Suggestion: Read-only maps

[Super Nova]

But what if the mapper forgets or loses his pass or Answer ?
Cant u just make it have all that but it lockes onto the I.P. adress of the mapper to...I mean u know how some people are today they cant get organized.

[Darvin]

The problem with locking to an IP is that a mapper who's IP changes will lose access to his maps. Secondly, it precludes any possibility of a cooperative project.

[Javier]

I like Darvin's idea. I've seen lots of these 'stolen maps', and adding a password or anything like that would be good. It might get hacked, one way or another, but hey, you wouldn't simply load the map, add some units and click 'Save As'.

[Darvin]

There will always be people cracking maps; you can't stop them completely, so there's no point in trying. No system will ever be foolproof. The solution I've presented is simple (always a good thing) and it encourages people to join the mapping community rather than the hacking community.

I'm not a fan of the other solutions here (password protection and so forth); none are as simple, and they don't offer any real gains over using the "save as read only" feature.

[Hoenir]

The question is how to store this read-only option. If you just store it as a flag somewhere in the map file, someone changing this bit could then edit the map.

[Darvin]

That's a technical decision for Reverie to decide. In any case, no form of "protection" is foolproof.

[Hoenir]

Yeah but maybe someone has an idea to support them in this decision.

[Darvin]

Frankly, I doubt many of us have the technical expertise to even begin to talk about implementation, and even so for a security feature it is of the utmost importance that the development not be made public.

[The Witch King of Angmar]

Originally Posted by Darvin

Frankly, I doubt many of us have the technical expertise to even begin to talk about implementation, and even so for a security feature it is of the utmost importance that the development not be made public.

Yeah if word got out to everyone the whole map editor thing would be trashed because of overpowered maps. As for the whole password thing, I think it is a little complex. I think if anyone changes a map they should label the changes the program should label the things they've changed before it saves it so people know what they're in for.

[olauwers]

How about an encrypted signature? So that the player who made it always can get credit, and it says something along the line: This scenario was originally Someone's, but was edited by Someone_Else.