I believe that if the game detected that copy protection was completely removed it would give a massive production boost to the AI. You would get crushed by the sheer number of enemy ships.

Don't we have that problem already? Some games give the AI 3x harvesting and 3x building rates, and even 3x scope area knowledge (or full knowledge) so they can go for things we don't even know exist yet.

Of course that comes down to lazily making the AI harder rather than making a more competent AI. Like making an enemy in a FPS harder by giving him more health...

It was more like 1000x production rates. If you pirated the game the devs really didn't want you to win - basically make you waste time playing a hopeless match.

I don't my copy protection using manuals, if the manuals are provided. There are many instances where it's a check at the start, and it's better removed, but in some other games it could be considered part of the experience.

As in Freddy Pharkas, for example. And maybe that's why the game isn't here. That would be a shame.

Then there are those who take such ideas as a challenge. Like that fairly recent FPS that made headlines about pirates getting an unkillable monster with high damage hunting them throughout the game. Some legitimate players figured they wanted said monster to appear in order to make the game difficult enough for their tastes.

Wasn't Serious Sam 3 one of those games? Spawned an unkillable red scorpion?

That might very well be the one I was thinking of, I don't remember.

Appreciate this thread and the posts so I will know what to do when I get around to playing the game. Thanks for the info and answers.