Since many have been asking, here’s a quick update on Silent Hunter 5 Battle of the Atlantic. SH5 is an important PC game on many counts – it’s the latest installment of a popular franchise but it is also one of the first games to use UBISOFT’s new *much hyped* DRM system. If you aren’t aware, UBI’s new DRM requires users to stay connected to the internet during the time they play the game (even for single player mode). Although the publisher tried to reduce piracy into nothingness by taking such draconian measures, scene group SKIDROW put a damper on their plans earlier yesterday. SKIDROW released a modified (aka cracked) version of Silent Hunter 5 which according to them bypassed UBIsoft’s DRM. But has the DRM really been defeated and is the pirated release really playable?

Now that’s an interesting question. According to UBIsoft, the pirated release that’s circulating on the internet is not complete. It’s a pretty vague statement – does the game contact UBI’s servers to download additional content? I think not. But it may be possible that it phones home to verify the authenticity of the game at various points in game, something like an online version of SecuROM triggers.

Anyways the pirated release by SKIDROW does not seem to be fully functional anyway. According to folks on various gaming forums, some have had difficulty in getting the campaign missions to work. Getting the second mission to work after skip tutorial seems to be pretty hard at least for now. Some have also been greeted with crashes to desktop (CTD) at random points in game. Note that these could also be actual bugs with Silent Hunter 5. However, it’s not logical for UBI to release the game to public with such massive showstopper bugs present so the issues are probably DRM triggers (or results of modifications done by SKIDROW).

But that’s not to say UBI’s new DRM has been a success. In fact, it seems to have gotten partially cracked in less that a day since public release - that’s a lot less time than it took to crack Starforce back in the day. Naturally, cracking groups will adapt to the new protection and release quality will only improve in future.

Note : Do not post download/torrent links to cracks or ISO here. This post is purely for informational purposes.


7 Comments

  1. Unknown // 3/05/2010 11:46:00 PM  

    There are already some crack for Assassin's Creed 2 (it has the same DRM has SH 5), but they don't seem to work very well either.
    Truth is that neither RELOADED or Razor have made a functional crack.

    But this isn't the first time a company implies that the game won't work if it isn't original...

    Just give the guys at RELOADED and Razor some time, they'll figure it out :)

  2. Xen0veR // 3/06/2010 12:07:00 AM  

    Skidrow relaesed an update 1.1
    It had A LOT of fixes included.
    Ubisoft was so busy esting it's DRM and forgot all the SH bugs.

  3. Unknown // 3/06/2010 12:20:00 AM  

    Having spent the better partof the last 20 hours with this game i'd like to clarify some things : Even after the patch there are still some bugs but asinde from the initial "the missions don't work" thing it's nothing world shaking or gamestopping., expect a patch within the nxet few days.

    "The missions don't work! / I can't reenter my ship in dock!"
    That's something I've read/heard quite often and the documentation/ingame help don't really adress this so here's what I did:
    After docking at Kiel and saying good bye to your old commander you'll notice 2 guys standing around you can talk to (press ALT to outline them with a yellowish frame). THe one on the left lets you upgrade your sub for prestige, the one on the right (dressed in a uniform) let's you a) choose a mission and b) make a sortie. That's how you get back on your ship and out there.

    Now choosing a will bring up the mission briefing but you won't see any icons to choose and accept anything, that's what most people report as the dreaded DRM kicking in or having to download stuff. Now thta's a complete pile of steaming bull...
    It's juxt another bug in the game, simply quit the game after the tutorial, restart the campaign and click "skip tutorial" when prompted, you're standing in the dock in front of the flotilla captain and voilà, miraculously the missions work.

  4. TEAM FILEnetworks // 3/06/2010 04:18:00 AM  

    Thanks for the info, everyone.

  5. Unknown // 4/02/2010 07:27:00 AM  

    @ Miss

    Dude! [or girl]
    Thx you so much, Your solution worked for me =D now I can finally choose my mission! thanks :P

    For those who can't choose their missions, just do like Miss said.

  6. Anonymous // 11/05/2010 11:46:00 AM  

    Yes..SH5 mission works completely fine. Thanks MISS.

  7. usman // 1/14/2011 07:47:00 PM  

    well i did as u say miss ,i can see icons in world map while briefing but i cant get to my u boat. only way is via" new petrol without missions"