I also don't agree with having to do that. It means you're always putting at
risk your investment/equity. Don't particularly like the wear and tear on
the drive opening/closing either.
If they could somehow come up with some means of controlling how many copies
were made (e.g. 1 backup only) and that'd work, I'd accept it. An additional
option I liked is what Codemasters did in CMR2, install full game on first
pc (but did require original cd at runtime) but could install a "Network
only" copy on other pc's so people could enjoy the multiplayer without
everyone needing their own copy.
That said ...
What you want is referred to as a "no-cd" crack. Commonly it's a file that
replaces one of the games installation files (usually main executable but it
does vary). It's been "hacked" to omit/ignore any cd requirement. A less
common method is a "patch file". Running this patch file results in specific
game files being altered, e.g. edited with alternate information being
written into specific places within the original file. The result is more or
less the same, you have an altered game that doesn't need a cd to play.
Cautionary notes :
Either method means you must run a program that came from some
non-commercial source. Obvious risk for "god knows what" so ... Some sites
that provide such downloads (megagames.com is a well known one) tend to be
ok but still ...
Many crack/patch files are version dependant. Many are even region
dependant, e.g. NA/Eur/Jap etc. Often this is a problem if playing with
friends because if they update their game you may not be able to without
first re-installing "unpatched" game, update and then patch with another
version specific patch.
Hardest circumstance is you sometimes get an update file that will demand to
see the original cd. If you don't have one, you're stuck, e.g. can't update
game means may not be able to get fixes for crashing etc. In general, once
you get it working, one tends to not update game etc. as risk/bother isn't
worth it (mind, I'm dialup so never play online).
Sometimes patch doesn't work. Best to make backup of "whatever is getting
changed" (usually main exe game file) so you an unpatch to try another as
many times there's more than one choice for patch. Most patches are "signed"
by who provided/wrote it. After awhile, you'll note some "people" are more
reliable than others in what works and how.
Legalities ... ?
I don't believe my using a no-cd crack to play a game I bought is illegal.
As I already indicated, I'd accept them allowing a 2nd copy, included with
original fine by me. Otherwise, I've learned from prior experience that a
bad cd cannot always be replaced. MS never could replace my version of
Encarta (last ver worked under Win3.1) when it got a scratch on it. In fact
I recently commented here that I finally got Final Fantasy VII to run after
no-go for 5/6 years using a back-up cd crack.
Clearly using the above info to run a game off a burned copy from a friend
is illegal.
Where I get "fuzzy" is when I want to play a game with some friend who's
dropped by (I own multiple pc's, 2 with ff wheels for racing). I'm not sure
I can actually put it into words other than it just doesn't seem right that
I'm expected to pay for two copies of the same game when the 2nd copy is
never used except during these times.
