Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!samsung!caen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!jhunix!barrett From: barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: BLAZEMONGER III - Darn near release! Message-ID: <7668@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> Date: 1 Mar 91 00:26:05 GMT References: <691.27cb84db@vger.nsu.edu> <1991Feb28.054159.16891@evax.arl.utexas.edu> Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - HCF Lines: 59 >[Many feeble attempts at guesing BMIII's copy protection scheme deleted.] No, I am afraid you are ALL WRONG. BLAZEMONGER III does not use any of those WIMPY protection methods. First, let's look at a little history. Here is a description of the copy protection from the original BLAZEMONGER: >Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga >From: barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) >Subject: The ONLY way to get RAW, UNBRIDLED SPEED in an Amiga program >Date: 7 Dec 90 17:18:14 GMT > > Copy protected? You BET!! BLAZEMONGER uses disk protection, dongle >protection, "look up the word in the manual" protection, "look up the word >in the DICTIONARY" protection (Webster's 4th edition), 40-number YALE >COMBINATION LOCK protection, and an impenetrable TEFLON COATING around the >entire disk!!! And for your added safety, your high scores are written to >the super-protected MASTER DISK, so the pesky scores CANNOT ESCAPE and post >themselves to THOUSANDS OF BULLETIN BOARDS, bragging about their MAGNITUDE! BLAZEMONGER II, as I reported a few weeks ago in this newsgroup, was so fast that it shot into into outer space before we could market it. This is, perhaps, the ultimate form of copy protection. But we OUTDID this on BLAZEMONGER III, and WITH EASE. Here are a few of the failed CP methods we toyed with: o Oversized disk (3.6") that cannot be inserted into the drive. o Custom startup code that seeks out and destroys all executable programs containing any output functions, thereby preventing copying. o Hallucinogenic coating on the packaging that makes you THINK you are copying the disk, when in reality you are inserting it into your kitchen toaster. (Toaster included.) But these all FAILED our EXTENSIVE ANTI-ANTI-ANTI-copy protection TESTS. We instead are using the latest ULTIMATE CP TECHNOLOGY, while at the same time GIVING AWAY THE GAME FOR FREE. IMPOSSIBLE?? NO! Thanks to our ULTIMATE PROGRAMMERS, BLAZEMONGER III can now be encoded in MINIMAL DISK SPACE. After some negotiations with Sony, a copy of BLAZEMONGER III is now encoded on EVERY BLANK SONY DISK THAT YOU BUY. It appears, however, to be nothing but random, unformatted media... BUT IT'S THERE! BLAZEMONGER III IS ON YOUR BLANK SONY DISKS!!!! AND YOU CANNOT FIND IT, EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN YOUR HANDS RIGHT NOW!!! Go ahead, you scurvy PIRATES. Just TRY to copy the program. And even if you succeed, you have yet to encounter our latest "Level Two" protection..... . Dan //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | Dan Barrett, Department of Computer Science Johns Hopkins University | | INTERNET: barrett@cs.jhu.edu | | | COMPUSERVE: >internet:barrett@cs.jhu.edu | UUCP: barrett@jhunix.UUCP | \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////