Updating without Stardock Central

First, uninstall SDC. Then, download Impulse. Finally, use Impulse to update the game(s) as support suggested.

Where did the edit button go? I just wanted to make sure that you knew that once you have Impulse installed, you no longer need SDC.

Where can Impulse be downloaded?

Here: WWW Link

So what is this Impulse and why is it better than SDC?

By the way whatever happened to the plain old fashioned download of an executable that installed whatever it was that you actually wanted.

Why do we need this extra level of indirection to have to install something whose only purpose is to install something else?

I couldn't stand SDC because it contained far more crap than I wanted. I can't imagine why I would suddenly want Impulse on my machine. What does it do for me? I honestly don't care, I simply do not want extraneous crap on my machine. I've spent many hours deleting the crapware that initially came with my PC. Why should I spend my time and effort intentionally installing more of the same?

Impluse certainly isn't for my convenience or benefit. Why do software companies insist on forcing unwanted stuff down their customers throats?

Why is it that I have to be inundated with crap? Why do software companies assume that because I happen to like (in this case love) one of their products that they have the right to consider my PC their personal playground?

Give me what I want without forcing me to take stuff I don't want.

I'll happily pay you money to not be forced to install this kind of crap.

@Mumblefratz

The main reason, the long and short of it, is this: DRM. Stardock doesn't use cd copy protection, but they can't just host the installer to their life's work out there for anyone to download. They chose a platform like Steam (though FAR less intrusive) to give everyone access to what they paid for.

I feel the same way you do about what run on my system. I keep very strict control over what does and does not get installed/run/etc on here. In the case of SDC and Impulse, they do not run in any capacity until you tell them to, and the quit completely when you give the order. They're not the perfect solution, but its better than Steam or Starforce.

I understand your argument but isn't that what serial numbers are for?

Up until DL v1.4 a standalone installer was always provided. I'm not sure how the paradigm has changed since that time. I actually don't believe it really has.

As far as not running until told to that is certainly a minimal requirement but that in and of itself is not sufficient to warrant it's installation on my machine. It most importantly has to provide a function that I want and also not complicate my machine with scores of things that I don't want. It’s this second criterion that SDC failed. Now you say SDC is no more and there’s another new thing, Impulse, which will be the end all and be all of software installation tools. Well frankly I don’t care. I don’t want to hear about it, know about it or learn about it, and why should I? I just want to play the game I bought without having to learn some other piece of software.

I had SDC on my machine once and it was nothing but an annoyance to me. Finally I simply uninstalled it and the uninstall promptly deleted the game serial numbers from my registry without mentioning it but otherwise left my installation of the game in perfect operating order.

So the next time I went to post a game to the metaverse that I had literally spent 2 months playing I couldn't submit it because the serial numbers didn't match.

While this was easy enough to figure out it still represented 2 months of play that I couldn't submit. Oh well. Live and learn. Although playing games for the metaverse is a major part of why I play the game it's not the only reason I play the game. Anyway I find these overburdensome ancillary programs so annoying that I will forgo upgrades and new versions of the game that I’ve purchased. I bought DA in Beta but have never installed it because essential upgrades are unavailable without SDC and now this new unknown and probably even more onerous Impulse.

I actually purchased ToA for the sole purpose of getting a CD based install of the latest DA version. Perhaps the initial release of ToA will not require numerous revisions but if history is any guide it most certainly will. But that’s OK. When I do get my ToA CD I can be relatively certain that at least the DA version will be fairly stable.

It has been indicated that the mysterious version 2 will have a standalone installer as well. If so then perhaps at that time I’ll be able to upgrade the ToA version to something hopefully stable.

I refused to have SDC on my machine. Why would I be willing to install something newer, particularly since it will only be a matter of time until we’re told Impulse is no good and there’s something newer and better that we have to change to. It’s a never ending cycle with the ancillary programs getting more and more complex as time goes on.

I have a choice to install Impulse and get upgrades and new versions of the game that I’ve purchased or don’t install Impulse and forgo games that I’ve spent money on. I prefer to forgo versions of the game that I’ve purchased rather than install SDC or Impulse or whatever new thing replaces Impulse within the year. Thanks but no thanks.

As you said, that's your choice.

I don't mean to be cantankerous. I perfectly understand you can't tailor your distribution mechanism for the likes of a few old dinosaurs like me.

I also want to make it clear that I believe that it certainly behooves a software company to do something to protect it's product from piracy.

But I do think that I have a legitimate complaint in being forced to install other, fairly complex, multifunctional pieces of software for the sole purposes of receiving stuff I've paid for.

Please don't get me wrong. It should be clear to everyone that I love GC2. I stumbled across DL in Game Stop close to two years ago. I purchased DA and I've purchased ToA and I'll continue to purchase every upgrade, expansion and new version that you decide to publish.

It's not a matter of money. I want to give SD my money at every conceivable opportunity. I want to support the company that designs and supports the game that I love.

But having said all of the above it’s also true that I am very particular about the software that I install on my machine. I’m a minimalist to the point of obsession. I had installed SDC and it contained all this stuff that I had no use for or interest in. Some consider this bordering on OCD. Perhaps they may be right but it’s simply my personal cross to bear.

I just wish to have control over what gets installed on my PC. I don’t think this is an unreasonable desire and I also don’t think that I’m the only one that thinks this way.

Like I said I realize you can’t tailor your distribution mechanism around the complaints of a few and I’ll deal with it the best that I can. They only thing I would ask is that you could at least understand the motivation behind my request as not being something intrinsically evil and when possible release the occasional standalone upgrade as has been mentioned in conjunction with version 2.

Mumblefratz, it's clear that you understand why Stardock does what it does, and you accept that maybe a large part of the problem lies in your own OCD behavior when it comes to software on your PC. So I'm not sure what you want Stardock to do. I'm the same way, but I can live with this decision.

The updates are meant to be rewards for those who buy the game, If Brad makes the patches standalone, then there's no longer that incentive for the normal person to purchase. Anyone can simply pirate it, and then get the updates via any old download site.

So yes, while I personally also prefer standalone patches, I understand the reasoning behind getting the updates via this methodology.

-HM

As one who uses a lot more Stardock products than just GalCivII, SDC or Impulse are almost essentials. If you think that they update their games often on first release, you should see how often there are updates to programs like WindowBlinds or IconPackager. Usually every two weeks ever since my first install.

For programs like that, I find the Impulse or SDC system to be MUCH easier than downloading and running update installers every week or two.

Plus, I find the chat feature very handy, as well as basically keeping me connected with the happenings of the Stardock universe. With the coming synthesis we find in Impulse with programs, webpages, chat, and multiplayer, it's practically essential.

Impulse is your friend, people. I promise.

All I want SD to do is to acknowledge that there is a reasonable desire out there for updates that do not depend on a support system of ancillary programs and that desire is not necessarily based on any intent to pirate their product.

Or perhaps make the uninstall of this set of ancillary programs clean enough so that folks like myself could conceivably install the unwanted programs to get the wanted update and then promptly uninstall them without negative effect. My experience with SDC was that the uninstall deleted your serial numbers from the registry which is easy enough to fix once you know that it does this but can be very painful to figure out for yourself. What unintended effect does the uninstall of Impulse have?

I do think that software companies in general do not care nearly so much about the integrity of the uninstall process versus that of the install process. That’s only natural. Again generally, uninstalls leave all sorts of stuff hanging around, in particular dangling registry entries.

Whether this is true or not of Impulse I don't know but I am suspicious of uninstalls in general and hence try to avoid them by not installing things that I really don't want.

At least with SDC I had been through the pain and now know that I could install SDC, update the game, uninstall SDC and run an extracted .reg file to fix the registry back up. I think it's a reasonable desire on my part to not want to discover for myself what idiosyncracies Impulse has in this regard.

You can say Oh well I guess I have to bite the bullet and allow this one. The thing is that every other piece of software that I want on my machine is in the same position and every other manufacturer of that software could take the same tact. Where does it end? It ends with me having no clue as to what is on my PC and why I need it and I object to that. I don't feel that this is an unreasonable position.

There are certain lines that I don't like software companies to cross, but I'm always moving them back-and-forth as time saunters on. I don't necessarily like it, but fairly regularly, I have to decide, "Is doing x worth it so I can enjoy y?" And then I move on after making that decision.

I'm quite sure Stardock understands there are people who want updates without having to use SDC or Impulse, and that these people do not want to steal their software. The "problem" is, there aren't enough of them to make them change their behavior. And considering how much people like Stardock, and how those numbers (and their popularity) are growing every day, it simply isn't going to change.

You want it to be 1983, where you could get your DOS 1.1 games on a 5.25" floppy, and simply run PLAYME.EXE right off that floppy. But it's 25 years later, and things have changed. I don't think Stardock's methods are so awful, but everyone has to make their choice, and as Brad implied, it's your choice to make if you don't want to use their procedures to get updates.

-HM

I don't agree that it's legitimate.  I think you are trying to have it both ways. You want to be able to take advantage of the modern convenience of digital downloads but you also want the benefits of the old buy a DVD/CD.

With our games, you have the option - you can purchase the games on CD or DVD.  But on free updates, our right to know who is downloading them trumps your preference to not have to install a download manager. 

If we're going to do free updates to our software, we need some mechanism to make sure that the people downloading them actually have the game. A simple serial # check isn't enough as all that takes is someone to post their serial #.  Hence, the necesity of a download manager. 

I understand where you're coming from.  And I empathize.  But I'm not sure what we could, as a practical matter, do without completely undermining our ability to provide significant free updates which is a core part of our business model. 

Our "copy protection" after all, is to give users significant free updates after release in which we can make sure that only legitimate customers can get to.

Impulse looks better than SDC, it seems to start slower though. I am having trouble updating Icon Packager because it says my registration is invalid. I am showing an update is avaialable for Theme Manager too, but it won't let me do anything but run the program or ignore the update. Also Impulse won't let the task bar be on top. I have to minimize Impulse to use my task bar. I do like the way SDC manages my games better. The games I have purchased no longer appear in the SDC store but all games are in the Impulse store. And what happened to the Total Gaming.Net option to buy?

Personally, I would prefer to have a Firefox extension that allows me to update and install my purchases from Stardock. That would eliminate the extra program I don't need and add functionality to one I do need and use often.

Another strange thing is I already had TotA installed with SDC, but it does not show up as installed on Impulse.

https://forums.galciv2.com/310285

-HM

I can understand your reasoning, but not everyone has or even likes FF. Besides that, extensions to browsers are fraught with problems and are the number one thing to avoid when it comes to ancillary software.

This is all I was ever looking for. Thank you very much.

I understand the practicality of your position and never really expected any change to accommodate the few folks like myself.

Simply allowing me to rant a bit and responding with some understanding of my position is all I could have hoped for. I feel much better about it even though nothing has changed. Thanks again.