I'm fine with a Steam version, it only needed to activate it and then you don't have to connect to Steam ever again if you don't want.

And what if 20 years down the road you want to play the game again for old times sake but can't because both Stardock and Steam are gone (or worse; the internet )?

 

I want an independent physical version for just that reason.

Because all those DOS 3.3 games I have on 5.25" floppy are still playable.. lol

If you have a retro-gaming machine they are!

That's why I bought Windows98se in 2012 (no joke!)

20 years from now, we'll hopefully be able to pull those DOS games up and play them in our holodecks if we wanted.  

 

Still, wanting a non-steam version is reasonable.  It might also be a losing battle and not one that I'd choose to fight in the end.  If Brad decided to deliver it via Morse code that I had to translate and type in, I'd still buy it. 

Are you seriously nitpicking the little examples?  I think you got the idea of what he was trying to say even if the specific examples weren't the greatest.  I can list out several Kickstarter and Humble Bundle games that have both Steam and non-steam versions some smaller then Stardock others possibly bigger (I don't have in depth knowledge of these companies finances.)  Dragon Commander was already given as an example and I have no idea about how Larian Studios and Stardock compare but the games seem to be of similar quality to me.

What has Stardock released of GalCiv3?  Does that mean we shouldn't put much stock in what Stardock promises?  Chris Roberts isn't an unknown just stepping into the industry with no clue on what it involves.

I don't think any of our games require Steam to be running. In fact, I'm not sure if tehre are any games that require the client to be running. The client is just a download manager.

Yes and it's not 2008 anymore. Technology has moved on.  I think some people forget the state of things in 2008 when it seemed like every freaking game coming out required a DVD in the drive and a pop up store thing that had to be running. It was very irritating.

The Gamer's Bill of Rights was not a suicide pact. It was a set of principles we hoped the industry would abide by. And for the most part, we are far better off today than we were in 2008 when games were installing root kits and every game had its own pop up store and DVD in the drive and would crash your computer even when it wasn't running because it had installed drivers and other junk without telling you.

Now people are complaining because...why? Because you to install your game on any computer you want you have to type in a user ID and PW? And you're complaining on this on a forum where you had to type a UserID and PW to post?

Valve is the only developer making a serious game platform for Windows games these days. Steamworks. It handles everything from in-game DLC, mods, multiplayer matchmaking, network conections, achievements, player stats, and so on.

We knew Steamworks was the key back in 2009 which is why we spent millions making Impulse::Reactor, a competing platform that would do its thing without requiring the client to be installed. But the market and the industry chose Steam over Impulse.  And while Impulse was immensely successful (Being #2 in a billion dollar industry is still pretty awesome) it wasn't worth the corresponding headaches of having it.

I had hoped GameStop would do something with it. But they didn't. And Microsoft abandoned its Games for Windows Live thing.  So Steamworks it is.

I spent millions of dollars putting my money where my  mouth was regarding the Gamers Bill of Rights.  And we still abide by it except in the case if someone decides to consider Steam a a violation of it in which case, ok, you got us. We're not abiding that part. 

Give me $20M and I'll hire the people necessary to make it non-Steam works. May the check payable out to me directly please.

Just putting this out there I'd prefer it from GOG...but I also use steam...why because it's one of the few ways we've got available...just like I use Origin for the very select few EA games I play BF3, ME2,ME3

When FE:LH got released, I asked if it would require the client to be running in order to play, and got told that it did. Is that not the case after all?

I think the safe answer is always to say yes.  But I doubt it requires it.

Let me check:

..

Yea, just checked. You don't need Steam to run FE:LH. Just terminated Steam from the process list and it runs fine.

That's great news! Thanks!

If only I had that kind of money, I'd make it a reality. Maybe you should give Chris Roberts a call?

Is there any chance you would consider a physical version (perhaps in the form of a Founders Super Elite pre-order) ?
I'd be more open to Steam if it was only the updates/dlc's that were Steam-exclusive.

It's the fear of not being able to play the games I paid for (should the internet go down or some such) that makes me dislike "digital-distribution-only" titles. I do admit though, I have a few of those and somewhat regret having done that (except for minecraft)

Brad, there are plenty of games on Steam that you at least need it (Steam) running from the get-go. If you try to launch the game executable with Steam not running, Steam comes up. But there are a handful I have, like FTL, which let me run the executable and Steam does NOT try to launch (i.e. for FTL, Steam is simply a delivery service, and not as DRM-y as it used to be).

I don't know what happens with your games that are now on Steam, since I bought them all directly through Stardock back in the day.

-HM

Meth - seriously, dude....you really gotta quit putting words in people's mouths.  I'm not attacking you, your feelings or your comments.  I'm really not.  I've been offering a counterpoint of my own opinions on the matter - just like you're asking us to let you do.  Minecraft and Star Citizen were given as an example of cases where non-steam integration worked when one was a completely different situation, and the other isn't out yet.  It's entirely possible that SC will end up with Steam - other games like Shadowrun weren't supposed to and ended up doing so because it worked better than the alternatives,just like what Brad was saying about the reasons he chose it - and it might not, given how big their budget is and how rebellious the designer is.   I don't consider either of these to be nit-picky, they are simply statements.

Take a deep breath, step back and calm down.  There is no reason to attack other people in the thread just because they don't agree with you.

True.  But there goes the raison d'être for half of the people commenting on political websites across the world.

 

Yeah, good point -  and there's a reason most forums keep politics threads separate from the respectable people

I was spending a lot my free time today trying to do research on this issue. I want to maximize the odds of getting a non-Steam version of this game, and to do so in as pain free manner as possible. I'm still trying to find useful information.

I appreciate the effort you tried to put into it. Its unfortunate that things didn't work out. Not having many (good) options is frustrating.

If you feel up to it, I would love to hear more about what happened and where things might go (though you have said many things already).

Unfortunately that puts us a little further behind in getting something able to compete with Steam. Impulse failed, and Steam has had more time to develop their stuff and get a head. I'm not sure what can be done to change the industry, but I don't think doing nothing will help.



I heard that Dragon Commander used Steamworks, but doesn't come with all the inconvenient stuff that Steam normally uses. I can't remember where I saw that. You wouldn't happen to have a link would you?

If such a thing is possible, it would reduce the pain and effort that would be needed to make GalCiv 3 non-Steam exclusive. Every bit helps.

All I will say is...

It is time for people to join the rest of us in 2013 and soon to be 2014.

Can't wait to see GalCiv III along with all my other steam games in my list.  Never had issues with steam or with their software.  Those that do have issues, might I suggest you maybe look at your own machine as the cause of your issues?  

As for those that won't use it because it is "Evil"... well whoop dee doo...  You go you rebel.

Definitely hoping for this non-Steam exclusive to happen as well. Add one more to the non-Steam group.

Strange that these days no one has yet said something about a Kickstarter for a GoG (non Steam) version. Seems quite the popular idea.

You "only" need to pay for an achievements system that doesn't need Steamworks because apparently achievements are cool (in addition to some control/check features), multiplayer that doesn't use Steamworks and... what else? All the social mumbo jumbo? Altough you could require the player to have a Steam account (and the service) to use those features, you would still need to prepare the game to play without them. I'd be happy with a single player GalCiv III that lacks all that stuff. I don't mind having it (the more, the better?), I just wouldn't miss it.

But if you can start the game without starting Steam, that's perfect. Much like Impulse when it was still alive (Gamestop != Impulse).

Okay, I've just tested this myself, and it doesn't work. When I start the LegendaryHereos.exe directly, it also wants me to start the client. When I terminate the Steam process in the Task Manager, LH also quits.

Quite disappointing.

You can find the official word here. I can't verify it though, as I only have the GOG-version.

I just bought Legendary Heroes ($10...too cheap to pass up) and tested it too. Yep...the LH executable will instantly call steam.exe (unlike my copy of FTL, which does not). 

Personally I don't care. On the surface I disagree with it, but I've been a Steam user since day 1 so I'm used to having a single place to install, patch, and launch my games. Yeah, convenience has corrupted me!

-HM

I loaded up LH, terminated the Steam client and played without a problem. I'm not that familiar with how Steam interacts with Steamworks, however.

As for Steam dominance, I think at this stage, I think that Valve has proven to be a good thing for the PC game industry. I can't think of anyone who has done more to help make PC game development viable than Valve.  Certainly NOT Microsoft.