so nobody knows for sure what its protected with then ? i hate crap you wait nine months for a poxy pc version and then theres a posibility it will be starforce protected ! well i for one will not be buying it same way i refuse to buy splinter cell chaos theory what so i can install that sh!t on my pc no thanks. if rockstar or take 2 or whoever makes the decision on what protection goes on the game have done this i say f*ck you you wont be getting any more money off me just like ubisoft!

The thing is, so many people on these types of Forum (Not me), have no intention of buying this game, and the people who have bought it today in the US (I know a few who have), have no interest in nocd fixes etc, and so don't come here to tell us the protection the game uses. If this game uses Starforce, and the USB trick is blocked, then I'm afraid that's the end for me and PC games. I'm not being a sulken little crybaby here, it's just that if I can't make a working backup, I might as well buy an XBOX (spit) and the game on that. At least then I can play on my big TV in the living room. I'm 95% sure that PC Starforce and the XBOX 360 will be the nail in the coffin for PC games (not for all the other things PC's can do of course).

ITS SECUROM 7!!!!!!! I know for sure. Its crackable, but its better to buy the game.

no no dont get me wrong i will buy the game as long as its not starforce i refuse to buy any starforce games i have all the other gta games i love them all but i never use the original of these games for fear of scratching them also i bought a game with starforce on it gangland ages ago and it messed up my pc so i wont buy them anymore i refuse to i was waiting to play chaos theory was looking forward to it but then i learned that it has starforce on it so i wont buy it i have been waiting so long for san andreas and then to turn round and be told its starforce is a real kick in the teeth know what i mean how do you know for sure its securom do you have it yet i am in ireland and its not out till friday

I'm the same now..I refuse to buy any SF game. I would rather online game activation/authentication over requiring the CD/DVD in the drive any day.

It would just be SOOOOOOOOOO sad for a game I want so much to have SF protection :D

At least I could always try the XBOX version *shudder*

same here had no problems with half life 2 activation worked perfect for me but that starforce is muck wont touch it so do you know for definate its securom 7 Machina ?

Yes. US version at least.

@ t.foster - xbox360 and starforce the end of pc games???? have you been smoking crack or are you just incredibly small minded? Perhaps you meant to say, the end of pc games for t.foster......... I hardly think that the most versatile and widely spread gaming system is going down anytime soon.....

With GTA: San Andreas coming out this week, it looks as if I may still be waiting a while to buy it. I would really like to have a no-cd patch before I buy the game. I got one for Vice City and it was a lifesaver for my disc drive - my old disc drive broke part way thru GTA:III and I know it must have had something to do with the disc constantly spinning in the drive while I played. I still don't understand the logic of this 'protection' - $50 for the game and then you have to end up replacing your disc drive. (Mine was under warranty, fortunately). I keep checking and keeping my fingers crossed.

About this Starforce protection... I don't play a lot of games on my PC (GTA and MYST games mostly), and I've never heard of this protection.

Is it different than the previous protection that Rockstar has used, where the disc spins all the time? (If it doesn't, that may be a good thing.)

I've read about Starforce being like a virus. How intrusive is it? If you completely uninstall the game, does it get rid of everyting? I have Registry Mechanic - Would that take care of anything it leaves behind?

Thanks. Looks like a great forum.....

Welcome to the forums ItsGreekToMe, although I'm Greek... lol

GTA:SA has been finally confirmed to use SecuROM 7 plus some DVD checks, so it's going to be cracked hopefully.

Warez is not going to stop, whether we like it or not.

But StarForce is not the silver lining between backups and good protection.

As soon as it is installed, it disables DPM measurement so you can't make a working backup in Alcohol. So either you make the backup BEFORE you play the game for the first time and buy a USB DVD drive, or else you have to find an uninfected PC to make the backup.

I am certainly not willing to spend my money (which at my age I can't earn really quickly) on a USB drive which will be of no use to me, as I have two perfect working DVD and DVD+-RW drives which costed me 200 euros at the time I bought them.

If StarForce has the USB trick as the only way to make a backup, next time they decide to protect a game, please put a sign in the installation about the virus it's going to install, and give me a USB drive with it.

As soon as people get to know how much bad Starforce can cause on their computer, some companies are going to be in a lot of pain due to low sales.

As for other consequences of Starforce, it has high incompatibility with some hardware combinations (heck, 2 of my legally bought Starforce games won't even play! how's that?), and has been known to wipe USB mini-drives.

If you do a little search around, I'm sure you'll find more.

The game is a letdown anyway. Not a patch on GTA 3 or Vice City.

letdown ? is this true or is this another one like the starforce rumours ?

Well, I played the PS2 Version when that first came out and believe me, the game did not live up to the hype. GTA3 is the best of the 'modern day' GTA's and Vice City is untouchable because of the atmosphere Rockstar managed to create with the 80's music. :cool:

I've played the PS2 version of San Andreas, and found it to be a very nice game. However, there were slowdown issues that I hope will be resolved in the PC version. Also, it looks like the groups are having problems with the protection on this game. I know for a fact 1 group who got this game 10 days ago. It must be the Rockstar added security content that's giving them problems. Has anyone in the US got this today? If so, try making a full image with Alcohol, and see if you can mount and play from it.

Talus you're my god... :p