Maher concludes that this was successful due to 'asymmetry' between the devices that wrote the disk and the ones that read it had different capabilities, but the actual reason is probably due to the creativity and complexity of the scheme. Not only did the game have a section of code that was more or less impossible to duplicate, the instructions to validate the code were hidden in unlikely places, and (perhaps the most important point) the game did not immediately fail if it detected that it had been pirated. Every 'definitely cracked' copy circulated increased the demand for an actual working version of the game.
It's crucial that Dungeon Master was an excellent game[0] because otherwise, players might have simply decided it wasn't worth their time or money.
Comments
Maher concludes that this was successful due to 'asymmetry' between the devices that wrote the disk and the ones that read it had different capabilities, but the actual reason is probably due to the creativity and complexity of the scheme. Not only did the game have a section of code that was more or less impossible to duplicate, the instructions to validate the code were hidden in unlikely places, and (perhaps the most important point) the game did not immediately fail if it detected that it had been pirated. Every 'definitely cracked' copy circulated increased the demand for an actual working version of the game.
It's crucial that Dungeon Master was an excellent game[0] because otherwise, players might have simply decided it wasn't worth their time or money.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Master_%28video_game%2...