Playing a game without a CD / help!

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Hi!

I bought Age of Empires 3 for Mac and it's awesome!

Only drawback is that I need to put in the CD every time I want to play the game. Is there any way by which I can play the game without having to use the CD every time (like copying it on the HD or something like that)??

Thanks!
 

Raz0rEdge

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Most games usually have some sort of copy protection scheme that is on the CD so that having it there means that you have a valid copy of the game..attempting to work-around that is breaking those copy protection schemes and cannot be discussed here..

Is it really that much of a chore to pop a CD in to play? :)

Regards
 

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Welcome to DRM, my friend.
 
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well, im not talking about breaking any protection schemes...I've bought the game legally.

However, as I do travel alot, I don't always want to take the CDs with me (as there's more risk of breaking them, scratching them, etc...). Had the game been on my HD (like with SC 2, which I bought online) then I wouldnt have to worry about this problem...
 

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well, im not talking about breaking any protection schemes...I've bought the game legally.

Tough luck, according to copyright law. Even if you have bought it legally, you arent allowed. Using the game without a CD is breaking protection.

Trust me, we are on your side. there should no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to do this, seeing as you legally bought the game. But until copyright laws are re-written you are just gonna have to deal with it, or go to the shadier side of the web to get what you want.


Just don't get me started on Steam.
 
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bah..copyright law sucks ((
 

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This is an aged old story about game companies trying to protect their hard work and gamers looking for convenience. The old DRM method of requiring you to enter some random word from the manual is long gone since people might not be careful with the manual..but using the physical media (CD these days, but floppies from back in the day) to authenticate ownership is more feasible.

A few developers opted to use authentication to a server on the Internet for their games and got a lot of backlash from gamers..so there is no clear solution to this..for as long as pirates are out to grab and release games there'll be some sort of DRM in place to TRY to keep honest people honest..

Regards
 
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This is why steam is just about the greatest thing to happen to gaming ever. Unfortunately Age of Empires is not on steam.
 

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This is why steam is just about the greatest thing to happen to gaming ever. Unfortunately Age of Empires is not on steam.

Steam is the worst thing ever. period.

no internet? then sorry, you cant play your legit games. log in first so you can turn offline mode on.

oh i see you have your internet back! its time for me to crash then.
 
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Steam is the worst thing ever. period.

no internet? then sorry, you cant play your legit games. log in first so you can turn offline mode on.

oh i see you have your internet back! its time for me to crash then.

It crashes a lot on mac not on pc. They just dont care about us mac people. And if you turn on offline mode in the first place then you can start it up just fine in offline mode any time.
 

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mine consistently crashes on my PC whenever the game crashes (especially games with mods) and it takes about ten years for it to log on again. its just a massive DRM barrier with a corner shop mutated onto it.
 
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mine consistently crashes on my PC whenever the game crashes (especially games with mods) and it takes about ten years for it to log on again. its just a massive DRM barrier with a corner shop mutated onto it.

Well then just buy the games on disc for those that you can.
 

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Well then just buy the games on disc for those that you can.

I dont buy games off Steam, I buy them on disc, only to find they are "Steam-powered" and that i have to use the stupid application in order to play them.

When it works, and if I had good internet, it would be fine. But I don't have either of those things usually. I have to start up in offline mode in order to get it to log in properly.
 

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I dont buy games off Steam, I buy them on disc, only to find they are "Steam-powered" and that i have to use the stupid application in order to play them.

When it works, and if I had good internet, it would be fine. But I don't have either of those things usually. I have to start up in offline mode in order to get it to log in properly.

Surprised to see that kind of reaction. I love Steam and it's been pretty darned stable for me on my Windows 7 gaming rig. On the Mac it's been less so, but then, it's not nearly as mature as the Windows version (I've been running Steam since 2004, when HL2 debuted with it).

Either way, I'd say Steam is DRM done right (or about as well as it can be) - it's unobtrusive and actually opens up the possibility of porting a game to any computer I log into with my Steam account.

If you were a geek in the days of games on floppies with copy-protection, you'd understand just how annoying DRM can be. Especially when some bone-headed copy protection scheme knocked your $250 floppy drive out of alignment :D
 

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Either way, I'd say Steam is DRM done right (or about as well as it can be) - it's unobtrusive and actually opens up the possibility of porting a game to any computer I log into with my Steam account.

If you were a geek in the days of games on floppies with copy-protection, you'd understand just how annoying DRM can be. Especially when some bone-headed copy protection scheme knocked your $250 floppy drive out of alignment :D

Haha no experience of floppy drive de-alignment myself ;)

as for DRM: i can definitely see why people like Steam. It libraries your games, online is through Steam, not scattered via different services like battlenet, gamespy and so on, and for anyone with a decent connection it would seem spot on.

But for those of us that cant seem to get stable connection (im on the edge of my wifi range, constantly disconnects) and for when it crashes, i cant play unless I log back on. I ask, why do I have to log back on in order to play this game? I authorised the key through Steam. Do you not trust me anymore? Do you think in the period between playing the game (through Steam) and it crashing, I have downloaded a new pirated version? why cant i just play it?

Of course this is definitely not a widely based issue, its rather personal to me, but it really gets on my nerve.

The best DRM is no DRM. Its obvious you cant stop it. I think developers need to inject a little bit of trust into the consumers. Don't force us to use an application like Steam; it should be out of choice. Its not fair that pirates can get past it and we can't.
 

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Hi!

I bought Age of Empires 3 for Mac and it's awesome!

Only drawback is that I need to put in the CD every time I want to play the game. Is there any way by which I can play the game without having to use the CD every time (like copying it on the HD or something like that)??

Thanks!


I wish there was a new AOE out - it's really the only game I've ever really allowed myself to be sucked into. I used to hate the CD requirement as well - but eventually got used to it.

I got a wild hair last night to play something similar to AOE on my new iMAC - so I downloaded Rome - Total War from the App Store - at first glance - it's nowhere near AOE. I probably just wasted $30 as I don't see myself even playing it.

This is one advantage of the App store though - no need for CDs :) if you can handle the 3+GB download.
 

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I got a wild hair last night to play something similar to AOE on my new iMAC - so I downloaded Rome - Total War from the App Store - at first glance - it's nowhere near AOE. I probably just wasted $30 as I don't see myself even playing it.

To be honest mate, Rome is the worst of the series.

the Total War series is brilliant. It sticks to the realism of warfare through history, politics, trade and economy all being factors; this is something you just dont see in games like AOE (dont get me wrong, i love the games.). Shogun 2 and Empire/Napoleon are probably the best ones.

If you like AOE, I would check out Starcraft. (1 & 2, they are both brilliant.)
 

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To be honest mate, Rome is the worst of the series.

the Total War series is brilliant. It sticks to the realism of warfare through history, politics, trade and economy all being factors; this is something you just dont see in games like AOE (dont get me wrong, i love the games.). Shogun 2 and Empire/Napoleon are probably the best ones.

If you like AOE, I would check out Starcraft. (1 & 2, they are both brilliant.)

I may just do that - I've seen that recommended before. I'm just afraid of getting sucked into a game - AOE stole quite a few hours from my life - and I really can't do that right now. Regarding ROME total war - I've only gone through the tutorial - but I was underwhelmed by the graphics out of the gate. There's just something about AOE that I really enjoyed - but I may give ROME a few plays to see if it grows on me. :)
 

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I may just do that - I've seen that recommended before. I'm just afraid of getting sucked into a game - AOE stole quite a few hours from my life - and I really can't do that right now. Regarding ROME total war - I've only gone through the tutorial - but I was underwhelmed by the graphics out of the gate. There's just something about AOE that I really enjoyed - but I may give ROME a few plays to see if it grows on me. :)

you should see Shogun at 1920 x 1080p DX11 ;) looks really brilliant lol.

Starcraft is almost exactly the same format as AOE. typical collect resources, grow, smash opponent.
 

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you should see Shogun at 1920 x 1080p DX11 ;) looks really brilliant lol.

Starcraft is almost exactly the same format as AOE. typical collect resources, grow, smash opponent.

My kind of game. Are the graphics good? What's Shogun? Nevermind - don't tell me. I get OCD about these things - which is why I don't buy myself games. :)
 

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