Does GOG fixes games so they are compatible with newer OS's ?

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Subzerok11

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Is it true that GOG fixes older games that they sell so they are more compatible with newer OS's ? I heard some say this before, could be complete BS though. If they do does Steam do that to ?
 
Not sure on GoG, but I think Steam just uses dosbox for old dos games.
 
GoG do make their own modifications to make games work in newer systems, but they do sometimes incorporate third party mods (or at least parts of it that deal with compatibility issues).

I cannot remember off the top of my head which games they did this for, but I know there are some (could be either one of the Fallout titles or Star Wars space sim titles).

I believe DOS games on GoG also uses DOSBox.

If they don't fix incompatibilities, it would defeat the entire purpose of their GoG logo.
 
So in your opinion you think Steam puts games for purchase that may or may not work on a modern OS ? If the game needs a tweak to run properly who does it the publisher or Steam ?
I'd rather buy all my games on Steam but I rather buy them from a place where they have the best chance of working right.

Is DOSBox for games that wern't made for windows ?
 
Yea, they basically are.

In some cases that simply means they bundle it with DosBox (which emulates old dos games to work on newer systems), but they will also apply patches and tweaks and maybe work with original developers to make sure everything is the best it can be.

Is a game or software ever 100% "fixed"? No, but in my experience everything from GOG.com has worked great on all my win xp/7/8 setups. If things don't work you can get a refund within 30-days of purchase, which is really cool.
 
Subzerok11 said:
So in your opinion you think Steam puts games for purchase that may or may not work on a modern OS ? If the game needs a tweak to run properly who does it the publisher or Steam ?
I'd rather buy all my games on Steam but I rather buy them from a place where they have the best chance of working right.

Is DOSBox for games that wern't made for windows ?
Click to expand...


When you buy a game for Steam, it tells you what OS support. It doesn't mean it won't work on newer operating systems, but I'm pretty sure they only post what the publisher says it supports.

If it requires a compatibility fix, it's on you to apply, not the publisher or steam. GOG takes a slightly different stance, and they actually mod the installs to include the fixes that you might need for a modern OS.
 
Subzerok11 said:
So in your opinion you think Steam puts games for purchase that may or may not work on a modern OS ? If the game needs a tweak to run properly who does it the publisher or Steam ?
I'd rather buy all my games on Steam but I rather buy them from a place where they have the best chance of working right.

Is DOSBox for games that wern't made for windows ?
Click to expand...

all the goddamn time man. Expect to have to fiddle with some games to get them to work. Steam will do a bare minimum of work to get small party stuff to launch and then you're on your own. They've gotten better over the years but I've had at least 10+ games that wouldn't work the way steam implemented them. Its not as bad now but back in the day steam would having missing dlls in their downloads all the time it was so annoying. The only big problems I continue to have to GFWL games. The problem is the GFWL version never matches the steam version and you hvae to tweak shit to get it to work and you cant just ignore the GFWL updates or itll lock you out of the save capability. So glad thats coming to an end.

GOG from what I've seen and heard runs a pretty tight ship. If they sell a game they do reasonable testing to make sure it works ok with the current OS its supported in and they aren't all defensive like Steam when users request bug fixes. The downside obviously is GOG has a much small catalog, well downside for some. The Steam sale is the first time in months youve been able to browse steam without being flooded with ads for shitty games like H1Z1 or whatever that Warz company is shilling now. It makes me so freakin angry that steam is happy to keep supporting all this shovelware.
 
GoG does mod their games to run on modern OS's

Total Annihilation runs as well on Windows 8.1 as it does on Windows 95, and at 4k resolution, to boot. IIRC, I did have to mod the ini file to put in the resolution (same as many other "modern" games require when using 4K res)

Several other "older" games I have purchased from them run fine on Windows 8.1, including games from back in the DOS 3.1 days (Starflight is an example)
 
Subzerok11 said:
So in your opinion you think Steam puts games for purchase that may or may not work on a modern OS ? If the game needs a tweak to run properly who does it the publisher or Steam ?
I'd rather buy all my games on Steam but I rather buy them from a place where they have the best chance of working right.

Is DOSBox for games that wern't made for windows ?
Click to expand...

um, steam does, railroad tycoon 3
 
GOG will fix games and also bundle them inside its own installer. It's a double edged sword - the game usually always works with newer OS's, but the installer doesn't like anything older than Windows XP.

Playing old games on new systems? Check.
Playing old games on old systems? Not check.

The installer won't run, so if you want to play some of these games on their original platforms (DOS,95,98) you have to manually extract it on a newer system and copy the right game files over to your old system to play it.
 
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PornoSatan said:
GOG will fix games and also bundle them inside its own installer. It's a double edged sword - the game usually always works with newer OS's, but the installer doesn't like anything older than Windows XP.

Playing old games on new systems? Check.
Playing old games on old systems? Not check.

The installer won't run, so if you want to play some of these games on their original platforms (DOS,95,98) you have to manually extract it on a newer system and copy the right game files over to your old system to play it.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is a valid point. One of the reasons I'm a little nervous about eventually purchasing some of my Sierra classics on GoG. Hopefully I can strip away the GoG stuff and just fire the games up on my *real* DOS box. :)
 
jbltecnicspro said:
Yes, this is a valid point. One of the reasons I'm a little nervous about eventually purchasing some of my Sierra classics on GoG. Hopefully I can strip away the GoG stuff and just fire the games up on my *real* DOS box. :)
Click to expand...

DOS games do not require a typical Windows folder structure, registry entries, or anything else that modern games need. So, if you use the GoG installer on a modern system, you should just be able to copy the installed folders over to an old DOS system intact and play.
 
i know for a fact GoG does release games with dosbox support, as far as the older ones go. my quest for glory collection all run on dosbox, all preconfig'd
 
Also SCUMMVM plays Sierra AGI and SCI based games. (if not more these days... haven't checked in a while)
 
Yes, GoG curates their content and for the most part ensures compatibility with newer OS's while Steam has more of a laissez faire free market approach where they put most of that responsibility on the sellers.

You want an older game to run on a newer system, GoG is your best bet.
 
Another vote for GoG. I have been buying classics from them for years, and i can't remember a title that didn't just work. Hell, i just bought DK2 (dungeon keeper two, for those who don't remember), and it works beautifully on my Win 7 laptop.

I can also play it on my home system, but i installed it from the original CD, and it tends to want to crash to the desktop after every level. The one from GoG, no such issues.

That and their prices can't be beat (other than piracy). And no DRM to boot! A company i can whole wholeheartedly endorse and support.
 
Sometimes they don't work. GoG's version of Might & Magic IX does not work on 8.1 x64 even though it says it does.
 
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