On and off I've been doing a little nagging ("nearly 100,000 likes on the GOG Facebook page! Can we get a gift?") about GOG getting more good old freeware games here (mainly to help "secure" their preservation and entice others to join), and because I enjoy seeing items high on the wishlist appear on GOG and get "completed", I thought I'd try to make a list of the freeware games people want to see most, based on the wishlist.

And as always, let me know if I make a mistake or miss one (for those who browse the wishlist also).

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[HERE!]
Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall & Arena - Bethesda/ZeniMax - 18,000+ wishlist votes

Unless I'm mistaken these are "freeware," as they are available for free through Bethesda's site. (More knowledgeable people can correct me on that.) Despite being easily available, it would be great to see these two appear on GOG if at least to see 17,000+ wishlist votes completed.
(I don't know how Redguard and Battlespire fit in there exactly, if they're freeware too.)
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C&C: Red Alert - EA - 6000+ wishlist votes

I'm getting lazy, so here's a Wikipedia link - [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer:_Red_Alert#Freeware_release]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer:_Red_Alert#Freeware_release[/url]. I'm sure people would pay 5.99 for the soundtrack, though.
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GTA 1 & 2 - Rockstar/Take-2 - 5000+ wishlist votes

These were released for free on Rockstar's website, but it appears legal issues have now made the games unavailable on their site - http://www.rockstargames.com/classics/. Perhaps licensing issues with the music?
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The Lost Vikings - Blizzard - 3000+ wishlist votes

Now available on Blizzard's site under "Classics".

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Sim City 1 (or "Micropolis") - EA

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/release_simcity_4_deluxe_edition/post46
http://sourceforge.net/projects/micropolis.mirror/
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One Must Fall 2097 - Epic Games, Diversions Entertainment, Rob Elam - 900+ wishlist votes

Apparently an excellent fighting game in DOS - [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Must_Fall:_2097]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Must_Fall:_2097[/url]

Discussion on possibility of it coming to GOG - http://omf.justinoakley.com/viewtopic.php?t=312323
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Railroad Tycoon - 2K - 800+ wishlist votes

(credit goes to HereForTheBeer and EnforcerSunWoo for letting me know)

http://www.2kgames.com/railroads/downloads.html
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Blackthorne - Blizzard - 800+ wishlist votes

Was released on battle.net as a freebie, but I think most people would say it doesn't have much chance appearing here because, despite Blizzard being part of Activision, B seems to do their own thing on their own client.
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Death Rally (original) - Remedy - 600+ wishlist votes

http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/deathrally/full-game/33267.html
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Abuse - Crack Dot Com employees - nearly 600 wishlist votes

(Using the Desura version might be the best bet for now; there are some issues that could hold back a GOG release)

http://www.desura.com/games/abuse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuse_%28video_game%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuse_%28video_game%29#Distribution_methods_and_later_developments
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Dreamweb - David Dew and Neil Dodwell, afaik - 500+ wishlist votes

Some very oddball reception ranging from 15% to 90% - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DreamWeb#Reception - but at 500+ wishlist votes I'd like to see it appear.
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Warzone 2100 - Eidos/Squeenix - 260 wishlist votes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warzone_2100
http://wz2100.net/
http://www.desura.com/games/warzone-2100

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Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok - Pieter Simoons and many others

http://www.crystalshard.net/hq.htm
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Various others below 200 wishlist votes but more than 100:

Alien Carnage, aka Halloween Harry
Bio Menace - [HERE!]
Area 51 - same situation as The Suffering evidently, and a very fun game.
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A few freeware classics I'd like to see released not that high up on the wishlist would be Inner Worlds or DX-Ball. (I think GOG could use a Breakout-style game.)

If you want to suggest some and maybe link to the GOG wishlist, go ahead.

Another Midway game was released as freeware, Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy:
http://www.ausgamers.com/files/download/36534/psiops-the-mindgate-conspiracy-free-game
http://www.atomicgamer.com/games/5593/psi-ops-the-mindgate-conspiracy/files
The functionality is supposedly restricted to users from the U.S. and Europe, so download at your own discretion. I don't know what the deal with Midway is, though.

I'd personally love to have GOG put up Cave Story, Major Stryker, Bio Menace, and DBQuest. ;)

A freeware game I'd LOVE to see on GOG:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetpack_%28video_game%29

If you want Jetpack on GOG too, but haven't voted yet, do so here:

http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/jetpack

Doesn't have that many votes yet, but it can. :-)

As always tfishell, I love your dedication to tracking down games, rights owners, etc. and making comprehensive lists. +1

An old favorite of mine -
Hidden & Dangerous
http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/hidden_and_dangerous
http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/hidden_and_dangerous_devils_bridge

Hidden & Dangerous and its expansion Devil's Bridge were released for free as "Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe" to promote the release of the sequel.
Wikipedia

Wow no kidding some great games in that lot - I never played it, had no idea it was freeware now and there's no way I'd download it from those sites (though I'd do it in a heartbeat from here!) but I'd love to give Psi-Ops a try! The "psi-shooter" genre was far too short-lived in my opinion and offered at least two quality games (more if you count that alien game! With the great mind powers? I know one was subtitled "Furon something...") and promised more to come... but they never did :( Probably so development could advance on WWII shooter X or Modern War Gunning Y :(

And I'd LOVE to see Red Alert here as freeware as well. I've never been a huge RTS fan but Red Alert, I think, will always hold a special place in the hearts of gamers of a certain age ;) It was never a revolutionary game (pun intended?) but it was sure a polished, balanced and fun RTS!

I don't know if it really is freeware. I bought retail copy under CD Project label some time in February this year, so it's still sold, at least in some parts of the world.

I did not know H&D was freeware! (I think I was confusing that with the LucasArts title of a similar name.) Will add to my list above.

It appears that would require Take 2 coming aboard, though, not to mention GOG being willing to take the time to make sure the game runs on modern machines (might be tougher than a DOSBoxable title). Maybe they could bundle it with H&D2. Hmm, okay. Well it looks like, in any case, now Warner Brothers would be the ones to deal with (good luck with that :P), but Wikipedia makes it seem like there's a whole mess - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_Games#2009_sales_of_assets Actually it appears the publisher was California Pacific Computer Co. - [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akalabeth:_World_of_Doom]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akalabeth:_World_of_Doom[/url]. They also published the Apple II version of Ultima 1 whereas EA published the DOS versions.

It would be an interesting challenge to try to bring the game here, but it would definitely have to be bundled with Ultima (which may be tough as GOG has a deal in place with EA specifically) or comes as a freebie.

I'd like to see the game come as a matter of historical importance, but it does look pretty hard on the eyes. I forgot about this one! Very good idea. Since this actually has more wishlist votes than BioMenace, I think this should be the first release that represents the "old-school platformers" in the freebies. I'll edit that in to my op.

Updated to include The Lost Vikings and Death Rally (original)

edit: I wrote to suggest Yahzee's games, but this is a thread for games which already have many votes, so I'm moving my post elsewhere.

Maybe GOG wiki needs a comprehensive list of now-freeware games.

The download link doesn't seem to be working.

By the way, someone from the forum recently mentioned that Blade Runner is freeware [edit: abandonware] and even runs on Windows 8. Can someone confirm this?

Scummvm seems to have dreamweb, so can't see why it can't be on GOG.
But the "(this may have a shot if the right people can be contacted) " shouldn't be hard that way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commercial_video_games_released_as_freeware

Here is the mirror:

http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/deathrally/full-game/33267.html


I have my doubts concerning Blade Runner being freeware. Will have to look into that myself, but it seems unlikely since the license holder for Blade Runner and Westwood Studios (EA) would have to be involved to do so.

Oh man Abuse is crazy tough...