I'm new to this game and have some questions. I've found bugs/issues while playing. If I download this game with GOG Galaxy will it update and patch everything automatically?

Thanks

A: Welcome to GOG, enjoy your stay here.

B: It is unlikely that Stardock is to provide any further patches to GalCiv 2. Any bugs/issues that are in the game as fully installed are now yours to deal with.

C: But as installed, GalCiv 2 will start as final patched and released before it was unsupported.

More particularly, what issues have you found?

Thanks for the welcome, and thank you for the reply.

I didn't install the game with GOG Galaxy though, and I didn't apply any patches/updates yet. I download the game via offline backup game installers. I was just wondering if I installed it with GG would that automatically handle all the patching updates, or would I still need to apply the patch manually? I noticed in the downloader links section that they included a Windows patch you can download manually - 2.20 gog-3. Would that patch be applied automatically if I installed with GG? I'm assuming it's not patched/updated the way I installed it.

The bugs/issues I've come across so far are typos in communication messages and tech advance updates, and a missing ship; and when playing as the Terran Alliance just recently, suddenly the Terran Alliance appeared on screen as an enemy and communicated with me as if I wasn't the Terran Alliance lol.

Ah, in that case, yes. GOG Galaxy's primary purpose is to download and update patches. Unless the patch is manually separated for some reason, which is possible. You would need to import it, but that would be simple enough.

How do you patch a game manually?

Well, it typically depends on the method, but I'd expect it to be as simple as downloading an installer, placing it in the same directory as the executable, and running it.

Okay, thanks. I know that question must seem pretty simple to you seasoned vets of modern gaming, but I'm fairly new to this. I've never had to patch a game manually before either. I can count on one hand how may computer games I've played in past 20 years. I grew up in the days of the Commodore 64 playing the likes of Questron(s), Ultima(s), and Phantasie(s).
So I guess I'd just drag and drop the patch file over the game executable file then? I guess I could google the specs. Thanks again for your time.

No, that'd just launch the game. And confuse it. The patch would be a separate installer that you'd run in the game directory.

1: You would download the patch. This would likely go into your /$User/Downloads/ folder or OS equivalent.

2: First, I'd try opening the patch installer in the downloads, to see if you can direct it to the installed directory. (Probably program files or a folder of your choosing.)

2a: If this isn't the case, you'll need to move the patch installer to the game directory. Let's try and make this simple. If you have a desktop shortcut, you can right click it, go to properties, and then see where the file lies. Either trace that path in the file explorer of your choice or open the target from the properties.

2b: If you don't have a desktop shortcut, then why don't we search for the file in the Explorer? Open any instance of the file explorer, click on the drive where you installed the game, and then go to the search bar and type in GalCiv2. Right click any valid file that appears (preferably GalCiv2.exe) and open the directory in the menu.

3. Now, right click your download folders and either open it in a new tab, or open a new window. Drag the downloaded patch over to the previously opened directory, and just let go when the patch is hovering in the window in the game data.

4. Step 2. If all goes well, no further steps will be required. If all goes really well, none of this will be needed in the first place.

Hopefully 4.Step 2. is how things will go LOL. I'll give it a try and let you know how things turned out. Thanks again Darvond, I really appreciate your help.

Hi! That patch is already included in the current installer. No need to patch the game manually. In all likelihood, the patch-installer wouldn't let you anyhow.
Even if you were missing the update, patching now wouldn't help your current game, only future ones. The game stores a lot of the game-data within the save-game to reduce the chance of updates "breaking" the save. Could you provide more information about those two issues/bugs? What ship is missing? Was it missing from the start or did it happen later? What exactly happened with the other Terran Alliance? Did you make a custom race or did a revolt happen (i.e., did part of your empire split off)? I can't promise any fix, but I might be able to figure out what happened.

Hi Gaunathor, It was a mining ship that went missing early in the game, just after I'd finished mining an asteroid belt. I'd say probably about an hour into play.
As to the other issue/bug, I was playing as the Terran Alliance, I didn't customize anything, I just changed the name of my leader and civilization. No revolt or secession occurred, this happened early in the game as well, I'd say maybe 2 or 3 hours in.
Are you absolutely sure that the gog-3 patch is auto-installed with the basic offline download? Because I can't find any patch in any of the files for the game download.
Thanks for your response btw.

Hello Gaunathor! Nice to see you still poking around this game; I remember your name (and avatar) from the GalCiv2 forums (though I only lurked, never registered). :)

The contents of the patch would have already been applied to the game files. Therefore, you don't need to download and install the patch; all the updates the patch would have applied are already present.

Okay, thanks. Is there any way to fix the issues/bugs? Or are we stuck with the game the way it is? Thanks again for your response.