GOG News and Updates 2014

Status
Not open for further replies.
Zero-Crescent said:
Covert Action is on the list, as Sid Meier's Covert Action. It looks like Microprose Formula One Grand Prix (World Circuit in the US) wasn't even part of the auction, judging by the list of assets (pp. 74-75*) that Tommo received. So either Atari is holding onto the license, or it's in some sort of rights limbo, possibly due to use the various licenses involved. (F1, FIA, manufacturers, drivers, etc.)

* The list of De Minimis assets on Page 74 have the full rights. The list on Page 75 features just the past-catalog rights. So basically, Tommo could go out and make a new "Sword of the Samurai," but they can't make a new "Sid Meier's Pirates!", since the Pirates! rights for new games (made after 10/21/2002) reverted to Firaxis. However, Tommo can still release/sell the existing versions of Pirates! and Pirates! Gold.
Click to expand...

Hah! My apologies, it was too early in the morning to be paying full attention.
 
First post here, just recently subscribed, usually hang out in the Steam thread.

I've got Maniac Mansion and Zak Mckraken on my wish list, hoping they are eventually added to GOG.

Anyone else remember those games? I really was into Sierra games mostly when I first started PC gaming back when on my Tandy 1000, but these two games were also favorites.

What are the chances these old Lucasfilm titles could make it onto GOG?

maniac_mansion_d7.jpg
Click to expand...

giant_zak_scan.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Backlogger said:
What are the chances these old Lucasfilm titles could make it onto GOG?
Click to expand...

It's hard to say. Charlequin broke it down pretty well earlier in the thread:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=95530981&postcount=58

LucasArts had weirdly proprietary ideas about its back catalog that weren't really based in anything particularly logical; they changed leadership frequently and never had anyone who was seriously engaged in making their back catalog available in a useful and profitable way.

Disney is a soulless, mercenary conglomerate who have effectively exploited bazillions of properties to make money. The thinking here goes that full-catalog releases on Steam and GOG would make a lot of nearly-free money for Disney while strengthening the visibility of their brands, so it'd be much easier to negotiate with them.

It does seem very possible that whatever deal was in-progress before the acquisition fell apart (or at least got set back) as a result, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Disney is a harder nut to crack in a vacuum than old LA was.
Click to expand...
 

7yMqDei.png


Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers added to the list of recommended games today, another pretty well known classic that generally comes very highly recommended.

The good news for you Backlogger is if you still have the discs you can play them easily enough today via ScummVM, though I really hope LucasArts makes their way to GOG, even if it's temporary (like a 4-5 year contract or whatever).
 
^ Great choice. One of the best adventure games ever made. My personal all time favorite. The entire trilogy is phenomenal. Blew me away as a kid and opened my eyes to what storytelling in games could achieve.
 
I see that Memoria is on sale today. Is it worth it? I haven't played an adventure game in a loooooooooooong time, but this one is pretty.
 

aivJlyJ.png


Magic Carpet 2: Netherworld added to the list of recommended games. This one introduces the friendly nostalgia glasses modifier- that some degree of tolerance higher than normal may be necessary or, like in this case, the game, while being recommended and regarded as a classic simply does not have too much discussion at neogaf.

While there's not much talk about MC/MC2, they were definitely noteworthy games that people enjoyed which aren't out of place in the list. The old list had MC1 as a recommended game, but being that there are so few impressions of the series, and that MC2 generally is viewed as the friendlier game, that will take its place for the time being.
 

wKFTn5l.png


Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within added to the list of recommended games, being one of the common go-to games for best FMV adventure game. I guess that and Tex Murphy are the common answers for best FMV game. I don't really remember too much about GK2 myself, but given the general praise for it, I look forward to replaying it when I get around to it.
 
The things that annoy me the most about Magic Carpet are that vertical aiming defaults to inverted, with no means of changing that, and that the game speed is entirely dependent on how difficult it is to render a frame; if the game has troubles, the game slows down, whereas if it has no issues rendering, the game runs too fast. Magic Carpet 2 fixed the latter, but I don't believe the former was ever fixed.

Kinda wish the games were open-source, so a source port could quickly fix that. Failing that, perhaps a more modern spiritual sequel would be in order.
 
Heads up, the weekend promo might be the last chance to buy Wallace & Gromit for cheap, or at all since the game was already removed from the Steam store.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: We have been notified that Telltale Games' licence to the Wallace and Gromit IP has expired, and therefore the company is unable to keep their Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventure title in their offer, for the time being. By extension, we have been asked to remove the game from our catalog, and we are in the process of doing so, and once it's done the game won't be available for purchase anymore. Everyone who has the game in their GOG.com collection by that time, will still be able to download the installer files and bonus content after the removal. The game, however, won't be listed for sale on GOG.com. We apologize for any inconvenience that this situation may have caused you.

I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but we wanted to give you guys a heads up.
Click to expand...

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/weekend_promo_adventures_now/post150
 
Rune Classic is on sale for $4. I'm tempted to pick it up. I always wanted to play it back when it came out, and I really love some of those late '90s, early 2000s actioners on the PC.
 

BsrPtUO.png


Gothic 1 added to the recommended games, sorry these are a bit repetitive with the multiple entries from the same series, but going through the old threads, it's just easier for me to assess a series once it's mentioned/recommended. Gothic 1 is another of those "harder than normal" older games to get in to so it carries an extra warning with it, but it's definitely a fun experience when you do get going with it.

Too bad about Telltale's Wallace and Gromit disappearing digitally, I'll be sure to double check I own it later (think I already do).
 


The Ballads of Reemus: When the Bed Bites released today, a new-ish adventure / comedy game that looks to be for those who are not afraid of bugs.

Apparently there's a sequel in the works as well, which raised $2,000 over it's kickstarter goal of $15,000. Comments from the GOG discussion thread about the game indicate it to be very short (maybe 2 hours), but polished and entertaining / easy.
 
Minsc said:


The Ballads of Reemus: When the Bed Bites released today, a new-ish adventure / comedy game that looks to be for those who are not afraid of bugs.

Apparently there's a sequel in the works as well, which raised $2,000 over it's kickstarter goal of $15,000. Comments from the GOG discussion thread about the game indicate it to be very short (maybe 2 hours), but polished and entertaining / easy.
Click to expand...

$5 doesn't sound too bad for a 2 hour game IMO. I mean heck I could get a lunch/dinner meal for $5 and finish that in less time than that!
 
Jag said:
Great article on Cate Archer.

Amazing how well NOLF holds up. Shame it's not on GOG.
Click to expand...

The crazy thing to me is that, even with all the things that game tried to do differently from the rest of the FPS crowd, it still had some rock solid gameplay mechanics. Back in the day, Monolith understood the fundamentals of FPSes so damn well.
 

0FEHy9e.png


Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned added to the recommended games, wrapping up that series, despite (as mentioned in the quotes) its infamous reputation coming from one of the puzzles, people still really love it.
 
Backlogger said:
Anyone else remember those games? I really was into Sierra games mostly when I first started PC gaming back when on my Tandy 1000, but these two games were also favorites.

What are the chances these old Lucasfilm titles could make it onto GOG?
Click to expand...

Play the amiga versions, or even better the FM Towns for people liking to dig. Pre-wing commander area games are not so well on PC.

After that, to get official re-releases (technically, this is very simple with scummy) it needs a deal between LucasArts and Gog, now between Disney and Gog, which is not very likely.
 

Geg417s.png


Baldur's Gate 2 Complete added to recommended games, another game that hardly needs re-introducing.

Edit: Also I'm starting to feel daily updates on the recommended games might be a bit much for this thread, so I'll tone them back a little and group them together every 2-3 days, 2-3 at a time and see if that flows better. I do think it's a worthwhile cause though, keeping an organized selection of the better games on the service in the OP. But I imagine most people check the thread out for new releases and sales / news, not what's already there (though from time to time people come here wanting games that end up being already on GOG lol).
 
Minsc said:
Edit: Also I'm starting to feel daily updates on the recommended games might be a bit much for this thread, so I'll tone them back a little and group them together every 2-3 days, 2-3 at a time and see if that flows better. I do think it's a worthwhile cause though, keeping an organized selection of the better games on the service in the OP. But I imagine most people check the thread out for new releases and sales / news, not what's already there
Click to expand...

I'd say it'd make sense to work with one of three systems: post them on the days when there aren't releases (Generally Mon/Weds/Fri) or the days when there *are* (Tue/Thurs), or on the weekends.

With Mon/Weds/Friday:
+ It keeps the thread active on quiet days.
+ People who *don't* care for the information can just avoid these days
- GoG's release schedule isn't *rock*-solid; sometimes games appear on those days
- People who aren't following the system might be disappointed when the thread is bumped without an actual release.
- Might obfuscate smaller off-day news (sales, for instance)

With Tue/Thurs:
+ Bumps correspond with releases, so the thread rhythm peaks around those times
- GoG's release schedule isn't *rock*-solid; sometimes games don't appear on those days
- May make relevant release discussion cluttered.

With Sat/Sun
+/- Keeps discussion active over the weekend, usually the quietest period.
+ Prime purchasing time! Well, for my buying patterns, anyway.
+ Little risk of a release happening then
- May hamper weekend sale discussion


I think, personally, I'd go for weekend updates over M/W/F and both over T/T, but that's my own taste.

(though from time to time people come here wanting games that end up being already on GOG lol).
Click to expand...

I love when I can end an answer in the "Games You Remember, Names You Don't" thread with "... and it's on GoG!"
 
Added today's releases to the OP, Covert Action is definitely a lesser (or maybe even least) known Sid Meier game, it sounds decent enough from the discussion thread, someone described it to be an open-ended, re-playable strategy/puzzle game from which you choose from many different mini-games by using corresponding tools to investigate a worldwide conspiracy.

SpellForce 2: Demons of the Past, seems to be the final expansion in the game's second series, and despite never getting around to the original game, the strategy/rpg gameplay has always intrigued me. The full set looks likely to arrive on GOG at some point as well, there's talks going on to get the missing expansion, going by the discussion thread. Then the entirety of the first and second game will be on GOG; SpellForce 1 Platinum has all the original games, followed by SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars > SpellForce 2: Dragon Storm > SpellForce 2: Faith in Destiny (missing currently) > SpellForce 2: Demons of the Past (just released).

finley83 said:
Nice job, you misspelled 'available' in the bottom right though!
Click to expand...

Thanks for noticing, fixed!

mclem said:
I think, personally, I'd go for weekend updates over M/W/F and both over T/T, but that's my own taste.
Click to expand...

That sounds like the best choice to me as well, I'll give it a shot.

Tizoc said:
Speaking of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, do the mods include an online multiplayer mode?
Click to expand...

I don't believe so, since online (well local I guess, but software these days tricks it to function like online) multiplayer is built in to the games themselves. The Enhanced Editions have a friendly co-op mode iirc, that was one of the features they were advertising anyway (supposed to be cross-platform as well, aka Mac + iPad + PC etc, not sure if it ever made it in though).
 
Hey Minsc is Rogue Legacy bolded yet? I just started playing it over the steam sale and its blend of roguelike elements and metroidvania combined with its level up system and clever use of a generational quest to explain away the death mechanics make it a really good first roguelike for any interested in trying the genre, while still rewarding skilled play and smart upgrade choices. It also has a nice, clean sprite style thats appealing to look at.
 
HK-47 said:
Hey Minsc is Rogue Legacy bolded yet? I just started playing it over the steam sale and its blend of roguelike elements and metroidvania combined with its level up system and clever use of a generational quest to explain away the death mechanics make it a really good first roguelike for any interested in trying the genre, while still rewarding skilled play and smart upgrade choices. It also has a nice, clean sprite style thats appealing to look at.
Click to expand...

No bolding anymore (I know what you mean though)! :P But I will be glad to bump it up to next in line (along with any other requests people want to make, preferably with impressions) for being added to the recommended games list (check the link at the top of the OP to see the new format; eventually the old list will be removed entirely, it's there just for my own reference now).

I've heard good things about Rogue Legacy, so I'm sure there are lots of good impressions from neogaf members to pull quotes from for the game. It was the #1 ranked game in the Steam thread's GOTY vote as well.
 
May have to pull the trigger on King's Quest this weekend. I want to say they have had all 3 bundles for $9.99 total in the past, but the current sale price is pretty good too.
 
I've heard that using ScummVM lets you play the Windows version of King's Quest VI instead of the DOS one, which is rad. That's enough to get me to buy it.

Is ScummVM easy to use, though? I've never had an occasion to dick around with it before.
 
Chacranajxy said:
I've heard that using ScummVM lets you play the Windows version of King's Quest VI instead of the DOS one, which is rad. That's enough to get me to buy it.

Is ScummVM easy to use, though? I've never had an occasion to dick around with it before.
Click to expand...

More or less. You just open ScummVM, select "add a game", point to the directory where the game's data files are, and it detects the game.
 
Oh man I loved Covert Action back in the day. The controls for the onfoot stuff are a bit unorthodox, but it's a really fun game.
 
Hmm.... Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption is on sale. Kinda tempted to try that one out. I always wanted to play it back when it first came out, but never got around to it.
 

qnlxQAT.png


mWE99zH.png


Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga and King's Bounty: The Legend added to the list of recommended games (Rogue Legacy is next HK-47, but it'll just be a bit more of wait). Despite BG1's slower start, it still is pretty fun and probably worth a shot before diving in to BG2. Certainly not for everyone, but there's lots of ways to help some of its shortcomings through mods and it's commonly commented that playing through both with the same set of characters (or rather BGT) really adds to the experience. That or the first may turn you away from the second lol, but if that happens just skip it and move on. :)

And for KB:TL, that's actually all we'll be seeing from the series in the recommended list (so far). Seems many people find it's sorta a one-and-done type situation as far as bang-for-buck, and find the most value in the original going from what's been posted over many threads. I guess after 100+ hours of the first, the second and third can wear one down a little being more of the same. There's really just not nearly as many positive impressions of the later entries, and much more negative ones (people worn out after Armored Princess, etc). That and AP is like 2x more money than it ought to be on GOG and the final(?) entry in the series isn't even on GOG, but at least the most popular one above is!
 
Okay, I'm going to go into full shill mode for today's classic.

Zombie Shooter 2

...no, not that. That's just included for the sake of completeness. The classic... is actually an indie game, but from far enough back that it also fits the 'classic' banner (I was playing it in university in 2000!)

Drod 1+2+3

(That's King Dugan's Dungeon, Journey To Rooted Hold, The City Beneath)

Don't underestimate these. They look, well, I think 'functional' is fair, but they are *supremely* well-designed puzzle games - genuinely, some of the best puzzles I've played. Some people might be familiar with a very old game, often used as a tutorial to programming, known variously as "Daleks", "Zombies", "Robots"; several mindless enemies home in on you, each turn you move, they move, and so on - and your objective in that game is to get them to collide either with one another or with the wreckage created when they hit each other.

DROD expands on that premise... massively. The core enemy is the roach, which has the mindlessly-following-you aspect going on. First big change is that your character is given a sword; the sword can be rotated around you (with each 45 degree movement taking a turn), and if your sword ends your turn in a roach's space, it gets splatted. And you simply have to clear every room of the dungeon of vermin.

Except... the room layouts get difficult. We start to get tiles that can only be trod on once, tiles that can only be exited a certain way, switches to open doors. And new enemies appear. How about a roach queen, who lays eggs all around her every thirty turns which hatch into roaches and runs directly *away* from you. How about eyeballs, which stand still most of the time but charge you if you step into their line of sight. How about tar, which can only be cut along a straight edge, while the corners are indestructable? How about tar mothers, who make the tar grow every few turns? How about goblins, who are smart enough to home in on the player but run from the sword? How about spiders, who are invisible if they're not moving? How about serpents, who can only be killed by trapping them in a dead end?

... and that's just the monsters in the *first* game. Loads of monsters, relentless creativity in designs of dungeons. It's just... really really good, if you want a cerebral, strategic puzzle game.

Oh, yeah. And there's a level editor, and a bunch of downloadable levels.

I've been lamenting the fact that it hasn't been greenlit for a while. GoG are doing the right thing here.
 
mclem said:
Drod 1+2+3

(That's King Dugan's Dungeon, Journey To Rooted Hold, The City Beneath)
Click to expand...

Amazing games, do get them people (if you don't have them already that is).
Wonder if they will add the fourth game as well, weird that they haven't started with that one since it's geared towards beginner players.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Dino Crisis 1 & 2 Available on GOG
News  2
72
4K
ArtHands replied
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is coming DRM-free to GOG this Spring
News 
18
1K
Danny Dudekisser replied
GOG Preservation Program announced – preserving old games for current and future PC setups (over 100 games "Preserved by GOG" starting today)
News  2
57
5K
Mr Hyde replied
Kingdom Deliverance 2 reveals Post Launch Roadmap with free updates in Spring and DLC
News 
28
1K
Grizzled Ghost replied
Linux Bros, what's the best Linux OS for gaming (GOG and Steam)?
47
48
kevboard replied
Top Bottom