[casual_games] More good news on Vista!

[Dave Selle]

Just a point on the save game: In vista if a game writes data such as
save games or config files to the program files directory these will
eventually get virtualized per user under Vista which can create
problems with users "losing" this data or even game crashes. 

For example if a user runs a game immediately after install (an option
provided by many titles) they will be running with elevated permissions
and any "program files" save data will not be virtualized on the first
run. 

However, the next time they come back to play the game it will launch
with non-elevated permissions and the data written to program files
*will* be virtualized per user and from their perspective the save game
data at this point has disappeared--so the users who liked to do the
jump drive solution will not be able to use it the same way they had
previously in any case. 

Many failure modes that we are seeing for games and their DRM occur on
second run--frequently it just won't launch: to the user this clicking
on the icon and having nothing happen.  

For the games this is often related the elevation issues noted above.
We're not always sure which link in the chain is breaking to cause the
DRM and game client failures we are seeing (sometimes in can be hard to
tell if it's the game or the DRM) but we do know from our own experience
that there is real engineering required to provide reliable and smooth
functioning DRM and game client solutions with a good user experience in
Vista. 

--Dave 



-----Original Message-----
From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org
[mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Arthur Humphrey
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:33 AM
To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [casual_games] More good news on Vista!

Our games broke in XP LUA, and ran well in Vista. On XP LUA our users
were prevented from saving their games in Program Files and so the game
broke, while on Vista a handle was created in Program Files and the
saves were automatically created in the correct users directory. One
point for Vista, I guess.

Still we have gone ahead and changed it so our games save correctly into
the user's path on all operating systems. Now we are already getting
complaints from testers who liked to bring our games (and the game
progress) back and forth to work on a jumpdrive. Some just used to keep
the game on that jumpdrive at all times. This is no longer convenient
for them with the new savegame paths.

Arthur

At 12:05 AM 1/25/2007 -0800, you wrote:


	Our QA labs are doing a light test sweep of the major casual
gaming portals to see which ones are impacted severely by Vista.  It
looks like Microsoft managed to break Trymedia DRM with Vista so it's
likely that most if not all Trymedia wrapped games are broken under
Vista.  This is consistent with our analaysis that at least 50% of the
casual games currently posted on the major gaming portals are broken.
Our labs also report that RealArcade itself is broken by Vista.  If I'm
not mistaken all the casual games hosted by Oberon on MSN are based on
Trymedia DRM.  It will be interesting to see if Microsofts own casual
game offering is actually Vista ready. 
	 
	Since a lot of small developers don't appear to have access to
Vista builds yet we suggest that you try your games under a Windows XP
LUA account.  If it breaks there, it certainly breaks in Vista.
	 
	-Alex
	<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 
	
________________________________

	From: macrovision at mkt1.macrovision.com
[mailto:macrovision at mkt1.macrovision.com] 
	Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 9:19 PM
	To: WildTangent Packaging
	Subject: [Possible SPAM] ActiveMARK Windows <?xml:namespace
prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Vista
Communication 
	Importance: Low
	 
	
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	ActiveMARK Windows Vista Communication 
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	Feedback
<http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get?_EC=_bWbefB7rXaOX0eyvFCUeq>  
	
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	Dear WildTangent ,
	You should have received the communication below on December 27,
2006. If you have not yet had a chance to respond, we urge you to do so
by January 15, 2007. Should you have any questions about the below,
please contact: AM_Vista at macrovision.com
<mailto:AM_Vista at macrovision.com> .
	Microsoft(r) has released the Windows Vista operating system to
manufacturing. It includes many new security enhancements which impact
security-oriented technology such as Macrovision's ActiveMARK(tm). To
continue providing our customers with the best DRM solution for Windows
Vista, we have been working closely with Microsoft to develop a new
version of ActiveMARK and to evaluate the impact of Windows Vista on
products packaged with previous versions of ActiveMARK. 
	We are writing to advise you of the current status of our
technology in the context of Windows Vista and request that you verify
your unprotected application(s) are compatible with Windows Vista and
perform to your satisfaction.
	Games packaged with ActiveMARK versions 5.5 and earlier are
known to be incompatible with Windows Vista due to increased security
features in the operating system. We have worked with Microsoft to
develop a strategy to address this issue as it relates to games packaged
with previous versions of ActiveMARK.
	For all new packaging projects we strongly recommend that you
use ActiveMARK 2007 to help ensure your titles are compatible with
Windows Vista. ActiveMARK 2007 has been engineered to conform to the new
security features built into Microsoft Vista. If your game cannot be
repackaged in ActiveMARK 2007, we will provide you with a process that
can enable protected products to work in Windows Vista on a per-game
basis. 
	Our initial testing has shown that some unprotected applications
do not run properly on Windows Vista due to issues independent of
ActiveMARK. Consequently, we are requesting that you test all of your
current titles in an unprotected state on Windows Vista (Build 6000 RTM)
as a Standard User. After you complete these tests, send your feedback
to http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get/AM_VISTA
<http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get?_EC=X3O_-yq58eun6aRweyKt5M> . 
	Please try to complete all testing and send feedback by January
15, 2007. This will help us compile our broader scoping of affected
titles. Your prompt feedback at
http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get/AM_VISTA
<http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get?_EC=mydnD2zuzLieimZSy_paAu>  will
allow us to better support you. During this transition, we will be
following up again with additional best practices for Windows Vista. 
	If you need to submit testing for an extensive number of titles,
please contact us immediately at AM_Vista at macrovision.com
<mailto:AM_Vista at macrovision.com>  for alternative test submission
instructions.   
	Sincerely,
	Macrovision Product Management
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