+Winder Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Just a quick note to let you all know where the ongoing development process of OFF stands: We have at last managed to crack the hardcode for the cloud turbulence (Thanks Tom!) We will also be consolidating the two optional DMs into one as we cannot maintain two DMs indefinately. Also we are looking at the quick exit routine as well as making craft ground crash effects more variable. The above fixes will be available as a patch when the first Addon Pack becomes available. The patch will be independant of the payware Addon Packs. So we are also working on the first OFF addon pack and details of its contents will be revealed closer to the time... And now the 'bad news' although for us its 'good news' as its a necessary step given the amount of piracy - and we are looking into the following scenario quite seriously: In order for users to install Addons into OFF you will need a registration number - this will be supplied by OBD when we receive a confirmation e-mail from the purchaser stating his purchase number. We will then check it and send a unique regsitration code to allow OFF to access the addons. This is a once off process and does not require anything more than the exchange of two e-mails. The base OFF P3 will remain as is and the registration is only required to access the new addon packs...... it does not apply to ongoing patches - at the moment, although we may review that further down the line. Piracy is rife and its quite sad. Cheers WM Quote
+Olham Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Great news about the clouds; just yesterday I lost a pilot, who came out of warp into an outer haze of a cloud - his craft broke up, before I could catch him up. The registration thing is not a problem at all - I would do the same with "my baby" - very understandable. I have a minor thing going on, which you could perhaps change, too. I have two rigs connected to a switch point with one monitor. Now, when I start BHaH, I often find it in the wrong resolution (which can be annoying, when you have gone through the whole briefing etc., and then get kicked out). Can it be made, that the resolution the player chose, will be memorised and used, until he changes it again? (If I'm the only one who has that problem, forget about it - then it may be just my problem). Quote
markl Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Could you do what Matrix games have done, issue everyone who buys an addon pack a serial. If that serial ever gets posted on the web it get blacklisted for future patches. If you just supply a once off code, could that too be just posted on the web, or is it tied to a PC like activation. Could you please give a little more info on how this would work. One has to remember that added DRM is a two edged sword. It saves some piracy but can also cost some customers. One reson why I will never purchase RoF is it's DRM. Anyway please do not take this as negative, as I hope to be supporting OFF for years to come. Cheers MarkL Quote
Duce Lewis Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Great news on the cloud effect Winder No problems on the registration Thanks for all your efforts! Quote
UK_Widowmaker Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Yes..one has to take steps!...So, can understand the registration thing (quite a few of my games are registered that way, without any problems at all)..Just don't use Steam!..AAARG!...lol Great news about the Crash effects!!...a real plus that will be highly anticipated!..great work as usual..and well done to Tom..whoever you are Quote
Gous Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Great news Winder! The registration number won't be so inconvenient for us so no worries. Looking forward to see the future of this great game. Quote
Hellshade Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Awesome news about the cloud turbulance and the crash effects. No worries on the registration. 2 e-mails? I think everyone can certainly handle that. I'm looking forward to the add on pak too. Hellshade Quote
Check Six Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Most members at this forum would happily comply. I'm sure all your hard work will be rewarded soon. Thanks for everything. Good news about the cloud turbulence "problem" too. Quote
JimAttrill Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 As a software developer myself, I think that anything you do to avoid piracy is something I will support. I must add that I don't pay for stuff sold by M$ as they have too much money anyway. But I appreciate the efforts of the OFF team though it did annoy me to have to buy CFS3 first .... It is possible to encode a DVD, as done by the Oscar people who discovered which person was selling their pre-release movies to the Chinese this way. But to give each DVD a unique serial no is a bit of a pain for you. Now I just have to find my 'purchase number' - I hope I kept the email. ps. As I bought OFF for $39.99 and it is now on sale for $29.99 when will you send me my $10? :yes: Quote
+Hasse Wind Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 It's quite easy to lose the order number from Avangate, fortunately I've printed the e-mails I got when I bought OFF. But I understand the need for such registration, and this method is much, MUCH more preferable to having some of those new DRM thingies at least one other flight sim is currently using. Good to know you can do something to the cloud problem. It's quite annoying to lose pilots because of the crazy turbulence. Hopefully some of your coder gurus can also change the AI bionic vision! Quote
+Winder Posted July 1, 2009 Author Posted July 1, 2009 As a software developer myself, I think that anything you do to avoid piracy is something I will support. I must add that I don't pay for stuff sold by M$ as they have too much money anyway. But I appreciate the efforts of the OFF team though it did annoy me to have to buy CFS3 first .... It is possible to encode a DVD, as done by the Oscar people who discovered which person was selling their pre-release movies to the Chinese this way. But to give each DVD a unique serial no is a bit of a pain for you. Now I just have to find my 'purchase number' - I hope I kept the email. ps. As I bought OFF for $39.99 and it is now on sale for $29.99 when will you send me my $10? :yes: HTH WM Quote
Panama Red Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 I too am looking forward to your addon pack. I own quite a few Matrix games and one of the main reasons is they have the least "intrusive" anti-piracy policy with just a serial number that you have to apply every time you install a new patch (which is a whole lot better than constantly being online to play one of their games like some other publishers require). Quote
sandbagger Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Just as a heads up, Tom may be better known to some of you by his aka 'Rex Hannover'. Tom works tirelessly in the background and rarely steps out into daylight. However, without his skills and dedication, much of what has been achieved in BHaH would not have been possible. Quote
Creaghorn Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Hopefully some of your coder gurus can also change the AI bionic vision! Secondly the issue of AI visual range has been brought up dozens of times, we are aware, no need to keep telling us guys :)*IF* it's possible to adjust then yes it would be good, we will look at. WM i think the devs know about it Quote
Test Pilot Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Fantastic news! And a registration key shouldnt be too much of a hindrance at all (provided one is able to upgrade computers and still use the same code). Quote
Rickitycrate Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 As always, you guys are a great little group of devs. Continuous support and involvement with the forum. As users we are blessed not just for a great product out of the box but also the continued support and dare I say even friendship you offer. Thanks for the all the right moves you make and may your efforts be successful. Quote
Herr Prop-Wasche Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Thanks for the update! I have no problem with the registration idea, we can't let the blasted pirates scuttle our chances for P4! The changes/modifications sound great, too! Cloud buffeting and the too early exit when killed (and I get killed a lot) are my only major gripes. One additional small suggestion, which should be easy to implement. For the dialog boxes, like the weather info box, in addition to using the mouse to click "Done" to dismiss the box, could you add a command to allow us to use the "Enter" key? I find that using the enter key is frequently faster and more convenient than fumbling around with the mouse. Quote
Winston DoRight Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 I hope you mean we'll need the order number from the Add-on Pack purchase and not the original order number from the intital OFF purchase. The March email from Avangate I have deleted long ago. Quote
Test Pilot Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 Speaking of piracy, a site which shall not be mentioned is no more.... at least it wont be like it was running before... Quote
+Winder Posted July 1, 2009 Author Posted July 1, 2009 I hope you mean we'll need the order number from the Add-on Pack purchase and not the original order number from the intital OFF purchase. The March email from Avangate I have deleted long ago. Yep WM Quote
Hellshade Posted July 1, 2009 Posted July 1, 2009 I hope you mean we'll need the order number from the Add-on Pack purchase and not the original order number from the intital OFF purchase. The March email from Avangate I have deleted long ago. I believe that they do mean the order number for the add-on pak and not OFF P3 itself. At least I hope so. My original e-mail order from them is long gone as well. Also, it's probably too early to answer this question, but is the add on pak going to be compatible with P4? Hellshade Quote
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