Firewalls question...

[Trey]

So I've been playing 'Prey' it's got that same 'network thing' like Doom 3, every time you start it up (and are connected to the internet) it calls home to check the serial #. This is because of online gaming right? It sees the serial is in use and says it's no good. The easy work around is to just reach over and turn off the modem, since in can't check to see if the serial is in use it just says the serial 'seems to be valid' and lets you play.

What I really need to do is just block the whole thing with a Firewall. I can't figure out which bit is calling home though. There was one thing in the Firewall exceptions called 'PREYDed.exe' so I unchecked it figuring that was the problem, but when I tried running after that it still came bcak with the bad serial error. I'm just not sure which part is making the call home. Is there a way to just place everything in the program file behind a Firewall? Oh, and this is the generic MS Firewall.

[zobraks]

First of all: I'm not an expert. As such I suggest using the stand-alone firewall (my choice iz ZoneAlarm, although a lot a people are complaining about its incomaptibility with some programs).

I've turned off the Windows XP firewall, ZoneAlarm works fine for me (since 2003). In ZA there's a Program Control feature that allows you to allow/deny any program the access to the Internet. So, when Prey tries to access the server to check the serial number, ZA asks you whether to allow that or not. You simply choose not to allow it, and tell ZA to remember the setting and that's all - you won't be bugged by the serial number check any more.

I haven't try this, but it should work.

One more thing: Windows XP firewall cannot block outbound connections; it is only capable of blocking inbound ones. Knowing this, I think a stand-alone firewall is a must.

[Liamoneal]

Downoad comodo firewall and use it. It's free and it works. Simply block the exe from accessing the internet.

[freakboy]

Are you talking about the single player part of Prey? As far as I remember the crack removed the serial check...

[Trey]

Are you talking about the single player part of Prey? As far as I remember the crack removed the serial check...

It removed the disc check, but not the serial check.

[Doomed_Space_Marine]

Like Freakyboy asked, are you playing single or multi player?

I downloaded this from a cracked Steam server, and played through the campaign game using the fixed executable - NO Steam, NO Serials, NO problems.

I don’t know about multi-player, since I personally never bother with this, but if you ARE after multi-player, maybe just think about buying the game legit. Ooh, sacrilegious.

If you don’t want multi-player, maybe create a shortcut on the desktop for ‘network connections’, and Right-click on your connection, then click disable on the drop-down menu to temporarily prevent access of the net to your computer, & reenable when you are done.

I never had this issue when I played the game, so choose whatever solution you think best, third-party firewall, or whatever.


Since you are asking about a technical issue with Prey, shouldn’t this thread be in games support?

[freakboy]

Make sure you have non beta version of the game and use this crack:
PREY v1.0 [ENGLISH] NO-CD/FIXED EXE #2 (5.39MB)

[Trey]

I'm not sure that it's not a beta version, but it's a DVD iso, 1.57Gbs. No cracks or anything added. I'm just playing the single player missions, it's pretty cool. This started out as an attempt to find out how to block programs with MS Firewall, but now I know you can't.

[freakboy]

Most likely you're playing the beta version.

[I_AM]

Windows Firewall is intended for blocking incoming connections, those coming from other people attempting to access your computer. Prey will be making an outgoing connection, so Windows Firewall is not suitable for blocking this. (As I now notice zobraks has said.)

Comodo Firewall that Liamoneal mentioned is good, but if you're not too savy it's not really easy. ZoneAlarm is probably an easier option, or I've read that "Online Armor Personal Firewall" is good and easier than Comodo.