GOG Galaxy Game

Hi.

I used Galaxy to download Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town, because I am short of time at the moment for downloading files and and burning them to disk.
And the download seemed to go OK as I was able to play about 15 minutes of the game without any problems - after which I made a save and Quit.

However later, when I went to play a little more and clicked on the Desktop Launch Icon, I got a spinning circle for an awfully long time until finally I was asked to log-in and "install" the game !!
But the game has to already be installed because I've played some of it

R clicking on the desktop launch icon gives the target of :
"C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\GalaxyClient.exe" /command=runGame /gameId=1247772513 /path="C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town" - which seems a very long and complicated address to me - but I opened it and clicked on PLAY from the Galaxy page that came up only to get another endless spinning circle and no game

I've emailed GOG and reported the problem only to be sent the reply that it could be 2 weeks before they can help because they are so busy

So I thought I would ask here just in case anyone might know what could be going on ....

Anyone got any ideas

Is the game open behind the Galaxy? If you can see the game icon and the Galaxy icon both at the bottom of your screen, close the Galaxy.

This is just a thought based on an experience I had. I didn't have the Galaxy asking me to log in and install the game though (but I was already logged in).

I looked at your target though and I don't understand why GalaxyClient.exe is in the string. My games downloaded with Galaxy go to the same target, but instead of GalaxyClient.exe, they go to GOG Galaxy\Games.

I would try signing out of Galaxy. You do not need it to run your game, just for downloading. Some people like it for achievements and chatting with other players, but I don't like or use these features. It is great for downloading though. I am concerned this won't work because of the GalaxyClient.exe in your string.

You might also ask your question in the Galaxy Community Forum

Maybe Jenny will know more. I will try to check in later, but I'm up to my knees in tomatoes that need to be turned into salsa today.

Don't assume that.
Being able to play a game before it's finished downloading is/was certainly a feature of some game clients, like uplay and XBox One.
It's possible that GOG thought it would be a good feature to add to their "updated" version of Galaxy.


It looks OK to me.
It gives the address to the Galaxy exe, then after the /path= part it gives the address where it's supposed to install the game.

If you're absolutely sure the game has finished installing, go to
C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town
and look for an .exe file that's specific to the game.

It's not that big a game.
The GOG page says it's only 2.1 GB.
It shouldn't take all that long to finish downloading.

I'm still concerned with that GalaxyClient.exe in her string. My games downloaded with the Galaxy client to not have that. They simply go to GOG Galaxy/Games/Game Name.

Maybe that's because you waited for Galaxy to finish installing the game before closing Galaxy, while Mad did not.

There's really nothing to be "concerned" about.
Mad should either open Galaxy, sign in, and wait for it to finish installing the game, or download the installation files manually using her web browser and install the game the "normal" way.

OK... That's good to know. I didn't pick up on the fact that Mad didn't finish downloading the game first.

OK .... Well when I downloaded and installed the Galaxy Version I was told the installation was complete and was a success.

But since I last posted here I have uninstalled and re-downloaded and re-installed the game (using Galaxy again) and been given the same assurances YET experienced exactly the same problems.

I have also been sent a reply from a Tech person at GOG - even though I was told I might have to wait two weeks for one
And that came with a list of things I was asked to try. Most of which, however, I didn't understand how to do or was not prepared to do.

SO .... I gave up on the Galaxy side of things altogether and decided to download just the game files .... which I will at some time burn to disk.

And guess what ??
The game launched in the normal way and proceeded to run without a single problem !!!!
[Including my saving, quitting the game, switching off my computer, re-booting my computer and then replaying the game from one of my saves.]

So I have politely thanked the GOG Tech and told him what I have done

Well, I'm still puzzled, but glad it all worked out! I didn't think I had seen you say anything about not completing the download. Well done, Mad! The end result is all that matters!

Now you've got me downloading/installing with the Galaxy Mad, so I can see if it works for me.

Both times after the Galaxy Version download I got the normal "installation was successful" message.

I just don't know what the heck was going on and am nervous now, Draclvr, about the other few games I have where I've used Galaxy. One I have already played in the past - but will it work in the future ?? And a couple of others that have been downloaded but nothing done with them as yet

EDIT :

Is this on your Win10 machine, oldbroad ?? My adventures were with Win7.

Only one way to find out! I'm sure they will be OK.

Yes, I'm downloading to Windows 10. I know you're still using Windows 7 but the game says it should work on Windows 7.

I downloaded and installed a game today with Galaxy and had no issues. Nor have I ever had any download issues with it.

Well, 2-1/14 hours (78%) into my installation of this game, I got a pop up saying the game failed to install; failed to connect to GOG servers. There was an option to retry which I did (continues on from 78%) and it has now finished.

I'm not sure I feel like testing the game out tonight though.

I don't recall any issues with the few other games I've downloaded using Galaxy, either, Marian. It's a mystery !!
But I think I've only actually played one of them. Even though I've had them for ages. They are still sitting on that overloaded un-played stack

Did your download take "hours", oldbroad ?? Do all your downloads take that long ??

Steam and Big Fish downloads take about 1 hour per GB. GOG takes a little bit longer. I think this download was 2.1 GB and it took a bit more than 2-1/2 hours.

I'm fortunate that where I live I can have high speed broadband - but it COSTS of course

However it's worth it to me. A game download taking hours rather than minutes would drive me mad

I hope you can get access to faster speeds in the future, oldbroad

I am surprised by those poor download speeds, oldbroad. I live out in the middle of nowhere (relatively speaking) and get considerably better speeds than what you describe. I wonder why.

I think I have the cheapest plan for one thing. The 2 hours don't bother me much. I can find other things to do during that time. For games that are going to take a really long time, I'll do those at night while I sleep. Some take even longer than that but it is what it is for me, for the time being.

It would drive me insane! I live out in the country and get about 12 Mbps speed which isn't great, but it's fast for me! Guess it's all about your comfort level for downloads!

Connections to GOG for downloading can vary a lot in speed. I always download GOG games directly from their website using a web browser. That way I can see what's going on. I can get connections in the MB/sec speed maybe 75% to 80% of the time. Then I will get one in the KB/sec speed that would take 100 to 1000 times as long to complete as the others. When I get one of those slow ones, it's better to just cancel it and come back in 10 minutes and try again.

Why does it happen? I'm sure it's on GOG's end. They probably have several servers hosting different game files, and download speed depends on which server GOG connects you to and how busy that server is with other customers downloading.

If you use Galaxy, you have no idea what's going on behind the scenes. Galaxy probably downloads more than one installation file at a time, but that doesn't mean the individual files are all downloading at the same speed. You can't see if one is downloading at a ridiculously slow rate and you don't have the option of cancelling the slow one and trying to get a normal speed connection later.

I understand that about the download speeds on GOG. But oldbroad said it takes about an hour to download a 1-GB file from Big Fish. For me that takes about 2-3 minutes. And this is not the fastest speed offered around here. Occasionally I will get a Big Fish server that is a little slower than this.

I had very slow download speeds for a long time, so I do understand very well how to live with them.

Me too which was very painful! But it's all I could get for years. It was better than dial-up, but not by much!

I had dialup until 2003.
The worst thing wasn't the speed -- it was that it would disconnect while I was downloading. So if I left it downloading overnight, I'd come back to find out it had disconnected 10 minutes after I had left it alone and gone to go do something else.

Now I have a choice between fast internet with a level cap or unlimited internet at a slower speed. Going over the level cap means the monthly bill goes through the roof. So I normally use the slower speed, which at least finishes and doesn't usually get disconnected like dialup did.

I always feel good when it sticks to the 1 hour per GB schedule

Happiness is 1 hour per GB!

How about doing medical transcription from home while on dial-up and getting disconnected while in the middle of listening to a doctor's dictation of an operative report? That's how I started out with the job around 1996. It was a nightmare that almost gave me a nervous breakdown. The stress was unbelievable.

I simply can't imagine! Now entire businesses are run and carried out over the internet!

Well, the game works fine for me in Windows 10 using the Galaxy. I played for awhile, got out, shut my computer down, rebooted, played some more. I have made it to BoneTown! Not that I needed another game to play. I still have two other adventures going plus a casual

That's good news, oldbroad

And I'm still enjoying my Non-Galaxy version

Today I received a final email from GOG's Support Team - containing a sentence that said this :-

"GOG GALAXY is no longer supported for your Windows 7 system. The minimum system is now Windows 8."

However, on the download page for the game it says :-

"GOG Galaxy requires Windows 7 or newer. Download size 1MB"

Rather confusing ???? !!!!

Doesn't that just mean they won't help you too much if you're using Windows 7? I've got it on my Windows 7 and that is what I recently played The 7th Guest on and had to update the game using the Galaxy with no problem. I also updated The 11th Hour which I intend to start soon (so don't know yet if there will be a problem with it or not).

GOG Galaxy no longer officially supports Windows 7 - that's all that it means. It doesn't necessarily follow that it won't work on Windows 7, just that GOG is not going to offer tech support for it if you run into problems.

I am surprised that they haven't changed the info on the download page.

Right, Marian. I see what you are saying.

But it surely would be much more helpful to have that info posted on appropriate download pages.

I would probably not even have tried to use it for the Willy Morgan game had I known

I'm just hoping now that the few games I did download using Galaxy - and haven't played yet - WILL work

I sure hope they will all work, Mad! As I said before, I haven't had any trouble with Galaxy and the games that I have downloaded to my Windows 7 computer. Fingers crossed.

Galaxy 1 or Galaxy 2.0 ?
Maybe the older version of Galaxy works better with Windows 7.

I have used both versions and am presently using Galaxy 2.0. No problems thus far with the latter.

I wasn't aware there was more than one version, Jenny100.
So is the old version still available - and how could I find it ??

I found something about that here
https://www.gog.com/forum/general_beta_gog_galaxy_2.0/gog_galaxy_12

Go to
https://www.gog.com/galaxy?par=1
Scroll down and look in the lower right for a link to the "web installer" for the old Galaxy.

Thank you, Jenny100 !! I'll investigate later

I forgot to come back and ask ....

I stopped Galaxy Client from running in my "start up" files (booting up my machine) as I'm not currently playing any of the games I downloaded with it.

Is that OK ??

And do I just re-include it in "start up" when I DO decided to play one ??

Thanks in advance for any info

When you are in Galaxy, click on the gear icon in the upper lefthand corner, then go to Settings. In Settings, click on General and on the righthand side you will see an option to launch GOG Galaxy at system startup. If the box is checked, just uncheck it. That way GOG Galaxy does not start up when you are booting up your machine. If you want to use Galaxy after that, just double click on the GOG Galaxy icon on the desktop. This is how I have it set up, anyway.

I just unchecked it from the startup menu in Task Manager. When I launch a game, it launches Galaxy.

Marian, I don't see that option when I open the Settings in the Galaxy.

Draclver, Galaxy Client Service or GOG Galaxy, or both?

Mine did not used to start up automatically but somehow it started to. I sometimes just exit out of it if I remember.

Hi Mad! You always ask good questions that I need answer to!

Oldbroad, I left out a step on finding the launch option I described and I edited my note accordingly. You need to click on General after clicking on Settings.

Oh Marian. I looked under General also but did not see it. Just looked again, and there it is OF COURSE!

Thanks very much Marian and Draclvr .... and glad to be of service oldbroad

Does Galaxy have to be running when you play a game?

No, it does not.

Why does Mad need to re-include it in "start up" when she decides to play a game? This is confusing me.

She doesn't. You can play games without using Galaxy. There is an option to play many if not most of their games without using Galaxy. I forget how to do it right now... I'll do a search tomorrow.

Apparently I don't have to, Uncle Reg.

It looks to me (from the advice given on this thread) that although downloaded via Galaxy a game can be played by merely launching it from the desktop icon created during installation.

But if I'm wrong I'm sure a techie will let me know

You've got it, Mad!

I'm pretty sure though that if you use the "desktop icon created during installation" that it will open up the Galaxy.

Yes, Oldbroad is correct. If you look at the target path of the game, it will show GOG Galaxy. But there is some way to change that which I have forgotten to look up!

EDIT: OK. So that was easy. If you downloaded with the Galaxy client, the target path will indeed be through GOG Galaxy. If you don't want to use it, it's easy as going to the game folder, finding the .exe file, sending to desktop as a shortcut and launching from THAT icon.

Thank you Draclvr. I know Jenny100 has stated how to do this and I have done it, but not recently. I didn't want to write something that I was unsure how to do.

Well, I couldn't remember either and had to look it up! Ha, ha! Two old broads who can't remember... imagine that!

So .... just to be sure ....

Once a Galaxy downloaded game has been installed, I should delete the desktop launch icon it initiates and transfer the one from the actual game files exe. to use instead ??

That's what I just did with Shivers and it worked just fine!

Do that if you don't want the Galaxy to open up. If you don't care if the Galaxy opens up, you can use the desktop icon created from the game installation. Just like with Big Fish games/game manager.

I prefer NOT to have Galaxy running, thanks, oldbroad

I don't mind if it opens to play, but I don't want it running in the background when I'm not playing. Same with Steam.

That's what I try to avoid, too, Draclvr. Not have things running when they're not actually needed !!