Electronics Arts (EA) sucks shit!!!!!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-03-07 06:34pm

Every Command and Conquer game has always had two CD's, both of which were playable. This meant that you could legally run a two-player head to head LAN game with just one copy.

But guess what: with C&C Generals and the acquisition/dissolution of Westwood by EA, the tradition has been broken. Now, the second CD is unplayable, and it demands the first CD. That's the first problem: the two-for-one tradition of Westwood is history. Second problem: it does a serial number check, so if you try to start up a LAN game by transferring the CD to the second machine after the disc check, it will crap out with a "same serial" error and refuse to play.

In short, we have yet another game in which a cracked warez copy will actually be BETTER than a legally purchased copy. It will be more convenient, and you will have the ability to play head to head LAN games. EA quietly fucked over Westwood's loyal customers by dissolving a longstanding policy and not even mentioning it anywhere (of course). I had to lodge two separate tickets with EA tech support in order to get them to confirm that this was even true, the sneaky bastards ...

EA sucks shit!!!!

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2003-03-07 06:40pm

Yarr Matey!!!

*starts up Kazaa Lite*

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-03-07 06:44pm

Wong, try this:

Get VirtualDrive, which creates an artificial CD rom drive on your hard drive. Then do:

1. Start game on machine with both CD and virtualdrive loaded (Virtual Drive has to have a VCD of the game already made).

2. Once that machine's poised to start a game or whatever (meaning, at the ready screen or whatever screen that's right before the match starts), take the CD out. With the virtual drive active, Generals should think the comp still has the CD inside it.

3. Transfer CD to second comp and load up game.

4. If you want to play LAN on more than two comps, have Virtual Drive loaded on all but one of the comps---that one comp will be using just the CD.

That's what I did with Diablo 2, which has just about the same level of strictness regarding CD-checking and all. Hope this solution helps.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-03-07 06:44pm

They're also trying to pass off 21 missions as a campaign. Red Alert had 29, with two or three choices for 2/3's of them and was only two sided.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-03-07 06:51pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:They're also trying to pass off 21 missions as a campaign. Red Alert had 29, with two or three choices for 2/3's of them and was only two sided.

Yes, I was quite disgusted with the pathetic campaigns. The game has the earmarks of having its engine barely finished and then being rushed out the door with almost no thought given to the single-player game. However, the skirmish mode is cool and I do like the game on balance. The gameplay reminds me of Steel Soldiers, but it has more depth and tactical variation than Steel Soldiers did.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2003-03-07 06:57pm

Might have to use the B&B sollution. Boycott a series you like in order to force the idiots to either be fired or fix the problem.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-03-07 07:07pm

The LAN thing is annoying, but other than that I can't wait to get online and play, damn uni firewall has been keeping me from that and the AI is getting too tiresome.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-03-07 07:09pm

Darth Wong wrote:
Sea Skimmer wrote:They're also trying to pass off 21 missions as a campaign. Red Alert had 29, with two or three choices for 2/3's of them and was only two sided.
Yes, I was quite disgusted with the pathetic campaigns. The game has the earmarks of having its engine barely finished and then being rushed out the door with almost no thought given to the single-player game. However, the skirmish mode is cool and I do like the game on balance. The gameplay reminds me of Steel Soldiers, but it has more depth and tactical variation than Steel Soldiers did.

Well, I like missions, though since the original C&C95 it's been hard to actually lose most of them. In he original it was generally a matter of use the sandbag of doom or die very quickly. Skirmish is good, but I tire of it quickly, and beyond Starcraft I've never really liked online multiplayer

Post by **fgalkin** » 2003-03-07 07:17pm

Alyeska wrote:Might have to use the B&B sollution. Boycott a series you like in order to force the idiots to either be fired or fix the problem.

And, while you're at it, play Cossacks.

Up to 8,000 units on the battlefield.

This game rocks!

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-03-07 07:32pm

Medieval! Up to 10,000!

Post by **fgalkin** » 2003-03-07 07:46pm

HemlockGrey wrote:Medieval! Up to 10,000!

Yes, but there cannons don't slaughter dozens of units at a time. And it doesn't have the ultimate unit of all time, the Victory Battleship.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2003-03-07 08:24pm

fgalkin wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:Medieval! Up to 10,000!
Yes, but there cannons don't slaughter dozens of units at a time. And it doesn't have the ultimate unit of all time, the Victory Battleship.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

What cannons were you using? My Invincible Doom Legion of the Briton Empire always brought a demi-culverin with it to devastating effect.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2003-03-07 08:26pm

Uh...I'm sure if I knew more about computers, or played C and C alot, I'd be really mad about this...

Anyway, nice pictures, fgalkin!

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-03-07 08:38pm

DW, have you considered getting a cheap cracked copy?

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-03-07 09:29pm

You can find cracks for this off certain websites, but, seeing that that would constitute an illegal activity, it cannot be discussed here.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-03-07 09:37pm

The last bastion of good games is Sierra and Blizzard, and some other smaller ones.

Have they started to implement copy protection? (I don't think HW:C was copy-protected, though attempts to copy it failed). The reason is that WineX won't run with it unless you pay for the copy protection features (reasonable price though, but I have no cash). It's moot anyways though because Linux does not support 3D graphics on my 5 year old graphics card (Aopen PA740D (uses i740 chipset)).

Has anyone tried using WineX?

And yes I do realize it's stupid if you have a windows machine, but if/when I get better hardware, I would not like to duel boot just to play games.

EA has shit support. Anyone know where I can get a replacement CD key by mailing in the original disks (not pirated, someone just gave it to me, since he got bored.)? Then again it's moot anyways, since multiplayer is only supported until 2003.

Startrek Armada is old, and Activision still supports it. So is Tribes. Stupid money-grubbing EA. At least they should release server software. (I don't know if they have, since without CD key can't play multiplayer)

Later someone *ahem* will start calling me (or us) anti-capitalist or socialist.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-03-07 09:41pm

Even Microsoft is better than Electronic "Arts"

Datana · Post by **Datana** » 2003-03-07 09:52pm

Pu-239 wrote:The last bastion of good games is Sierra and Blizzard, and some other smaller ones.

Have they started to implement copy protection? (I don't think HW:C was copy-protected, though attempts to copy it failed).

Both of these have implemented copy protection. HW:C definitely had it (in-house protection; it works better than some of the "professional" protect systems, surprisingly), though the original HW didn't. Every one of Blizzard's games since Diablo 2 have been copy protected with SafeDisc 2 (which really isn't so safe and easily bypassed, if one knows how). Remember that Blizzard also removed the "cloning" feature from Diablo 2 (in the original Diablo, one could have as many multiplayer terminals as one wanted), replacing it with key and CD checks for each system.

My own peeve with EA is their stupid trend of remapping the controls on all of their Playstation and PS2 games between the U.S., Japan, and Europe. In the case of the Final Fantasy series (translated and distributed by them), this resulted in a control scheme that was standard since the original NES games getting thrown out in favor of one that changed with each new release. In addition, theirs was for a while one of those company sites which performed a check for IE and refused entry if one was using anything else. A whole bunch of small issues kind of built up and soured me on them.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-03-07 09:55pm

All those Cossacks pictures are nice, but for all C&C Generals' cost structure and single-player faults, the FAE bomb is just beautiful. Brings tears of joy to my eyes when I see that bad boy go off. And of course, there are other cool touches like the Rangers fast-roping down into a hostile building from choppers, the Chinese nuke cannon, etc. And the graphics of the thermonuclear blast are just beautiful, even if it's a wee bit less powerful than you'd expect

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-03-07 10:08pm

Pu-239 wrote:The last bastion of good games is Sierra and Blizzard, and some other smaller ones.

Sierra and Blizzard.

I hate both those companies.

Sierra for the reasons that I have stated SOOOOO many times before, and Blizzard because, well, I haven't liked a product of theirs since Starcraft, and to be quite honest they haven't had a a single innovative product since Warcraft 1.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-03-07 10:12pm

Darth Wong wrote:All those Cossacks pictures are nice, but for all C&C Generals' cost structure and single-player faults, the FAE bomb is just beautiful. Brings tears of joy to my eyes when I see that bad boy go off. And of course, there are other cool touches like the Rangers fast-roping down into a hostile building from choppers, the Chinese nuke cannon, etc. And the graphics of the thermonuclear blast are just beautiful, even if it's a wee bit less powerful than you'd expect

It's a C&C nuke, which means with a near miss large masonry power plants will be wiped out, while two tents suffer 50% damage from a direct hit.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-03-07 10:16pm

Pu-239 wrote:The last bastion of good games is Sierra and Blizzard, and some other smaller ones.

Sierra and Blizzard.

I hate both those companies.

Sierra for the reasons that I have stated SOOOOO many times before, and Blizzard because, well, I haven't liked a product of theirs since Starcraft, and to be quite honest they haven't had a a single innovative product since Warcraft 1.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-03-07 10:29pm

weemadando wrote:
Pu-239 wrote:The last bastion of good games is Sierra and Blizzard, and some other smaller ones.
Sierra and Blizzard.

I hate both those companies.

Sierra for the reasons that I have stated SOOOOO many times before, and Blizzard because, well, I haven't liked a product of theirs since Starcraft, and to be quite honest they haven't had a a single innovative product since Warcraft 1.

Warcraft 2 was the best of the 3.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-03-07 10:35pm

You're kidding me- I'm the CD swap KING! And they stop me from doing it in Generals!?!?! Good thing I never tried it, or I'd be the one making this thread.

Goddamit.

Hmmm- looking at Cossacks it looks like my kind of game. I already have Shogun and Medieval, of course.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-03-07 10:39pm

Vympel wrote:You're kidding me- I'm the CD swap KING! And they stop me from doing it in Generals!?!?! Good thing I never tried it, or I'd be the one making this thread.

As an aside, it is possible to CD swap for a LAN game as long as you have two separate serial numbers. Of course, getting a second valid serial number would technically be illegal, so I can't publicly recommend it as a remedy