Apogee Freeware on gog.com

[Jeffpiatt]

any one want to see the freeware titles from apogee hosted on gog.com. they already have a couple free titles.

[Glassagate]

Wouldn't they then have to offer support for games that
aren't bringing them any income? Also, once you let in a
few free games, more free games will want in, too.

Now, if they were to take these 'free games', give them
a facelift, like what ins being done with 'Turtles in Time',
and charge $5-$10 for it, I'd be interested.

[joey007]

yeah that'd be cool

[Jeffpiatt]

I am not asking for something that gog.com does not all ready do they currently have 3 free titles in there catalog. i personally think it would be a great promotional move for both to have the discontinued stuff hosted by gog so they work like the new store downloads.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by Jeffpiatt

any one want to see the freeware titles from apogee hosted on gog.com. they already have a couple free titles.

Why would you want that?

[Jeffpiatt]

well it would provide a dosbox shell similar to the new store packages and they can take over the support.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by Jeffpiatt

well it would provide a dosbox shell similar to the new store packages and they can take over the support.

There's no support offered!

I fail to see the point here.

[Jeffpiatt]

trying to expand the distribution range a couple of the free games are on the gog.com wish list. the support they offer for the games now is dosbox support and the forums.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by Jeffpiatt

trying to expand the distribution range a couple of the free games are on the gog.com wish list. the support they offer for the games now is dosbox support and the forums.

Why would *THEY* do that for games that have been out upwards of a decade as is? This makes no sense to me. Why would they spend money to support something that's had no support for years and years?

This isn't happening.

[joey007]

yeah but i sure wish they would Joe

[PimPamPet]

Why? There seems to be no point.

[Jeffpiatt]

http://www.gog.com/en/search/sort/price/000
they do host 3 free titles already they are the closest thing to demos that site has.

[PimPamPet]

Yes, but since these games are already available from this website, what's the point of having them on GOG.com too?

[The Carnage Man]

Don't see the point.. you can easily create your own dosbox installs...

[joey007]

I think yes and no

[Yatta]

I wouldn't mind that actually, but considering GoG is a profit-driven business, I don't see why they'd be willing to give up free bandwidth even for small freeware games.

[timofonic]

Yes, why not? They already has some freeware games supported by ScummVM

They are one of the few DRMless electronic shops for classic games. GameTap is USA only (and DRM too) and Steam is full of DRM nonsense.

[Altered Reality]

Originally Posted by timofonic

Yes, why not? They already has some freeware games supported by ScummVM

They are one of the few DRMless electronic shops for classic games. GameTap is USA only (and DRM too) and Steam is full of DRM nonsense.

Necro posting is necro

[timofonic]

Originally Posted by Altered Reality

Necro posting is necro

Oops, I'm sorry...

[Glassagate]

Okay, I think that I finally got the reason for adding at least some
freeware titles to GOG.

Let's say that GOG nabs the Jazz Jackrabbit games. Now, the
Christmas specials, for part 1 and 2, are freeware. Even
though they are free, if they were to host copies that
didn't have any corrupted files, and that were clean
of viruses, the person wouldn't have to go hunting for
them, and hope that they were working copies.

[Videogamer555]

Actually as long as they are free anyone can download them, and rehost them if they want, as long as they leave ALL original documentation in the ZIP file and have not used any level editors to alter the game.

[The Dukenator]

Got this email today:

Re: Freeware titles on GOG.com
...
Hello,

I apologize for the late reply. I'll ask our product guys, however I won't be able to share any information I might get back, of course. I'll see if we can give this idea a shot, anyway.

Regards,
Peter

GOG.com Support

[Bryan3DR]

That is the best support reply I have ever seen. And I will be using it in the future. I missed this on the 11th.

[rich4421972]

As much as I like the principle behind GOG games for modern versions of windows and/or linux, I think that the site just preys upon the ill-informed fans of old games. DOS-box and its various cross-platform front-ends are completely free and easy to use, assuming that the user has the time to really learn how DOS games work. Is that worth $10? Freeware titles here on 3DRealms work perfectly With DOSBox either in Windows or Mac format. The commercial games on this site come with their own DOS-box wrapper.

Why pay GOG to produce something that you can do in your own home for free and in a manner that educates you about computer use? As for GOG's customer support, it basically consists of sending in a data dump regarding your DirectX version and hoping that you can get a relevant reply. In most cases however, if your DirectX version is 9 or higher, GOG may not be able to answer your questions. Most DOS-Box front-ends include options to run Win32 or DOS game formats. By loading a win32 or plain DOS game into the front-end, you can overcome most troublesome problems yourself. I think it pays to support 3D Realms rather than a third-party game developer that deals in old games.

Give 3DRealms a break. Pay them for their good work and adapt old titles to your Windows, Mac and Linux in a way that teaches you to use your computer. Thank you for reading my opinion.

[moron]

dude it a very normal concept its like linix its free but if you want help setting up a DHCP server you need to pay someone to help you if you want to learn you can but if you don't want to bother then you pay it up to the people who are buying the game

[rich4421972]

GNU/Linux is not free. It is "free as in beer." GNU programs and software are "free" in the sense that users "pay forward" the benefits they have received from the work of others. The same is true for DOSbox and its cousin, FreeDOS. I am only encouraging users to think about learning about the workings of their own computer. I am only addressing the use of a program and not the issue or cost of a web locale (GOG and FreeDOS). Most abandonware and GNU sites have links to send in contributions. Check out user forums for hints and help in using open source programs, but don't forget to support the original developers. Here at 3DR, you have the chance to support the actual developers, not pay someone to use DOSBox for you. As I said all programs bought here have their own DOSBox wrapper. The freeware titles on this site do not come with DOSBox in them, but that is what you want to pay for.

[Malvineous]

Don't forget that not everyone has the interest (or time) to learn about this sort of thing. When your car breaks down some people will learn how to fix it, others aren't interested and would rather pay a mechanic to fix it for them. Some people would like to build their own house, others would prefer paying a premium to buy a house someone else has built, so they can spend the time on something else that interests them instead.

Some people like to get software up and running themselves, others aren't interested in the technicalities and would rather just pay someone else to get it working for them. After all, they probably want to just play a game, not learn the details of an operating system they may never use again.

Everyone is the same, the only difference is the area a person is interested in enough to learn it themselves.

Also I'm not sure about your 'supporting the developers' argument - giving money to gog.com may not go to 3DRealms, but then 3DR aren't selling those freeware titles anyway so downloading them here for free is only using up their server resources...

[Glassagate]

Originally Posted by rich4421972

As much as I like the principle behind GOG games for modern versions of windows and/or linux, I think that the site just preys upon the ill-informed fans of old games. DOS-box and its various cross-platform front-ends are completely free and easy to use, assuming that the user has the time to really learn how DOS games work. Is that worth $10? Freeware titles here on 3DRealms work perfectly With DOSBox either in Windows or Mac format. The commercial games on this site come with their own DOS-box wrapper.

Why pay GOG to produce something that you can do in your own home for free and in a manner that educates you about computer use? As for GOG's customer support, it basically consists of sending in a data dump regarding your DirectX version and hoping that you can get a relevant reply. In most cases however, if your DirectX version is 9 or higher, GOG may not be able to answer your questions. Most DOS-Box front-ends include options to run Win32 or DOS game formats. By loading a win32 or plain DOS game into the front-end, you can overcome most troublesome problems yourself. I think it pays to support 3D Realms rather than a third-party game developer that deals in old games.

Give 3DRealms a break. Pay them for their good work and adapt old titles to your Windows, Mac and Linux in a way that teaches you to use your computer. Thank you for reading my opinion.

Well, for titles that are not freeware, but someone already has,
then I can see you point. The game that they're getting hasn't
been re-coded for modern OS'es.

I'm a little confused by your last statement. It sort of sounds
like you'd like 3DR to get the funds to make older games
workable on modern OS'es. Configuring DOSBOX to run an
old game isn't enough to justify charging someone. The
cost comes with the license of the game itself.

It would be great if not just 3DR had intact source code
and could port their games to modern OS'es, but any source code
that they have has already been released, and, I think, they
aren't going to pay someone to port it to modern OS'es,
with an exception to Duke Nukem 3D.

[MrBlackCat]

Ok... rich, this is not personal, but WOW I have to take this apart. I am sorry if this is offensive. I am really not trying to be.

Originally Posted by rich4421972

As much as I like the principle behind GOG games for modern versions of windows and/or linux, I think that the site just preys upon the ill-informed fans of old games.

This is true, but I can go to the grocery store and buy a 2 liter drink for less than a 0.5 liter drink at the Convenience store... but convenience stores FLOURISH anyway. I don't see it as preying on people, I see it capitalizing on people who prefer Convenience and are willing to pay for it. I COULD be wrong. Ignorance has a price and in the information age, ignorance is mostly a choice. There is nothing wrong with it in my opinion. I am ignorant to oil painting, so I buy those because of time constraints and a lack of desire to improve myself in that area. See?

Originally Posted by rich4421972

DOS-box and its various cross-platform front-ends are completely free and easy to use, assuming that the user has the time to really learn how DOS games work. Is that worth $10? Freeware titles here on 3DRealms work perfectly With DOSBox either in Windows or Mac format. The commercial games on this site come with their own DOS-box wrapper.

I wrote my own DOS before DOS existed... and yes, it is STILL worth $10. Ok, I can use DOSBox and I have it on my daily use computers, but still. I have taught these things to Windows users for years and the vast majority are TOTALLY not motivated to learn anything that you can't just click.

Originally Posted by rich4421972

Why pay GOG to produce something that you can do in your own home for free and in a manner that educates you about computer use?

Convenience... I teach computer usage in my job sometimes. From advanced to baby stuff... and in my jobs most people have no interest in being educated about computer usage.

Originally Posted by rich4421972

Give 3DRealms a break. Pay them for their good work and adapt old titles to your Windows, Mac and Linux in a way that teaches you to use your computer. Thank you for reading my opinion.

I have to say that your opinion seems very idealistic. This is not an attack, just a statement of observation.
I find this whole thread to be a mismatch of people not understanding each other.
I do appreciate the long thought out post (rich) I just don't see it as realistic in the scope of peoples motivations in my experience.

You remind me of the time before internet when it was "safe" and everyone you know of BBS's was real, strange or not, and of a very similar mentality. Every one of us built what we got there with... and many of us did it with solder, not "build" in the sense that we plugged in boards together and called it building a computer... I mean we bought our Z80 and a PC board and put them together. Here is my point though... back then what you just typed would not have been idealistic because of who you were typing to. I have to say, I don't remember "us" of back then being lazy or unmotivated to learn anything and everything about our machines... but today, a different group of casual users are the average... and they will pay $10 without hesitation to not have to learn anything new. I am not really going to knock them for it either as most of these people today do not understand a time where convenience was not accepted as a replacement for hard work.

Maybe I am off relative to my view on the ratio of people willing to learn about something like DOSBox rather than just have a company like GOG just do it for them... but it would take a lot to convince me otherwise.

I have to admit I have not bought anything from GOG and I am not even sure if I have been there to look at it, but I think I have in the past. So maybe their text is misleading and that is the basis of your reference and I am off base with this post.

I would pay $10 for an old game just to preserve the hosting of it really... new games like Duke Nukem Forever are going to inspire some to research the origins of Duke Nukem and I hope they can find what they want... and GOG would be a good, safe place for such a thing just in case this site closes tomorrow.

MrBlackCat

[Jeffpiatt]

Originally Posted by rich4421972

As much as I like the principle behind GOG games for modern versions of windows and/or linux, I think that the site just preys upon the ill-informed fans of old games. DOS-box and its various cross-platform front-ends are completely free and easy to use, assuming that the user has the time to really learn how DOS games work. Is that worth $10? Freeware titles here on 3DRealms work perfectly With DOSBox either in Windows or Mac format. The commercial games on this site come with their own DOS-box wrapper.

Why pay GOG to produce something that you can do in your own home for free and in a manner that educates you about computer use? As for GOG's customer support, it basically consists of sending in a data dump regarding your DirectX version and hoping that you can get a relevant reply. In most cases however, if your DirectX version is 9 or higher, GOG may not be able to answer your questions. Most DOS-Box front-ends include options to run Win32 or DOS game formats. By loading a win32 or plain DOS game into the front-end, you can overcome most troublesome problems yourself. I think it pays to support 3D Realms rather than a third-party game developer that deals in old games.

Give 3DRealms a break. Pay them for their good work and adapt old titles to your Windows, Mac and Linux in a way that teaches you to use your computer. Thank you for reading my opinion.

That is a great point of view for a advanced tech user but the general public does not want to deal with nerd cruft type thing such as configuring dosbox they want it to work right after install and 64 bit windows will not run the old 16 bit setup programs making it all the bit more complicated.

[JeremyHDragon]

Bring the 90s back!

[PimPamPet]

^ Please, God, don't.