Iain 25 Sep

[IainMcNeil]

<p>Yesterday we announced Commander - Napoleon at War was Gold and now we have to do the final tweaks and tests to make sure the downloader works and purchase system is all set up correctly. We've completely changed our copy protection system. Previously we were using the default system provided by Digital River, who run the backend of online purchase system for digital downloads, and it uses something called Software Passport. This system is very secure and when it works is seemless for the user as they don't even have to enter any serial numbers, it automatically sets it all up. However, when it doesn't work it can be a real pain to fix and many people didn't understand the no serial number idea and kept complaining they never received one - that's because they didn't need one :).</p>
<p>We've developed our own system now which completely replaces it. This system uses serial numbers which seem to be what people expect. When you place an order you'll be issued a serial number. When you run the installer you are asked for your serial number and this is the only time you have to enter it. After this all the checks are performed and assuming you didn't mistype your serial number you should be up and running. The advantage of this system is that there is very little than can go wrong so we're hoping there will no no technical support calls, or at least a lot less. I guess we'll know for sure when the game goes on release on Monday!</p>
<p>The new system also allows us to do cool stuff to track multiplayer games. We know which countries are issued which serial numbers and when people play online we can see their serials when it hits the web server so we can see which countries play more games. It could also allow us in future to link players forum usernames in to the serial number and then have their usersnames appear in game and even report results to a ladder or competition server. Basically the sky's the limit here :) </p>