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Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website #873775
03/14/13 11:36 AM
03/14/13 11:36 AM
Joined: Jan 2004
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In the Naughty Corner
BrownEyedTigre Offline OP
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FYI - GameBoomers and I are not personally endorsing this website as I have never used it personally but developer friends of mine are using it for their games so I thought I would share.

You can view their policy here.

You can check out their Adventure Games here.

Please feel free to share your experiences with them.

Ana wave


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Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #873797
03/14/13 12:32 PM
03/14/13 12:32 PM
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MaG Offline
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Thanks, Ana. wave

Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #873812
03/14/13 01:10 PM
03/14/13 01:10 PM
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Haroula Offline
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Thanks, Ana. thumbsup


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Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: Haroula] #873828
03/14/13 02:39 PM
03/14/13 02:39 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
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United Kingdom
Mad Offline
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A nice range of games on offer there !! Thank you, BrownEyedTigre smile


Time : The Most Precious Commodity
Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #873833
03/14/13 02:50 PM
03/14/13 02:50 PM
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Arcadia (twin world of Stark)
venus Offline
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Thanks, Ana. Looks promising, and they have a lot of great games over there so far. thumbsup


Interrogator: [True or false?] All mangoes are golden. Nothing golden is cheap. Conclusion - all mangoes are cheap.

Helena: Where are these mangoes?
Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895144
06/17/13 02:33 PM
06/17/13 02:33 PM
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 29
Portugal
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TechnoSpike Offline
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Hi to all!

Is anybody here a customer of this store?

I saw they have a very interesting promotion (http://www.shinyloot.com/mystery-masters-mystery-adventure-bundle?re=sales-1), with Lost Chronicles of Zerzura, Black Mirror 2 & 3 and Gray Matter, for just $9.99!

I'm very interested in this promo, but would definitely like to know more about them, before buying.

Any experience to share? Are they trustworhty? Are the games trully DRM-free, like GOG, or would I need to instal a client of sorts? How's their support?

Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895160
06/17/13 03:33 PM
06/17/13 03:33 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 83,238
In the Naughty Corner
BrownEyedTigre Offline OP
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I haven't used them but it would be nice to hear comments if someone has.

Ana wave


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Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895356
06/18/13 12:41 PM
06/18/13 12:41 PM
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oldmariner Offline
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Originally Posted By: BrownEyedTigre
I haven't used them but it would be nice to hear comments if someone has.

Ana wave


Ana,

Per your request I took one for the team and bought the four pack Technospike mentioned. Here is my mini review.

For my $9.99 tax free purchase there was a little Adventure of discovery.

1--- They accept Pay Pal, a good thing
2--- The games DL in multiple files. Depending upon the game they are either in Zip or Rar format. Meaning you will need something like 7-Zip as the Win 7 installed extracter only unwraps zip files not rar.

3---- My 7-zip failed for the first time ever as it would not open the rar files and I had to forage for a new utility (winrar) Which did open them.

4---Winrar is not free, 7zip is so the evaluation version of winrar was used for emergency perposes only. I am now looking for something else.

5---The good news is the DL files were not the problem.

6---Black Mirror 3 arrives through one zip file 15 minute download, installed without issues and played through the intro and opening scene. I did not go any further and was able to make the first save.

7---Zezura arrived in 3 rar files about 15 minutes per file to dl. You need to extract placing each of the three files retaining the folder format as named in the same place on your pc. Winrar wants to change the folder name when extracting. don't let it do it make sure the folder name does not change from what your original dl used. The setup file is in the first folder click on it and the game installs. To complete the process the install looks for files 2-3 therefore the importance of not allowing the name change. This too ran fine through the intro and first interraction and saved the game.

Now then for the weirdness

8---Black Mirror 2 comes in 3 rar dl files again about fifteen minutes dl time per each file. Again retain the file names downloaded when unpacking and place each in same place. There is no setup file This drove me nuts trying to figure out how to install it. Well in the first folder there is a file called BlackMirror2.exe You simply click on that and the game plays it does not install to the system. The game works and saves go to MyDocuments and are easy to find in the MyDocuments root directory. The same is true for all four games.

9---GrayMatter---comes in four Rar files again about fifteen minutes each for download. Again the same weirdness as BM 2. There is no setup files and the game plays by opening the Game.exe found in the root directory of the first game file. Again, this game did not install it plays directly from the unpacked files. The game played through the opening video and to a point where I could make a save.

10---I cannot speak to customer service as I did not try them

11---These games are DRM free but some are not as they claim to allow games with CD Check and keys to connect to a game website. Those required keys are included if you buy one of those games. They do tell you if a game has those requirements. But you have to look closely at the individual game details on their site. Expand the game icon on the site to find details.

12---There are no refunds and you can redownload as needed just like GOG

13----That's as far as I got as this process took my entire evening downloading 11 files 15 minutes each then redownloading three or four files because 7-Zip Claimed they were corrupted when it was 7-zip that was corrupted. It took another half hour to find Winrar to discover the files were not corrupted. then it took another hour to figure out that two bloody games did not need to be installed and a simple Game.exe files plays the things.

14---the good news is the games work there is no DRM included and they are yours to save on the disc and play whenever.

15---the bad news is I found no place on the company's web site to explain any of this.

16----I discovered why they call them Adventure Games

17---I took one for the team starting at seven pm banging away until two AM figuring it out.

NOW YOU KNOW

They get a partial thumbs up. It appears to be a good source for DRM free games but as everything else you have to pay attention.

Last edited by oldmariner; 06/18/13 12:47 PM.
Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895365
06/18/13 01:07 PM
06/18/13 01:07 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 83,238
In the Naughty Corner
BrownEyedTigre Offline OP
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Thanks oldmariner for the detailed review! Much appreciated.

btw, you can continue to use Winrar after the trial period. I have used it for years. A little popup will come up asking if you wish to purchase or continue using.

Ana wave


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Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895372
06/18/13 01:32 PM
06/18/13 01:32 PM
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ChrisatShinyLoot Offline
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Hey all - as my shiny new user name suggests, my name is Chris and I work at ShinyLoot (co-founder). I really appreciate oldmariner's review. We've received some good feedback during beta via support emails but this step by step review is pretty insightful.

I have no idea why 7zip didn't work. We tested the unpacking the RARs with most 7zip and WinRAR and had no problems. We'll try to look into it.

I'm sorry to hear about the frustration with the no install games. For our knowledge, would you prefer an installer or is it a matter of us needing to label the games that don't require an installer? Several of the DRM-free versions of games simply don't require an installer so that's how we pass it on.

You are spot on for the DRM. We either do a one time CD key check or it's DRM-free. In addition to that information being present for the individual game you can also refine your search to DRM-free only games (if you were say browsing our adventure games).

We tried to explain most of this in our 'About' and 'FAQ' page, but it appears we didn't do an adequate job or make those pages visible enough.

If anyone wants to follow up or ask me a question, I'll check back periodically.

Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895393
06/18/13 03:08 PM
06/18/13 03:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 83,238
In the Naughty Corner
BrownEyedTigre Offline OP
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welcome to GameBoomers Chris and thank you for your helpful answers. Customer service is always a big plus and the fact you came here to help is wonderful! yay

Ana wave


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Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895400
06/18/13 03:32 PM
06/18/13 03:32 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 48,169
near Yosemite
Marian Offline
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We appreciate your being here, Chris. wave

Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: ChrisatShinyLoot] #895404
06/18/13 03:59 PM
06/18/13 03:59 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
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Originally Posted By: ChrisatShinyLoot
We either do a one time CD key check...

How do you do a CD key check when it's a download and there's no CD or DVD involved?

Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: Jenny100] #895423
06/18/13 05:29 PM
06/18/13 05:29 PM
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ChrisatShinyLoot Offline
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Originally Posted By: Jenny100
Originally Posted By: ChrisatShinyLoot
We either do a one time CD key check...

How do you do a CD key check when it's a download and there's no CD or DVD involved?


Sorry...CD Key is poor verbiage. Technically it's a serial key. I'm still in the habit of calling them CD Keys from when those were widespread.

Our store policy is that this is an acceptable form of DRM, but of course it can be filtered out if one does not agree.

Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895559
06/19/13 09:51 AM
06/19/13 09:51 AM
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Portugal
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TechnoSpike Offline
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Wow! Wasn't actually expecting to get so much information back, plus a co-founder popping up!

Thanks a lot oldmariner and Chris! With the detail provided by oldmariner and feedback from Chris I think I can now safely proceed with buying the games.

DRM-free games in which I just need to download them through my browser and install and play them is exactly what I'm looking for! I guess I could say GOG spoiled me! laugh It's good to start seeing other digital resellers with a similar approach, specially for more specific niche games.

I confess, I'm new to the whole no-installation-required games scene. I can see it's values (for instance, for people who need to hop from one house to another, if they have 2 PCs in both homes they can just take the game with them in a USB pen or something), but I'm curious on how is this possible to achieve?

I feel rather stupid now, not having payed attention to the FAQ page. There are some good information there, but perhaps you guys could still detail a bit more some aspects, like the whole no-installation-required games and no client needed to download the games aspects.

I do have some additional questions though. Chris, if you don't mind, could you shed some light into this?

1) How do the no-installation-required games differ from the installation-required ones? Do they come with any kind of pre-configuration or something?

2) How exactly does the serial key check works? I mean, what's "added" to the original game to achieve this function?

3) Still regarding the serial key check, is there a way to do this if you want to install the game in a offline PC?

4) From your FAQ, I got the impression that games could have additional patches available for download. Does this mean the version available for sale might not be the final version, at any moment? Or is this someway to help previous owners of a specific game understand they need to update their installed version?

Best regards to all!

Last edited by TechnoSpike; 06/19/13 09:52 AM.
Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895580
06/19/13 12:32 PM
06/19/13 12:32 PM
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ChrisatShinyLoot Offline
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Hey TechnoSpike,

Thanks for the FAQ suggestions. I've updated our About page and FAQ to touch on both topics.

As for your questions:

1) No install games typically don't create registration files so they are sometimes "cleaner". They also don't create desktop shortcuts or program file folders so some convenience can be lost. There's really not much of a difference though. One isn't inherently a better or worse version. Most installers just unpackage game files through an .exe. With the no-install games it's effectively done through a RAR or ZIP file.

2) The serial check will either connect to an online server to validate a key or check some internal code to validate. The way it's added can vary per game, but we don't sell anything that requires more than that (i.e. no always online games, etc).

3) It varies. Some games require online checks and some don't. Again, the online check would happen only once (during install or your first run) and would not need to be checked again. So once the key is registered you can play the game on the offline PC forever.

4) Yes, it might not be the final version. We're working on our mailer system now which will include messages going out to customers whenever we update game files. This could include adding extras, adding patches, or updating the installer itself.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Re: Shiny Loot - New DRM Free Download Website [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #895862
06/20/13 02:23 PM
06/20/13 02:23 PM
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Hicksville, NY USA
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sanford Offline
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Hi, ANA,
What you said about WIN.RAR is absolutely accurate. I've been using WIN.RAR for many years and I never paid for it. When you get that Message about buying it, I just click on "close" and it continues to function.
CHRIS, thanks for the info about your site, and good luck with it. Looks like I've found another good source for buying and downloading my games.
Sandy

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