Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators (PC)

[GamerDad]

Michael Anderson's Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators (PC) article - http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=3191

[txa1265]

In case you didn't get this impression from the review, I encourage any RPG or space game fans to give this a try - the price is reasonable ($30), and it is a huge and open experience.

Mike

[dragon]

Bought it yesterday....it looks promising, but the fact that it uses the StarForce copy protection system is awful. StarForce is a rootkit, and it has been demonstrated to have some nasty effects on CDrom/DVDrom units in certain systems.

I actually returned a copy of FFvs3rdR because it had this same StarForce system. Turns out, the US version of the game doesn't have it, so I ended up returning the European version to Amazon and getting the "clean" version.

Unfortunately, all versions of this game are StarForced. Your only other option is a $30 download via TryMedia...a far less buggy and intrusive copy protection system, but dang it I like being able to reinstall as many times as I like (I do rebuilds 2x a year).

Anyhow, all complaints about the copy protection aside, I'm looking forward to giving this game a try!

[dragon]

Good news...the copy of the first game (space rangers 1) has no copy protection at all, and runs without the CD. Yay! I figure I'll play that for a bit before moving on to the sequel.

[txa1265]

Bought it yesterday....it looks promising, but the fact that it uses the StarForce copy protection system is awful. StarForce is a rootkit, and it has been demonstrated to have some nasty effects on CDrom/DVDrom units in certain systems.

It is unfortunate, but I have basically made the choice that while I will avoid StarForce wherever I can, I will not let it get in between me and a good game. I've not had a problem, but definitely hate having to constantly reboot because I installed a new game so that the invasive CP system can sink its' teeth deeper into my system.

Mike

[dragon]

I remain confident that the hacker community at large will find a solution. Or I will. It's been a few years...ok, it's been about 15 years since I was last "cracking" games. It lost its luster once I started writing software for a living.

However, nothing intrigues me more than a good challenge...and the thought of doing it via a hardware hack is really cool. It's also really not very efficient or economical for piracy, so StarForce's business model is safe.

What annoys me the most about this--because of the rootkit, I can't install this on my company-assigned laptop. There is no way to prevent that rootkit from doing anything to the system, or better yet, taking anything off the system. I don't believe for a second that StarForce is up to no good. The problem is, a hacker who cracks into the device driver could do just about anything.

We patch our system all the time for security flaws in Microsoft's OS. Now, along comes StarForce--who is installing a device driver (with known, documented bugs) on your system in order to play a game. That device driver is subject to attack, like all other system components. If compromised, your whole computer is compromised because a rootkit has *root* privs on your box.

As such, it'd be a crying shame if the hacker community finds a hole in this system and renders it as ineffective as SafeDisc, or perhaps even more ineffective. Otherwise, I don't see much else to drive companies away from this product, short of an effective gaming community boycott. I'm not holding my breath for that.

[dragon]

OK, I still haven't played SR2 yet...having too much fun with SR1.

This game doesn't pull punches. Even on easy mode, if you play stupid, you pay the price...every time. There was one battle I remember vividly: I was limping away from it, having finally outrun the two pirates who had shredded my ship (yes, I refused to comply with their shakedown). The jump to the next system was coming up, and I was busy cackling at the pirates. "Nyuck, nyuck...I still have 1/400 hull strength left, suckers!!!!" Suddenly....an asteroid appears on the screen....and I quickly realize that its trajectory is...ME!!!! "Nooooo!" I wail as I hit the spacebar in vain to pause at the next day.

No luck. Wham! goes the asteroid. Kaboom! goes the ship. *$#@*#@!!!! goes Greg.

I will say that the autosave is a handy feature.

I will also mention that I ran into the big bad Klissan boss creature in the third system I visited in my first game. That didn't end so well, either. Good to see they don't hide the big bad boss until the end. If you're dumb enough to wander into Klissan-controlled territory by your lonesome in a newbie-equipped ship, you deserve what you have coming to you.

Anyhow, I love it. Someone, somewhere mentioned that this game was basically Sid Meier's Pirates! in space. I can see the comparisons, but unlike Pirates! this game is not scripted much at all. You are truly free to do what you want, when you want, assuming you are strong enough (or have enough hirelings). Still, if you like the various gameplay elements of Pirates, and like sci-fi in general, this game is very appealing.

To think I'm getting this much fun out of the freebie add-on to the main package--for $30, you just can't go wrong.

[dragon]

OK, having played SR1 for a week, I can tell you all that you shouldn't bother. It's nowhere near as much fun as SR2, in fact after a while SR1 reminded me a whole lot of being a budgeting director. The "scraping by" economic model on the easy setting was decidedly not fun.

So, I popped in SR2, winced at the installation of StarForce, and, like, WOW. They fixed the economic model! I can actually trade, now. Or fight, or do practically anything OTHER than worry about how I'm going to pay for the next thing that breaks on the ship! Yay!

[txa1265]

Hehe ... I went the other way and never got very far because of the exact same issues ... I just left it and moved on to other stuff.

Mike

[Jim Hoffman]

I just started playing this game, and found that it crashes whenever I try to start a ground mission. Every single time.
I've downloaded the latest omega video drivers for my ATI mobility card, but no help there.
Anyone else experience this? Any idea for fix?

[txa1265]

I never had a single crash, nor could I find any references to any solution to the problem you're having.

I'm wondering if there is a compatibility issue - is it an older Mobility? Laptops are always funky for 3D games.

Mike

[dragon]

No problems here, either. The game was the picture of stability for me.

OK, I'm lying, it did crash once or twice. Be sure your save file isn't corrupt, I know that caused one of my crashing incidents. It wasn't tied to the planet surface missions, but it did cause a failure at the same point each time I tried it.

[Jim Hoffman]

Ground missions crashed whenever I had rez set to 1280-by-anything.
Once I set it to 1024x768 it worked fine. Yay! I'm a little underwhelmed tho.. so far I'm only powerful enough to fly around grabbing minerals out of space, and that's about it. Whee! I must be missing something.

[txa1265]

Ground missions crashed whenever I had rez set to 1280-by-anything.
Once I set it to 1024x768 it worked fine. Yay! I'm a little underwhelmed tho.. so far I'm only powerful enough to fly around grabbing minerals out of space, and that's about it. Whee! I must be missing something.

Glad to hear the problem is solved!

Mineral gathering ... It is the space exploration equivalent of killing rats

[dragon]

Ground missions crashed whenever I had rez set to 1280-by-anything.
Once I set it to 1024x768 it worked fine. Yay! I'm a little underwhelmed tho.. so far I'm only powerful enough to fly around grabbing minerals out of space, and that's about it. Whee! I must be missing something.

Takes time to build up. I'd suggest not dashing off to the nearest Dominator-controlled system just yet.

Talk to the goverment reps...there are a lot of runner missions out there. Talk them down to the easiest level, until you upgrade your ship's engines.

Don't join in attacks on pirates, or come to anyone's defense just yet. At game start, most if not all of the pirates are neutral. As soon as you get a few hostile, they'll come looking for you and will look for payoff or they'll beat the stuffing out of you. This makes for lots of additional expenses.

If you can find a business center nearby, ask about optimal trade routes...they can find you the best local ones for the next few turns. Of course, this may only make sense if your ship has a fair amount of carrying capacity, and you have the funds to make the up-front good purchase.