Hello, Newbie to the forum here and I have a question. Do I need WIFI to play single player games offline in my camper.
I retired and have always been a pc gamer with steam and origin. I have many games. I'm thinking about buying a laptop for my camper but at campgrounds WIFI is always very hard to find if you can find it at all. I've read a ton of forums on this subject as well as blogs and the consensus is that most single player games can be played in offline mode. If you know anything about this subject I would appreciate you sharing your info before I buy my laptop.
Joe

Download what's called the "backup offline installer" of any given game in your library, and once you have it you're good to go with no Internet connection to install and/or play.

I will look rite now, thanks

Outside of multiplayer modes (and in the case of some CD Projekt Red games, bonus items) all games sold on GOG can be played offline indefinitely, without the need for an internet connection.

so in order for me to do this I would have to purchase the game I already have through GOG? Is there anyway to transfer my steam files to GOG?

You would need to buy the games on GOG, unless the developer is willing to provide you with a code for the game (they probably won't.) For games you already own on Steam, you could look into Steam's offline mode. I don't know if you can remain permanently offline with it, or if at some point it requires you to connect to confirm ownership; the only caveat I recall from my time with Steam is that the game has to be up-to-date.

This is the information I was looking for! I went to the steam forums and asked the same questions but I think the members I received answers from were hardcore gamers. I'm not a hard core gamer, I play to occupy time but I thoroughly enjoy doing this. This is great. So far this is more info than I've gotten in three days. I am looking through the GOG library and all these games look fine to me. I believe you all have answered my question but if anyone else has anything to add, it would be appreciated...

When you purchase any game gog, assuming you are in a web browser, you can find your game purchase list under your gog account. It defaults to a shelf like list of your games. Click one and find the Offline install files. Get them all in folder. Once fully downloaded, you install the game on your pc. No internet required(unless it is a multiplayer game/mode).

You do not need the gog galaxy client at all.

I would also recommend some lists of free games, that members here have made on the forum. Like the Potato PC list. Since you mention a laptop.

I will edit in the link....
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/free_games_and_potato_pcs/page1

Google the games. Some have their own site, others have a host like ModDB and itch.io

That's the beauty about GoG. You could for example download all your GoG games you've bought here onto an external HDD and take it with you (I recommend a Western Digital).
Once you have the installers downloaded, you don't ANY internet connection anymore (in singleplayer).

Have fun! :)

I'd say you don't understand the technology or what it means; not to be mean or anything.

Wifi is on par with having internet, the only difference is it happens to hit the router using wirelress of some sort vs Ethernet line. (Though i suppose you could have no internet and have wifi, or have ethernet without internet on a local LAN, but that's splitting hairs)

Offline would mean not requiring internet... at all.

So in short, once the game is downloaded and/or installed, no you shouldn't need internet or wifi to play singleplayer.

I believe this will cover the basics (the included image might help):

- in your account, click on the game you want to download. Click "download offline backup game installers" if you don't already see the files underneath that text. Click and download each file (probably not all at once, depending on your internet speed); you may only have one file or you may have several.

- Make sure all the files are in the same folder / location. Run the EXE file and follow the steps to install the game. (I guess there may be more than one EXE, if the game has patches, but you'll want to install the patches after installing the main game.) When the game is done installing, you should see some icons on your desktop for the game; you can double-click on them and the game should start. (Unfortunately you may have technical issues but people on the game forum or GOG Support may be able to help.)

Thank you all so very, very much! I'm going to buy my first laptop from BestBuy tomorrow. I'm considering this one although my wife says it's not good enough. She thinks I need an I7. Remember I am no gamer just a casual player. The latest game I bought was Iron Harvest, Big on Warhammer, the fallout series, halo, metro and dragon age...
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-thin-gf63-15-6-144hz-fhd-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-12450h-with-8gb-memory-rtx-2050-1tb-ssd/6559443.p?skuId=6559443

In my opinion the GPU will be more of a problem than the CPU. An RTX 2050 appears to compete with a GTX 1650, which isn't exactly a powerhouse GPU. Should be fine for older/less demanding games though.

OK, Ill look at the next one up.

Well, GOG did not get any money from you, so in order to use GOG versions, you need to buy from GOG. If you bought from Valve instead, you should look there for offline versions ... or ask the developer.

GOG is not a certain version of the game, but a store, like Steam.

See it as if it was a real life store. If you buy from Toys R Us, you can't refund or replace the item at Wallmart, even if both sell the same items.

About the laptop ... it mostly depends on which games you are playing. If you want the newest games with fancy graphics, you'll have to grab something more powerful, but games with simple graphics like the ones designed for Switch, will run on almost everything.
Screen size ... the same. A smaller screen means less visible details, which is great for simple games, but not when you need high resolutions to find your troops on the screen. On the other hand lower resolution means, that you won't be able to see the details anyway, so you can turn off some options in newer games.


Offline gaming works like in the old days. Back then you had a CD or DVD, now you have to download the installers or have them on a thumb drive. That's the main difference.
However ... if you want to use a launcher like Galaxy or Steam, you'll have to be online. So first get used to the fact that offline gaming starts with NOT using a store launcher.