GOG.com

[undecaf]

The GOG Galaxy client goes open beta.

http://af.gog.com/news/gog_galaxy_beta_starts_now?as=1649904300

 

[cvv]

Haaallelujah.

 

[cvv]

Umm, soo how do I....where's the autoupdate?

 

[LESS T_T]

No update for me, either.

Anyway, this looks quite interesting: http://af.gog.com/galaxy?as=1649904300

10. Can we edit, modify, or tweak GOG Galaxy?

If you like to tinker, feel free to start building your own features or even entire clients compatible with GOG Galaxy, assuming you can figure things out right now. We won't actively work against attempts to improve the GOG Galaxy experience, although we can't promise not to break anything as we continue to develop our own tools and infrastructure.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Tried the client.
I'm quite pleased with it.
It is a bit rough, but for an alpha its fairly solid.

Just a few quirks -

1) For some reason, the extras screen is in french. Everything else is in english

2) Tracking only works if you run the game from the client.

Other than that, I haven't noticed anything serious.

Edit : Oooh beta went live.
How do I upgrade my alpha client?

 

[Blackstaff]

You just need to wait. The alpha is supposed to update itself eventually...

 

[Alienman]

For the people in the know, will this galaxy thing replace the stand-alone drm games in the long run? Is there a plan to do that? Creating a new Steam?
Kinda worried here.

 

[vonAchdorf]

For the people in the know, will this galaxy thing replace the stand-alone drm games in the long run? Is there a plan to do that? Creating a new Steam?
Kinda worried here.

They will be phasing out the downloader, but not the download from their website. And why are you worried? I hope that they create a "new Steam" on regards to easy patching and multiplayer.

 

[Alienman]

Because I want the games totally drm-free

 

[vonAchdorf]

Because I want the games totally drm-free

They are. You can download them with galaxy (or from their website) and run them / backup them without the need for Galaxy.

 

[Alienman]

Okay good, I already knew that though. Just not trusting gog fully I guess. Why create something like galaxy if not for slowly introducing their own kind of drm? Maybe I'm just cynical

 

[JudasIscariot]

Okay good, I already knew that though. Just not trusting gog fully I guess. Why create something like galaxy if not for slowly introducing their own kind of drm? Maybe I'm just cynical

It's an OPTIONAL client for those that want the convenience of autoupdates and the like. Look, we're not introducing any sort of DRM here and yes, I know it's hard to trust these kind of statements due to what happened in the industry in the past but if we did introduce some DRM I think it would be a serious death knell for us if we did so.

tl;dr OPTIONAL, we know the meaning of this word and we totally didn't just look it up in the dictionary

You can still use Galaxy as a fancy version of the GOG Downloader and download your offline installers and your extras and not use it if all you are going to be doing is playing games in single player

 

[Alienman]

JudasIscariot Okay, thanks man, I guess you work for gog? Sounds good...

...for now

 

[Niektory]

http://af.gog.com/galaxy#glx-faq?as=1649904300

• 4. Will games and patches be available for download via website and GOG Galaxy at the same time?
  We will release all of our games and updates simultaneously on the website and in GOG Galaxy.
• 13. Is GOG Galaxy truly optional?
  GOG Galaxy is fully optional because you don’t need it to play games on GOG.com. If you want to, you can simply download your game via your browser, install it manually, and launch it offline, just like we've always done it on GOG.com. If you decide to use GOG Galaxy for some aspects of the convenience, you can still switch to offline mode at whim and play your games. Optional also means that all features in GOG Galaxy can be turned off. Not a fan of achievements or auto-updates? No problem, they're extras.

 

[Grim Monk]

GOG is launching itself in the publishing busness by reediting in their names two SSI classics : Fantasy General and Pacific General.

http://af.gog.com/news/release_pacific_general_fantasy_general?as=1649904300

[Perception] GOG is worried about Retroism/Night Dive.
They've been running around and buying old game license rights for themselves instead of just cutting deals with IP Owners.
This is a warning shot across their bows.

 

[pippin]

Let's hope potato hitmen succeed in buying the NOLF franchise.

 

[Grim Monk]

Give me the goldbox games and I will personally put Gaben down for good.

Goldbox is tied to the AD&D IP so you would have to cut a new licensing deal with Hasbro/WotC.
I'm hazarding that is the main issue with any re-release...

Heyy, maybe they get the Steel Panthers series in their catalog now too.

The source code was released ages ago.
There are already a bunch of Freeware Remakes of the series:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Panthers

Rights to the game and source code were acquired by Matrix Games who developed and released as freeware a remake based on the Steel Panthers III engine (but limited to the timespan of World War II), Steel Panthers: World at War! The latest available patch version is 8.403. No further development is planned.

Link:
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/297/downloads/

There also exists ongoing development by The Camo Workshop based on the Steel Panthers II code. The Camo Workshop introduced new features to their two Windows based versions of Steel Panthers. Steel Panthers: World War 2 (WinSPWW2) features battles from 1930 through 1946, with an extreme vast array of OOB (Order of battle). Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank (WinSPMBT) features battles from 1945 to 2020, with 90 different nations to allow for the simulation of a variety of different real and hypothetical conflicts. Those versions are still maintained and improved.

In 2005 Shrapnel Games took over distribution of SPCAMO's output, handling the distribution of the Windows version of their games. WinSPMBT was released in June of that year as a free download. A CD version with added bonus features was also offered as a commercial product (though the free version of the game itself is a full wargame already), the first time SPCAMO had charged for one of its games. WinSPWW2 was released on May 15, 2006.

Links:
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Camo_Workshop/WW2/WW2_page.html
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Camo_Workshop/MBT/MBT_page.html

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

JudasIscariot
Do you know anything about publishing games on GOG? Like, the procedure and so on. Couldn't find any useful information except buzzwords, but it was quite some time ago.

Basically, I've answered the same question here:

http://af.gog.com/forum/general/rel...fantasy_general_d1234?staff=yes&as=1649904300

Sorry for the shortcut but we are hella busy atm.

I was talking about publishing your own games. Guess I should've been more specific.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Give me the goldbox games and I will personally put Gaben down for good.

Quoting for posterity.

That's not a wise idea...

Spoiler

 

[tuluse]

Give me the goldbox games and I will personally put Gaben down for good.

Goldbox is tied to the AD&D IP so you would have to cut a new licensing deal with Hasbro/WotC.
I'm hazarding that is the main issue with any re-release...

Yet all of the post 96 D&D games are available. I'm guess D&D rights pre-WotC are actually more complicated and that combined with SSI's demise makes this doubly difficult.

 

[vonAchdorf]

I was talking about publishing your own games. Guess I should've been more specific.

http://www.gog.com/indie

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I was talking about publishing your own games. Guess I should've been more specific.

http://www.gog.com/indie

That's what I'm talking about, but there are always a few pitfalls here and there, so I thought Judas could educate me on the matter a little bit.

 

[Nomad_Blizz]

Hmm, this could be a useful feature. I hope valve is taking notes.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Hmm, this could be a useful feature. I hope valve is taking notes.

On Steam a developer can use the "beta patch" system for that already. E.g. Paradox let you rollback to the previous patch version because they always break stuff in their new patches.

 

[Grim Monk]

Yet all of the post 96 D&D games are available. I'm guess D&D rights pre-WotC are actually more complicated and that combined with SSI's demise makes this doubly difficult.

Different licensing deal stemming from Interplay which later sold the rights to Atari.
Hasbro eventually got them back due to Atari's mismanagement and is now listed as the publisher...