Help Wanted Please

To get the download version of the game (or the patch for a retail copy) up and running on an offline machine:

1) Install SDC on an online machine (keep a copy of the SDC installer handy).

2) Log in on SDC, head to the Games section, right click on the game, and choose Archive Application->Download and Archive. If the game is already installed and updated on this machine you can choose Archive Application->Selected Application to pack it up without redownloading.

3) If the game has modules (GalCiv2 does, for example), you'll be prompted to archive them as well. If the media you'll use to transfer the game isn't large enough, you may need to decline and archive each module sparately; otherwise just say yes.

4) When the archive process finishes, you'll find the .sdc file(s) in C:\Program Files\Stardock\Stardock Central\BACKUP (this path is customizable in SDC's settings so it may vary). Copy the .sdc files along with the SDC installer to the portable media of your choice (CDR, DVDR, USB drive, etc).

5) On the offline computer, install SDC, then double-click the .sdc archive files in explorer to unpack them.

6) Run the game; you'll be prompted to activate. Enter the appropriate information and attempt to proceed; it will fail and offer you an option to activate by email. Copy the subject line and mail body it provides and get them back to the connected machine; email them off as directed, and follow the instructions in the reply to complete the activation process.

Effin Christ! Ya I can't do that because my flash isn't big enough to hold it. It'd take me ten days of coming back and forth to work just to get a few MB's worth of code. Wish I would not have opened the games because I would be taking them back. I have nothing but contempt for companies who FORCE their customers to these extremes when EVERY other program I have is as easy to update as transferring the patch via USB media device. This is way too cool of a game for me to want to take a piss on it right now. Damn it!

BTW Thx for the reply Kryo for what its worth

Nobody's forcing you to update, though.

How big is your flash drive? You can fit everything vital for GC2 and DA together on two CDRs or a 1gb flash drive (which can be found for about $12 now).

No I'M forcing me to update...STARDOCK is forcing me to spend money on an either an internet connection for the PC I have GalCiv2 installed on, OR a flash drive that will hold their BS program that I'm only gonna use to update ONE friggin game. Of course nobody is forcing me to update the game THEY should've already had updated when it was released. Nobody FORCES anyone to update, but it's funny how EVERYONE makes it easy to get a patch for the game they created because they care enough about their customers to help them enjoy the game they PAID FOR!!! Why would I NOT want to update a game I paid to enjoy to the fullest especially when the latest update includes a completely refurbished graphics engine?!?!?! Don't be a friggin moron Kryo. Just put the damn patch on the website like everyone else. I'm obviously not the only person that thinks SDC is a ridiculous waste of HD space. If you need a serial code....I got it...UPC code....Friggin receipt number, I got that too....hell at this point I'll send you the original reciept with my own blood sample on it, as long as I didn't have to use SDC to get it to you!!!!

I agree, GalCiv II and Dark Avatar are the only game I own that I can't just download a patch for. I'm in the same boat as HossXL, I don't have internet access on my gaming computer and the computers I can get on the internet with I can't install Stardock on because I don't have Admin rights. They are great games, but a little support for those of us not blessed with personal internet is a definite must.

HossXL,

This is not a totally unknown issue. There have been others that have had this same problem in the past and it has been an issue that can be very aggravating and cause people to become upset. I find this to be understandable. However no matter how aggravating it is to you it really isn't something that justifies hostility towards Stardock or Kryo. Please do yourself and the folks that would otherwise like to help you out a favor and tone it down a tad.

Kryo,

Thanks for the write up in Reply #1 of this thread, it's the clearest statement I've seen of how someone in this situation could possibly work around the problem. However, it's also not totally uncommon that someone is not able to install the game or SDC on the computer with internet access.

In the days that we used to get a standalone installer someone could download that to a PC with internet access, save the file to a CD/DVD or Flash drive of not unreasonable size, take it home and do the update and then be emailed a new sig.bin to activate the new version of the game. At least I think this was the process that could be used.

There are also those that for other reasons would prefer not to install SDC. I understand that it doesn't make sense to provide a standalone installer for every little rev of the game but I would hope that one could be provided for every final rev. The last version of the game that this was provided for was v1.4x. I would hope that the final DA version prior to the release of TA would also provide a standalone installer. If so then that could possibly be the answer to HossXL's (and anyone else in the same situation) problem.

If not then is there any process that you can think of that wouldn't require installation of the game and SDC on the PC with internet access for people with this problem?

Also I would plead the case that Stardock should provide a standalone installer for major and final revisions of the game (DL, DA, TA, etc.). I don't really know or understand the technical issues associated with providing a standalone installer versus updates via SDC but I assume they exist, however asking for a standalone installer for major and final revisions of each different version of the game is not an unreasonable request.

BTW is there any reason that you can share as to why the standalone installer for v1.4x was removed from the download section of these forums?

But the point the OP is making is that the customer should not have to be made to 'work around' and 'jump through hoops' to simply update the game.

I have had problems with SDC, as have many others.
So many times the downloads are incomplete or corrupted.

Stardock discontinued the stand-alone updates because it was 'too much trouble' to make the update into a single downloadable file - while its customers sometimes find it impossible to update through Stardock's more simple (for THEM) means of SDC.

I have always hated the SDC route, and have always waited for the stand-alone updates.
Now, that option is no longer available simply because it is inconvenient for Stardock.


It really looks like Stardock is going downhill in its commitment to its customers.

Up until version 1.4X of Dread Lords, Stardock was vigilant to provide a stand-alone update of every major update.
Now, though, even that update has been removed.

Why the removal, in the first place??????????????????


It was simpler and easier to just leave it on the server. But, they took it down entirely, for no other reason than they wanted to force people to use the glitchy and unreliable SDC.

Actually, I think I still have a copy of the v1.4x standalone update. I'd be happy to make that available although I'd want to hear that's it's OK to do so from Stardock or their representative (i.e. Kryo).


This statement is somewhat judgemental and most likely made without the understanding of the issues that Stardock has with providing the standalone update.

I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that this does cause them problems and that it's for legitimate cause on their part that they discontinued issuing them. All I would ask is that it would be provided for every "final" version. Generally it's difficult to know when a version is final but it's clear that the final version of standalone DL was the version in place when DA came out. In a similar way the final version of DA will be when TA comes out. I would respectfully request that when TA comes out could you please release the final DA update in standalone form?

The game itself need not be actually installed on the downloading machine, only SDC. You can download the game directly in its .sdc archive form without needing to install it. Small distinction, perhaps, since you still have to install something, but it may matter in some cases. But no, SDC is currently the only means of updating the game to the latest version.

I'm not sure if there is a plan any longer to release a standalone patch for DA when it's "done" as was mentioned might be done back around release, I'll have to look into that.

For what it's worth, it does appear that 1.4x is still available via the CE link in the footer of the downloads page, in place of the bonus pack patch, for those who can access the CE downloads.




It's believed that SDC is now mature enough to become the primary/only means of patching, which does reduce the workload involved in releasing a patch considerably versus doing a standalone installer. And it basically means that retail copies become identical to digital distribution copies, which simplifies things all around.

SDC should continue to improve especially since an entirely new and much more user-friendly version will be coming next year.


I would suggest that anyone opposed to SDC updates for non-philosophical reasons make their complaints in one place as calmly and politely as possible. Ranting may make one feel better, but it won't win any arguments.

I certainly agree that calm and polite are the way to go. Ranting only raises your blood pressure and alienates those that may otherwise be inclined to help you. I think I've been consistent in my expression of this point myself.

However, just because someone's opposition to SDC could be considered philosophical doesn't make the opposition less valid. So where is it that I can go to register my philosophical as opposed to non-philosophical complaint in of course a calm and polite manner? I know, I'll open up a separate thread for only philosophical objections to SDC, however it might make for a very long title on the thread. Does anyone know what the character limit on new post titles?

Actually from the philosophical perspective this is entirely the opposite direction I would prefer to take. I would far prefer a friendly user in my face over a user friendly interface.

However all joking aside, forget for the moment about the standalone installer and simply consider the point in time that Stardock supplies a CD of the game. In this case it's not a matter of whether or not Stardock does something because it's clear that when a new expansion pack is available they have also allowed the purchase of it in CD form as well.

The issue is that this is precisely the least useful time to supply a CD. It's pretty much guaranteed that initial release is going to be the version in most need of change, why waste time and effort pressing a CD that's going to be useless within the 1st month? The reason is that someone has just bought something and often wants to see something tangible in return. A physical CD satisfies this need but it's a moot point because of the inevitable revisions.

Instead of giving someone a useless CD of the new expansion you could supply a CD of the final revision of the previous version. This is the point in time that it's worthwhile to press a CD because it will in all likelihood never be changed again. In this case I'm not really asking for anything that Stardock isn't doing anyway. I'm just asking them to do what they would otherwise do but at a different point in time and I would argue a far more appropriate point in time.

How about this idea?

Not so useless to those who can't feasibly download it, but still opt to buy direct. In that case, a CD of the initial release version is far preferable to nothing at all, I'd think.

The DA CDs did also include the 1.5 update for DL. It's probably a safe bet that the TA CDs will include the latest update for DA as of shipping, since TA will require DA/Gold as DA required DL.

I'm not quite sure it's the same. In the DL case the mature version of DL was v1.4x. AFAIK you can't have v1.5 without having DA. I'm not saying this is an issue but I don't know that it isn't for sure.

I do know that the initial v1.5 had significant problems assumedly all in DA but was it totally absent of issues on the DL side? If so then perhaps this does answer my need/question for supplying the latest version of the old when buying the new. I think the changes in DL beyond v1.4x were only for compatibility sake with DA. I guess the question comes down to could or did any of these changes in DL for DA compatibility sake cause issue in DL v1.5 versus DL v1.4x? If the answer is yes than they really aren't the same, instead of v1.4x that's been tried by many different people on many different configurations I get a v1.5 that hasn't had nearly the exposure. I do understand that the change from v1.4x to v1.5 was minimal and unlikely to cause problem but the end result is the same. I get something with virtually no field exposure instead of something with significant field exposure.

In the same vein if buying TA truly does get me the latest and greatest DA (and hence DL as well) then it would be worth it to me to buy it even if I never played a single game of TA. But I suspect that the same thing will happen with DA that happened to DL between v1.4x and v1.5, that there will be changes made to the latest DA for compatibilites sake to TA. Again the risk of introduced problems may be slight but still the same situation exists that I'm getting something with no field exposure instead of a tried and true product.


Actually I disagree. This is precisely the reason to *not* supply a CD. Giving a CD to someone that can't update when it's been shown from substanstial experience that the first version of anything will require multiple revisions before being realistically playable is basically giving someone a promise that's gauranteed to be broken. At least if you don't supply that initial CD then that will preclude those that don't have the ability to update from purchasing it in the first place. I think that is the preferable thing to do. It keeps you from making promises that you can't keep. In this case the implied promise of a CD is something that can be used independently for long term without the need for support or update. It's the final rev not the initial rev that comes the closest to delivering on this promise. That's the version I want to buy and have pressed into a CD.

You can indeed have DL 1.5 without DA. If you install DL from SDC right now, that's the version you'll get. While DL 1.5 is indeed mostly DA compatibility stuff (which is mostly just rearrangement of the data folder layouts, really, not any substantial code changes), it does have a few minor fixes, such as the war/surrender messages not appearing in 1.4x (as I recall). DL 1.5 is also what's included in GC2 Gold, so everyone who bought that has it. There aren't really any notable issues in DL 1.5 that I can think of aside from Vista compatibility (fix in the works last I heard, but no ETA) and out of memory errors, both of which aren't new.



Indeed it would. But I think most people in that position would disagree with you about waiting six months or a year to get the product at all being better than having the initial retail release version on time.

So are you saying I can install DL v1.5 from the DA CD that I got last March and I can play DL v1.5 with no ill effect, even though the DA version on that CD has it's known issues?

Could I install the DL v1.5 from that CD without installing DA?


Don't forget that this is now the thread for only those with philosophical objections to SDC. Those with such mundane practical problems as lack of internet access have been relegated to other threads. Remember that you're talking to a guy that paid for DA with CD in August of last year (or was it September) and didn't install it once it became available on SDC because he wanted the initial rash of problems to be resolved before trying it and then eventually waited until receiving the CD in March at which point the CD was so far behind the times it was silly and to this very day has not installed a purchased item for close to a year now because it would require the afore mentioned dreaded SDC.

I have no problem with spending a few bucks on an item that I haven’t installed in close to a year. I look at it as supporting a company that is dear to my heart and well worth the few dollars I spent even if I’ve gotten no use out of the product. However, if you’re asking me, than I would have to say that yes I would far rather wait a year *or more* for something I could install without requiring SDC than get a CD that I knew would be unplayable as DA v1.5 was. If I remember correctly DA v1.5 generated an automatic MV cheat flag and was therefore far less than useless in my opinion.

That I'm not sure about (it may well just do it as a part of the DA install). AFAIK it is just the update though, not a full DL install, so you'd need to have DL already in place.



That was 1.5x1 or x2. The original release of DA was meta-friendly (in fact I posted eight games with it in the weeks before release, the only cheat flag was from winning too fast).

While DA 1.5 may have had a few issues--the most major thing that comes to my mind was the PQ bug--it was very far from being unplayable (I would say that one should refrain from making such accusations based purely on forum posts, without having played it personally!).

Cool. I may give it a try. I'll be sure to have my drive image backed up to my invisible partition with Norton Ghost before attempting it first just in case.


OK, you're right. I really don't mean to impugn the quality of any particular rev it's just that it seems kind of pointless to go with DA v1.5 when there have been I don't know how many revs beyond it.

In any case the point of what I've been saying in this thread and the other is that I would like some kind of update ability that does not depend on SDC. I admit that I object to SDC on philosophical grounds and have no technical issue that would prohibit me from using it. However, my philosophical objections have been sufficient to cause me to not use software that's been purchased for almost a year.

If the point you make about DL in DA is true with respect to the final DA in TA then I probably will buy the TA expansion just for purposes of getting an installable final version of DA. However, it would probably require an installed DA. Perhaps installing DA/DL from my original DA disk followed by installation of TA/DA from the new expansion pack disk will get me to where I want to be which is the latest and greatest DA and DL without using SDC. Do you think this is a possibility?

Perhaps we can discuss this further once we get closer to the TA release and more is understood of the ramifications of what I would like to do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not really complaining nor would I even have brought it up if it wasn't for these threads discussing this very issue. In any case all I wish to do is to register my request and leave it at that. I highly doubt that Stardock will change it's update strategy simply on my say so. But I do want to make sure that it's realized that there are a minority of folks that are left in the dark because of it. Finally, I hope that no one is deluded into believing that I'm anything other than a loyal Stardock customer regardless of my philosophical objections to SDC.

I asked Brad about this, and he said that the 2.0 update mentioned in the release schedule post will probably get a standalone version. So there's a good chance you'll get the 'final' non-SDC update you desire.

Hooray! Hooray!

Now to read the release schedule post to find out what and when this 2.0 update will be.

I did assume that Stardocks desire to limit these standalone releases was for reasonable cause. However, very infrequent releases at specific key points would be well appreciated. I'm in no rush, after all I haven't played with software that I bought close to a year ago without complaint (well hardly much of one).

I also think that I can get there before that by getting buying the TA expansion pack with CD and using the DA CD to get to DL v1.5 and base DA and then using the TA CD to get final DA and base TA. If the 2.0 of which you speak is merely the DA that will be incorporated with TA then this is probably the same thing.

However, I want to make one final point about why I haven't been in any great rush to be playing DA and that is because I still find DL to be fun and exciting and in the back of my mind I'm kind of holding DA in reserve for when I eventually tire of DL.

I hope that Stardock takes this for the compliment I think it is. However, if there's a TA beyond DA and perhaps a GalCiv III beyond both of those it may not be something I should worry about and there should be some form of GalCiv for me to play until the day I die. That would be cool.

I just want to make it clear to Kryo that I DO appreciate the fast response to my original post, and also the time and effort he took in trying to help me. I also want to make it clear that I hate to be irrate, and I agree that being calm about matters is the way to go, but I can't help but be peeved by NOT being able to upgrade my game. Also statements like "Nobody's forcing you to upgrade" are just stupid and VERY uncalled for in regards to my problem. Honestly at this point I could be cussing up and down the forum or kissing major booty, but the fact is, I'm either gonna bang my head against the wall using SDC, or NOT be able to enjoy this game to the fullest, and I don't see how anyone could NOT understand why that wouldn't upset someone, especially the company that offers this program, plain and simple. I mean this just makes me wanna make like Milton on Office Space. Maybe shoplifting a few copies of GalCiv2 and returning one for store credit to pay for a new flashdrive would make me feel better at this point, but why should I be driven to those kind of extremes in the first place? That's the kind of things companies with too much money don't care about.......and why any Microsoft product has a plastic case with a level 5 maglock around it. (Thats right I'm a Shadowrun nerd....and WHAT!!!) Point is....it's just a shame this game won't be upgraded on my computer, and I'll never buy anything that has to do with Stardock ever again....even if it is a sweet program. Problem with this country is though many may sympathize, nothing will EVER change because we need to be cool and calm.......wouldn't wanna "offend" anyone

Just a final question on this. I go to the downloads page and click on the Collectors Edition link at the bottom of the page (I assume that's what meant by CE). I then end up at https://www.galciv2.com/CollectorsEdition/ which has the following links.


Galactic Civilizations II Bonus Pack

Enable Collectors Edition Content only (Windows 9x/2000/XP)

Install Galactic Civilizations II Desktop Enable Collectors Edition (Windows XP or later)


It's not totally clear from the context which one of these get you to download v1.4x. Is it the "Galactic Civilizations II Bonus Pack" link?

This is not quite true. Things do change just not quite as often as we wish. Secondly being cool and calm is simply the best way for *you* to get what *you* want. Not offending folks that may be willing and able to help you is really in your own best interest.

The fact is that I hate to see someone alienated, regardless of the cause, against what is a great game and a great game company. I do understand where you're coming from and if there is something I can reasonably do that could change your outlook I would only be to happy to do it.

If a reasonably sized flash drive is all it would take along with some pain and effort on your part to get where you want to go then the solution is simple. I happen to have a 1GByte USB Flash Drive (made in china of course) sitting on my desk doing nothing but collecting dust. If that would allow you to do the update I would be more than happy to mail it to wherever you wish. Just PM me with an address and it's yours.

Yes.

Do you have a Cadillac hanging around collecting dust?