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Please save offline installers of previous versions of games if you add them to the gog preservation program.
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RekontVerlon Some players are already suffering from insufficiently tested improvements. Take Dragon Age, for example, where some fans have been waiting 11 months for a solution to the dual-core limitation.
All these issues and complaints can be prevented by saving a previous version of the offline installer as an alternative to the GOG preservation program.
B1tF1ghter Okay...
So the actual OP post here is worded rather poorly - if you care about "wish" visibility at least...
With that said:
1. GOG keeps ALL the installer versions for ALL games internally on their ( GOG ) servers - they don't delete anything - just for clarity for those FEW who believe otherwise
2. GOG merely doesn't provide those files to the CUSTOMERS who PAID FOR the game
3. GOG doesn't provide an official way to download older installers through the webpage - and unlike for Steam - it currently doesn't seem possible to do that through "external tools" ( that pull from GOG backend directly ) either
4. GOG provides "unofficial patches" for many different games - more and more over time. Those patches are usually NOT made by the ORIGINAL developers, but instead by GOG or one of their "shadow" subsidiaries with intentionally misleading names ( to make uninformed ppl THINK those "are not associated with GOG" ).
And I want to say - I more than doubt that GOG QAd the games 100% after those patches - considering widely reported issues - they clearly did NOT.
5. The "GOG patches" are FORCED updates - every customer usually only gets access to ONE, LATEST version offline installer - and it's the one with the FORCED unofficial patches.
6. More and more people are noticing and reporting issues caused by the "GOG patches" in many different games
7. GOG, in their usual fashion, plugs their ears for the negative feedback
8. There is a LIMITED ( 5 last versions! ) way of downgrading to older game builds HOWEVER it REQUIRES GOG Galaxy - a Windows-ONLY client that was always toted " "optional" " - for people who don't want to or can't use Galaxy, or those who want a build older than 5 last versions THERE IS NO WAY to access the older version.
If you ask ME, I would say what should happen AT THE MINIMUM is that GOG would provide versions:
1. First ever published
2. Last ( obviously )
3. The one that was "last" at the time YOU OBTAINED the game ( added it to your library, through ANY means, including, but not limited to, by paying for it )
4. Plus version-to-version patches for ALL versions TO DATE - all the way starting at FIRST, to the very last one
Ideally, every single build would be available as an offline installer to every customer who has the game in their library.
And obviously the patches! HAVING TO reinstall the whole game to UPDATE it is just impressively tonedeaf.
Imagine this:
1. You PAY for, buy, a game that has "Windows XP" as the minimum requirements.
2. You don't download the offline installer immediatelly, for any reason, eg: you don't intend to play the game atm, and you don't have free storage space at that moment
3. Some time passess, GOG pushes a FORCED UPDATE. The update, through inclusion of whatever changes, bumps minimum system requirements, say, to Windows 10.
The game no longer works on Windows XP - which was ADVERTISED at the time you PAID FOR the game.
4. You no longer have access to the build ( bc GOG only provides LAST version ) that contained functionality ( compat with Windows XP ) ADVERTISED at the time you yourself obtained the game.
Essentially - you could argue - "contract was altered behind your back and without your consent".
I'm just going to say the quiet part out loud:
for how much GOG totes itself as this "DRM-free basion of freedom", and for how DEEPLY IN DENIAL some ppl in the GOG community are - GOG is actually rather anti-consumer when you dig deeper.
It's like in that "Homer Simpson's back" meme - what you see up front is the "first impressions" ( for new customers ), and what ppl in DENIAL see ( about 90+ % of GOG community ).
The "back" is all the years ( more than a decade at this point ) of lies, deception, blatant GOG-criticism censorship on forums, anti-consumer practises, bait and switches, false advertisement, and all kinds of other shady and vile stuff...
ChFra We need at least not only the "latest" version of everything, especially not wherever that breaks compatibility with an older system which previously has been supported.
cgr37712 all the games you "preserved" say that they only support windows 10 & 11, no mention of the original windows XP, Vista, 7, or 8 OS support as it was removed for some reason.
cgr37712 many mods dont support "preserved" installer files.
Itsyou Very good idea. I much prefer adding my own fixes.
RekontVerlon An alternative solution: keep the original offline installer. GOG can include their solution in 'GOG preservation program' as an additional patch. This patch can be forced to download when playing through Galaxy, but offline users should have a choice.
RekontVerlon Gog has been ignoring the Dragon Age issue for almost a year. If you look at the forums for other games included in this program, you'll also find complaints from some players.
We need alternative offline installers to prevent such problems.
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