I don't know if it's a deliberate gateway to multiplayer, or something unavoidable for this particular game, but the inability to play multiplayer without the Galaxy client strikes me as a form of DRM I'd rather be without.

It's hard to get too worked up about, since this feature doesn't seem to be designed to take away LAN gaming from games that already have it, but I'd be far happier with the service if it supported the ability to serve multiplayer games without involving a 3rd party connections at all.

I get that GOG isn't going to develop, support, and update a multiplayer platform that doesn't also benefit them financially, so they're not going to be completely altruistic here. I'm not really upset about that, it makes sense. If this sounds like a complaint, please consider it a minor one, as having AvP Classic multiplayer is better than having no multiplayer. I'm thrilled to see it working (even if every match I join seems to dissolve into deathmatch).

But in a perfect DRM-free world, AvP classic, or any other game, would work just dandy over LAN.

Well this game isnt techincally AvP. AvP isnt on sale on GOG yet. This is AvP+Galaxy and is only available to people who signed up to test it by playing the hell out of the game online. True, you also get the game for free, but at the moment that game is AvP+Galaxy client.

Once the beta test ends, and AvP is officially released on GOG, i'm sure you'll be able to download AvP without the Galaxy client from your library.

I should clarify that the client is not really a full fledged client at this time. This test is mostly about the multiplayer capabilities and issues people might have.

I can't Guarantee this 100% but I think the lack of LAN is specifically down to this version of AvP1. I have the gold edition on CD-ROM somewhere and a few months ago I tried it using a fan fix for modern OS's. (AvPx) so I could LAN.

I vaguely remember the fan patch ran the game good but ejected me out of the MP Menu, whereas running the game without the fan patch let me in the MP menu but the game wouldn't run.

Yeah, I completely agree.

On top of that, there is an application extension named "Galaxy.dll", which is apparently a very important asset to the game, as it wouldn't launch without it. It also makes me wonder what exactly it does, aside from probably offering Galaxy functionality, if it's a required asset to run the game. It may be an extension that serves a completely different purpose, but if not, then that isn't the most optional approach to this kind of client.

There are some similarities to the restrictions that Steam, a pretty competent competitor, imposes when it comes to the multiplayer aspect, and while I am still decently happy with the approach that GOG is taking to multiplayer, I still think that it could be slightly more DRM-Free, and similarly hope that this exact approach isn't quite taken when considering adding this type of capability to the other games in their catalog.

The concept is awesome, and the work ethic that GOG has in creating this is awesome, but I still feel that Galaxy, as a client, is a bit too embedded into this game for me to feel that it is an optional thing.

This is also the beta, so if this changes afterwards, then I will definitely be behind GOG on Galaxy, but right now I don't feel that this is exactly the vision that I had of a completely optional, DRM-Free multiplayer platform, which I will admit, is not an easy-sounding task of accomplishing. It's pretty good, but I know it can be better in that respect.

I agree, and this isn't the only game on GOG to have restrictions on it's multiplayer (ex. Age of Wonders III). Being restricted to using Galaxy's connectivity turns this from an "optional" client to a "required" client.

This is probably going to be as good as it gets for AVP on GOG, as GOG isn't the developer. Online multiplayer is a pain to work on, and they're only here to make sure things work. However, I am a bit concerned about things to come with regards to GOG and the multiplayer games they sell.

In a perfect world, every game will support LAN and direct IP/TPC connection functionality as most of them did in the past. Sadly, so far we haven't seen DRM free multiplayer being enforced.

The game was free and everything is working smoothly on my end, I'm just concerned is all. Hopefully all of our worries are because of the beta testing and will be resolved with updates.

Edit: Also I'm slow at typing, everything I said was essentially said above. Haha!

Oh my mistake. It's not about the Galaxy thing being included in the downlaod/installer but about the fact that it's required to play the game multiplayer.

But i dont really understand how a service could support multiplayer games without involving some sort of "client-like" app or wrapper or whatever you'd want to call it. Certainly it would be neccesary if it would allow me to invite and play with other GOG users and friends. And it's even more neccesary if it's to support crossplay with Steam.

But even if it makes it impossible to have a completely optional client (you either have multiplayer with client or offline singleplayer without), isn't the client then justified? Since it's purpose is to connect GOG and Steam users playing games they own on either service?

There will still be the option of playing AvP without Galaxy or Steam or any of that malarky if all you want is to play your damn game. But if you want to play with others, i don't know if some sort of infrastructure is even possible to avoid.

This is an important distinction, and I'm glad you brought it up.

My concern may well be premature, but also the best time to bring this sort of thing up is right now, while development is in progress.

GOG users can run the gamut of DRM concern, everything from "who cares," to "don't like it and prefer GOG because they don't have it," all the way to people who get really worked up anytime anything remotely DRM-looking shows up. Regardless of where you're coming from, it's good to make your wishes and concerns known.

I can understand where you're coming from, and I do hope that GoG will include somewhere on the product page of future games a disclaimer of some kind if the multiplayer is completely restricted to the GoG galaxy client, just so that people who do/don't want to use it know whether it is 100% required to play multiplayer at all in a game. It's good to be informed about a game before making a purchase, yes? As you say, if the client is going to be optional, then the info would be helpful so that people can make the choice to keep it optional if they choose to when researching a game before purchase.

I guess we'll have to see what they decide to introduce in order to help people make the distinction between games that only have multiplayer with the client, and those that have offline options, as well. Perhaps some simple tags that can be added to the product page, or a small snippet of text? Failing that, I suppose that it would make a good feature-request some time in the future if it doesn't show up on its own, after everything has been fully-implemented. I'm sure that we'd end up getting a forum topic asking whether or not the client is required with every new release, otherwise.

Not that I think the client is at all bad, mind you; it definitely serves its purpose, and I think it's better for it to exist than it is for it to not, but there will inevitably be people who don't want the client, and it's nice to keep everyone well-informed about what they're getting into before they spend their cash, I think.

We all signed up for a AvP 2000 Galaxy multiplayer BETA. That's why the launcher isn't optional. Standalone AvP 2000 isn't released yet.

Just to continue from my earlier post, I have just run AvP Gold and it does have several options like IPX, TCP/IP, but has hanging sound and black screen issues (for me).

The AvpX fan patch seems to remove the multiplayer section altogether (for me) but runs the game good.

GOG's version is the recent re-release: "classic 2000". My guess would be that rebellion removed most of those protocols from this version since they aren't used any more (modem/serial). No excuse for removing TCP/IP or IPX though, but I guess they thought replacing them with whatever they used for the steam version was a fair trade.

I just don't understand why they took out TCIP/IP as an option. I mean if it aint broken, don't fix it. I like the option of playing with people online, but I also like to play with my own kids under the same roof without having to go sign them up with gog accounts.

I don't think people use IPX anymore, but they should at least have two options when you click Multiplayer: Galaxy & TCP/IP. Please add this back in!

From looking at the Steam version, TCP/IP was never implemented in the AvP Classic 2000 executable. Meaning that the guys who made that version would have to do additional work for it to be available.

Ok, so TCP/IP was Gold only?

So did the original Classic 2000 have multi-player at all? What was it built on before it was turned into Galaxy? IPX?

Wikipedia claims C2k had no multiplayer initially, but that it was later patched into the Steam version. Including the option to make Private MP games, which only allows people on the host's Steam Friends list to join.

Food for thought:

1. if you want* matchmaking, achievements or any kind of feature-rich multiplayer, then an account system is a must: first because a lot of stuff is tied into an account (matchmaking, achievements, stats... etc), and secondly because you don't want to play with pirates (or at least I'm sure GOG doesn't want to allow 95% of their users to be owners of pirated game). And for this you either have to login to every game separately or just login into the client once - It's in the same way "DRM" as logging to GOG to download a new patch or new goodie - it's available to users who BOUGHT the game.

2. whether game offers LAN play or Direct-IP (rairty these days) depends really on the developer, not GOG.

3. also lack of any account-dependence for a multiplayer service with machmaking, means opening the whole fair-play community into people with cheats / hacks without any means of banning such cheaters - because what can you do? ban their IPs? It's a joke, not an effective counter-measure.

* if you DON'T want... then you don't use Galaxy Client and the games on GOG remain as functional as they are today (meaning: multiplayer is rarity limtied only to games supporting direct-ip or lan)