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Hi,

TL;DR I wish to know how to run the game in offline mode. I don't want it to attempt to connect to any servers, to load any profile data. This I hope will fix some of the issues I ran into last night as described below.

Last night I was playing through the single player campaign and suddenly the game displays a large "Network timeout" error and freezes, doesn't let me close the window, continue the game, etc, I had to alt-f4 to quit. I restart the game hoping to reload the last autosave and now the game spends about 1 minute (and then gives up) trying to connect to some servers while it's not letting me access any options in the main menu!

Rant mode: The reason why I stopped buying games on Steam years ago was because of DRM. I have not switched purely to GOG gaming to have games freeze in the middle of single player campaign because of network errors or not allow to interact with the game UI because it's attempting to connect to some error. This is unacceptable.

Your FAQ mentions that the menu issue is "known"and expected and should not happen in "offline mode" but I am unable to find how to run the game in offline mode. What am I missing?
No posts in this topic were marked as the solution yet. If you can help, add your reply
A friend pointed out that this issue has been raised before and there's a new option now (under Options -> Gameplay -> Interface Options) that disables multiplayer functionality. Seems to work well (at least for the main menu load) so I'm back to playing this game.

https://www.gog.com/forum/ancestors_legacy/is_there_an_option_to_disable_trying_to_connect_to_the_online_service/post5
Post edited March 27, 2019 by dizzy_plays
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dizzy_plays: Last night I was playing through the single player campaign and suddenly the game displays a large "Network timeout" error and freezes, doesn't let me close the window, continue the game, etc, I had to alt-f4 to quit. I restart the game hoping to reload the last autosave and now the game spends about 1 minute (and then gives up) trying to connect to some servers while it's not letting me access any options in the main menu!

Rant mode: The reason why I stopped buying games on Steam years ago was because of DRM. I have not switched purely to GOG gaming to have games freeze in the middle of single player campaign because of network errors or not allow to interact with the game UI because it's attempting to connect to some error. This is unacceptable.
I see you've found a solution before I even saw the thread. Still, I'd like to ask you which chapter was that and whether have you played several chapters in a row, or was it just launched and started first one? Have you hosted any multiplayer lobby prior to playing the campaign? Which build version do you have? (it's shown in the left bottom corner while in main menu)

Since the menu took so long to respond, the only explanation is that you've lost the internet access, but as you've pointed out - the "Network Timeout" should not happen at all in the campaign. We'll look into it.

The menu case - it will take that long without internet, the only way to avoid that is the option you used.
Post edited March 27, 2019 by DC_vipeout
Thanks for your answer!
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DC_vipeout: I see you've found a solution before I even saw the thread. Still, I'd like to ask you which chapter was that and whether have you played several chapters in a row, or was it just launched and started first one?
I started playing the campaign and finished the tutorial (the first 4 levels) on release day, using the release build. Then a few days later I did a stream and replayed the first 3 missions on it. Then I applied the update you pushed out a few days after the game release which fixes ESC in some menus. Then I started playing the last mission (the fifth one) of the tutorial/first campaign. An hour or two into that mission that's when it hanged with the Network Timeout error box (then when I restarted the game it failed to connect to servers in the Main Menu).
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DC_vipeout: Have you hosted any multiplayer lobby prior to playing the campaign? Which build version do you have? (it's shown in the left bottom corner while in main menu)
No I didn't try any Multiplayer features in that session (I did access the Server Browser some days earlier, on the earlier build). I was running the latest release (the one that includes fixes to pressing ESC in some menus).
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DC_vipeout: Since the menu took so long to respond, the only explanation is that you've lost the internet access, but as you've pointed out - the "Network Timeout" should not happen at all in the campaign. We'll look into it.

The menu case - it will take that long without internet, the only way to avoid that is the option you used.
Yes, that is entirely possible that it was a network issue on my end but that's why I play single player DRM-free games, to not have to worry about losing access to the game if my Internet goes away :)
Post edited March 27, 2019 by dizzy_plays
I too was very upset at the game trying to connect to the internet. last I checked this site was DRM-free.

Also I would kindly ask for not including .NET framework update inside a game installer, this can be done in a separate window if required by the game.
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NovumZ: I too was very upset at the game trying to connect to the internet. last I checked this site was DRM-free.

Also I would kindly ask for not including .NET framework update inside a game installer, this can be done in a separate window if required by the game.
The connection we're attemptign to establish is not for DRM purposes. We need to download the multiplayer scores you've earned, achievements and leaderboard scores in order to display them in the game. It's not stored on your PC. Once it fails the login phase however, it skips attempting the download. As noted upthread, you can disable the attempts whatsoever, making multiplayer unavailable.

Long story short - in single-player games there is no need for identification of the user, because he's never going to play with others. In multiplayer games that is a must-have. I suppose there's not that many multiplayer games around here, might be why you're not used to that. There's no DRM.

We did not update .NET framework. There is no such install file in the build, nor can we set up the GOG Galaxy devportal to install that. I'll contact GOG Team to ask them how it's done on this platform to clear this up.

UPDATE: I've been partially wrong and there is a place where developers choose which 3rd party dependencies are installed and we do have .NET there needed to run the game. However it is still not done by our game, but by the GOG installer, so your issue should be directed to GOG.
Post edited April 03, 2019 by DC_vipeout
Yeah. I actually can't install the game at the moment because installer is bundled with the new .NET framework that messed up my windows. Thank God I keep backup OS or I would go insane by now thanks to Microsoft.

I would still love to play this game a lot. But ultimately it's up to gog.com to have system updates as a separate installations. They used to do that. Not anymore. Non the less I'm keeping your game with hope I can play it one day.

Thanks so much for the reply.
God Speed.
novumZ.
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dizzy_plays: A friend pointed out that this issue has been raised before and there's a new option now (under Options -> Gameplay -> Interface Options) that disables multiplayer functionality. Seems to work well (at least for the main menu load) so I'm back to playing this game.

https://www.gog.com/forum/ancestors_legacy/is_there_an_option_to_disable_trying_to_connect_to_the_online_service/post5
He dizzy_plays,

Thank you very much for pointing this out.
I become mad. alway this usless oline sarching!

Thank you again
You're welcome! :) Unfortunately disabling all network connections through that setting also disables any achievements., just FYI