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General discussionGOG Galaxy Beta starts now(1170 posts)(1170 posts)
(1170 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted May 06, 2015
Try the DRM-free online gaming platform.

<span class="bold">GOG Galaxy</span>: our truly gamer-friendly, DRM-free online gaming platform. As we shared our vision with the world, we promised auto-patching, social functionality like chat, friends lists, and achievements. We promised our own multiplayer support and cross-play with Steam. Most importantly, we promised truly optional.



Today we deliver.
The <span class="bold">GOG Galaxy</span> client enters beta, open to anyone, with the most important functionality ready to try, test, enjoy (and break) at your leisure. We're proud to have gotten this far, and we know that we couldn't have done it without you all - that's everyone who spent months in alpha testing, that's those of you who talked to us about your needs and expectations, and it's every single one of you that has supported us since ever. So thanks, GOG Galaxy is for you!

With the <span class="bold">GOG Galaxy Beta</span>, you can install your games in one click and keep them up to date automatically, the beta currently supports this feature in all but a couple of titles available here. You can also perform backups easily by downloading a standalone installer through GOG Galaxy. The beta features a friends list, game time tracking, achievements, and chat. You can now talk to each other, connect with your group of friends, and see what everyone is playing. You can also try out our online multiplayer & matchmaking solution that, in select titles, includes cross-play: platform-independent multiplayer between gamers on GOG.com and Steam. If you download a patch that breaks something or if you just change your mind, the app will soon feature a unique rollback option to restore a previous version of your game.

Best of all, GOG Galaxy is optional. If you don't want to use any additional software, your experience with us won't change at all. If you only want to take advantage of select conveniences, you can toggle them on and off. It's all totally up to you.

You can sign up for the <span class="bold">GOG Galaxy Beta</span> and find out more on <span class="bold">gog.com/galaxy</span>, where we tell you about the features and answer many of the questions you may have. We'll be watching the forums carefully, so feel free to leave a comment if there is anything else that you'd like to know!
Posted May 09, 2015
So I finally accepted the invite for the GOG Galaxy Beta, and tried it out.

I hate to say it, but in its current form Galaxy doesn't really offer much that can't be done through the GOG web site. It's missing far too many of the promised features. GOG should be calling Galaxy a pre-Alpha, not a Beta.

Galaxy doesn't even let you keep the installer for a game, after you download it. I'd rather just download a title from the web site, or through the older downloader client, until the option to keep and back up installers is added.

I find the UI to be rather clunky. With Galaxy, I feel like I'm using a web browser application that's been clumsily tacked on to the GOG web site. I know Steam does the exact same thing, using web pages for much of its functionality. But it feels a lot more polished, and as if the whole experience is a natural part of the client. (If that makes any sense.)

I desperately want GOG Galaxy to succeed, to put a nice dent into Steam's stranglehold on the market. But at this time, the Galaxy client has a long way to go before it catches up to Steam's client.
Posted May 09, 2015
I really hope the client will forever remain optional. It has some Google inside, the company I'm trying to stay away as much as possible. Apart from that it looks pretty much like Steam client and it's mostly a web client in its current state (i.e. not a real desktop application and eating a lot of CPU and memory resources). I know that using a browser window might be a lot easier than implementing online payment from scratch, so I can understand the approach; but I will stick with my browser, I was never achievements or chat fan anyway.
Post edited May 09, 2015 by ng
Posted May 09, 2015
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redrain85: Galaxy doesn't even let you keep the installer for a game, after you download it. I'd rather just download a title from the web site, or through the older downloader client, until the option to keep and back up installers is added.
The "Install" function serves only to intall your game through the internet. To download an installer like you do from the website, click the game you want, then "More", then "Download Extras", and you should find the familiar installers, along with the extras.
Posted May 09, 2015
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redrain85: So I finally accepted the invite for the GOG Galaxy Beta, and tried it out.

I hate to say it, but in its current form Galaxy doesn't really offer much that can't be done through the GOG web site. It's missing far too many of the promised features. GOG should be calling Galaxy a pre-Alpha, not a Beta.

Galaxy doesn't even let you keep the installer for a game, after you download it. I'd rather just download a title from the web site, or through the older downloader client, until the option to keep and back up installers is added.

I find the UI to be rather clunky. With Galaxy, I feel like I'm using a web browser application that's been clumsily tacked on to the GOG web site. I know Steam does the exact same thing, using web pages for much of its functionality. But it feels a lot more polished, and as if the whole experience is a natural part of the client. (If that makes any sense.)

I desperately want GOG Galaxy to succeed, to put a nice dent into Steam's stranglehold on the market. But at this time, the Galaxy client has a long way to go before it catches up to Steam's client.
Yeah the UI could use some work but still as rough as it looks it's still better looking then what Steam used to look like..
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Posted May 09, 2015
I just put Galaxy through it's paces importing and installing over 150 games, and i'd call it a success. For a beta it's core functionality is very stable, not one crash or even a glitch outside of one connection error.

Sure it's still missing a lot of the fluff features and I really oppose some of their design choices, such as how redistributables and multi-language installs are being handled (http://www.gog.com/wishlist/galaxy/handle_redists_efficiently_to_space_time_disk_space), but it's only going to improve.

Good job GOG!
Posted May 09, 2015
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Grargar: The "Install" function serves only to intall your game through the internet. To download an installer like you do from the website, click the game you want, then "More", then "Download Extras", and you should find the familiar installers, along with the extras.
The way you download a game installer in Galaxy, as you mentioned, is currently rather unintuitive IMHO. (Most people will not think of going to an option labelled "Extras" to download the actual game installer).

Also, the Galaxy client essentially downloads a game's installer anyway, installs silently, then deletes it. Why? I understand that keeping the installer nearly doubles the HD space used for each game. But at least provide the option to keep an installer, if the player wants it.

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DCT: Yeah the UI could use some work but still as rough as it looks it's still better looking then what Steam used to look like..
Steam has come a long way, yeah. And I understand that it's had a decade's head-start. I don't expect Galaxy to completely catch up overnight. But the description for Galaxy already proclaims lots of great features to match Steam's, and when you install the client you find that most of them are "Coming Soon". So, in its current state it's rather a misnomer to even call it a Beta.
Posted May 09, 2015
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redrain85: The way you download a game installer in Galaxy, as you mentioned, is currently rather unintuitive IMHO. (Most people will not think of going to an option labelled "Extras" to download the actual game installer).
I hear you and think that there could be a more intuitive way to download installers.

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redrain85: Also, the Galaxy client essentially downloads a game's installer anyway, installs silently, then deletes it. Why? I understand that keeping the installer nearly doubles the HD space used for each game. But at least provide the option to keep an installer, if the player wants it.
It doesn't download the installer. Instead, it downloads the game's files right away so that the game is ready to be played right after it has downloaded.
Post edited May 09, 2015 by Grargar
Posted May 10, 2015
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Grargar: It doesn't download the installer. Instead, it downloads the game's files right away so that the game is ready to be played right after it has downloaded.
Hmm, okay if I got that wrong then I apologize. I did notice the larger download size versus downloadable installers. But I attributed it to more additional files now being required, in each installer's archive, for updated Galaxy Beta enabled games.

In addition, I saw uninstall executables in each game's directory. Which also lead me to believe Galaxy uses the same executable installers as those you download. Apparently, these are still used, even if the game isn't downloaded and installed the same way.
Posted May 10, 2015
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Grargar: It doesn't download the installer. Instead, it downloads the game's files right away so that the game is ready to be played right after it has downloaded.
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redrain85: Hmm, okay if I got that wrong then I apologize. I did notice the larger download size versus downloadable installers. But I attributed it to more additional files now being required, in each installer's archive, for updated Galaxy Beta enabled games.
Larger size in Galaxy is due to the installers compressing the download size which Galaxy doesn't do yet, compression will eventually be available in Galaxy at some point which will make the downloads smaller.
Post edited May 10, 2015 by BKGaming
Posted May 10, 2015
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redrain85: Also, the Galaxy client essentially downloads a game's installer anyway, installs silently, then deletes it. Why? I understand that keeping the installer nearly doubles the HD space used for each game. But at least provide the option to keep an installer, if the player wants it.
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Grargar: It doesn't download the installer. Instead, it downloads the game's files right away so that the game is ready to be played right after it has downloaded.
That's true, e.g. mantis bug #2261 was closed with the following: "the client does not use an installer to install a game". But doesn't it look like flawed design? Why wouldn't Galaxy download the installer and then execute it? Anyway it asks admin permission to install the game after it's been downloaded. And I wonder what if you refuse, will it just delete the downloaded stuff? Missed a button - 10Gb in the bin, lost, download again. Nice.
Posted May 10, 2015
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green.anger: That's true, e.g. mantis bug #2261 was closed with the following: "the client does not use an installer to install a game". But doesn't it look like flawed design? Why wouldn't Galaxy download the installer and then execute it?
Because downloading+installing at the same time is faster than downloading and then installing. Blackguards, for instance, can take an eternity till it decompresses all its stuff. Maybe GOG can add an option in the future to be able to execute a standalone installer after it downloads it.
Post edited May 10, 2015 by Grargar
Posted May 10, 2015
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green.anger: That's true, e.g. mantis bug #2261 was closed with the following: "the client does not use an installer to install a game". But doesn't it look like flawed design? Why wouldn't Galaxy download the installer and then execute it?
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Grargar: Because downloading+installing at the same time is faster than downloading and then installing. Blackguards, for instance, can take an eternity till it decompresses all its stuff. Maybe GOG can add an option in the future to be able to execute a standalone installer after it downloads it.
Option will be the best solution for everyone. In the end, it's a matter of preferences. I'd rather wait a bit longer for decompressing, than a lot longer (depends on bandwidth of course) for downloading the game twice. But Blackguards in this case was a good example, it's compressed well. What is it, 4 GB vs. 17 GB?
Posted May 10, 2015
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green.anger: Option will be the best solution for everyone. In the end, it's a matter of preferences. I'd rather wait a bit longer for decompressing, than a lot longer (depends on bandwidth of course) for downloading the game twice. But Blackguards in this case was a good example, it's compressed well. What is it, 4 GB vs. 17 GB?
Yeah, something like that.
Posted May 10, 2015
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green.anger: Option will be the best solution for everyone. In the end, it's a matter of preferences. I'd rather wait a bit longer for decompressing, than a lot longer (depends on bandwidth of course) for downloading the game twice. But Blackguards in this case was a good example, it's compressed well. What is it, 4 GB vs. 17 GB?
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Grargar: Yeah, something like that.
Well, there are people with bad bandwidth. In case of Blackguards they will have to download 17 GB. Some of these people have download quota. There is a workaround, download the installer, install and then import folder in Galaxy, but it's clumsy. I'd still prefer decompressing.
Posted May 10, 2015
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redrain85: But the description for Galaxy already proclaims lots of great features to match Steam's, and when you install the client you find that most of them are "Coming Soon". So, in its current state it's rather a misnomer to even call it a Beta.
Don't know the story, but it looks like Galaxy was meant to be released just before Witcher 3 regardless of its state. Of course you cannot call such release "pre-alpha" even if it is. Wouldn't be fun to know Witcher 3 was delayed so that GOG team could release something stable.
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General discussionGOG Galaxy Beta starts now(1170 posts)(1170 posts)
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