elgonzo: Totally agree. While i generally preferred installers in the past, i can't say i am still a fan of GOG's installers. I have observed several times that during installation, they write gigabytes(!) worth of data into the %temp% folder. I mean, what is so difficult about writing an installer that writes the files directly into the target folder without taking a gigabyte-sized dump on the %temp% folder?
StingingVelvet: Yep. The bigger games can cause a hassle with today's smaller SSDs too, since you need the ~50GB installer files, the temp space AND the resulting installed game. You have to have more than double the free space to install. With a 500GB SSD and a game the size of Control, that's a huge pain.
I tend to use installers for older and smaller games and back them up, then use Galaxy for newer AAA style games. Someday when it makes more sense I'll make backups for those big AAA monsters.
Yeah, I find the installers less maintainable these days. I have had issues with the larger ones and patches working smoothly. Especially when taking into account Galaxy and the stand alone patches. They definitely dont sync well together and have had cases of the entire game needing to be downloaded during an update. My poor limited band width cant take the strain.
I am in the same place as both you, StingingVelvet, and Elongo. For smaller games and games that are not being continuously patched the stand alone installers are fine. But definitely, until a games patch cycle is more or less complete, at least for major patches during the games early life, they are not really as accessible. At least for me.
At this point I just use Galaxy to install the large ones and then back them up that way. However, that is not say I dont appreciate the effort GOG goes to to make the stand alone installers available. It is added work that other store fronts do not bother with. So, I am not surprised there are discrepancies between them and GOG Galaxy installs.
greyhat: Quite a few games are DRM free on Epic game store. Even metro Exodus (when it had Denuvo) could run with out the launcher after the initial verification.
Of the ones I played most were DRM free. The only one that was not was Subnautica and Exodus.
List of verified DRM free games
AB2012: I'm maintaining an updated spreadsheet on this thread if it's of any use. It's definitely good to see the game here on GOG though.
Thanks Ab2012. A spread sheet of DRM free games is always of use. It is a nice source of information so people no what to expect when purchasing a game.
