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[Flying_Phoenix]

I remember really liking Septerra Core

Kind of a JRPG made by westerners.

I always wanted to play this.

How good is it compared to other JRPG's?

 

[mclem]

New FREE release.

http://www.gog.com/en/news/new_release_dragonsphere_for_free

Dragonsphere from Microprose. A more obscure point-n-click, but I seem to remember it doing okay back in the day.

Full update with details of the downloader changes:

As announced during our presentation on CD Projekt Days Spring Conference, the update adds two highly requested by users improvements: a new downloader application and personal messages. The new downloader has been made from scratch by GOG.com developers and features multithreaded downloads for performance, automatic error checking and runs only when user is downloading something from GOG.com. The downloader is not a client application and is optional to use, although recommended for downloading big games, like i.e. The Witcher 2.

Personal Messaging, the second biggest feature of the Spring Update, is a combination of instant and private messaging. The system will have fully configurable privacy settings and just like the downloader is completely optional. Aside of those two changes, the team has introduced many various improvements to make the user experience even better - those include improved checkout system, update to work flawlessly on newest browsers and easier to use coupon system.

Finally, as the cherry on top for the Spring Update Sundae (man, we could really go for some ice cream), the we released Dragonsphere, free to all users. The game is an adventure point-and-click title by famous MicroProse and features excellent story, clever puzzles and simple yet appealing graphics. “It’s easy to lose yourself in this fresh, engaging game” according to PC Gamer. This adds to our already existing catalog of free titles, bringing the total up to five.

 

[nny]

Much love, gog. Point 'n click adventures are always welcome, never played this one.

 

[Minsc]

New FREE release.

http://www.gog.com/en/news/new_release_dragonsphere_for_free

Dragonsphere from Microprose. A more obscure point-n-click, but I seem to remember it doing okay back in the day.

Full update with details of the downloader changes:

The green pants, red cape, black boots and brown jacket must have been popular in the 90s, compare the 8th shot from the product page to this, not close enough to call it ripped off or anything, but they may be shopping in the same marketplaces. At least their belts and hair are different colors.

 

[StarEye]

Well, that Quest For Glory I screenshot is from the VGA release, and he wore different coloured clothes in the original. But yes, it certainly seems like it's heavily inspired by King's Quest and Quest for Glory in artstyle.

I missed this release back in the days, as I was pure Amigan all the way. I read reviews of Rex Nebular and Return of the Phantom, but can't remember hearing about Dragonsphere. Just downloaded it, so I will give it a go later tonight probably.

 

[Refreshment.01]

I was wondering about big downloads the other day. When dowloading Syberia just used the browser integrated downloader, so if it stopped in the middle of the download one could get f*cked.

Is the new download app from GoG too intrusive? In the sense that, if it does anoying things like loading itself at pc startup and requires a heavy instalation. Since already have enough crap processes running in the background to have even more.

Anyway its a powerful weapon GoG have in its hands. They don't treat customers like dirt, its very refreshing to say the least

 

[Minsc]

I was wondering about big downloads the other day. When dowloading Syberia just used the browser integrated downloader, so if it stopped in the middle of the download one could get f*cked.

Is the new download app from GoG too intrusive? In the sense that, if it does anoying things like loading itself at pc startup and requires a heavy instalation. Since already have enough crap processes running in the background to have even more.

Anyway its a powerful weapon GoG have in its hands. They don't treat customers like dirt, its very refreshing to say the least

Haven't used it (simultaneous 2GB downloads work just fine from a web browser for me), but the PR blurb says:

The new downloader has been made from scratch by GOG.com developers and features multithreaded downloads for performance, automatic error checking and runs only when user is downloading something from GOG.com. The downloader is not a client application and is optional to use, although recommended for downloading big games, like i.e. The Witcher 2.

So you should be in the clear.

 

[Salaadin]

New downloader sounds alright. The Witcher 2 preload starts in 5 days, right?

 

[Minsc]

New downloader sounds alright. The Witcher 2 preload starts in 5 days, right?

May 10th. I imagine you'll have to complete your purchase (authorize a payment) on May 10th onward to get access to the pre-load. Wonder if they'll keep the artbook and extras locked up til the 16th/17th? Probably.

It also seems a little likely that the one or two new trailers rumored to be coming out for The Witcher 2 may correspond to GOG's Witcher 1 release (not be restricted to, just released alongside of), wild guess.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Took the downloader for a spin. Its an executable, didn't seem to install anything, if it did its pretty lighweight stuff. Has the option to put it on startup if you want. And it isn't a resource hog.

Only thing strange i noticed its that my GPU activity spiked to 99% with 0 gaming just normal pc use and had to restart the PC to fix the problem. So keep that in mind and check it out, might be a bug. Im using catalyst 11.2, i heard that happens with these dirvers but the only time i had this issue (at least that i got to be aware of it) was today. And the only thing out of the ordinary i did today was use GoG´s downloader.

 

[SturokBGD]

So this weekend's promo is up to 50% off classic Atari strategy games.

The only one I don't already own is Total Annihilation: Kingdoms, and it's on offer to me here for $2.99. What say you, Good ol' GAF?

 

[mclem]

So this weekend's promo is up to 50% off classic Atari strategy games.

The only one I don't already own is Total Annihilation: Kingdoms, and it's on offer to me here for $2.99. What say you, Good ol' GAF?

Arguably the worst game in that promo is the most expensive. C'est la vie.

I've not played TA: Kingdoms, but I seem to recall that it's disappointing when compared to the original.

 

[gdt]

When is The Witcher going up? Wanna buy that, even though I won't be able to play it till I get my new laptop in.

 

[LocoMrPollock]

Master of Magic is tempting. I wonder, how well does it hold up?

 

[larvi]

So this weekend's promo is up to 50% off classic Atari strategy games.

The only one I don't already own is Total Annihilation: Kingdoms, and it's on offer to me here for $2.99. What say you, Good ol' GAF?

Yeah, I was the same way and said what the heck and picked it up for $3. It was one of those games I remember always wanting to pick up back in the day but never did, plus it comes with the Iron Plague expansion. Not sure when or if I will ever get around to it but the completionist in me figured it was worth $3 to add it to my collection

Master of Magic is tempting. I wonder, how well does it hold up?

Very well in my mind, I bought it new when it came out and I still go back to it when I want my fantasy TBS fix. MoM and Moo2 are must have classics from this lot in my opinion.

 

[Nickiepoo]

So this weekend's promo is up to 50% off classic Atari strategy games.

The only one I don't already own is Total Annihilation: Kingdoms, and it's on offer to me here for $2.99. What say you, Good ol' GAF?

It's not a bad game per say, there's 4 races, each with their own styles (one of which doesn't even build structures, which is interesting), and the campaign has an interesting dynamic whereby you skip between the different races level by level as the story unfolds.

It's not great though, and it certainly doesn't live up to its name, though I did enjoy it back in the day.

 

[epmode]

Master of Magic is tempting. I wonder, how well does it hold up?

Outside of a few interface niggles, I think it's still pretty great. Better than Elemental for sure.

Of course, you might just be happy with Shadow Magic since they're so similar.

So: Arguably the best game in the sub-genre. Compares favorably to the Master of Orion series (from the same developer) which is really saying something.

 

[Diomedeskun]

Outside of a few interface niggles, I think it's still pretty great. Better than Elemental for sure.

Of course, you might just be happy with Shadow Magic since they're so similar.

So: Arguably the best game in the sub-genre. Compares favorably to the Master of Orion series (from the same developer) which is really saying something.

As much as I like Shadow Magic, I still have to give Master of Magic the edge. Shadow Magic has some great improvements, such as taking multiple stacks into battle, but MoM is still my favorite in the genre.

 

[Sober]

Hmm, TW1 for 4.99$ starting on the 10th? I think I'm going to hold out for that (and also prepurchase TW2) at the same time. I have the original NA version of The Witcher, and the EE patches take forever to install (I could swear it was maybe 90 minutes).

 

[faceless007]

Anyone else having problems downloading the new downloader? The file I download is only 508kb but the site says it's supposed to be 1.03MB, and it's not a valid zip.

 

[Leonsito]

http://www.gog.com/en/news/gog_upda...o_longer_use_geo_ip_to_determine_your_region/

That's pretty nice, it seems like Australia is going to lose a lot of GoG users.. lol

 

[Minsc]

http://www.gog.com/en/news/gog_upda...o_longer_use_geo_ip_to_determine_your_region/

That's pretty nice, it seems like Australia is going to lose a lot of GoG users.. lol

That's pretty huge, if Stream did something like that too, you would never have to get people to gift games any more. Nice timing, given TW2 being censored in Australia.

 

[Lissar]

That's pretty awesome! Not that it matters to me being in the US, we don't usually get odd pricing and the like. But it will be convenient when I go outside of the country and there happens to be a sale on or something.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

Anyone else having problems downloading the new downloader? The file I download is only 508kb but the site says it's supposed to be 1.03MB, and it's not a valid zip.

http://files.gog.com/downloader/gogdownloader_0901224.zip

 

[stupei]

What time do GOG updates usually go up? Wondering if I might be able to start downloading The Witcher before I head off to work tomorrow morning or if I'm going to have to wait until the evening.

 

[Dog Problems]

Well, I'll be double-dipping on The Witcher tomorrow.

 

[War Machine]

The Witcher is out now.

 

[Fayte19]

Anyone else having trouble downloading the witcher? I can't use the downloader or my broswer. I keep getting a message about the setup files being corrupted.


EDIT: Nevermind, everything is working perfectly now.

 

[garath]

Just bought the Witcher. Found my old save files from 2008. I plan on picking up where I left off as I just don't see myself being able to finish a 50+ hour game. Maybe starting at hour 20 or so I'll have a chance.

So nice to have it digital instead of having to find my old discs, find the key, then install that EE patch.

 

[Kyaw]

Which game shall i pick from this:

Beyond Divinity, Divine Divinity, Gothic 2: Gold Edition, Realms of Arkania 1 + 2 or Realms of Arkania 3

I can choose one of them from TW2 pre-order offer.

 

[epmode]

Gothic 2 and Divine Divinity are the best of the lot. Not sure what you'd like more.

 

[Dog Problems]

When is the free game downloadable? I already paid for my pre-order but I don't see an option to get a game.

 

[Minsc]

When is the free game downloadable? I already paid for my pre-order but I don't see an option to get a game.

It comes via a link in an e-mail confirmation that is sent from your pre-order. If you did the pre-order in the first hour or so you could, you need to view the e-mail as simple text to see the code (this can usually be done in the client or sometimes by replying to it the e-mail will be copied in simple text at the bottom).

 

[kurtrussell]

Ahha - read the gog forums and the link is only given to those who pre-order and then pay after... if you just have the pre-order conf email with the link to the bonus material, this won't include the free game code until you pay...

 

[Minsc]

Also, LastWindow, I saw in the news thread they posted:

You can view the proper version of the confirmation email here:

http://www.gog.com/en/page/my_tw2_info/

We will also resend the proper emails soon.

The above link actually should work if you're logged in. It brings up my serial # and button to download the free game.

 

[garath]

Downloaded the original Witcher last night. The new downloader has its pros and cons. Sure is easier to click once than downloading each individual file from the web browser. Only downside is the "combining" process after it's done downloading. I was playing Crysis while it was downloading and all of a sudden everything got super chuggy and I hit a level load, it took about 20 minutes. Painful.

I quit the game and it took another hour for the gog downloader to combine everything.

Steam has spoiled me. Not only do I get stellar download rates but the average game is done and installed behind the scenes in less than an hour. I haven't looked but I suspect I need to install the witcher yet too.

 

[Dog Problems]

Also, LastWindow, I saw in the news thread they posted:



The above link actually should work if you're logged in. It brings up my serial # and button to download the free game.

That works. Thank you!

 

[Minsc]

Downloaded the original Witcher last night. The new downloader has its pros and cons. Sure is easier to click once than downloading each individual file from the web browser. Only downside is the "combining" process after it's done downloading. I was playing Crysis while it was downloading and all of a sudden everything got super chuggy and I hit a level load, it took about 20 minutes. Painful.

I quit the game and it took another hour for the gog downloader to combine everything.

Steam has spoiled me. Not only do I get stellar download rates but the average game is done and installed behind the scenes in less than an hour. I haven't looked but I suspect I need to install the witcher yet too.

Sounds like the normal http downloading is better, should have just done that, I downloaded TW2 the old fashioned way, no problems.

Steam certainly has its advantages, but they aren't actively seeking out making older games available and patched to run in Windows 7 like GOG is, so cut GOG some slack the next time you fire up Planescape Torment or any other game exclusive to GOG.

 

[Dog Problems]

I don't know, I'm liking this downloader so far. All I've used it for is both Witcher games but they both downloaded much quicker than if I would have downloaded each file on its own.

But one thing I noticed is when Witcher 2's download supposedly finished there was still a bit left. I started it when I went to bed and when I checked it this morning it was paused and it showed some left. I tried to resume and it wouldn't do anything. Is the remaining bit just the files they haven't put up or did my download mess up?

 

[Minsc]

I don't know, I'm liking this downloader so far. All I've used it for is both Witcher games but they both downloaded much quicker than if I would have downloaded each file on its own.

But one thing I noticed is when Witcher 2's download supposedly finished there was still a bit left. I started it when I went to bed and when I checked it this morning it was paused and it showed some left. I tried to resume and it wouldn't do anything. Is the remaining bit just the files they haven't put up or did my download mess up?

It's just the remaining files, so long as it's around 100MB, I think the downloader stops somewhere around 9.4GB and the rest will finish when released. You should be able to just look at the place it downloaded to and see 4 2GB files and a 5th 1.6GB file, if it works the way I'd imagine it to.

 

[Dog Problems]

I see. Well when I get home later I'll check the files.

 

[Sober]

It's just the remaining files, so long as it's around 100MB, I think the downloader stops somewhere around 9.4GB and the rest will finish when released. You should be able to just look at the place it downloaded to and see 4 2GB files and a 5th 1.6GB file, if it works the way I'd imagine it to.

With the downloader, I actually have almost 200 files of 50MB each. I'm guessing the last 100MB will actually be the installer that lets you install all the files?

 

[Zizbuka]

Well, I'll be double-dipping on The Witcher tomorrow.

Quadruple dip for me Bought the boxed original, then a boxed enhanced, then Steam and now this.

But this won't fit on a DVD? Not interested in blu-ray burners either.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

With the downloader, I actually have almost 200 files of 50MB each. I'm guessing the last 100MB will actually be the installer that lets you install all the files?

yeah, it downloads in chunks and error checks then puts it all back together after everything is finished downloaded

Quadruple dip for me Bought the boxed original, then a boxed enhanced, then Steam and now this.

But this won't fit on a DVD? Not interested in blu-ray burners either.

throw it on two or three dvds. it's in five 1.5 to 2 gig resource files

 

[Dog Problems]

I noticed that with the first Witcher, after it downloaded, the third part was still broken up in 201 10MB chunks. But then above all of them there's a 2GB file for the third part. I wonder if the chunks are still needed or if it's an error that they are still there?

 

[Joseph Merrick]

witcher1 should be 5 bin files and the installer executable

edit: same as witcher2 really

 

[Minsc]

Moto Racer 2 is back again, now fixed (guess there was an issue before with the DRM that prevented switching gears or something iirc). I'm thinking I'm not going to list it as a new release though, since it was already released and just removed because it wasn't working.

 

[garath]

Sounds like the normal http downloading is better, should have just done that, I downloaded TW2 the old fashioned way, no problems.

Steam certainly has its advantages, but they aren't actively seeking out making older games available and patched to run in Windows 7 like GOG is, so cut GOG some slack the next time you fire up Planescape Torment or any other game exclusive to GOG.

Oh it definitely gets some slack. I really like the service. Just hoping for even more improvements in the future. Steam shows it can be done.

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

I have a quick question:

So I bought The Witcher 1 and it runs fairly poorly on my machine (for good reason; I need to upgrade) but it's still playable and I'm liking it a lot.. I intend to upgrade the machine later this summer. Will The Witcher 2 still be offered on GOG.com after this promo or will it dissipate from the store after a few days?

I just haven't seen GOG.com confirm the game will be available after this pre-order business. I'm really liking The Witcher 1 as it's the only CRPG I can really get into, and I will probably want to buy the sequel later, but I'm wondering if I can. I love GOG and I'd much rather get it there.

 

[Minsc]

I have a quick question:

So I bought The Witcher 1 and it runs fairly poorly on my machine (for good reason; I need to upgrade) but it's still playable and I'm liking it a lot.. I intend to upgrade the machine later this summer. Will The Witcher 2 still be offered on GOG.com after this promo or will it dissipate from the store after a few days?

I just haven't seen GOG.com confirm the game will be available after this pre-order business. I'm really liking The Witcher 1 as it's the only CRPG I can really get into, and I will probably want to buy the sequel later, but I'm wondering if I can. I love GOG and I'd much rather get it there.

Yea, it should be sold indefinitely on their site.