GTL DVD without Starforce???
- Thread starter wide2tele
- Start date
Do you have files with sf name in your GTL install with your dvd ?
if yes then you have starforce and the only way to get rid of it is to install GTL 10AP : https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/gt-legends-10th-anniversary-patch.26203/
then, once you have overwritten your gtl install with 10AP files, you just need to click on PATCH_FOR_DISC_VERSION.BAT file which will remove starforce (both files and driver)
if yes then you have starforce and the only way to get rid of it is to install GTL 10AP : https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/gt-legends-10th-anniversary-patch.26203/
then, once you have overwritten your gtl install with 10AP files, you just need to click on PATCH_FOR_DISC_VERSION.BAT file which will remove starforce (both files and driver)
I was closely involved with the GTL community during the early years and there were no non-starforce DVDs. There was only one version of the 1.1 patch and the patch updated starforce. If there had been non-starforce DVDs then there would have been more than one version of the 1.1 patch. Starforce wasn't cracked for years. If there had been a non-starforce version around there would have been no need for the crack.
Sorry to ask a stupid question but sometimes people get GP Legends and GT Legends confused. Have you done the same?
Sorry to ask a stupid question but sometimes people get GP Legends and GT Legends confused. Have you done the same?
Hi guys,
I am speaking of GT Legends, not GTL. I am positive there is no Starforce. I can't check the disc contents atm but the install of the game on my PC doesn't have any folders to indicate Starforce is there.
I'll check the DVD contents later and post. I bought the DVD off eBay. It was years after GT Legends was released. I had all the other Simbin games but never bought GT Legends. Decided I really need to get it. That was a few years ago now also.
I thought maybe in some very late production run maybe they removed the Starforce. The disc looks totally genuine and I always check the seller to make sure they don't look suspect.
I'll check the DVD contents when I can and post back.
I am speaking of GT Legends, not GTL. I am positive there is no Starforce. I can't check the disc contents atm but the install of the game on my PC doesn't have any folders to indicate Starforce is there.
I'll check the DVD contents later and post. I bought the DVD off eBay. It was years after GT Legends was released. I had all the other Simbin games but never bought GT Legends. Decided I really need to get it. That was a few years ago now also.
I thought maybe in some very late production run maybe they removed the Starforce. The disc looks totally genuine and I always check the seller to make sure they don't look suspect.
I'll check the DVD contents when I can and post back.
Ok, this is interesting. My DVD looks like Viva Media was the distribution company. Very quickly skimming a page from Amazon, I found customer reviews for a GT Legends Viva Media release. There is mention of the game coming on 3 CD's and that it had Starforce. One person then says this:
"If you own this title, or are interested in buying it, go to [...]
Register and follow the directions and they will send you the code to download a digital STARFORCE FREE version."
Maybe Viva Media later did package the 3 CD's on to a single DVD using the Starforce removed version? This would make sense. I haven't researched this properly. I just noticed Viva Media on my photos I took so did a quick google on them also coming across the Amazon page. Anyhow, my pics are below along with the Amazon link if you want to take a look at it. Maybe there are a few no Starforce DVD's actually floating around???
Any comments welcomed. I've always wanted to get to the bottom of how I can have a Starforce free DVD!
Everything on my DVD looks very legitimate.
It even came with an online code which I painted out before uploading.
"If you own this title, or are interested in buying it, go to [...]
Register and follow the directions and they will send you the code to download a digital STARFORCE FREE version."
Maybe Viva Media later did package the 3 CD's on to a single DVD using the Starforce removed version? This would make sense. I haven't researched this properly. I just noticed Viva Media on my photos I took so did a quick google on them also coming across the Amazon page. Anyhow, my pics are below along with the Amazon link if you want to take a look at it. Maybe there are a few no Starforce DVD's actually floating around???
Any comments welcomed. I've always wanted to get to the bottom of how I can have a Starforce free DVD!
Everything on my DVD looks very legitimate.
It even came with an online code which I painted out before uploading.
Attachments
I promise you, there is no Starforce. They likely simply didn't change the packaging.
I was gaming when Starforce was widely used. Had games in the past with Starforce. As you mentioned, there will be a sf folder, there will be something that can clearly be seen. Every Starforce game I've ever installed also asks to install it before you can play. I've only ever seen it as a separate installation to the game itself. I've never seen it install secretly without warning you.
Below are the contents of my DVD. There is nothing there. The support folder contains nothing but Direct X9 setup files. The game is already patched up with this version. You will see the readme for version 1.1.0.0 in the screenshot.
I would say it's a good chance what I suggested last post is what happened. They repackaged the game to a single DVD using the no Starforce version. They possibly deliberately left the warning on there to combat piracy or simply because of cost or convenience or all three.
I purchased this new. At that point in time there were still some new versions of these era games out there. Now they are all gone and pre-owned is best you can find. The version I have must be quite rare but it is the real deal with no Starforce..
I was gaming when Starforce was widely used. Had games in the past with Starforce. As you mentioned, there will be a sf folder, there will be something that can clearly be seen. Every Starforce game I've ever installed also asks to install it before you can play. I've only ever seen it as a separate installation to the game itself. I've never seen it install secretly without warning you.
Below are the contents of my DVD. There is nothing there. The support folder contains nothing but Direct X9 setup files. The game is already patched up with this version. You will see the readme for version 1.1.0.0 in the screenshot.
I would say it's a good chance what I suggested last post is what happened. They repackaged the game to a single DVD using the no Starforce version. They possibly deliberately left the warning on there to combat piracy or simply because of cost or convenience or all three.
I purchased this new. At that point in time there were still some new versions of these era games out there. Now they are all gone and pre-owned is best you can find. The version I have must be quite rare but it is the real deal with no Starforce..
Attachments
No I did not speak about dvd installer files but the game directory after installation : please install game in c:\GTLTEST then make a screenshot of the files in this directory, there should be several files beginning with sfXXX if starforce is present.
By the way GTL setup doesn't ask for your permission to install starforce, it is totally silent on my european dvd version from 2006 (photo below)
By the way GTL setup doesn't ask for your permission to install starforce, it is totally silent on my european dvd version from 2006 (photo below)
The packaging certainly thinks the game has Starforce, as Step 5 of the installation instructions includes a Starforce code. The most recent date on the files is mid 2007 almost 2 years after the game was released in Europe, so it clearly is a different "package" to the initial release. The US market was never a big market for Simbin products and by mid 2007 it would have been a "bargain bin" title so its surprising Viva Media went to this trouble. However Starfoce caused problems with Windows Vista (which came out in early 2007) so its possible they might have produced a Starforce free version. I'm just amazed its taken 12 years for news to leak out, and the cracked version didn't appear until 2008.
Yeah, it is surprising, it's why I've been confused as to what I had. Like I said, while taking the pictures to post here made me notice and look at Viva Media. The Amazon page shows they had a Starforce free version which looks like it found it's way to disc. These discs might've been very rare and that would also explain why it took so long for a crack to come out. Very few people knew about this version. Everyone was focused on the Starforce discs.
Well they say you learn something new every day. Seems like this is one of those days 
