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General discussion (archive)downloads/service/and my gog experience.(41 posts)(41 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 17, 2014
My experience with Gog and it's down loader really leaves something to be desired. I was able to trouble shoot and find a work around to get everything downloaded effectively, but it was a sloppy counter-intuitive experience at best. If I tell the down loader I want it to put the all the files in a specific folder on a specific drive I expect them to go there.

Battling through corrupt files from mirrors, improper installation paths and other delays the game is now installing to the proper location at last. As a CS/math major I am more than competent so I really can't imagine what the average user goes through or the computer illiterate user just looking to kill some time or play a bit of ultima for nostalgic purposes goes through.

Right now I am just happy with the steam experience and interface and do not feel I will be using Gog again. Even Amazon has a bit more fluid system that though lacks some of the functionality I get from steam it still does everything it is supposed to.

Just to give some specifics:

Game: witcher enhanced
OS: windows 7

Specifics: Failed download do to corruption 3 Files downloaded and attempted to install to my documents drive C even though special gog folder was made on drive F and specific path instructions were written and saved within the gog down loader settings.

I concede that maybe I am just another American with a overblown sense of entitlement, but when I start a download and go to sleep I expect it to be done in the morning and requesting a confirmation of file path for installation. It is that service that is offered by all the major competitors whether It is from steam, amazon, or even gamestops new deal and if that is not the service here, well than the witcher will be my last purchase which is a shame because that ultima 7 is really tempting me and the selection of great old games here would make me a regular!
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Posted March 17, 2014
And you made this a question because?
Posted March 17, 2014
That sucks. Too bad your experience was crappy. I never use the DLer and just DL through the browser and haven't had any issues (I find i like to do it this way, as I just DL all my GOG games to my archive drive and then install from there).
Posted March 17, 2014
i chucked out the browser downloading and the client after 3 failed attempts to download witcher 2 , always some part fails the check as someone recommended you really have a better chance using a download manager like IDM or something. its a headache downloading huge files.
Post edited March 17, 2014 by liquidsnakehpks
Posted March 17, 2014
All I can say is the downloader has always worked better for me than any browsers do for me when its a BIG game.
Posted March 17, 2014
... And where's the question in this?

Wouldn't know about the downloader though, and make a point not to, seeing as it'd imply installing some other software to get the games I'm buying and one of the main "selling points" of GOG is not needing to do that. I just download everything manually in browser, save them where I want them, install them from there wherever I want (and there seems to be a registry setting to remember the folder you want to install them in after you install one, so in my case it defaults to D:\Games instead of Program Files or whatever) and that's that. May require a little more than just starting the process and going to sleep, but exercising freedom takes a bit of effort :)
Posted March 17, 2014
Honestly, they should just ditch the client and just allow us to use an FTP client with resume or perhaps bittorrent. They just don't have the resources to do it right.
Posted March 17, 2014
I downloaded The Witcher EE from GOG within the last month (used Firefox), and everything downloaded and installed perfectly. I didn't use any "downloader" (yuck!) and don't understand why anyone would want to do that. There are simple file links on the side... I just clicked those to download some files, then installed the game. Simple.
Posted March 17, 2014
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hedwards: Honestly, they should just ditch the client and just allow us to use an FTP client with resume or perhaps bittorrent. They just don't have the resources to do it right.
Allowing FTP would be an interesting idea, yeah.
Posted March 17, 2014
I think you have to realise that your experience is not everyone's experience. As a Computer Science major I hope you are aware of this (though perhaps you don't have experience in industry?). Obviously what you describe is not a good user experience but if it was like that for everyone I doubt GOG would still be in business.

I think us CS grads are a bit more sympathetic to software creators in general because we know of the problems with making everything work for everyone on all these different systems..So in that spirit I would strongly urge you to contact support and provide detailed information on your problems (if you haven't done so already).
Posted March 17, 2014
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dragonfell: Specifics: Failed download do to corruption 3 Files downloaded and attempted to install to my documents drive C even though special gog folder was made on drive F and specific path instructions were written and saved within the gog down loader settings.
Just remember that the "path instructions" you mention in the GOG Downloader options is for the folder where to download the game installer (and extra files, if you want them too), not where the game(s) will be installed.

From that description it appeared to me that you thought that is the place where the game will be installed. It is not. You tell the actual installation path for the downloaded installer, when you run it.

The corrupted download sounds bad though. Witcher should have an integrity check before the installation, I think, so if your download was corrupted, the integrity check for the installer should fail, and not try to install it at all.
Posted March 17, 2014
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hedwards: Honestly, they should just ditch the client and just allow us to use an FTP client with resume or perhaps bittorrent. They just don't have the resources to do it right.
bittorrent would be fucking epic
Posted March 17, 2014
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TDP: I downloaded The Witcher EE from GOG within the last month (used Firefox), and everything downloaded and installed perfectly. I didn't use any "downloader" (yuck!) and don't understand why anyone would want to do that. There are simple file links on the side... I just clicked those to download some files, then installed the game. Simple.
It is easier to download big, multi-part installers (like The Witcher), plus the extras, with the client. Much less clicking on each individual file, plus the client creates a nice directory structure for your installers and the extras.

But if you just want to download some old small game from GOG (like Ultima 7) just to play it right there, then the downloader client can be considered an overkill. Unless your intention is to download several games for e.g. archiving purposes, then the downloader client is still quite useful.
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hedwards: Honestly, they should just ditch the client and just allow us to use an FTP client with resume or perhaps bittorrent. They just don't have the resources to do it right.
As long as they are still just optional, not required.

The thing is, neither FTP, Bittorrent or Steam client works e.g. from the ultra-speedy internet connection at my work. I guess I could get FTP to work by fiddling with some proxyconf settings and shit, but meh.

But GOG Downloader client works without a hitch also there. Very nice.
Post edited March 17, 2014 by timppu
Posted March 17, 2014
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timppu: The thing is, neither FTP, Bittorrent or Steam client works e.g. from the ultra-speedy internet connection at my work. I guess I could get FTP to work by fiddling with some proxyconf settings and shit, but meh.
Where on Earth do you work since they block FTP? Never heard of anyone doing that. Frankly, I can't see any reason for doing so either.
Posted March 17, 2014
I downloaded The Witcher 2 in less than 30 minutes without any problems... I'm awesome :D
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General discussion (archive)downloads/service/and my gog experience.(41 posts)(41 posts)
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