Will codewheel protection be disabled on MI1 Amiga soon?

[marzipan]

I've found that I can't seem to play the Amiga version of Monkey Island 1 without the codewheel. But judging by your readme, it should be eligible for auto-protection disabling in the future, as I know for a fact that the Kixx budget release disabled the codewheel altogether (on the Amiga) - the screen didn't even pop up!

I apologise if somebody already mentioned this, but I am in a bit of a hurry (to go somewhere) as I type this, so hope you understand.

[md5]

With a simple forum search, you would have found the following:
http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=3541

[eriktorbjorn]

With a simple forum search, you would have found the following:
http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=3541

He says, though, that the game was sold without copy protection which, if accurate, would make it fair game for bypassing. I have no way of doing it, though -- I don't have any Amiga versions of any games.

[bgbennyboy]

The Kixx budget release disabled the codewheel altogether (on the Amiga) - the screen didn't even pop up!

He's right about this, I have the amiga Kixx release myself.

[marzipan]

Well for the time being at least it's possible to get past the protection using MOD: REMOVED LINK of the original codewheel.

But since getting into the main game I've come across a new problem! (See the thread I've created for more info).

[clone2727]

Forum Rule 0

[marzipan]

Sorry, I didn't know it was illegal?

[clem]

Sorry, I didn't know it was illegal?

well, it helps circumventing the copy protection
and I guess the copy protection is there for a reason?

I didn't look into it before the link got removed, but if they used original gfx from the codewheel they infringed the copyright of the codewheel, heh

[marzipan]

Sorry, I didn't know it was illegal?

well, it helps circumventing the copy protection
and I guess the copy protection is there for a reason?

Back in 1990/91, perhaps. But today? When even LucasArts themselves no longer sell Monkey Island? (And I've looked at their recent store, shame.) And don't forget LucasArts themselves encouraged the extinction of codewheels overall.

I didn't look into it before the link got removed, but if they used original gfx from the codewheel they infringed the copyright of the codewheel, heh

The fact is, I thought it was safe, what with it coming from a Monkey Island fansite, and I know fansites also usually try to avoid legal troubles (by not including the actual games for download for starters!).

[fingolfin]

Whether they stopped selling it or not does not matter -- fact is, it is still not legal in many countries to copy the Monkey Island data files, or the code wheel, for that matter. E.g. there's the matter of copyright, which lasts many decades. See also http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Copyright_FAQ

[marzipan]

That I am aware of. It's just I thought LucasArts wouldn't care about codewheels anymore, what with their own efforts to disable and/or circumvent protection in their games later on. I'm also unsure as to whether their support department would even help you out with codewheel protection were you to lose an original wheel for any reason.

[Collector]

It's not that LA has stopped caring about copy protection. Many of the copyright protection schemes were based on how easy and cheap it was to copy floppies. With the advent of CD-ROMs, these strategies were seen as no longer necessary. The large size of the games on CD and the small HDDs of the time did not allow for easy or cheap copying. Copy protection schemes were abandoned till CD burners became common. LA and Sierra also, cut the copy protection from many of their games that were re-released on CD with larger audio tracks.

[marzipan]

Well I must say thanks to whoever killed the copy protection in Amiga MI1 in the newer SVN revisions. I appreciate it!


If it helps, I believe Kixx also disabled the protection in Monkey Island 2 for their re-release of that game. I'm sure Benny can back me up on that somehow....

[Kirben]

If it helps, I believe Kixx also disabled the protection in Monkey Island 2 for their re-release of that game. I'm sure Benny can back me up on that somehow....

The KIXX XL release of Monkey Island 2 for the Amiga, actually altered the game scripts in order to skip the copy protection, but keep the level selection.

The KIXX XL release of Monkey Island 2 for the Amiga, should work correctly now, if you use latest ScummVM SVN. Previously the level selection screen failed under ScummVM.