Posted December 10, 2019
Generally I like Galaxy 2.0. It's multi-service integration is something of a holy grail to me. Still, it could use some improvement. Here are a few likes and dislikes that occurred to me while I was using it.
Things I like
- All my games in one list. It's not a new idea (see the PlayNite client) but I was always wary of giving my passwords to an unknown third party. I mean, I still have to share my Steam/Epic/etc. passwords with GOG, but I consider them a bit more trustworthy than some random guy on the internet.
- Galaxy 2.0 combines my duplicate games into one single entry. I was worried that I'd have three seperate entries for Alan Wake, but nope; Galaxy combined them into one, and all automatically. Good job!
(well, it mostly does it right. I just noticed my Dragons Age Origins Ultimate Edition is separate from my other Dragons Age games; how about a way to manually combine game entries?)
- Achievements, time-played and activity all in one panel. Not the most important thing to me, but nice to see.
- Activity all in one panel! Although the interface could use a search feature and some tightening up (why so much wasted space)
- I like that you can add custom art. I expect a lot of my older games will get scans of the original boxes, just because I like box art ;-)
Things I don't like (or just need improvement)
- The entire left panel. It's such a waste of space. The whole point of Galaxy 2.0 is to integrate all your games into a single list, and most of the left panel is used to sub-divide your games back into the separate services (yes, I know it can also be used to show other bookmarked collections too). I'd much prefer a list of games, as Steam does it. Bookmarks etc. should be relegated to a sub-menu.
- Speaking of bookmarks, clicking on a bookmark resets the view options of the right panel, so if I'm looking at all games in "list mode"and then select the GOG bookmark, the right panel reverts to grid mode.
- Better importing/conversion of tags from other services. And by "better" I mean "any", since right now that doesn't seem to have been included. In fact, it didn't even import my tags from GOG!
- While we are at it, the way you tag games in Galaxy 2.0 is extremely cumbersome. Not only is the "manage tags" menu very fiddly, but you can't tag multiple games at once.
- Choosing which version of a game gets installed (GOG, Steam, etc) if it is available on multiple services isn't as clear as it should be; it really should be an option when you press the install button.
- Why so black? I'd love if GOG had a brighter color scheme (hey, can we get the wooden bookshelf back?) It's positively depressing now.
- Why such tiny text? Can we PLEASE have an option for larger fonts? Some of us are getting older you know and our eyes aren't as good as they used to be.
- Better meta-data editing would be nice. In particular, I'd love a "sorting name" feature that Galaxy would use to sort the games. That way I could give "Assassin's Creed Brotherhood" a sorting name of "Assassin's Creed 2.1" so the game would show up after "Assassin's Creed II".
- More integrations are needed (Twitch, Itch.Io, and HumbleBundle at first; emulators like DOSBox D-Fend or Retro-Arch would be welcome too). Plus, a way to add games not on any service.
- I know it's counter-productive to the whole point of Galaxy 2.0 (at least from GOG's standpoint) but a way to view other storefronts would really be welcome. Honest GOG, I'll always check your store-front first but sometimes you just don't have the game I am looking for and then I have to open Steam or UPlay, which sort of negates the purpose of having a single client.
- A few minor bugs, although that is perhaps to be expected from a beta. It shows some games as installed that aren't, and shows activity on games I haven't touched in years.
Comments? Additions? Corrections?
Things I like
- All my games in one list. It's not a new idea (see the PlayNite client) but I was always wary of giving my passwords to an unknown third party. I mean, I still have to share my Steam/Epic/etc. passwords with GOG, but I consider them a bit more trustworthy than some random guy on the internet.
- Galaxy 2.0 combines my duplicate games into one single entry. I was worried that I'd have three seperate entries for Alan Wake, but nope; Galaxy combined them into one, and all automatically. Good job!
(well, it mostly does it right. I just noticed my Dragons Age Origins Ultimate Edition is separate from my other Dragons Age games; how about a way to manually combine game entries?)
- Achievements, time-played and activity all in one panel. Not the most important thing to me, but nice to see.
- Activity all in one panel! Although the interface could use a search feature and some tightening up (why so much wasted space)
- I like that you can add custom art. I expect a lot of my older games will get scans of the original boxes, just because I like box art ;-)
Things I don't like (or just need improvement)
- The entire left panel. It's such a waste of space. The whole point of Galaxy 2.0 is to integrate all your games into a single list, and most of the left panel is used to sub-divide your games back into the separate services (yes, I know it can also be used to show other bookmarked collections too). I'd much prefer a list of games, as Steam does it. Bookmarks etc. should be relegated to a sub-menu.
- Speaking of bookmarks, clicking on a bookmark resets the view options of the right panel, so if I'm looking at all games in "list mode"and then select the GOG bookmark, the right panel reverts to grid mode.
- Better importing/conversion of tags from other services. And by "better" I mean "any", since right now that doesn't seem to have been included. In fact, it didn't even import my tags from GOG!
- While we are at it, the way you tag games in Galaxy 2.0 is extremely cumbersome. Not only is the "manage tags" menu very fiddly, but you can't tag multiple games at once.
- Choosing which version of a game gets installed (GOG, Steam, etc) if it is available on multiple services isn't as clear as it should be; it really should be an option when you press the install button.
- Why so black? I'd love if GOG had a brighter color scheme (hey, can we get the wooden bookshelf back?) It's positively depressing now.
- Why such tiny text? Can we PLEASE have an option for larger fonts? Some of us are getting older you know and our eyes aren't as good as they used to be.
- Better meta-data editing would be nice. In particular, I'd love a "sorting name" feature that Galaxy would use to sort the games. That way I could give "Assassin's Creed Brotherhood" a sorting name of "Assassin's Creed 2.1" so the game would show up after "Assassin's Creed II".
- More integrations are needed (Twitch, Itch.Io, and HumbleBundle at first; emulators like DOSBox D-Fend or Retro-Arch would be welcome too). Plus, a way to add games not on any service.
- I know it's counter-productive to the whole point of Galaxy 2.0 (at least from GOG's standpoint) but a way to view other storefronts would really be welcome. Honest GOG, I'll always check your store-front first but sometimes you just don't have the game I am looking for and then I have to open Steam or UPlay, which sort of negates the purpose of having a single client.
- A few minor bugs, although that is perhaps to be expected from a beta. It shows some games as installed that aren't, and shows activity on games I haven't touched in years.
Comments? Additions? Corrections?
