Anyone heard of GOG.com?

Hi all! Sadly, it's been a while since I've stopped by, and even more sadly, it's been a while since I've played any adventure games. So recently I heard about this website from a co-worker, gog.com. It sounds like you can buy these older games and download them onto your computer to play? So does this mean you don't have to worry about tweaking your computer system to play older DOS games? And just wondering what everyone's opinion are on the site. Thanks.

Tristy, you will see many fans and threadds about GoG here. The site is reputable and the games are designed to run on the newer machines. Check each one before downloading to be sure.

Ana

Thanks Ana! It sounds awesome, I'm really excited to try it out! But I've never downloaded games before, and I don't have the fastest internet connection. I have high-speed w/ centurylink, but it's the lower end of high-speed. Will these games take forever to download?

It really depends on the games Tristy. The newer the games the more likely the graphics are higher resolution so they will be larger files. I do not recall if GoG has a download manager that can help with the download so that you can start where you left off if there is hiccup in the download.

Ana

I didn't need much convincing, haha! I'm signed up and already downloading the first Gabriel Knight game!!

Now I'm wondering is there a way to request that they put a certain game on the website?? Because it would be awesome if they could get Amber: Journeys Beyond. I didn't see it, and would love that.

there is a wish list there but chances your game might already been requested so search first

Hi Tristy! I also was away from gaming for a few years and when I got back into it, I discovered that most Adventure games are downloaded now instead of actually buying the disc. The great thing about it, is you can get the game right away and most of the older games are designed to run on newer computers. It can take up to an hour or more for me to download most games.....but that's still faster than driving to the store and buying it.
Here are few other reputable sites to buy and download games that I have used.
The Adventure Shop (there is a link to it at the top of this page)
Steam
Gamestop
Gamersgate
Big Fish (there is a link to it at the top of this page)
Also Amazon.com has games to buy and download as well. Have fun!

And there's also dotemu.com
Like GOG, games from DotEmu are DRM-free and do not require product activation. They don't have many games that GOG doesn't though (DotEmu has Salammbo and Tony Tough and maybe some others), and don't have GOG's "virtual bookshelf."

Urukat, yeah a co-worker was telling me that most computer games now are just downloadable. I just worry because my internet connection is not the fastest. Maybe if I am getting back into gaming, it may be time for an upgrade.

Jenny, I was wondering what DRM-free meant. What does that mean exactly?

Btw, the Gabriel Knight downloaded fine, within about 45 min. And I was playing it till late into the night last night, this is so awesome, haha! I thought I'd never be able to play that game again, or the Tex Murphys, don't think I could tweak my laptop just right to get those old DOS games to work anymore. God bless GoG.com.

Tristy, GOG do have a download manager and it speeds downloads up quite a bit.

Thanks anne, I did see that and downloaded it before downloading GK1 last night.

That means it has no copy "protection." DRM-free with respect to downloaded games means you don't have to use an activation server to be able to play the game. If at some time in the future you want to install the game on a new computer, you don't have to worry about whether the company that sold you the game is still in business or is still supporting activations for that game -- or whether their activation server is down -- or whether you'll have to re-download an entire game in order for it to activate properly because the activation link has changed and is buried somewhere in the game code. Many games that require online activation have a limited number of activations, and we've had people use up all their activations, which are often limited to only 3 to 5 activations. If you use up your activations, you have to contact the game company to ask for more activations. It can easily take days to receive a reply. It's just a nuisance I'd rather not have to deal with for a game I'd rather archive and forget about for a few years until I want to replay it. With a DRM-free game, the only things blocking you from playing is your computer's compatibility with the game itself -- not in addition to whether or not the company is still in business and the activation server is working properly. Of course this isn't a problem for people who never want to replay games. But I like to replay old games -- some of which are 20 years old or more and the original publisher long gone.

Ah I see! You mentioned installing the game on a new computer. Once the game is downloaded onto my current computer, are you saying I can move it to another computer, and how do I do that? Because I am thinking of getting a new computer soon.

With a game from GOG or DotEmu, you download the game files on any computer you want. Then you can either install on that computer or burn the files to a DVD and install them on a different computer. Or you can put the game files on a USB flash drive and use the flash drive to move the files.

For example, I've downloaded PC games from GOG using my iMac and burned the files to a DVD. Then I put the DVD in the PC where I want to play the game and install the game from there, using the Setup file. There will usually be a Setup file and 2 or 3 bin files, or sometimes one big Setup file, depending on the game. If the game is several GB in size, they'll usually break up the game into separate 2GB files. You need to download all of them before you can install. GOG also offers extras like soundtracks and avatars and pdf manuals, etc, but those are optional downloads.

You can always re-download your games from GOG or DotEmu if your DVD breaks or you lose it. So you always have a backup online at GOG or DotEmu.

Hello Tristy-
I just started downloading from GOG recently.I really wanted to play Thief Dark Project again but learned that it wont play on XP or 7 without major tweaking so thought it a lost cause-I'm not a computer geek. I got Thief from GOG and it plays perfectly on WIN 7 laptop.I've played some other old games from GOG since and no problems at all. I have lower end hi speed wireless and it takes 2-3 hours to download a larger game, so I plan it for early in the day when I'm not using the computer. I found that Netflix dosn't work when downloading, so plan accordingly.
Problem is I now have 13 games unplayed on my"shelf"!

Thanks jenny! I'll keep that in mind. Bigmamma, what is Thief Dark Project? Maybe I'll check that one out.

Hi Tristy-
Thief Dark Project is the first of the 3 Thief games, from 1999(I think) It is a first person "sneaker"-You play as Garrett, a Taffer(master thief) in an imaginary world that resembles the Middle Ages. You don't need to kill anyone but get around them by knocking them or sneaking around in the shadows or dark places-that's the fun part.Free movement, controlled by WSAD and mouse.This was the first game I played that wasn't point and click, so now I play both kinds, depending on my mood at the time. I also play hidden object games just for a change.
Cheers!

I don't see anyone mentioning that if you sign up for an account at gog.com you get a few free games thrown at you - including Revolution's Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky, as well as Dragonsphere by MPS labs and TeenAgent. I well remember Lure from my 16-bit days (never did complete it though), TeenAgent was one of the first indie adventure games I ever played, and Dragonsphere is cool... though I gave up on it in the end because it kept crashing (Win7).

Anyway, just thought it was worth mentioning to other adventure game buffs! The games are housed within their own DOSbox runtimes so there's no messing out to get them working - though as mentioned, I had trouble with Dragonsphere. :-(

Dragonsphere was tricky to get working in DOS too. I think you had to use EMS instead of NOEMS in the EMM386 line in your config.sys.

My computer's getting older now (about a 5+ yr old DELL XPS)...still fully useful but the newer games I find run a bit more wonky. So...I found GOG.com. Since I "found" them, I haven't stopped ordering from them...I've got so many "older" games from them now....many of the classics and several I wish I'd never gotten rid of...that my PC is almost full!
Their download mgr works just fine. Be aware that although some older titles only take up 50 MB,for instance....some still may take up a couple of GIG or more space on your HD.
ANyway,I've yet to have a single non-solvable problem with any of the games I've downloaded from them. Their games run on XP,Win7,etc.
I give them 2 thumbs up...more if I had more thumbs!

I wish they'd get the original Black Mirror.
They actually have a "Wanted Games" list where you can vote on the games you want them to get.
http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games

GOG is good