I saw a game called Painkiller Redemption on Impulse, apparently it's a fan-made game with permission from Dreamcatcher Interactive.

Anyone have this game, or hear anything about it? Is it worth buying?

On Steam forums they say it is better than Painkiller: Resurrection but game is really short. They finished the game in 3,5 - 4 hours. It is worth the money I think if you love Painkiller Gold. Also you can check Steam forums too. There are reviews about the game in there.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=146

Well, I'd rather have a short, high quality game than a long, boring one, and I think it's fair value for money given how cheap it is. Thanks for the link. :)

I've been eying this one since it came out a few days ago. As far as I can tell, GamersGate is the only place that has it DRM free, so I'd probably get it from them.

Unfortunately, GamersGate installers have to connect to their servers to run, as far as I've been able to tell, so even that's not truly DRM free, but it looks like it's the least of several other evils.

Talking about Painkiller Resurrection, is it still that bad ?

I know it was catastrophic when it was first release because it was ridden with tons bugs but was it patched afterward or is the game still a mess ?

I didn't play it but they say it is still a mess.

With the overwhelming majority of games you can simply copy the install files to another location after they've been downloaded (while the installer is running). Then it will be utterly DRM-free. If this doesn't work you can always ask for a refund.

Ok thanks, that's what I suspected ...

That's what I've been hearing, but with almost every game I have, it downloads the installer and creates a temporary folder with a file called "launch". I haven't been able to find any other way to back up the games than with these files, which still requires a connection, and GamersGate doesn't seem to have a forum as far as I've been able to find.

Test Drive Unlimited seems to create an actual install folder, but running "Test Drive Unlimited.msi", "autorun.exe", or anything else in there doesn't seem to work for some reason. I have to install with GamersGate's installer.

Seeing as I'd like to be able to backup GamersGate games without relying on their installers, I'd appreciate a walkthrough of the process. It's one of the reasons I've avoided buying much from them.

Well that's bloody unfortunate. I haven't had any problem like that with one single game sold as DRM-free on the site. If I was you I'd complain about it. If they're selling it as DRM-free then they need to realise that things like that won't be tolerated. If enough people do that they will hopefully change their policies.

The only DRM free games I have are some Genesis games, Puzzle Quest, and, of course, Volvo. All of them install in this way. You download the installer from the site, it makes a "Gamersgate Temporary Files" folder, a numbered folder inside, and a file called "launch" (no extension). You can keep the temporary file and the installer (the installer expects a folder in the same directory as itself with the file, located at "Gamersgate Temporary Files\#####\launch"), so I just zip the installer and temporary folder together like that.

The only exception I've found so far is TDU, which uses SecuROM and an activation key, but creates a bunch of files instead of just the launch file. It still wouldn't run the games' own installer without using the launcher, for some reason.


I'd complain, but quite frankly, they don't even have a forum. I simply can't take a digital download store that doesn't have an open forum seriously. At least Direct2Drive is part of the IGN network and has IGN's forums, as well as the fact that the installers work without an internet connection. GamersGate wants you to download and install at the same time (they now give you a choice to save the temporary files before quitting, but you still need to cancel the installer after downloading), while D2D's DRM free games are totally free of DRM.

For what it's worth, GamersGate has a "drm free" filter and their blue coins system. Generally, I prefer D2D. I like not having to use a client, but at least Steam has some great forums and lists any activation limits outright, among other things. Greenman Gaming is a joke that does just about everything wrong. Impulse, I just don't really care about Impulse.


All these things make GOG look even better by comparison, you know? Most of the other digital download stores go out of their way to make sure their customers communicate with each other as little as possible. I'm not too fond of buying a game when I can't immediately see reviews, potential problems I might have and solutions I might need, etc.


As for Redemption, I'm still on the fence about that one. I might wait until it inevitably goes on sale for half-off or something unless I'm convinced otherwise. I'm curious as to why a fanmade game for $5 would have DRM in the first place, but Direct2Drive doesn't have it listed as DRM free and most of the other services use clients.


If you get it, ShmenonPie, tell me how it is. I'm not expecting Painkiller Black, but from what I've heard, there's been a lot of complaints ranging from deathmatch levels being converted into levels for this game, enemies with too much health, rooms where you spend 10 minutes fighting hundreds of enemies, and other stuff like that, and I've heard little about multiplayer, if there is any.

...but again, ShmenonPie. I can't state this enough, but you can avoid using a client like Stardock, Capsule, Steam, etc and get this game DRM free. I know you saw it on Impulse, but you should consider the alternatives if you haven't already.

I've just re-downloaded Volvo to test this and sure enough while it was downloading the file was called launch as you said. But as soon as the Select install language window opened to begin the installation process the file "launch" was changed to a more conventional installation file "volvo_thegame_1.0_setup.exe". It is at this point - while the game's installer is running - that you have to back it up. Either before or after and you're screwed.

As for Gamersgate's downloader, I don't have a problem with it. It's small, inoffensive and doesn't try and sell me things. I only need it to actually download things (using the above trick) so it can be quickly discarded after use. Yes it would be nice to be able to download games straight through the browser but they seem to consider this too insecure. Which I suppose is fair enough.

GOG has the foundation of a very sound business model. But their total lack of compromise will most likely make companies like EA an impossibility due to their fractured internal structure that inherently requires regional restrictions due to each branch being in charge of distribution in that region.

That means that each and every release would be an epic and potentially costly negotiation for GOG.

So if EA were to release their classics anywhere it could very well be on Gamersgate or Steam. Not GOG.

Well, I'll be damned. Thanks! Don't know why on earth that didn't work the first few times I tried it.
It's nice that it's totally DRM free, but they sure do like to make you work for it, huh?

I don't mind the downloader. I don't even mind clients too much. But, given the option, I'll always try to pick the least cumbersome. I like that GOG doesn't fuck around with silly DRM free hoops like this one. Of course, it's not entirely fair to compare GOG to other services since GOG has a very different library of games, but it's worth stating. There are pros and cons to what GOG does, but ultimately I think it's for the best.

I appreciate their lack of compromise, and the fact that they do pretty much everything right. Say what you will about their support, but the forum solves the brunt of the problems, and support in other places isn't usually a great deal better. Once you end up the size of a service like Steam, you end up with circle-jerking volunteer mods and robotic "by-the-book" responses.

Steam is quite simply too big to be able to provide an above average service*. I can understand why it may be struggling to meet demand and adequately train its support staff right now given the level of growth it has experienced in recent years. But that is neither something that will be an acceptable excuse in the future. Nor is it something that makes me any more inclined to buy through Steam right now when they're not selling things at their ludicrously cheap sale prices.

GOG's support isn't much more excusable though to be honest. It's essentially the same thing on a smaller level which is compounded by a failed, crappy support system. Releasing a number of games that never really did have a hope of working properly hasn't exactly helped matters either.

When you compare that to Gamersgate's level of support - that even goes as far as to search the internet for people posting about problems they're having with Gamersgate on other sites and help them there if possible and actively seek advice on how to improve the service (and act on it) - add to that the fact that they have a far smaller team than even GOG and you have to wonder just what GOG have been doing lately that's causing them to lag behind like this.

* And I'm talking about the average in the industry, not what we as customers would deem to be average in an ideal world.

I'm not going to defend Steam here much but I will say that I do have positive things to say about them. A few months ago I purchased SupCom2 from AmazonUK but when I wanted to tie it to my Steam acc. I got the message that the cd-key was already in use. I contacted Steam support and was told to submit a photo of my cd-key and game. I did this on a Monday and on Tuesday I got a response saying that they had activated the game to my account and was sorry for any trouble it had caused me. I wrote back and thanked them for a speedy reply and good service and I even got a response back from Steam saying thanks for my kind words about their service. All of this was done by real humans and not bots (as far as I could tell).
So Steam isn't perfect and apart from their sales, their prices are way too high for their own good but I generally like Steam.