Stardock Newbies, downloading update blues, Attention Frogboy

from Stardock Forums
Sorry for the repost,this got buried on page 3 of your post on using Drengin.net but since so many seem to be having difficulties I thought I would bring it up front.

Stardock is an innovative idea and deseves praise, but it is still too unclear to the consumer.

ie I bought the game retail,installed it, downloaded Stardock and the bonus pack from GalCiv.com, installed them, opened Stardock, and found I had the 1.0.29 or whatever, and could never get the update to 1.0.3.

So... I read the forums, found that you shouldnt intall the bonus pack before installing Stardock, uninstalled GalCiv, uninstalled Stardock, reinstalled everything, went to stardock which now says that I "failed to validate Drengin.net registration" Now I have version 1.0.00 and stardock gives me no option to update.

What registration are they talking about? I am not a paid subscriber to Stardock, or is it Drengin.net? It is unclear, I thought we were using a program called Stardock, but the Stardock tab is for a cursor. So I guess we are using Drengin.net

When i try to register using your directions on http://www.galciv.com/temp/sdex.jpg, it says I have an "invalid serial number" http://www.bartelsconstruction.com/GC%20error.jpg but the entry box also refers to an "order e-mail" so now a person is wondering, What do they want my serial number off the cd, or is Stardock or Drengin.net only for those who have

(a)a paid subscription which is registered by their e-mail or

(b)a downloaded version of the game that they got with a registered e-mail and a unique serial number?

Suggestion:
You need to seperate pages for people who
1 are members of stardock, paid subscription
2 bought the game retail and would like to update
3 bought the game online and downloaded it.

ie "if you are a stardock paid subscription member click here" etc.

This is just madness for everyone involved. I dont know where to begin at this point. (yes i have all the appropriate boxes checked in the tools and am using the atlanta server.)

Admittedly I am idiotizing this procedure, oversiplifying for those who are unfamiliar with your program, not that I am familiar with it, but you really need to simplify things.

I am sure you all have explained this very carefully and in detail, I am just speaking from a fist time user's standpoint.

In any event, I love the game I just cant use your updating system.

LZ
491 views 6 replies
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
I have to admit... I have not bought the game, as I have been watching and reading very carefully from this board and reading the game site reviews...
Today, I read of a new update/patch (message by Frogboy) that may mix the crashes to desktop for SBLive users (baffled as to how this problem could be missed, as I assume that half the computer users have some form of soundblaster card)... and when I looked for the quick download of the patch, it appears that signing up for some type of service or new computer interface may be required to get the patch.
To me, that is nonsense. ID for validation, I have no problem with, but...
In a nutshell,
No, I don't want to change anything about my current computer setup in order to patch or play the game.
I seriously hope that this is not required to play or install the game, otherwise this game is going to get a pass by me... and from what I'm reading, I think I'd like the game... but not at the expense of adding a new instant messanger, or anything that adds ANY new applications to my computer desktop.
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Ok, somehow this was a serial number error. What is strange is that I had one letter ( **xyz instead of **xyk) out of place when I typed in the serial to install GalCiv, (the strange part being that it accepted it)! After i entered the bad serial I copied and pasted it into a text file in case I needed to use it again and have been trying to use it to register at stardock which would not accept it.

Finally checked the cd case and saw the error, input the correct number and its all good now. I only relate this embarrasing tale for the sake of others who perhaps may have done the same, as incredible as it may be. Though in my defence I must say I am not totally daft as it did work after all. What are the chances of the crypt. accepting a single digit change? I thought Strategy First might want to know too.

LZ
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Ok, somehow this was a serial number error. What is strange is that I had one letter ( **xyz instead of **xyk) out of place when I typed in the serial to install GalCiv, (the strange part being that it accepted it)! After I entered the bad serial I copied and pasted it into a text file in case I needed to use it again and have been trying to use it to register at stardock which would not accept it.

Finally checked the cd case and saw the error, input the correct number and its all good now. I only relate this embarrasing tale for the sake of others who perhaps may have done the same, as incredible as it may be. Though in my defence I must say I am not totally daft as it did work after all. What are the chances of the crypt. accepting a single digit change? I thought Strategy First might want to know too.

LZ
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
"I seriously hope that this is not required to play or install the game"

Required? No. Strongly Recommended? Yes. Stardock will not be releasing patches for stand-alone downloading nearly as regularly as they will be through Stardock Central. Every so often (we're probably talking once every 2-3 months, from the tone of Brad's comments to date) they will release a comprehensive patch for download, external to SDCentral... but you won't be able to access the weekly (or, at the moment DAILY) updates without SDC.

On a more trivial note, your comments re: the SBLive issue. The SBLive card has a notoriously bad reputation. Also, the GalCiv feature that the SBLive has a problem with is not included in the retail game -- it's part of the bonus pak that was made available for download on the day of release. In other words, it didn't go through nearly as long a development period where such an issue would certainly have been caught.

- Ash

~SDC~
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
I have had similar issues with SDC lately. It is now so severe I have had to write their tech support, even though it used to work NP