RCT 2 and cd copy

[George Gray]

We got this for my five year old. He's a huge fan of the original and the
Loopy Landscape add on. Unfortunately, he is not easy on CD's (though he is
better than he was.) The Original cd is so badly scratched, that it only
works in our newest CD Rom drive...but not in his Compaq. Now, with RCT 1
and the Loopy Landscape add on, I was able to make working CD copies. RCT2,
on the other hand does not work. My goal was to make the copy, let him use
that and put the original CD away (yeah, I know, it's only thirty bucks, but
I don't want to buy two copies just in case he ruins one. And, yes, we are
trying to teach him the value of things, but he is only 5.) Well, the copy
would start. I installed the game from it and all seemed well.
Unfortunately, when you go to play it, the CD Rom blinks and blinks and
blinks, then stops and does nothing. The game fails to load. Yet I can put
the Original in the drive and the game runs great. Anyone else seen this?
Very odd. I'm wondering if it is some kind of anti-copying scheme. It's
pretty effective. I tried it on my Athlon XP machine running Win XP Home.
Same results (his is running Win 98.) Odd, very odd.

[bu...@i-plus.net]

yes i like to make backups of my software and I too ran across that problem
wasted 2 discs...

"George Gray" <geo...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:saycnWk7G-l...@News.GigaNews.Com...

[Gemfyre]

a 5 year old with his own Compaq????

Lucky kid.

"George Gray" <geo...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:saycnWk7G-l...@News.GigaNews.Com...

[Dominic]

You can run the game w/o the CD. I forget exactly how, but you need to copy
a few data files from the CD to the PC and change a setting in the registry.
Try a google search on NO CD Rollercoaster Tycoon.

I'll look for you later and post exactly how.
good luck

"Gemfyre" <gem...@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
news:3dabf5ab$0$6...@echo-01.iinet.net.au...

[ItsAllJunk]

"Dominic" <domi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uqnuijk...@corp.supernews.com...

> You can run the game w/o the CD. I forget exactly how, but you need to
copy
> a few data files from the CD to the PC and change a setting in the
registry.
> Try a google search on NO CD Rollercoaster Tycoon.

That's for the original, I think. RCT 2 is protected with Securom
and definitely needs a nocd crack.

[George Gray]

Yeah, he's pretty lucky. When daddy got the new faster Athlon XP, the 'old'
Compaq went in his room and his 'old' K7 was given his cousins. Mommy
wanted to keep the smaller, black K6 since it matches the vcr and replay...
Actually, the 'old' Compaq (700 mhz, mind you, with 384 mb of ram) is almost
too slow to run some of the 'kiddie' software being sold. It's unreal what
the requirements are these days. Heck, RCT2 taxes the darn thing. I'd hate
to see how it ran on his old 400 mhz box. While the graphics are smoother
in RCT2 (I'm sure it's the newer DirectX 8 stuff) when there are no open
windows, there is noticeable frame rate drop when two or more windows are
open (such as the peeps or the 'hired help')
Shoot, with 1 gig and faster boxes being sold at Wal-Mart for under $600,
I'm sure we'll see game requirements get higher and higher.
No matter. He's worth it. Seeing the joy on his face when he's playing and
seeing how much he learns (who would ever have thought games like
Rollercoaster Tycoon and Sim Theme Park can teach 4 and 5 year olds to read
and the value of money...amazing) makes it well worth the hardware
investment (even on the hand me downs.)

"Gemfyre" <gem...@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
news:3dabf5ab$0$6...@echo-01.iinet.net.au...

[Chris]

Write Chris Sawyer and Infogrames a letter complaining about your
inability to create a copy of the CD. According to the Fiar Use clause
of the current copyright law, you have a constitutional right (As long
as you're in the USA) to make a backup copy for yourself, and the copy
protection they have on the CD effectively removes that right. I had a
similar situation where I needed a backup copy of my original RCT CD,
but couldn't use it since it was damaged. I ended up having to use my
friend's copy to reinstall on my computer.

And what good does all of this software protection do for the
publisher? Almost nothing. Look on Kazaa, and there are several
versions of RCT floating around on there that have had the security
removed. It will probably just be a matter of days before RCT2 is
right there with it on Kazaa.

"George Gray" <geo...@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<saycnWk7G-l...@News.GigaNews.Com>...

[Dave]

On 16 Oct 2002 01:00:40 -0700, in alt.games.rctycoon, socal...@iwon.com
(Chris) wrote:

>And what good does all of this software protection do for the
>publisher? Almost nothing. Look on Kazaa, and there are several
>versions of RCT floating around on there that have had the security
>removed. It will probably just be a matter of days before RCT2 is
>right there with it on Kazaa.

Dunno about about Kazza, but a friend downloaded and burned a copy a few
days ago. Since I don't like to have to keep changing CD's every time I
play a different game or use a different app. package, I prefer to make a
"virtual CD" file and "insert" that as required. The original is now
stored away and the "cracked" version is on my system.

Dave

--
xtals...@yahoo.com is a valid reply-to address but I don't check it every day.
For a quicker response, email replies should go to
david d0t gallagher at blueyonder d0t co d0t uk

[Ryan]

Why don't you just keep the CD out of his hands, i.e. put it in the CD drive
and then take it out when the game has started (you can do that with RCT (I
assume you can also with RCT2). Keep it away from him and it should be ok,
right?
--Ryan "5 year old with and 'old' Compaq."

[Janet]

Especially for a kid where CD's get scratched, why not install it so it doesn't
require a CD? What I do is simple (just takes some extra disk space).

Copy the CD to a directory (I use C:\Source\RCT). Now, install it from that
directory. From now on, it goes to that directory to verify that you have the
source code. The CD can be safely tucked away from then on.

Janet

[George Gray]

I must admit, that never dawned on me!
I has seen the rumblings here about 'no cd' but had not paid much attention.

No matter, he still needs to learn to take care of what he has.

"Janet" <jan...@airmail.net> wrote in message
news:5527749E066496BA.F4965252...@lp.airnews.net...

[George Gray]

Not sure about that. I noticed the CD light blinking a few times while the
game was running. That does'nt mean too much, though, since Windows just
loves to play light games. At any rate, he needs to learn to care for
things. He's been told that if he scratches it, and it stops working, we
will not replace it.

I'm really not all that worried about it. He loves it so much that I think
he will take care of it anyway. The copy was going to be a precaution.
Maybe the copy protection is not so bad in the long run. It may just help
us teach the value of a dollar to him after all.

"Ryan" <vipe...@aol.comHWRocks> wrote in message
news:20021016065210...@mb-cn.aol.com...