Question about buying online

If you buy directly from Stardock, and you don't want to have a disc sent to you, you'll need Stardock Central to download and install GalCiv2 Gold.

-HM

No. SDC is required to download the game.



It includes the latest versions of GC2 and DA, yes.



Most generally, though SDC has them sooner in most cases.



If you do not want to use SDC, your best bet is to order a box to be mailed to you, or purchase the game at retail. If you have retail discs to install from then you shouldn't need to use SDC if you don't want to.

Side note - SDC is harmless - there's no reason to not use it.

I only wish I knew why it felt the need to run "SDMCP.exe" every time I start my computer.

EDIT: Never mind; I figured out how to disable it within SDC.

-HM

SDMCP simply provides sytem tray icon support for SD programs (mostly, Object Desktop stuff such as WindowBlinds and DesktopX). GC2 doesn't use it so if that's the only SD software you run, you can just disable it in SDC's options as you've found.

SDC is not (nor does it contain) spyware, and you only need to run it to install software or update it--it doesn't try to run in the background constantly like some competing systems may. If you want you can even uninstall it once you have the game downloaded.

I only feel stupid that I never noticed I could disable that executable within SDC. And let me tell you, it's been bothering me since early last year! I usually spend time looking at all menu options within any program, but that one escaped me.

But yes, as a customer, I second kryo's and Voqar's statements. SDC is a harmless program. And it really came in handy for archiving GalCiv2 and DA onto one DVD, so I could easily transfer it to my laptop.

I used to manually download the updates to GalCiv2, but I soon realized it was easier to simply do it through SDC. You can still download them so you can easily get to them in case Stardock ever goes belly-up (perish the thought), but it's easy just to use SDC to make an archive of the entire game, then put that on a DVD (as I stated in the last paragraph).

-HM

Damn. How do I cancel my order? I went through this with the last version.
My game system is not, and never will be connected to the net. There was
no warning that this game required being connected to the network.

You can still download on another machine, then transfer it to your gaming machine by a burned disc or usb drive.

If you want, you can simply have a box shipped for the added shipping cost ($5 in the US, $10 international); contact [email protected] for that.

The discs in the boxed version also have the benefit of not requiring activation to play (the downloaded version requires activation, and while SDC handles it transparently if you install on a connected machine, it must be done manually if you transfer it to a non-connected machine).

The game doesn't have to be connected to the network. As I implied, you can simply ask them to send you a disc if you prefer. Stardock Central doesn't even come into the equation if you don't have the internet to retrieve the game on-line.

-HM

but ...



So which is it? He may transfer the game to his gaming machine but it won't do him any good because it require activation?

Basically, my main worry is that if 1) I buy and install the online version, 2) I uninstall the game and SDC at some later date, and 3) StarDock goes broke, will I still be able to play the game? I would have thought that by making an archive and burning it to a disc, I could later reinstall SDC and then import the archive, but if activation's required, I'm still out of luck?

I think as long as you also store GalCiv2's and DA's sig.bin files with the archive, then put them back in their respective folders after you restore the archives, you should be fine.

Although the sig.bin may in some way be tied to your hardware, so perhaps if you upgrade your PC, this won't work. kryo can probably give us the scoop.

-HM

You can archive a download copy of the game and take it to a non-connected computer just fine, you'll just need to make another trip to a connected machine and back to activate via email. Once activated, the game should remain activated until/unless you reinstall windows.

If you are concerned about activation potentially being an issue for you at any point (now or in the future), the solution is simple: get a retail boxed version (at an actual retail store, or direct). If you've already ordered a download copy in the past, you can generally (if you didn't buy it with TGN tokens) order an activation-free disc for a small fee by contacting [email protected].

I ordered Dark Avatar (not GalCiv2 Gold) on-line and got the disc in the mail yesterday. Even though I installed and activated it on-line prior to receiving the disc, if I had used the DA expansion disc, would it have been activation free?

Thanks!

-HM

That is what I've been told, yes. Of course if you later patch, you will need to activate then regardless how you installed it to start with. Only the version on the disc itself is activation free.

Ok, that's great. Makes me feeling even better about my decision to have you guys ship me a disc, since that'll get me all the way to 1.5 without activation. Much thanks,

-HM