I thought GoG was all about fixing up old games to run on current OS installs.

As a test, I pulled out my old NOX box (which I found Warcraft 2/Starcraft stuff inside, wtf?) and went through a nostalgia trip installing it. Turns out the original unpatched Nox runs just fine on Vista x64.

So.. why should I buy the GoG version?

Granted running from a CD sucks (especially since these seem to take ages to read for some reason. SafeDisc's fault?!), but a no-CD crack fixes that.

Aside from that, there seems to be no differences between the game versions. In fact, some people even report more issues with the GoG version.

A shame, because I thought there might be an increased resolution or widescreen mode available, but it's still the same old 640x480/800x600/1024x768. The latter of which is the only bearable one on a 24" 1920x1200 monitor. (It's reasons like this I tend to not play old games anymore, they are just too small and upscaling ruins the image quality/introduces what feels like an accelerated mouse speed)

Also: Does multiplayer work between the original and GoG versions?

If you have a no CD crack working for you and life is all fine, I have no idea why you should buy it. I bought it because it's an amazing game, I love Gog and it's $3. Seriously, it's $3.

No idea about multiplayer between versions, sorry. But, the qame runs perfectly well for me- no issues at all. Plus, isn't the music CD audio? Do you even get it without a CD?

Either way, your time even asking this question is likely worth more than $3. Enjoy the game again or drop down a few coins and grab a more convenient version.

Buy it for $3.00 on GOG and sell NOX Box on Ebay for a tidy profit. ;-) And that's just one reason.

To support GOG? ;)

I don't think there's any reason to buy it if you have it running and can do that w/o a CD...

Well, I bought it for nostalgia reasons, mostly, and now I'm having a blast replaying it. Runs fine on Vista, that loathed OS, and my original CD was long lost, so I bought it.

If your original disc still works, I see no point in buying it again. I personally think the point of a lot of GOG's releases is to make classic games available to those who missed them years ago, since they were not being sold anymore. The added benefits consist more of extras (soundtracks, wallpapers, dev vlogs, artwork, tech demos, etc) than of upgraded graphics. Regarding Nox, or any classic CRPG, for that matter, I quite enjoy playing it in its original resolution. I don't really get why people complain this much about resolutions... I've seen Fallout 2 and Planescape: Torment run in high-res, and while you see a lot more of the field, it seems like you're playing with a small stick man, so what's the point in that?

I bought it because the original cd doesn't run on Vista 32bit. Weird it does run on vista 64bit, which in general had problems playing older games a lot more often, which is why I got 32bit when building my pc. Widescreen option for those old resolutions would be nice though.