Thank you, this is a good database indeed. I'm not sure that GOG DB can be used for anything other than information inquire. Available for download are .json files which technically are just 2 kb text files.

There are *other ways* to obtain it, and I already have my GOG setup file on my HDD. Also my Steam copy of Spear of Destiny contains those 2 extra missions.

Nothing prevents me from playing *the Lost Episodes* for Spear of Destiny. The issue is with GOG delisting bought games. Nothing else.

I see that there is still some confusion about how the original version of Spear of Destiny disappeared from anyone's library, even if they had bought it the same day it was released.

Let me explain to the best of my ability the technical flaw that allows this to happen, but first we need to step back and take a look once again at how GOG handles games in its store.

In the GOG store we can observe three types of digital goods that can be purchased:

1. The actual games, these are the assets that end up directly in your private library once purchased and increase your counter of games owned. On GOGDB they are classified simply as "Games" and each has a unique ID.

2. DLCs, which are files that are added to games you already own, they don't increase your games owned counter and aren't purchasable unless you own the game on which they depend. On GOGDB they are classified simply as "DLC" and each has a unique ID.

2. Packages, which we can imagine as the wrapping paper that envelops a bundle of games and/or DLC. When you buy a Deluxe Edition or Bundle on GOG, you are buying a package that contains the game and the various DLC extras. The packages themselves don't appear in your library, and you can only find them mentioned in your order history. On GOGDB they are classified as "Package" and each has a unique ID.

As far as I can tell, GOG has an internal database that associates the ID of a package with the IDs of the games and DLCs it contains. The tricky part is that GOG can change the association of the bundle with its contents at any time, even changing it retroactively for anyone who owns that bundle.

For example, the only way to buy the game Cyberpunk 2077 at the moment is to go through the package, as you can see from GOGDB: https://www.gogdb.org/products?search=cyberpunk
If one day GOG decides that the package has to contain only "The Adventures of Pinco Pallo" well, you would find in your library the game "The Adventures of Pinco Pallo" and "Cyberpunk 2077" would disappear.

This is what happened when The Elder Scrolls: Arena and The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall disappeared, and this is what happened with Spear of Destiny. Someone who for some reason managed to avoid an account refresh can still see the game, but sooner or later it will be forced a refresh and the game will disappear for everyone.

Remember that, again, the only way to buy Wolfenstein 3D is to go through the package. So here's what happened:

On September 15, 2022, GOG renamed the title of package 1441705226 from "Wolfenstein 3D + Spear of Destiny" to "Wolfenstein 3D."

On September 21, 2022, GOG changed the game IDs associated with the package, which were previously the games "1441705046 - Wolfenstein 3D," "1441705126 - Wolfenstein: Spear of Destiny," to "1778420505 - Wolfenstein 3D," and magically the two old games disappeared from our libraries.

Note that the new Wolfenstein 3D is a completely separate game from the old one, it has a new ID, so there is no previous version to go back to with Galaxy.

Now, the last question we don't have an answer to is: Who specifically decided to rename the package and change the associated IDs instead of simply creating a new one? Was it Bethesda that gave the specific order because they wanted to see the old mission packages disappear from existence as if they had never existed? Or perhaps some GOG employee opted for the easy way out by not thinking enough about the consequences of changing an existing package as has happened before?

Given that GOG and Bethesda bounce the responsibilities I don't know if we will ever know.

All the more reason why GOG should keep old offline installers for users who request them.

I don't have that one, but I do have the following one that contains all and creates M!, M2 and M3 folders, plus presents an option in the game launcher to play either Spear Of Destiny or Return to Danger or Ultimate Challenge. EDIT - As noted by Cadaver747.

setup_spear_of_destiny_2.0.0.6.exe

I probably skipped the update, which was likely only an update to the internal structure of the installer, possibly for the following advert reason.

FUN FACT - While installing, I got an advert to purchase Duke Nukem 3D. Just for fun I clicked it, and got a 404 of course.

What did annoy me though, is my default browser (Brave) which was already running, wasn't launched, but instead Comodo IceDragon was. What sort of b-grade coder set that up ... too hard to do a standard execute and let the system launch the default browser. I suspect it was trying to launch Firefox, but couldn't, so launched a clone instead.

A very good explanation about the game IDs, I think there is one more ID type which I would call a "GOG Store ID" which is unique for every game bundle and does not always correspond or contain the same IDs as their contents.

For example Game Bundle A (ID #A1) contains Game A (ID #A0) + DLC (ID #A2). In order for GOG store to mark all those as "Owned" user would have to buy the game, its DLC and a bundle. Should GOG offer another bundle for whatever reason with the same owned contents it be marked as "Not Owned" again.

Some bundles are not that but many are. One of the worst example would be Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition Deluxe, it contained all the DLCs at the time all of which were correctly marked as "Owned" but the base game wasn't.


Most definitely Bethesda ordered to offer an upgraded build of Wolfenstein 3D with build-in Spear of Destiny game, and to remove FormGen missions 2 & 3 for Spear of Destiny from the store for whatever reasons, probably licence expiration.

I highly doubt Bethesda would also order to clean up user's game libraries in the process. Most certainly GOG appointed someone with *NWN EE Deluxe - older* approach in mind: no game = no problem. GOG removed NWN EE Deluxe from user's game libraries that way, GOG staff member gifted me Neverwinter Nights EE base game for his own money out of good heart.

We might never know Bethesda's version and their bouncing back to GOG is just. The only possibility where I can see Bethesda forcing GOG to actually clean user's game libraries from any FormGen data is that id Software lied about dealing with FormGen IP rights back in August 2007 when they presented their package on Steam. But this is beyond crazy.

We might know GOG's version one day. If I buy something from the store and that store steals the goods back right in front of my eyes I would direct my questions to the store (and later to the law enforcement), not the manufacturer.

Has GOG fixed the issue?

In my library still are two seperate entries. For W3D and Spear of Destiny. And right now i have downloaded Wolfenstein-3D and Spear of Destiny (including (!) both additional campaigns) as two seperate offline installers and two seperate game installations via Galaxy.

There is NO merged installation, i downloaded both games as i purchased them back then.

Bah...GOG doesn't want customers...
Right now,I cannot access the DLC of Astria Ascending.
So I cannot load my old Saves...and new game appear without the cosmetic DLC.
You know what...I own the game on Steam too and...NO PROBLEM ON STEAM!
Awesome isn't?

I just checked my backups and, thankfully, I have this exact file. But, in Galaxy, there is only the entry for Wolfenstein 3D, so something shady definitely happened.

That said, if you search the internet hard enough, you'll find what you're looking for. You already paid for it, so don't feel guilty.

This may all be very likely, but at the end of the day, none of the technicalities matter. It's all about Developer/Publisher, and probably even storefront desires.

When we got Mafia Definitive Editions, did they remove the older titles? From the store, but my library still includes classic versions of All 3 games.
When Bethesda took down and re-released classic Fallouts with less goodies, did they take down the originals? Not from user libraries.

Yet with Wolfenstein 3D they did take down the originals from our libraries. They also did the same with Scorn's artbook. They replaced a high quality pdf with a significantly gimped epub for everyone.
Rockstar replaced classic GTA 4 with a new version with less music on Steam too. None of this is exclusive to GOG.

This is a SOCIAL problem, not a technical problem. Where there's a (social) will, there's a (Technical) way! This just, once again, proves that NO STORE cares about protecting our libraries and publishers are hit and miss. The only solution is to buy large capacity hard drives and use GOGREPOC to download everything, while, at the same time, demand that GOG builds in the functionality of GOGREPOC into Galaxy. We should not have to rely on external tools for that. Galaxy should give us the ability to download our ENTIRE libraries. That is the only sure way out of this mess, because people don;t change.

Original skyrim was not delisted. It is still there on steam - you can even buy it, it has price and everything. People often got this wrong cause you cant search the game on the store(it was unlisted) - you need to use google

Not last I looked today.

It would appear your library is yet to refresh.

I tried to download using an older link, but it failed, no doubt because I no longer have a separate Spear Of Destiny entry in my library.

Sorry, I meant unlisted but it came out as delisted which has a totally different meaning here.

And yes I could buy the expansions separately (also unlisted) but they are never on discount - because they are unlisted - it was and would be cheaper to buy the Legendary/Anniversary Edition than to buy just the expansions. So you end up buying the game again which is what Bethesda wants all along.

Edit: removed.

Why would it take GOG a whole week not being able to simply change a few database entries? Because thats all there is to do. Remove game id X from all matching accounts, insert game id Y instead. And both games are not big sellers, not THAT many accounts would be affected. Still both entries visible and downloadable.

Either way, i now secured both installers. If someone wants to restore his library content, please contact me. We will find a way :)