Hi,

Registered myself yesterday, but i hadn't made an introducing post. So here it is.
I was searching for some games which aren't sold anymore and came upon here. I don't like steam much and DRM is not a favourite of mine. I see that GoG offers games without the need to have an internet connection and that you can burn the games on DVD.
I only wonder in which format the games are shipped. Yeah, the free ones are exe files, but what about the others. Is it iso, rar, 7z, exe or maybe a self extracting installer?
Just an exe has no use on a dvd. But since there are files of 1 GB and higher i don't think it's a regular exe.
I like myself to play some older games. Especially those ones i have missed in the past or have played somewhere but never purchased. Baldur's Gate for example or Divine Divinity.
And i also have seen some games in the catalig which i never have heard from or haven't payed attention to it. I already have made some choices. Currently busy with a paypal account and when that's done then it's off to purchase and download. I like also the extra's which are offered. You don't see such a service that often. I don't know about others, but i find Cdprojekt a great company. I know they are behind GoG. Their Red division already delivered a great game.
I think i hang here around for a while.

All games come as an .exe installer. Games over 2GB are split up into an installer file and a number of .bin files.

Hi and welcome. From the FAQs (http://www.gog.com/en/support/website_help/downloads_and_games):

5. Do I need some launcher application to play my GOG.com games?
No. You don't need any additional, stinky apps or launchers. We wanted to keep things as simple as possible. All games downloaded from GOG.com are wrapped in a nice self-executable (.exe) setup files, some of the larger ones are accompanied by a .bin file or two. So after you've completed the download, just double-click on the .exe file to install the game on your hard drive. After the installation is complete, shortcuts will be added to your Start Menu, desktop and Games Explorer, so you can launch your good old game just like any other!

Welcome to the community, I guess.

The games are downloaded as an executable installer which checks the file integrity and then installs to a directory of your choice. Simple.

Thanks.

Ah, a self extracting installer then. Because a "normal" exe isn't that big and is to start the game with. So that means when you want it on cd, then you have to select everything in the game map. Hmm, i hope the vital parts are also in it then, like cab files and such. But i guess so.

Not sure what you mean. It's an actual installer, not just a self-extracting .zip file or something. But it contains the whole game, except the games that are more the 2GB, for which you need to place the .bin files alongside the installer. I have no idea what "selecting everything in the game map" means.

map = folder in Dutch
(guessing from the Swedish "mapp", then using Google translate to confirm)

And yeah, candesco, the installer is not merely a self extractor, it puts various stuff in the registry as well, so you'd do well to archive the installer, not the game folder.

Ah, "mappe" in Danish. I get it now. No, for backing up your game, all you need to burn to disc is the installer and the .bin files if there are any. Usually there aren't.

Welcome to GOG.

If you want to run the installer off a disc then you'll need all the files on that disc for that to be possible. Otherwise you'll need to copy them to your desktop and install from there. Most games are only one file, or otherwise below 4.5GB, so don't worry about it.

Yeah it couldn't be simpler, on your account page it shows your games, just download all the stuff at the top (usually one big .exe file or a small .exe file and some bin files, as others have said) and double click the .exe. You can burn them all to a DVDR if you like.

I meant folder yes.

And normally, when you install a game, you get after that the exe file of the game. For example; i have installed Drakensang. In the game folder of Drakensang there are some files in there. To run drakensang i need to run launch.exe (but usually i just grab the disc and let the autorun do the work)
Same goes for programs. You have to run the exe file to start it. And some are portable, like Siw. So that means this big exe you download is probably an extractor and can't be burned in a way that it installs the game from the dvd in a normal way (put disc in the dvd drive and you get the installation menu before you)
And registerfiles are made all the time, even when you extract something ;)

No, you just burn the installer you downloaded (and the .bin's if it's a big game) on the dvd. You can then start the installer from the DVD. Usually you can fit more than one game on one dvd.

If you want an autostart menu you'll have to build one yourself for that particular disk.

All games are installed just like the free ones. The installer (i.e. the .exe you download) is all that you need to / want to / have to / should backup. The ONLY way to guarantee that the game will actually work is to go through the GoG installers, due to all the windows registry modifications that happen (at least with more modern games).

[And no, there's no way that extracting a compressed file will result in ANY modification of your registry.]