I think Stardock and Ironclad will merge, based on their successes, but how will that change the PC industry? Unless..... JUST GIVE US THE NEWS FROGBOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I say it's all about Impulse and providing a bevy of mainstream and indie games via their digital distribution channel.

Oooh - what's this - an article over at Gamasutra with Brad....

Impulse=meh.I had hoped it was news about the Fantasy game.

It would be funny if it end up someone from StarDock team getting married

Well, if Impulse (with Gas Powered as the first developer on-board, Sega, THQ following) succeeds in replacing Steam with something user-friendly and anti-DRM... yes, I think it is impressive.

But... Can I at least PRETEND to have to solder a dongle onto my board?

I wonder if this whole announcement thing was big, late, April Fools joke...  

Based upon the links posted.....Ugh! YARTS!!! (Yet Another Real Time Strategy) game, boring. Looking at the official site for the demigod it sort of reads like a pay to play type as well.

Too bad.

Now, the whole impulse platform for delivery is interesting, but it needs better games than this. I do not do subscription play (if that is the case) and RTS in general I find wanting.

I do not see anything whatsoever on the official Demigod site which implies that this is a subscription based title.

It does say that GPG is self-publishing though, so it will be interesting to discover if Stardock is now the retail box publisher (or just online).

-HM

Sounds like Stardock has exclusive publishing rights:

"Not only do we have a proven retail publisher, but we get to partner with a pioneer in the digital distribution space...a company that totally understands what kind of experience our customer wants and the quality game they demand," said Gas Powered Games founder and CEO Chris Taylor.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/52094

-HM

Well, reading further at the Gamasutra site it bears it out that there will be a pay to expand type of subscription for demigod. Since RTS is not my cup of tea it does not bother me in the least. As for RPG's I love a good rpg from time to time. But again, I like them from time to time so subscribing to them would be silly for me.

I guess for me the potential big news is that Impulse might draw more games to the Stardock model which would be good. I hate having to have a internet connection or carry CD with me just to play a game. A little over the top or premature on the industry changing tagline but that's marketing!

Yes, I would like to hear Brad's take on how this "changes" the gaming industry.

The Gamasutra article does talk about the microtransactions, but I'd argue that it sounds like Brad doesn't quite know yet what they're going to do with Demigod.

That article is here.

-HM

Did anyone guess this?

OK , Lets put it this way (at least for me):

1. If it is another SDC with non games as well - I "buy it" but if SD moves to Impulse instead of SDC they need to move my purchases (games) there as well.
Also I have 14 Totalgaming credits - I weant this converted to Impulse otherwise it's a rip off.

2. The main advantage I'd like to see over Steam is no need to connect to internet to play. If this is kept I use it, if not I am back to buying disks.

3. Subscription model ... tried this with Everquest and few others - it's not for me I never know when I have a time to play and its usually becomes waist of money. But I guess I can see how others might use it.

4. I hate buying stuff for games - ruins part of the fan , some newb with extra money can buy some sword that I can't after years of playing ... just does not looks fair I do not like such games.

I swear I post this everywhere...

KiRon:

You don't need to connect to the Internet to play Steam SP games. As long as you've connected once to activate (like Stardock games), then set the appropriate settings in Steam to cache your userdata, you can then disconnect the network, and the next time you run Steam, it will run in offline mode.

-HM

Lord KiRon,

1. I'm pretty sure Impulse will just be a new program for the same server data (on an abstract level).

2. Stardock Central doesn't need regular internet connection, so I don't think Impulse will.

3. As pointed out, subscriptions aren't mandatory. If you don't want/need extra content, you don't have to subscribe.

4. Up to now, games on SDC weren't prone to "I'm better because I bought more" players.

All purchases will transition from SDC to Impulse.  Purchases are tied to your account, not to the download manager.  Impulse will also automatically detect what you've already installed with SDC and be able to take over updates for those tools automatically. 

We've had users testing Impulse for several weeks now, and the results have been positive.  I personally have both SDC and Impulse running on this machine currently and they even coexist nicely.  You won't "lose" anything when making the switch.

Impulse is a bit flaky, but where it's at now is a bit better than where it was a few weeks ago. My biggest problem was it not recognizing that I had DA and Twilight installed. I had to hack the registry and add key values.

I'm too lazy to go myself and find/post the URL to download Impulse, but if you want it, go to the "Sneak Previews" forum at wincustomize.com. The thread to download it is in there.

Oh heck:

http://storage.stardock.com/files/Impulse_setup.exe

-HM

Personally, I find this to be a pretty big thing in the gaming world. I quit looking for games at the stores simply because everything started to look like everything else. Huge, colorful packages full of mostly air. I won't pay a subscription per play either.

Having a place to go and download a self-contained game right away interests me. No more bulky packaging to store and manuals that I tend to lose in various nooks and crannys in the house. No forgotten CD to melt on the 120 degree passenger compartment of the car.

Only time will tell how big of an impact this has on the gaming industry, but this certainly has the potential to be a fundamental change. I'm enthusiastically looking forward to seeing how it developes.   

Hollow Man
You are wrong on this , I bought Space Empires V on Steam and it was my first and last perches there - the game not start withoi internet connection and thats the reason I am not buying there anymore.



Zoomba
Thanks for explanation , I really like SDC destribution system (and Impulse idea because of it) for the some angle I think you did not even considered
It allows me to get the games released in US same day while it takes up to couple of months until they released in my country.
(of course no need to store DVD and no stupid protection also counts :))

Was that the announcement?

KiRon, are you sure you have not researched and spoken to their support on this? I have had steam since day 1 (for the beta release of Counter-Strike 1.6), and while it used to behave awfully when it came to this off-line mode, it does actually work now. I own plenty of games through Steam and they work in offline mode.

Admittedly I cannot speak for Space Empires V. I don't own that one on Steam. But there are people here who insist Space Empires V runs fine in Steam's offline mode.

-HM

Could you point me to those hacks? I have the exact same problem here.

I bought Space Empires V through Steam and if you set it up as Hollow Man says it does indeed run in Steam's offline mode.

Hollow Man
May be you right but the problem is in aproach , I do not want to apply any "hacks" or hidden setting.
My internet was down , I tried to run it , Steam refused asking for internet connection. That was the end for me buying on Steam.
I did not get message "Do you want to play offline" I got message "you have to be online" .

pndrev, I posed my solution to my Impulse issues in post #5 here.

RoPa, thank you for confirming. I think most people don't realize that you have to go into the Steam settings and make sure the appropriate checkbox is set to cache your userdata so Steam can run in offline mode successfully (at least now it's only one setting; it used to be two, which was maddening).

EDIT: Hacks? Hidden setting? I don't love Steam, but that's just a bit farfetched. Simply go into the settings and make sure it's set properly, and you'll never have to do it again.

At least Steam is a lot more private than SDC or Impulse, where anybody can easily launch the thing as long as they sit at your PC and see what your serial numbers are for all your applications.

-HM