Hello all, this is my first post here (I'm taking a break from another forum) and I was hoping you good people could help me with something... I have this 3D modelling package which I intend to sell on my website, and have been weighing up the pros & cons of various solutions such as BMTMicro and the like. I've never sold software on-line before and I'm a bit cloudy on the process. I'm building a site to sell this program, but I haven't done the downloads page yet as I don't know if I'm approaching the whole thing right. Here's where I'm at so far... 1) Product is Demo version - activated by a registration code (my own system - so I don't know how safe it is yet.) 2) The site is about 50% complete 3) I have a BMTMicro account which I've never used before. I intend to either pass reg-codes via e-mail or BMTMicro. What are your thoughts, and would you reccomend a better way? Should I have 2 seperate versions (demo & full) instead?? Thanks.
Most payment providers will send out reg codes for you if you provide them with a list, so that's fine. I use Armadillo, and there are other alternatives. I imagine your own system would be enough to ward off casual piracy which is fine for casual games. If your modeller is going to be in the same price range as a game, it will still probably be fine. Since most ( if not all ) payment providers will host a full version for free, that does seem like a good option to use. Perhaps in addition to a registration code for extra protection? I assume you have a system to lock out specific stolen keys, so those two measures would probably be pretty secure against most casual piracy which is all you can really hope to prevent.
Thanks Sybixsus, Say - glimmergames eh? sounds familiar. Anyhoo, I think I'll take your suggestion to host a full version & a demo version just to be sure. Thanx again!
LOL! Just saying "Hello" too, guys. Agree that you should have both demo and full versions - much easier to do!
Huh!? Robleong! Small world init! Yep, I wrote my own highly complex reg-key generator that makes codes non-transferable from machine-to-machine, but in the end - I just can't trust it, so I'll go with the simple method of 2 versions.
I would put yourself in the position of the end PAYING customer to tailor all your efforts towards them. I personally hate being "punished" with security/cd checks on retail games because of the bad element. Or more specifically, those who WANT to buy your game WILL buy it - so don't make them put keys in (although it is not really a problem - but as you have the choice). The seperate downloads sounds best to me and to be frank I couldn't distribute my upcomming games with a single download and an "unlock" key as the demo would have to carry ALL the content of the full version which would bloat the demo pointlessly. For small games it is ideal (if the filesize difference between demo and "unlocked" version is not that different then stick with one version + key). There are key gens and cracks for everything out there, so your game is not going to be secure just because it has a key. So better imo to have a different download for paying customers - yes it MAY and probably will end up being put on p2p etc but again - no different to the criminal but to the paying customer another step of frustration.
I agree with everything you've said sharpfish, I hate CD checks too, and have no intention of going to that extreme, but I have to protect my product in some way, and hopefully strike a balance. I've decided to use 2 seperate downloads, with a simple reg-key system. The customer is number one I agree and it's a shame that there are some real losers out there who steal software. Thanks for the advice.
As others mentioned, there's really no way to prevent piracy of software, only to deter it as best you can. I've used by BMT Micro and Regnow in the past, and both work quite well for what you mentioned. Just be sure to read all the fine print and find out how much commission they're going to charge you per transaction first.