Author Topic: Starforce Protection (Read 551 times)

Irwink! · « **on:** March 08, 2007, 03:30:46 PM »

I don't buy a lot of games but went into the local CompUsa today and figured I'd pick up FS-X. While perusing the shelves I spied Ubisoft's Silent Hunter III. Since I used to like sub games and hadn't bought one in almost 20 years I picked it up. Twenty bucks, what the heck? Well I got home and installed it under Vista and fortunately Vista choked on Starforce. I didn't realize Starforce was even used on this game. So I uninstalled the game and did a system restore to get rid of it.

I poked around a bit on the web and on Ubisoft's site but didn't see anything about a patch or whatever that would get rid of the Starforce protection. I know Ubisoft got sued for it and to the best of my knowledge doesn't use it anymore on new releases. My question - does anyone know if there is a patch or any other official way of installing Silent Hunter III without Starforce? Probably not, but I figured I would ask here. And if not, how invasive is the version of Starforce on SH III? If I elect to install it at all I'll do so under XP. Thanks.

Aqualung · « **Reply #1 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:00:09 PM »

Here's instructions on getting SHIII to work with Vista

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=105144

Skuzzy · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:14:21 PM »

I thought Ubisoft had gotten rid of Starforce in SHIII.

Krusty · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:25:57 PM »

So did I... maybe you need to install it then use the patches to remove it?

Skuzzy · « **Reply #4 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:44:50 PM »

Someone want to confirm SHIII still uses Starforce or not? If it still has it, then I ain't touching it with a ten foot pole.

eskimo2 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:49:48 PM »

What the heck is Starforce and why is it so bad?

Reschke · « **Reply #6 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:49:55 PM »

Roger that Skuzzy. I nearly picked it up just like Irwink! did BUT then I remembered something about it and ran for the door...hoping and praying that SH4 doesn't use any crap like Starforce either.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #7 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:50:46 PM »

Ok, maybe I am confused. I thought SHIII was the current release. Is SH4 the current release?

LePaul · « **Reply #8 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:53:02 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by eskimo2
What the heck is Starforce and why is it so bad?

The "protection" scheme can dump your system, since it affects drivers at the I/O level. Lots of people had lost use of DVD/CD Writers and other things, all in their "effort" to protect the game.

Its referenced in a big DRM/Piracy debate we had in the Hardware Section 2 weeks ago.

john9001 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:56:57 PM »

SH4 is the new one , but i don't have it yet.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2007, 04:59:52 PM »

Thanks john. I believe SH4 is Starfoce free. Phew. Sorry for the confusion folks.

Russian · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2007, 05:06:33 PM »

There is a guide somewhere online that tells how to install SH3 without that lovely protection.
I run it on my system and it's starforce free.

Gunslinger · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2007, 05:21:33 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Someone want to confirm SHIII still uses Starforce or not? If it still has it, then I ain't touching it with a ten foot pole.

He might have just gotten an older box.

Irwink! · « **Reply #13 on:** March 08, 2007, 05:45:36 PM »

A member of the forum kindly pm'ed me with all the info for removing Starforce. !

When I picked it up I just assumed that the Starforce garbage was all over. Like I said, I don't buy that many games. After closely scrutinizing the package after the fact there is tiny little yellow block of text on the back that says, "Note: This game contains technolgy to prevent copying that may conflict with some CD-RW, DVD-RW, and virtual drives."

It didn't look like an old copy that had been beating around on a shelf for awhile. There was also more than one copy. Oh well, lesson learned.

Ack-Ack · « **Reply #14 on:** March 08, 2007, 06:24:46 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
I thought Ubisoft had gotten rid of Starforce in SHIII.

they did get rid of it but it wasn't until after the release of SHIII. There are programs that will let you safely uninstall the starforce protection and still have SHIII run on your system.

ack-ack