GOG Galaxy Progress

[nullPointer]

GOG Galaxy is the integrated GOG game client that's been in the works for quite some time now. Back in October they promo'd a free game to assist in beta testing the online multiplayer functionality for Galaxy. Well as of last week they're releasing an early alpha version of the client itself for closed testing:

Hi, everyone!

The Galaxy team is hard at work to bring you the Client application that will let you manage your GOG.com games library more conveniently. We’d love for the initial release experience to be as smooth and streamlined as possible for everyone, but releasing an app of this scope is no easy feat.

We’ve already conducted some internal testing, and now we’d like for the Client to face a wider array of software/hardware configurations and Internet connection types. That’s where we’d like for you to come in - and help us run more tests.

The first stage of this test is Windows only. A separate OS X alpha will follow in the coming weeks. (Linux will follow - eventually, but it’s in the works!)

But before we jump in and hand out the alpha Client, we’d like to set some ground rules.

1) The key word here is ‘alpha’, which means that this is not the final app and not all functionalities are present. The purpose of this test is to evaluate the core tech in the Client on a wider set of computer configurations than what we can locally test on, so only core features are included. Below I will post a detailed list of what is present and what we plan to add in future releases.

2) Alpha also means that you can encounter some unexpected issues. If you have a metered connection (a bandwidth cap or payments per bandwidth used) or you’re currently playing and can’t afford a loss of game time, this might not be for you. In other words, if you want to avoid potential problems with the alpha Client, simply wait for the final release.

3) Please, please, please refrain from posting screenshots, reviews or first impressions, both on our forums or elsewhere, as this is not the final product and many changes will still be made.

Back to Galaxy!

The features included in the alpha release (in other words, what we want to test):
-- client installation
-- application basics (resource usage, responsiveness, stability, user interface)
-- the auto-update function
-- installing, updating and launching games* via the client (without a standalone installer)
* not all games are currently compatible with the client, so you’ll only see the compatible ones in the alpha version of the Galaxy Client.

Features NOT included in this release (planned for subsequent releases):
-- an embedded GOG.com store
-- a better library view
-- managing DLCs, language packs, and auto updates in the client
-- downloading standalone installers and bonus content
...and more!

If you want to participate in this test, we expect some feedback from you (after all, that’s what this alpha is for!). Therefore, we expect you to have some time to test the client:
-- download and install the Client app and log in to your account
-- install/uninstall as many games as you can
-- know how to access various logs and try different problem solutions as needed
-- report any bugs and issues in our internal reporting system
-- participate in discussions with our staff and follow their suggestions/requests

Yes, that does require some technical knowledge and a bit of your time. If you don’t think you’re the best person to test out the Galaxy Client in its alpha version, don’t worry! There will be a public beta once we finish this stage, when you will be able to check out the Galaxy Client without any extra requests from our end.

If you’ve read all of the above proceed to the signup page: http://www.gog.com/galaxy/alpha

We will be sending out invitations in batches (along with some more info on how to install the client and report bugs), so not everyone will receive one right away.

Source

This is great news for fans of GOG as well as anyone with a growing GOG library (and after almost a full month of sales, well ... guilty as charged). So what say you? Do we have any brave early adopters in the house?

[tthurman]

Looks like we'll be hitting up Tom with some more "feature and enhancements" requests!

[Adultery]

It's probably too early to think about native integration, since this is in alpha... But it would be nice to see this functionality.

I don't have many gog titles so I'll wait for the final.

[Draco1962]

It will definitely be a great addition to the registered offerings. Right now I am using the .lnk additions which work just fine, but to have them show like Steam, Origin, and Uplay "out of the box" is a great enticement for the users to purchase a lifetime license.

[nullPointer]

Dudes I just got my Alpha Key for the GOG Galaxy Client Alpha. I'm still at work so I've not had the chance to check it out yet, but I'm pretty interested to see everything they've been keeping under wraps. Hopefully it will be good considering the amount of time it's been in development! At any rate, those of you who signed up for Galaxy beta testing should check your inboxes for a client Alpha key as well.

[Draco1962]

I think as part of preparing for Galaxy's release, GoG has started revamping the library layouts. Many of the collections that were combos (i.e., Tomb Raider 1+2+3) are now being split out as separate programs in the library instead of 1 slot for all items.

[nullPointer]

I think as part of preparing for Galaxy's release, GoG has started revamping the library layouts. Many of the collections that were combos (i.e., Tomb Raider 1+2+3) are now being split out as separate programs in the library instead of 1 slot for all items.

Yeah I've noticed that as well. I think it's a solid decision, and allows for cleaner management of your library. More on that in a sec.

So I tried out the client, and I have to say that I'm quite pleased so far! If you've tried other gaming clients, you'll already be relatively familiar with the core features of the Galaxy client. Upon signing into the app you'll be presented with a digital storefront for GOG which basically mirrors the layout and functionality of their website. You can alter your default view so that the app opens into the Library view which is the first change that I made in settings.

The Library view has a nice intuitive layout, and allows you to do some interesting things. The right hand panel shows you your entire library of purchased games, whereasthe lefthad panel shows a list of the games you've installed through Galaxy. One interesting feature of the library view is that it allows you to apply filters to your library. The filter options include selections for System (i.e. Operating System), Language, Mode (Single Player, Multi-Player, and Co-Op), as well as Genre, which is a most welcome feature, and something missing in other big gaming clients. I should mention that I've not had much luck with filtering yet, so it seems that this feature is still being worked out to some extent. This is an alpha release after all.

When you click on a game in your purchased games, you are given the option of installing the game (if you've not done so already), or perhaps most importantly importing the game into the client. This is a very welcome feature for those of us with an existing collection of installed GOG games. This means that you do not need to re-download your entire library for the purposes of the Galaxy client. Steam allows you to do this to an extent, but only as an external application. Galaxy allows you to import your game, at which point it runs a file compare and applies any updates you might be missing. The game will then appear in your installed library as the actual game, and not some goofy external application mumbo jumbo. This feature mostly worked well, for me. Here's where we get around to GOGs recent updates to separate bundled games into individual games in your library. I had a bit of trouble getting the client to recognize these games as an import (for those games that I had originally downloaded as their bundled versions). To be clear the client still functioned just fine, but it didn't recognize the file comparison and happily went about re-downloading the entire game again. This wasn't the end of the world as all the bundled games in my library consist of old adventure games that are relatively tiny on their own. This is possibly another feature of the app that may need a small amount of tweaking to be perfect.

Clicking on an installed game takes you to a game specific screen that allows you to launch the game. Unfortunately this is currently the only means of launching a game, so you can't just right click on a game and launch it from library view. This would likely be my first feature request to implement, being that fewer clicks means better clicks. From the game specific screen, you can also opt to verify/repair your game files, download the all the extras for that game (a perk upon which GOG has built up their reputation), uninstall, etc. Galaxy has even implemented a framework which allows you to view the manual for the game as well as (what are presumably) user-submitted walkthroughs. Pretty slick!

Other community driven features of the app allow you to view your forum posts to the GOG forums. Here's the settings screen which further reveals some of the functionality we can expect to see in future releases of the client

Once again several of these are standard gaming client features, but are exciting to see here nonetheless. Auto-updating for GOG games! YES! Achievements! I'd love to see them implement an achievement system for older games in their catalog, but I'm guessing this feature is intended for their newer titles. Friend and Chat! It's good to have friends! Game Time Tracking! Boo!

At any rate, I've been very pleased with the client so far, and I'm looking forward to future enhancments.

[tthurman]

Thanks for the detailied write up on the client, it's looking good.

When Origin came out I was feeling pretty, "ugh, another game client", but since then, and uplay, I don't feel so much that way. Keeps Steam on their toes, and us from being stuck without choices.

[zabrin]

Fantastic write up Null, very informative!!! Looking forward to seeing installed on my system!!!!

Z.

[DazzleHP]

I'll admit that i've not utilised GoG as much as i should have in the past, mainly coz i've given into DRM in favor of usability - Steam may be all that is evil to some people, but i've gotten fond of having an account based library that i can use and play anywhere, without having to haul my 20KG rig on my back with 30 cables to a friends house only to actually play for 2 hours before everyone is too drunk to care

Not to mention the auto updating, friends, activity feeds, groups etc etc.

And i must admit that after reading your experiences so far null, i really want this to happen and become big! Especially if they bring back multiplayer functionality on old school games - 5K free-for-all multiplayer on Total Annihilation anyone?!!!

It could be the demise of my wallet though

[tthurman]

beta is out

[zabrin]

Thanks tthurman, signed up and now playing the waiting game. Looking forward to giving this a try.

Z.

[Draco1962]

I believe if you were already accepted for the alpha trials you are automatically upgraded to beta. Got my prompt to install the beta client today. w00t!

[nullPointer]

Man, I was freaking out there for a minute because I hadn't received any sort of prompt yet. Looks like they're doing an incremented roll out for alpha testers. They must be doing it based on age? I'm not sure if I should just go for an in place upgrade, but I can probably be patient and wait ... I guess. <kicks dirt>

[Draco1962]

Actually I loaded the downloader and it started downloading the beta client. I guess GoG has a senior discount.

[nullPointer]

I just had to give you some guff man. As you well know I'm not all that far behind you on the age train!

At any rate I upgraded to the Beta client today! I'm still really enjoying the client. I've not seen any release notes between the beta version and alpha version, but it looks like the main update in this go round is the addition of friends and chat functionality. Fantastic! The only slightly goofy thing is that I'm relatively certain you can't search for users on GOG at the current time. That means if you want to add someone as a friend, you sort have to stumble across them in a forum post, a game review, or in the community wishlist. So that part is currently a bit cumbersome, but I'd be willing to bet they're working on improvements as we speak.

I'm just still riding high after so much anticipation and waiting for the release of Galaxy!

[Draco1962]

I didn't squeeze a tear if that's what you are worried about.. Age doesn't bother me. It's those damned kids on my lawn!

[zabrin]

I just got my Beta key, YAY!!!!

I just have to import my games to the client. So far I am really liking it myself. Here is hoping for GameEx integration and some galaxy preview videos!

Z.

[DazzleHP]

Here is hoping for GameEx integration and some galaxy preview videos!

Well we already have Steam (GameEx was the first to integrate it outside of the client itself!), Uplay and Origin. The dev staff have a knack for this sort of thing so i would count your chickens that at somepoint after Galaxy official release...

[tthurman]

I just got my Beta key, YAY!!!!

Z.

yep, me too!