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General discussionGoG shouldn't bundle classic games with compatibility/unofficial patches(31 posts)(31 posts)
(31 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 15, 2018
What brought me to GOG was the fact that they sold DOS games that ran straight from installing. No need to configure DOSBOX etc. Isn't that much the same? I tend to look at what is on offer and decide yes or no. Gameplay, price, controls, UI....this is what is available, do I want it, yes or no.

Been with GOG a couple of years, never been let down, but I do take responsibility to check things out first. Also I don't winge because a business doesn't cater to me personally.
Posted March 15, 2018
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timmy010: i've voiced my opinon on this already. compatibilty patches creates their own problems. i prefer "barebones" or vanilla. but even more vanilla than most people such as maintenance of redistributables bundled with games
Glad you share the view.

I just love the ability to play my fave RPGs patchless/expansionless. Icewind Dale, I mentioned. But also its sequel, Fallout, and Gothic 2.

Also, I like the ability to mod a game how I like. Killap's patch for Fallout 2 is about as authoritative as a patch can get (though it still has issues), but its just nice to be able to play bare-bones, anyway.

GoG Vamp Bloodlines is inconvenient in that you have to uninstall Wesp's to get back to barebones/install purist patch (TPGE).

There are actually many, many examples ofc.

Someone mentioned Deus Ex before. Well, even before GMDX (which is in no way shape or form close to authoritative/dev intent, just like its Shifter/BioMod precursors which laid the groundwork), there were many options to get Deus Ex going on various hardware/OS configs.

Basically, I like options. Start from the raw game and mod as you like. GoG shouldn't dictate that just to please the plebs who don't know how to turn on their PC.
Post edited March 15, 2018 by Lilura
Posted March 15, 2018
Nah, they should.


I could sometimes prefer the game without them but overall I still think most people prefer ease-of-use.
Optimally it would be nice if, during installation process, there was tickbox, ticked on default, to give option to include patch or not.
Or pop-up during installation asking whether player wants it or not.
Posted March 15, 2018
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Lilura:
gog adds these tweaks so it works out of the box but the thing is i own more than 4 different machines with a whole host of operating systems and configurations. i can just pick up an old game, install it and it works. there are the few exceptions in relation to dosbox, scummvm. for these i have one install and x amount of games. they're technically not even installs since they're portable editions where applicable. then there's the hard drives which are networked so i can access what i want when i want. my systems are complexly entwined and i've never needed a gog tweak to help with anything. they just get in the way. even the installers are inefficient but i won't delve into this.
Posted March 15, 2018
high rated
"Furthermore, each and every one of the games in this post are eminently playable in their final state, without unofficial patches. Even Troika's bug-ridden games. I have played vanilla Arcanum, Bloodlines and ToEE for years; I should know."
Interesting. I didn't realize the blogger came over to my house and played those games all the way through on my PCs, to verify that there were no game-ending bugs when run on my setups.
Posted March 15, 2018
I agree that unofficial patches should not be pre-installed. What would be great is installation instructions that guide us step by step to install any patches that are considered necessary and information on possible incompatibility issues.
Posted March 15, 2018
"GOG sells broken games"

Lol, that would go down well. That said, there's nothing wrong with including an installer of the original untampered games as a bonus goodie.
Posted March 15, 2018
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Crosmando: "GOG sells broken games"
the amount of unpatched games on gog, that's technically correct as of now. ;)
Posted March 15, 2018
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Crosmando: "GOG sells broken games"
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timmy010: the amount of unpatched games on gog, that's technically correct as of now. ;)
Well, I mean broken as in the game won't even launch or it crashes to desktop after a while of play.
Posted March 15, 2018
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amok: most customers wants to just "plug-n-play" and have the most updated / bug free gaming experience. so from a business and usability perspective, i agree with gOg's approach.
Yes, this is pretty much the bottom line right here. This is the one that would make MOST consumers happy, and thus the one they should go with.
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liquidsnakehpks: when i had windows xp / 7 i always thought about playing the games as is without any compatibility patches , always kept the original media with the old setups but thanks how useless windows 10 is , i really think in today's scenario , gamers will prefer a quick fix simple install and play method for older games.

For example , i have always kept my age of empires 1 gold edition cd with me , it installed and played fine on windows xp , 7 but i was stunned when the bare setup failed to run on windows 10 even with compatibility settings so i am unable to play a Microsoft game on a Microsoft os .....

Also tried playing the original neverwinter nights 1 on windows 10 and it runs terrible with constant slowdowns.
I'm not sure which version I have, but my Age Of Empires has installed and ran fine on every computer so far from Windows XP to Windows 7 and now to Windows 10. If I don't have Age of Empires installed on my computer then I'm done gaming. I play that game all the time. No not 24/7. But as in I come back and play it all the time. I'll never go more than a few months without playing it. I can't. lol. I feel badly that you had this problem. I would be in the mental house by now (okay okay short trip yeah I know but still... I'm not there yet...LOL)
Post edited March 15, 2018 by OldFatGuy
Posted March 15, 2018
deleted
Posted March 15, 2018
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skimmie: As a person who gets most games working eventually, even the more tricky ones (if even possible at all), I can say that my personal opinion on this is, 'that's pure and utter nonsense'. I buy a game because I want to play a game. Not muck about 6 hours before I can. I don't even have that much spare time. The platform is irrelevant.
I had a winky face there for a reason and I think the quoted reply was similarly in jest. I think the point is more that fiddling with games to get them to work right is a somewhat common occurrence on PC, even for new games, so people shouldn't be shocked when confronted with it. Something tells me that Steam and GOG have increased the number of more casual PC gamers though, people who largely game on consoles but might now use a PC to play Deus Ex or Thief 2 or whatever, and I think for GOG it's a good decision to default to a modded/tweaked version that runs out of the "box."

It would be nice for purists if they offered the straight original files, but like I said it probably doesn't sound worth the time, money and support emails to do so.
Posted March 15, 2018
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amok: most customers wants to just "plug-n-play" and have the most updated / bug free gaming experience. so from a business and usability perspective, i agree with gOg's approach.
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OldFatGuy: Yes, this is pretty much the bottom line right here. This is the one that would make MOST consumers happy, and thus the one they should go with.
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liquidsnakehpks: when i had windows xp / 7 i always thought about playing the games as is without any compatibility patches , always kept the original media with the old setups but thanks how useless windows 10 is , i really think in today's scenario , gamers will prefer a quick fix simple install and play method for older games.

For example , i have always kept my age of empires 1 gold edition cd with me , it installed and played fine on windows xp , 7 but i was stunned when the bare setup failed to run on windows 10 even with compatibility settings so i am unable to play a Microsoft game on a Microsoft os .....

Also tried playing the original neverwinter nights 1 on windows 10 and it runs terrible with constant slowdowns.
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OldFatGuy: I'm not sure which version I have, but my Age Of Empires has installed and ran fine on every computer so far from Windows XP to Windows 7 and now to Windows 10. If I don't have Age of Empires installed on my computer then I'm done gaming. I play that game all the time. No not 24/7. But as in I come back and play it all the time. I'll never go more than a few months without playing it. I can't. lol. I feel badly that you had this problem. I would be in the mental house by now (okay okay short trip yeah I know but still... I'm not there yet...LOL)
I gave up trying to install aoe 1 on windows 10 , there is a upatch hd but it wont until it detects aoe 1 is installed :(

i am huge fan of the aoe series , thank god at least aoe 2 hd from steam and aom runs fine
Posted March 15, 2018
Rather infamously, NASA has literally thousands of data tapes that they can't read or access or do anything with, because their current computer systems can't deal with the now-obsolete data storage formats, and their current employees don't have the training they'd need to use the older technology even if anyone could get their hands on it. I don't see much value in preservation like that; for me, being able to download and play old games without a lot of hassle is one of GOG's main selling points. It would be nice to give people an option to download unpatched games if they wanted to, I guess; I don't know how much work that would be.
Posted March 15, 2018
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skimmie: As a person who gets most games working eventually, even the more tricky ones (if even possible at all), I can say that my personal opinion on this is, 'that's pure and utter nonsense'. I buy a game because I want to play a game. Not muck about 6 hours before I can. I don't even have that much spare time. The platform is irrelevant.
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StingingVelvet: I had a winky face there for a reason and I think the quoted reply was similarly in jest. I think the point is more that fiddling with games to get them to work right is a somewhat common occurrence on PC, even for new games, so people shouldn't be shocked when confronted with it. Something tells me that Steam and GOG have increased the number of more casual PC gamers though, people who largely game on consoles but might now use a PC to play Deus Ex or Thief 2 or whatever, and I think for GOG it's a good decision to default to a modded/tweaked version that runs out of the "box."

It would be nice for purists if they offered the straight original files, but like I said it probably doesn't sound worth the time, money and support emails to do so.
I figured you were joking, but I'm not so sure about the OP. Hence my answer.
I agree it'd be good if you could choose between 'vanilla' or patched editions during the installation though (with patched as default, to make sure the games work on as many systems a possible).
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionGoG shouldn't bundle classic games with compatibility/unofficial patches(31 posts)(31 posts)
(31 posts)