know this too...

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It's best to just ignore piracy. Almost every PC game ever made is freely pirated these days, but they still make money. Any sort of DRM scheme you might come up with will likely only serve to turn people off your game.

However, if you're really worried, then I suggest only distributing it through android. It's pretty hard to get into PC based distributors anyways.

Actually, because of badly implemented and over-restrictive copy-protection scemes in some big games, it has become a positive selling point for indie games to be "DRM Free"

I am not aware of any good reliable safe way to do copy protection.

I think it is cool that you are planning on selling Ruin. I hope it works well for you. I notice that sometimes people seem to take a game more seriously if they pay for it than if you give it away for free.

Are you working with the latest nightly WIP version? I have already added experimental support for honor-system-based paypal purchases, so you could give the game away, and when people play to the end of the demo, they could be directed to paypal to unlock the full version.

The unlock is honor-system based, so people could still ignore it, but I think when people are given the chance to pay a fair amount for a game they like, they often take it.

The bonus of this system, is that even if some pirate does redistribute the game without your permission, the people why download a copy from the pirate still get the same paypal prompt, and still get the same opportunity to honourably pay for the game.

I tried to design the paypal option to synchronize with the OUYA purchase option (finished) and the Android Google Play Store Option (Barely started) but those two will actually enforce the purchase using the store's API, so they lack the honor-system aspect.

You are too dern beautiful, James.

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dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

All of this has really made me start re-thinking my ideas about having some sort of protection in place. You guys bring up good points against having that sort of feature, so I think you've changed my mind about it.

I have not been playing with the nightlies but I'll definitely check it out. Sounds like a really cool feature!

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Cornbread Chemist

Forget these hippies and their "Conscience be your guide" bullcrap. You're gonna want to lock that thing up pretty tight. Best way to do it would be old school "Flip your manual to page 47, line 4, word 3 and put that word here, yo!" style. Shouldn't be hard to do with strings, and you could regularly change the "manual" and codes to minimize the chances of someone spreading one set of codes around and defeating the whole thing. Protect your investment!

That's a good idea, although there's nothing stopping the illegal distributor from also distributing copies of the manual (Assuming the game is distributed digitally). If the game is sold as hard copies then this should work. But it should not be as simple as "look here, this is the password"... You're better off having like 100 passwords scattered throughout the manual which the games program randomly chooses to prompt you for. That way the illegal distributor has to scan the entire manual to digital format just so the next guy can look up the corresponding code. Although if one guy is determined to waste 20 minutes of his time doing so, then you're screwed.

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⊕ P E R S O N A L M U S I C: https://open.spotify.com/album/6fEo3fCm5C3XhtFRflfANr
⍠ C O L L A B M U S I C: https://dustpuppets.bandcamp.com/releases

I think the paypal thing is nice for donations (not that I would ever want to use Paypal in the first place), but if I sold a PC game I would certainly just sell the whole game instead of using an in-app purchase.

I have heard very good things about both selling and buying games through the Humble Store/Widgets. Indie game developers love it; it seems to be the most popular option.

As far as DRM goes, if I was ever going to use any sort of DRM (and I'm not a fan) I might have a simple, but completely optional online component to the game, such as a registered account for an online high score table. If you distribute your purchased copy to others then everyone with a pirated copy ends up with the same username, making it both blatantly obvious who did so, and hopefully nudging people towards buying a copy.

That reminds me. http://itch.io/ will sell OHRRPGCE games, although I don't really know how popular it is.

Those are all good points and I appreciate it. Still toying around with exactly what route I'm going to go with at this point.

Giz, that was fantastic by the way.

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Cornbread Chemist

Speaking of selling games, I made my first $1 sale today of Crypt of Baconthulhu on itch.io

Of course after paypal fees, that is $0.66 but it is a token show of support that makes me smile.

Combined with the 33.46 I have earned from the OUYA version (after fees) I calculate that if I was paying myself California minimum wage, I have earned pay my first 4 hours and 15 minutes of game-making.

I guess I have a way to go before I get to buy a bigger house ;)

Grand jaerb! I'll be using Pygame to make my first game I'm going to sell (in, like, 10 years from now at least at this rate).
And big houses are over-rated :p
Have you considered a steam release? I, uh, may consider supporting you myself ;)

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dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

As someone who used to be particularly obsessed with DRM, and then changed my mind..

Most DRM schemes will cost you more time and money than just shipping the game DRM-less. At most, sell it on mobile first where the store handles all the purchase enforcement for you. Let Google worry about keeping people from copying the game.

My overall plan with games is to sell them all DRM-less, but the only way to post on the official forums and get official support is to prove you paid for the game, at which point your account will be granted access to that game's support functionality and subforum on my website. You really cannot pirate social interaction and official support, so I think that's a fairly good incentive to keep people legit.

Also, to be honest.. pirating groups tend to break games just for the cred and the bragging. You actually tend to fly under their radar because they can't use your game as an ad for their skills if it's DRM free.

How do you prove you paid for the game, out of curiosity?

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