Timboli: (1) I have read a few reports here of updates for games being released for Galaxy ahead of the stand-alone variant, some reputedly well before, and I am unclear on whether all do make it to the stand-a-lone file downloads.

(2) Some of us suspect and fear that the stand-alone files might eventually go the way of the Dodo.

So it may be possible, but I don't know, to extract and then strip Galaxy elements, and then repackage those installer files again? Or to run something at install time to do the same thing?

AB2012: 1. Are you asking how to download a GOG game via Galaxy, then remove the Galaxy elements from them in order to create your own offline installer? If so, it's usually a case of:-

AB2012: a. Install the game via Galaxy (or extract using InnoSetup)

b. Delete the Galaxy files (stuff like goggame*.info, like goggame*.script, like goggame*.hashdb, goglog.ini, webcache.zip, unins000.*, etc, are unnecessary for the game). Note this only applies to "Galaxy Metadata". You can't go removing bundled Galaxy.dll, Galaxy64.dll, GalaxyCSharp.dll, GalaxyCSharpGlue.dll, etc, from the game install folders as the achievements / cloud save stuff is hardcoded inside the game and it's those dll's that handle API calls to the client to stop the game from crashing when offline and running without the client. Same is true of some steam_api.dll or steam_api64.dll files (included in GOG version), they are there because the game is coded around them and GOG uses a "wrapper" of some kind. The only "solution" to avoiding these (mostly for older games) is simply find an older pre-Galaxified build of the game you may have backed up somewhere.

c. Find out if the game has any required registry entries (searching the registry for the game name / install folder will usually show any which you can export to a .reg file. Eg, some games here like Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis store a serial key in the registry without which the game won't start). Most GOG games are stored in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\GOG.com\Games\xxxxxxxxxx (unique number per GOG game) registry key.

d. Create your own InnoSetup installer / zip file / self-extracting zip file from those files. If you're going with simple plain .zip / .7z files, it's possible to create .bat files that can automate the extraction of the file to a predesignated location (if you always install to the same place) and automatically add any registry keys / import .reg files. If you have a lot of games you install at once, this can be preferred to the InnoSetup route if you create a .bat installer per game, and then create another .bat that "calls" all the others sequentially you can potentially automate the installation of hundreds of games onto a large HDD / SSD.

e. Finally, some games require standard Windows dependencies (eg, DOT.Net 4.8, various VCRedists (2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015-2019), OpenAL, etc). They mostly need backing up once (not once per game). If you need a complete list, let me know.

2. After recent events, I don't know what GOG's long-term plan is. I have all mine triple backed up. However, I've also done exactly what you're asking for certain types of games. Eg, Doom Engine games using GZDoom, it's a hell of a lot easier and faster to install GZDoom, add all the relevant WADs (Doom 1-2, Final Doom, Heretic, Hexen, Strife & Hedon), configure each as desired, and then back the lot up into one zip file. Same with DOS games, I can install +200 of them (a mix of GOG games and retail disc games) in just 2-clicks all with pre-configured DOSBox .conf files, controller mapping, icons & shortcut links, etc. Same with games that need a lot of tweaking (eg, Morrowind) or other source ports (Eduke for Duke Nukem, Quakespasm for Quake, about 40x ScummVM games, etc) or several games in a series (eg, Blackwell Quintology saved as one install vs 5x separate GOG installers). Takes a while to setup, but once done it saves so much time when reinstalling & reconfiguring. Let me know if you need any help.

AB2012: c. Find out if the game has any required registry entries (searching the registry for the game name / install folder will usually show any which you can export to a .reg file. Eg, some games here like Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis store a serial key in the registry without which the game won't start). Most GOG games are stored in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\GOG.com\Games\xxxxxxxxxx (unique number per GOG game) registry key.

BlueMooner: Just grab it... I'll let you.

Timboli: Okay, I've grabbed it ..... now what do I do with it? ;)

AB2012: 1. Are you asking how to download a GOG game via Galaxy, then remove the Galaxy elements from them in order to create your own offline installer? If so, it's usually a case of:-

a. Install the game via Galaxy (or extract using InnoSetup)

b. Delete the Galaxy files (stuff like goggame*.info, like goggame*.script, like goggame*.hashdb, goglog.ini, webcache.zip, unins000.*, etc, are unnecessary for the game). Note this only applies to "Galaxy Metadata". You can't go removing bundled Galaxy.dll, Galaxy64.dll, GalaxyCSharp.dll, GalaxyCSharpGlue.dll, etc, from the game install folders as the achievements / cloud save stuff is hardcoded inside the game and it's those dll's that handle API calls to the client to stop the game from crashing when offline and running without the client. Same is true of some steam_api.dll or steam_api64.dll files (included in GOG version), they are there because the game is coded around them and GOG uses a "wrapper" of some kind. The only "solution" to avoiding these (mostly for older games) is simply find an older pre-Galaxified build of the game you may have backed up somewhere.

c. Find out if the game has any required registry entries (searching the registry for the game name / install folder will usually show any which you can export to a .reg file. Eg, some games here like Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis store a serial key in the registry without which the game won't start). Most GOG games are stored in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\GOG.com\Games\xxxxxxxxxx (unique number per GOG game) registry key.

d. Create your own InnoSetup installer / zip file / self-extracting zip file from those files. If you're going with simple plain .zip / .7z files, it's possible to create .bat files that can automate the extraction of the file to a predesignated location (if you always install to the same place) and automatically add any registry keys / import .reg files. If you have a lot of games you install at once, this can be preferred to the InnoSetup route if you create a .bat installer per game, and then create another .bat that "calls" all the others sequentially you can potentially automate the installation of hundreds of games onto a large HDD / SSD.

e. Finally, some games require standard Windows dependencies (eg, DOT.Net 4.8, various VCRedists (2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015-2019), OpenAL, etc). They mostly need backing up once (not once per game). If you need a complete list, let me know.

2. After recent events, I don't know what GOG's long-term plan is. I have all mine triple backed up. However, I've also done exactly what you're asking for certain types of games. Eg, Doom Engine games using GZDoom, it's a hell of a lot easier and faster to install GZDoom, add all the relevant WADs (Doom 1-2, Final Doom, Heretic, Hexen, Strife & Hedon), configure each as desired, and then back the lot up into one zip file. Same with DOS games, I can install +200 of them (a mix of GOG games and retail disc games) in just 2-clicks all with pre-configured DOSBox .conf files, controller mapping, icons & shortcut links, etc. Same with games that need a lot of tweaking (eg, Morrowind) or other source ports (Eduke for Duke Nukem, Quakespasm for Quake, about 40x ScummVM games, etc) or several games in a series (eg, Blackwell Quintology saved as one install vs 5x separate GOG installers). Takes a while to setup, but once done it saves so much time when reinstalling & reconfiguring. Let me know if you need any help.

BPDMF: goggame hashdb and info files sometimes control dlc. I've tested it with Dead Cells for instance, I installed it, ran it to be sure the DLC ran, removed those files and relaunched the game and the DLC wouldn't load. Not sure if it's the hashdb or the info file, but I keep both of those and only delete the goggame ico (icons) files and other ones that aren't important. Wouldn't want to backup a game only to have a simple text file that's like 1kb missing be why your dlc won't work in game. Not all games work like that, but some do and I wouldn't soo carelessly delete goggame files because really they take up no space and can just be considered needed for functionality.