GOG.com

[Lacrymas]

I think this year's theme and focus is a pretty good one. Even though there are resources to find all kinds of academic texts and publications for free, it's the institutionalized restriction of these that irks me quite a bit.

 

[LESS T_T]

Urban Chaos getting delisted today
https://af.gog.com/forum/general/u...g?as=1649904300

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamer.com/gog-galaxy-20-wants-to-be-the-one-client-to-rule-them-all/

GOG Galaxy 2.0 wants to be the one client to rule them all
Can GOG Galaxy unify PC gaming’s messy collection of platforms?

Though Steam is still the dominant retail force in PC gaming, the scene is starting to fragment. EA has Origin, Ubisoft has Uplay, Microsoft has an arcane catacomb of systems that loosely resembles a storefront, and with the arrival of the Epic Games Store we’re opening more launchers than ever. At PC Gamer our taskbars are busy with quick-launch icons for different clients, and it’s enough to make us keen for the PC gaming equivalent of a universal remote—one client to rule them all. This is the problem that GOG have set out to solve with GOG Galaxy 2.0.

“We took a look at a couple of popular titles,” says designer Piotr Karwowski. “Fortnite, PUBG, Apex Legends, Overwatch, Rainbow Six: Siege, Destiny, Sea of Thieves, League of Legends, Dota, World of Tanks. We picked the ones that we believe are big, popular, there’s no scientific method behind this. We checked if you need a launcher to play those – and by the way this is not the most evil example you can find, actually we realised that for just those ten games you need eight different clients.

“I’m pretty sure that there are games where you need two different clients, because you buy a game on a platform and the platform opens the client.” GOG Galaxy 2.0 has been in development for two years, and hopes to serve as a master client that lets you quickly launch any game on your PC irrespective of the platform the game is tethered to. I watch as Karwowski signs into Battle.Net using Galaxy 2.0.

With the aid of his Blizzard Authenticator, the integration verifies in seconds and the Galaxy 2.0 library populates with Karwowski’s Blizzard games. It’s impressive, and if you buy new games in Battle.net, they appear automatically in your Galaxy 2.0 library too. The platform is syncing with all of your clients whenever you log in.

“This app should be really fast,” says Karwowski. “Using this app when it comes to browsing, launching, should be the fastest experience you will get across all the apps because why else would you use it? We think it should be the best experience you can get when it comes to managing your library.”

Unified front
Removing client permissions from Galaxy 2.0 is just as easy. The client immediately stops syncing. “There’s one more thing which we did which I think should be a standard when it comes to any apps or platforms that amass user data.

“If you disconnect from GOG Galaxy all of your data you’ve imported into Galaxy will be removed from our servers as well. It’s one-click import and one-click remove.”

Once you’ve built your cohesive library, you can launch those games directly without logging into further programs. In the demo I’m shown, GOG launches a game in seconds without any intermediary steps.

If you have ever forgotten a game existed because it’s tucked away in Origin, Galaxy will be of obvious benefit, but there are also powerful sorting tools and your library can be tweaked to your needs. You can sort games by genre tags, or series tags that can pull up, for example, every Assassin’s Creed game you own. Fancy playing a shooter? Sort the library by games with the uninstalled tag, and the FPS tag, and take your pick. GOG has anticipated that Galaxy’s library could contain a thousand or more games for avid hobbyists, so the search and filter functions are extensive and heavily customisable.

This does require some admin on the user’s part, and I look forward to the UI being refined over time. Galaxy can pull a lot of information about your games when you link it to a client, but if you want naming conventions to sync up across your library, or want to create precise tags, you have to do a bit of organisational work. Galaxy also keeps track of game stats like ‘time played’ and lets you compare stats with other players in your friends list.

For GOG, social features are almost as important as providing a unified game library. “In the early days we had this one sentence that stayed in our head like an earworm that wouldn’t let go: all the games and friends in one place,” says Karwowski. “That means GOG Galaxy 2.0 will import the games from different PC platforms with activities, achievements, and stats.”

Social space
Eventually GOG wants to provide a unified friends list that let you chat with a cross platform version of your friends list. GOG also hopes that plugins will give it new functionality. Karwowski gives the example of a plugin that might let you stream Xbox games to a Mac or PC.

Galaxy 2.0 has identified an area of friction for those of us with games scattered across various services. It’s already promising more features than the Epic Game Store which, as I write this, still doesn’t even let you type in the name of a game to search your library. It’s also a prescient move at a time when the big platform players like Microsoft are looking to adopt a ‘play anything, anywhere’ service for the next generation of games they publish.

GOG Galaxy 2.0 might be about to run headfirst into new forms of game distribution, most notably subscription services and, further down the line, streaming services. The notion of a mega-client that houses downloadable games may, in time, become obsolete. Until then, Galaxy 2.0 should solve a lot of annoying PC gaming problems. The service is in closed beta testing, but you can sign up at gogalaxy.com.

 

[Valky]

Sasuga, GOG.

 

[Lacrymas]

You get discounts for being subscribed to the newsletter? I've been subscribed for like ever and haven't received any. Not that I open the e-mails.

 

[Ismaul]

It's a new thing. Days old. They're ramping up the amount of e-mails, which just makes me want to unsubscribe.

Fucking naggers.

 

[DalekFlay]

Might finally get "Seven," though everyone says it's a controller game which turns me off.

 

[Alienman]

I think it controls better with keyboard and mouse, more precise.

 

[catfood]

https://af.gog.com/promo/20191018_weekend_sale_thq_nordic?as=1649904300

Big ass THQ sale. You can get Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods Enhanced Edition at 75% off.

 

[sullynathan]

GOG 2.0 annoyingly likes disconnecting from all the other services it's been linked to.

 

[Tom Selleck]

Also, does anyone know how to actually see either the DLC or the 'extras' from GOG 2.0? At a glance, I don't know how to tell if I have a particular DLC or expansion or if I have any like, soundtracks for a game

 

[Dux]

For those of you using the beta: is there any rough estimate on when GOG Galaxy 2.0 will be released to the public? End of year?

 

[Squid]

Will GOG 2.0 only run on Windows 8 and newer or will Windows 7 also work?

 

[Infinitron]

W40K Fire Warrior 50% off for the first time: https://af.gog.com/game/warhammer_40000_fire_warrior?as=1649904300

 

[catfood]

Townsmen - A Kingdom Rebuilt

This looks like a damn mobile game but I'm a sucker for managerial stuff. Does anyone know if it's better than it looks?

 

[Baron Dupek]

AI War 2
( you can also redeem it via Gog Connect )

looks like Christmas come early this decade year (which is usual Connect delivery time)

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Amnesia™: Memories

Why the hell haven't Frictional Games sued them to hell and back?

 

[Anthedon]

Amnesia™: Memories

Why the hell haven't Frictional Games sued them to hell and back?

I was clicking on the link expecting some kind of Amnesia DLC or sequel. Only to be greeted by anime. Emotional damages are grounds for a lawsuit.

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

What's up with this avalanche of sales? GOG used to do a weekly sale and maybe a few titles for a weekend sale. Now they also do midweek sales, publisher sales, AND event (cons and pre-order hype) sales. I'd gladly trade in these sales for a wider scope of classic releases.

 

[markec]

Every time I see new post on GoG thread I get my hope up that I will see announcement for a release of a good old strategy game, only to be disappointed every time.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Agreed, even though by now the GOG library is so extensive that it is really only a handful of (actual good old) games that I feel are still missing.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Agreed, even though by now the GOG library is so extensive that it is really only a handful of (actual good old) games that I feel are still missing.

Still lots of really good games that aren't available.
Most notably Myth- and Lemmings-series.

 

[Dux]

Agreed, even though by now the GOG library is so extensive that it is really only a handful of (actual good old) games that I feel are still missing.

Head over to myabandonware.com and have a look at the DOS and the Windows sections. There are literally hundreds of good old games currently stuck in limbo. Although "good" is subjective, I guess.

Here are some games I personally find interesting and they're just a few:

https://www.myabandonware.com/game/blood-magic-48g
https://www.myabandonware.com/game/secret-weapons-of-the-luftwaffe-1xo
https://www.myabandonware.com/game/guilty-23q
https://www.myabandonware.com/game/marco-polo-49z
https://www.myabandonware.com/game/discworld-noir-48j

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The Discworld games are all high up on GOG's request list, meaning it's probably a rights issue that's stopping it.

The same applies to Guilty (and it's prequel, Innocent Until Caught) and the Lemmings games, but all the games I mentioned (plus many other good titles) were published by Psygnosis, which is owned by Sony.

Last I checked Sony isn't very keen on DRM-free digital distribution, as I can't recall a single Sony title being on GOG. (GOG isn't helping here either as their search engine doesn't allow searching by publishers, despite their search engine blurb stating otherwise.)

 

[DalekFlay]

Yeah most of the real classics they don't have are mired in licensing issues. Since most "AAA" publishers won't release DRM free their only real avenue is releasing a ton of indie stuff and discounting it often to draw attention since the market is so flooded. I get why it frustrates some but not sure what else they can do.