Rusty, you have a Stardock icon? Are you an employee?

No. I finally hovered my mouse over the icon. The icon means you are surfing the forum vis the Stardoc Central application. :notsure:

~SDC~

No, the BonusPak isn't a zip file.

Here: http://draginol.stardock.com/images/sdc.gif


~SDC~

Well again I have proved to my self the shrink was wrong when he said I was a genius. LOL Normally I try every last button of a new ap but somehow I didn't notice the Software button on this last Stardock Central build. Probably was on the old builds too. Anyhow through their Stardock Central we can download the updates and bonus material. Apparently through c/net's download.com . At least that is where some of these links sent me. Stardocks shareware etc. Professional and futuristic mode of delivery.

~SDC~

From the pic it appears to update directly into the directory.

~SDC~

Stardock employees tend to be senator or admiral or avatar.

Paul.

~SDC~

Maybe I'm getting the wrong impression here. But does what Frogboy posted so far mean that either I need to have an internet access at home or be focked concerning Bonus Paks?
If so I 'm afraid I'm out of this game cos I don't want to pay 50 bucks per month just to assure I'll be able to update this game when I can update all other games by downloading the files somehwere I have internet access and then transport them to my pc.
I know pirating is a hell for every SW developer but this would be the wrong way to prevent it IMO.

Frogboy,

A couple things here.

1. I was thinking just like Rustyblade that it is way to hard to tell Users from people on your Team.

It would seem to make better sense to have a real Title before your name. E.g. Creator & Producer/CEO Stardock - Frogboy, or Lead Artist - [Insert Name], you get the idea.

2. This issue of direct opening of the files into the game is the first point that I really do not care for about this game. I know it has nothing to do with the game proper, but I can not think of any other title that forces users to keep coming back for the same file if they need it again.

I would respectfully ask that you reconsider this method and allow for the Update/Bonus Pack/Patches to be DLed and saved by the user. At least provide in a Read Me file what files were updated and should be "backed up" so the update would not have to be DLed again.

I do think you have made a great commitment to this title for the users and I will continue to hail that and support it. Please, consider this request of saving the DL.

Thanks

Toothy

Well those of us who have titles above citizen will only answer to posts we KNOW the answer to. So if you get a reply from me or someone else, you can surely take that answer as a fact!
IOf we done know, we usually wait until someone over at stardock can reply.
So dont worry, you are all in good hands! LOL

/Andreas

PS. Those that are part of the GalCiv team is: BoogieBac, Cari-Elf, Frogboy, T-Man, Nakor.
Hmm, I have a nagging thought in the back of my head that I forgotten someone..

Hi Toothy,

I secound your plea for a saved "Bonus pack". Having an instable system I think you know all the routine driver updates,wipe computersystem, reinstall the game..... With a 56k dial up modem it is quite annoying (besides the cost) to download the "bouns pack" again. Besides having although a Laptop besides my normal desktop, I would prefer to download the game only 1 time......

The Stardock icon simply indicates the poster is using Stardock Central to post their messages. Specalty titles don't appear for SD employees, but here's a list of known developers that will post here:
Frogboy - (Brad: SD CEO/GalCiv Project Manager/GalCiv Programmer)
CariElf - (Cari: Lead Programmer)
Boogiebac - (ScottT: Programmer)
TMan - (Pat: Developer for SDCentral, Web Site, and Metaverse)
AlexG - (ALexG: Lead Artist)
Nakor - (Kris: QA/ect/ect)
The_Bird - (Paul: Artist)
I hope that's everone

~SDC~

Oops, didnt realize this was answered above.

...It's gonna be one of those days.

~SDC~

Didn't somebody say the bonus pack was only like a 10meg download? Even on 56K (I don't have broadband), that really does not take very long to download?

--Soulfire

If you're that worried, why not install a copy at the location you CAN dl from, install the bonus packs, copy the folder and take it to your pc at home. I have a POTS connection and if it takes too long or I have problems, I'll probably use the above method. The only way I see that it wouldn't work would be registry changes. I've done this with Blizzard games before; just install the game to get the registry entries and copy the updated files into the file structure. I assume the bonus packs are dependant on the serial numbers so as long as the serials are the same it shouldn't be very easy to abuse, especially if SD is on top of locking pirated serials out of SDC.

OK,

Let me try to make myself very clear on this issue.

It is Not about the Size of the DL.
It is Not about the Time to DL.
It is Not about the Backing Up Folders After the DL.

My question and point is I want to be able to Save the DL and archive it in my own home for future use by me personally.

I have reinstalled my entire system on numerous occasions so I want it on hand.
What happens if Frogboy decides to do something else and Stardock goes away? I want the Files in my possession. Like arne heyden (poster above) who has had to do the reinstall as well, or Kakupacal (poster above) who can not DL from home so how can he update his game that is home?

No other game I have ever owned made you come back time and again for the same file, and I do not think it is a good policy to start now. Honest, paying users are being penalized because there are pirates out there.

I am even willing to buy a CD from Stardock of the entire future content, but it does not seem like that is likely (have not heard either way).

I really, want Frogboy to consider allowing users to DL the file and save it for future use.
Please, do not take this as a "I am mad" post because it is not. It is really more an "I am disappointed" post to find these things out.

So, Frogboy again, I respectfully ask you reconsider the current method and allow users to DL and save the file for their own use on their own game.

Thanks Again,

Toothy

And once again I second toothy's petition.
First: I CANNOT install the game where I have internet acces cos this is AT WORK where we are using WinNT.
Second: Others who have no access at home and none at work either have to go to internet cafés. Now YOU go n try to tell the dude who runs one to install the game just so I can update your game at home. *laughs*
Third: I'd like to archive my updates too in case I switch to another OS or have to reinstall.

Like said before I know very well that pirating is a game developer's Bane BUT since they stated in this very site's FAQ that not selling a single copy would not ruin them they should really not penalize the honorable gamers who buy the game(and I do pay lot's of money on games as I would on this one) in such a way.

"If you're that worried, why not install a copy at the location you CAN dl from"

And if you're implying by tha statement that we could be potential pirates cos we worry about the update policy you'd better watch where your mouth goes.

MasterMoO, how can you possibly take from that statement that I'm calling you or anyone else a pirate? Maybe you better take an English comprehension class. I can install temporarily on a work PC, dl the patch, burn the directory on another PC, and take it home. If you can't do it that's fine. It'd be fantastic if I could get the bonus pack on CD. If I can't, then I'm SOL and will have to look for an alternative.

Stardock Central will let you create an archive of the game. You can burn this to CD and transfer the whole thing from work to home. Including new content as its made available.

You will have to install Stardock Central on your home PC and use it to restore the GC archive.

There are no plans for creating special "bonus pack" CD's or the like in the near future. The content will be manageable enough in size for dialup users and we don't want to get into instances of "well, I have the July CD and..."

Arrrr Matey!

I'm glad there will be some way to transfer it. I don't even have a telephone at home, much less an internet connection! They've covered their bases so well I didn't think they'd leave us unfortunate few out in the cold!

Nakor,

What do you mean an "archive of the game?"

The entire game and all files?
The Bonus Pack files?

I just do not understand yet.

Also, SDC gives me Illegal Operations and closes as i posted in another post with all the details, but I will give them here again at the end of this post.

Can someone with authority give a simple answer that can not be misunderstood as to what will be the reality of DLing the Bonus Pack?

Will I have a File in my possession that I can reinstall anytime I so chose?

A clear answer to this is what I am after.

And if it is, No, then I would really like to know why this is so, and would ask for the third time that Frogboy would consider changing the way this is done to allow users to make a copy of all files that pertain to GalCiv.

Toothy

Now here are the details from SDC crash. . .
________________________________________________________

I got this when I clicked on the “WinCustomize” button in SDC.


SDCENTRAL caused an invalid page fault in
module KERNEL32.DLL at 0167:bff7436e.
Registers:
EAX=ffffffff CS=0167 EIP=bff7436e EFLGS=00010286
EBX=00000000 SS=016f ESP=006acec4 EBP=006acef8
ECX=0013fff4 DS=016f ESI=822f2144 FS=3597
EDX=00480078 ES=016f EDI=822f213c GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
0f c1 01 48 c2 04 00 83 01 00 6a ff 51 68 59 00
Stack dump:
5f401936 0013fff4 006acf3c 5f419e17 bff55836 006acf3c 006afb18 5f419e5e 006af7f4
006acf3c 006ad510 5f49295f 00000000 7803bbf0 0042dd40 006afb60

SDCENTRAL caused an invalid page fault in
module SDCENTRAL.EXE at 0167:00417fbc.
Registers:
EAX=00000000 CS=0167 EIP=00417fbc EFLGS=00010246
EBX=006aedb0 SS=016f ESP=006ac8c8 EBP=00000000
ECX=00000000 DS=016f ESI=006aef00 FS=3597
EDX=81b6c01c ES=016f EDI=006af124 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
8b 50 20 6a 00 6a 00 68 04 13 00 00 52 ff 15 c0
Stack dump:
006af124 006aef00 00417be0 00000000 00000001 00000000 bff89cc6 3a33315b 005d3730 81b7c3b0 81b7c3b0 00000000 bff7b683 bff741f7 bffc9490 bff7b84e


SDCENTRAL caused an invalid page fault in
module USER.EXE at 0008:00004434.
Registers:
EAX=00024368 CS=1787 EIP=00004434 EFLGS=00000246
EBX=00000000 SS=355f ESP=00000000 EBP=006a0010
ECX=00024368 DS=16b7 ESI=00026a78 FS=3597
EDX=00000000 ES=16b7 EDI=00024368 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
0e e8 fe 00 8b f2 66 c1 e6 10 8b f0 66 0b f6 74
Stack dump:
00024368 00024368 00026a78 00024368 44af0028 00031787 00026a78 00024368 00026a78 00024368 44af0040 00031787 00026a78 00024368 00026a78 00024368

________________________________________________________

I'm confused and curious as well. I do NOT have internet access at home and am wondering how I will be able to update the game/add the bonus pack without a "live" connection to the internet unless I can archive and carry files home to my "play" computer.

:notsure:

I would hope that the updates would be available both through an online update and a stand-alone installer.
The same way most other companies do their updates.

You have two computers: one at home without an internet connection and one that you have legitimate access to elsewhere (running Windows).

On the Internet-accessible PC, install from the GalCiv CD and then install Stardock Central(SDC). It'll see you've got the retail CD and will just download the files necessary to update that to the BonusPak or future updates. You installed the CD first so SDC wouldn't go and fetch the full hundreds of megs of the game.

The SDC includes an Archive option when you right click on components. This will make a ZIP file of everything needed to restore GalCiv on another machine with SDC. Burn a copy of this zip file and take it home.

On the home PC, install Stardock Central. Use the restore function to restore the ZIP you brought and you'll have the latest and greatest content.

You will be able to restore that archive any time you want (through SDC) and have a full and complete copy of the game.

It is not at all likely that there will be any standalone update mechanisms available.
You must have access to a computer where Stardock Central can be installed and have your serial validated against the network to download new content and updates.

If something is unclear about the above, please be very specific in your followups.

Nakor Wrote:
"If something is unclear about the above, please be very specific in your followups."

Wow, jump through hoops for sure!

What you fail to say is if SDC needs to be "online" (i.e. connected) when all this occurs.

You also fail to even acknowledge my problem with SDC.

I this method of do this, do that, then do this, and that for an archived copy going to be stated somewhere Official?

Also, what about the user (like me) with one system that will have GalCiv installed? How will I update so it allows me to archive without it auto updating my game?

Man this is way over complicated and a bit too convoluted just so it can not be a simple file that people can burn on a CD.

So, once again, I ask PLEASE make this a DL file that can be saved and loaded for anytime later use.

I hope this is a clear enough post.

Toothy

You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.

I'm just a regular visitor to this site with no special knowledge, but here is what it boils down to, in my opinion:

Stardock has opted against the traditional methods of preventing illegal copies GalCiv. They are not using the "traditional" methods because they are generally an inconvenience to legitimate customers.

Instead, they are using the bonus packs and metaverse concept to inspire people to purchase a legal copy. If they allow people to download the bonus pack material as a separate file, which could then be copied and distributed freely, you are asking Stardock to abandon all attempts at combatting theft of their product.

DISCLAIMER:I do not believe that any person reading or contributing to this forum would pirate software, but there are others who would do so happily.