GOG.com What's good on there?

SuperDave wrote:
garion333 wrote:

I can't believe no one has mentioned Giants: Citizen Kabuto.

I heard that it only holds up in multiplayer. The single-player left me with much to be desired even for a game of its time. The AI was cheep and the British potty humor was only "pretty good".

Where's the mention of the confusing objectives, steep learning curve, infrequent checkpoints (none), plus the bland and repetitive gameplay overall? I only gave the game a few missions, but I couldn't bare anymore. My objections and those listed by SuperDave...I just can't fathom why people so heartily recommend and review this game, especially without the above caveats.

Is there a diamond under the coat of feces?

Giants is a lot of fun. I remember installing a handful of patches, but not sure what they all did (see below). If you only play the beginning, you are missing out since the game switches up between a lot of different game types and objectives. I thought the humor was really good and the whole idea as well. I'd approach the RTS bits in much the same way as Brutal Legend. They are kind of whacky and I didn't want to spend enough time with them to get a good feel, but they are kind of fun. Giants more so than Brutal Legend for the RTS. Where else do you see a topless sea woman in games?

It's got some of the same people as MDK and Armed & Dangerous, two other good games. I think MDK holds up the best with Giants second.

patches:
GiantsHook
BloodRed
Graphics Revision Mod v1.01
Patch 1.4
Patch for Geforce 3

http://www.giantswd.org/?file=2

ExitPursuedByBear wrote:

Age of Wonders is now available, and AOW II and AOW II: Shadow Magic are incoming!

I've seen Shadow Magic priced at $100+ on eBay.

AoW:SM has tons of mods, and the community is still fairly active. You can adjust your screen resolution, improve AI, add new monsters etc. I still play the random scenarios now and then.

PandaEskimo wrote:

Giants is a lot of fun. I remember installing a handful of patches, but not sure what they all did (see below). If you only play the beginning, you are missing out since the game switches up between a lot of different game types and objectives. I thought the humor was really good and the whole idea as well. I'd approach the RTS bits in much the same way as Brutal Legend. They are kind of whacky and I didn't want to spend enough time with them to get a good feel, but they are kind of fun. Giants more so than Brutal Legend for the RTS. Where else do you see a topless sea woman in games?

It's got some of the same people as MDK and Armed & Dangerous, two other good games. I think MDK holds up the best with Giants second.

patches:
GiantsHook
BloodRed
Graphics Revision Mod v1.01
Patch 1.4
Patch for Geforce 3

http://www.giantswd.org/?file=2

Unfortunately, fan patches or add-ons don't fix a crap game. I'd say buyer beware on Giants. If it appeals to you, then look up some videos, or save yourself the trouble and find a Let's Play if one exists.

Regrettably, this thread bump is to note that Good Old Games apparently died in the night. Their front page claims that a solution will be implemented sometime this week to allow for re-downloading of games purchased through the service-- stay tuned to GOG.com, as well as their Twitter feed, for updates on this.

Also, be sure to stay tuned to your favorite podcasts, many of which are undoubtedly going to be again ranting about the dangers of digital distribution over the coming weeks.

Oh hell no.

Sad panda

Wow. Just... wow. That was sudden. Sorry to see them go.

Crap. I sent around $90 their way last week.

And I just checked and I have a couple of games that I bought from them that I don't have the setup package for anymore (only downloaded them to my netbook, cleared some space on my drive and hadn't gotten around to re-downloading them yet). Hope they figure out a way to let us re-download what we bought for the last time.

Yeesh, I just got a promo email from them last night ...

Holy sh*T!!!

This bold new 'digital' era is getting suckier and suckier....

I sincerely hope i get a chance to redownload some of the games i hadn't yet downloaded.. sure there were only a couple, but still.....

[edit]
How this ends up going could a good measure of how services like Steam who promise that patches will be released to free their games in the event of closure will end up....

Aw hell there were lots of games I was meaning to purchase
What brought about this?

This is really sad news. Not only is a good source for otherwise unavailable games going away, their forums were a wonderful resource for mods and upgrade packs for these old games.

They've already said that they'll put up a way for us to download our install files, so I'm not worried about being able to retrieve my install files and back them up to disc. I do wish I'd bought that copy of Fallout 1 from them before it was too late though.

These are the last things in their Twitter feed, from Thursday...

Twitter wrote:

Thanks for the support everyone. Hopefully everything works out for the best! 12:38 PM Sep 17th via web

Sometimes it's really hard being DRM-free... hard to keep things the way they are and keep management and publishers happy 12:25 PM Sep 17th via web

And yeah, there are a few things I had been meaning to pick up on there but my pile is big enough that I had been putting it off. Sigh.

Really disappointing. Continue the mourning here.

Aw, man.

This is really sad. I feel like a bad person for thinking it but my first thought was that if I can't get back onto their site to re-download my purchases, someone is probably torrenting the files. They were DRM free after all, which may have had a hand in the downfall of GOG.

"And it seemed you lived your life, like a candle in the wind . . ."

Oh crap, Fallout! I shouldda bought the first one to have a version that doesnt go all finicky when I want to run it. And Age of Wonder as well.. and..

damn.

If/when it does come back, I should point out that the latest beta nvidia drivers version 260+ have fixed the directx 7 glitch that causes Gothic2 to crash, if that was holding you back on a purchase.

The Temple of Elemental Evil is this weeks RPG on GoG. I remember getting precisely nowhere with this when it was released (not only is it blisteringly difficult but - like all of Troika's games - it was rushed out the door something fierce).

I'm willing to give it another look though, especially if I don't have to spend a whole evening tracking down patches and updates before even installing it.

Also it looks like they also added some sort of massive 'neherim style' fan mod for Betrayal at Krondor (Betrayal at Antara). It looks a little too old-school for my tastes but might be of interest to some.

Betrayal in Antara is a role-playing game that uses an updated version of Krondor's engine. It isn't a sequel, however, as its story couldn't be set in Raymond E. Feist’s world of Midkemia, but in a complex, well-designed world of Ramar, created just for this game. The interface and mechanics, the familiar combat system in particular, are pretty much the same, which means they're very good. Finally, there are many memorable characters in this game, the story is complicated, in a good way, and keeps getting better as you go along. Overall, a solid, oldschool RPG that is definitely worth a try. Also, it's added to the Betrayal at Krondor for free!

My deep love for Temple of Elemental Evil is well-documented. Best tactics engine ever created, bar none.

stevenmack wrote:

Also it looks like they also added some sort of massive 'neherim style' fan mod for Betrayal at Krondor (Betrayal at Antara). It looks a little too old-school for my tastes but might be of interest to some.

Betrayal in Antara is a role-playing game that uses an updated version of Krondor's engine. It isn't a sequel, however, as its story couldn't be set in Raymond E. Feist’s world of Midkemia, but in a complex, well-designed world of Ramar, created just for this game. The interface and mechanics, the familiar combat system in particular, are pretty much the same, which means they're very good. Finally, there are many memorable characters in this game, the story is complicated, in a good way, and keeps getting better as you go along. Overall, a solid, oldschool RPG that is definitely worth a try. Also, it's added to the Betrayal at Krondor for free!

They're describing it weirdly, but Betrayal In Antara was a full, boxed game release (in a weird coincidence, copies of both arrived in my mailbox for resale yesterday). I'd always assumed it was a sequel to Betrayal at Krondor, but I guess it just used the same engine.

Woot.. Temple of Elemental Evil bought! Always wanted to try it out but initial reports kinda scared me off. And now that Bertrayal at Krondor is mentioned... I need to buy that one too. I played it well WELL after release date and was surprised how engaging it was, I think the only game I know where evading the enemies at the beggining was really a meaningful and sane choice, since you really had to choose your battles. And then choose even more carefully... Those dreaded ambushes at the crossroads...

Wasn't Temple of Elemental Evil the one that deleted essential system files if you ever tried to uninstall it? I hope they fixed that bit.

Now I'm wondering if they'll get Ruins of Myth Dranor. I started playing that one long ago, got bored in the first dungeon and never finished it.

tanstaafl wrote:

Wasn't Temple of Elemental Evil the one that deleted essential system files if you ever tried to uninstall it? I hope they fixed that bit.

Now I'm wondering if they'll get Ruins of Myth Dranor. I started playing that one long ago, got bored in the first dungeon and never finished it.

Actually that was Ruins of Myth Dranor you're thinking of that used to delete your hard drive if you installed to the ...default directory I think?

That got fixed pretty smartish after release if I recall.

Unfortunately they forgot to fix the part where the game had incredibly dull dungeons.

SQUUUUEEEEELLLLLL!!!! ToEE is one of my favourite role-playing games of all time.

KillerTomato wrote:

They're describing it weirdly, but Betrayal In Antara was a full, boxed game release (in a weird coincidence, copies of both arrived in my mailbox for resale yesterday). I'd always assumed it was a sequel to Betrayal at Krondor, but I guess it just used the same engine.

There was a weird issue with copyright if I remember correctly, so BaK got two different follow-ups: Return to Krondor, written by R. E. Feist and Betrayal in Antara. RtK was a direct follow-up that continued the Riftwar saga, BiA was a completely different story, but the engine was an updated BaK. Both came out at around the same time, which makes them all the more confusing. All three are available at GoG.

stevenmack wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:

Wasn't Temple of Elemental Evil the one that deleted essential system files if you ever tried to uninstall it? I hope they fixed that bit.

Now I'm wondering if they'll get Ruins of Myth Dranor. I started playing that one long ago, got bored in the first dungeon and never finished it.

Actually that was Ruins of Myth Dranor you're thinking of that used to delete your hard drive if you installed to the ...default directory I think?

That got fixed pretty smartish after release if I recall.

Unfortunately they forgot to fix the part where the game had incredibly dull dungeons.

Guess I was lucky I got bored then. Kept meaning to go back to it but never did before I replaced the machine.

All the dungeons were as boring as the first one? Wow. RoMD is one of the few RPGs I started and never finished.

Definitely picking up ToEE!!! The combat system in that game is the best.

What fan patches/mods/etc are necessary to really enjoy it now?

tanstaafl wrote:

All the dungeons were as boring as the first one? Wow. RoMD is one of the few RPGs I started and never finished.

Here's a map of the first dungeon

and the next

and the next

and the..well, you get the idea.

Note the running theme of large identi-kit brown rooms.