Gamersgate: Free Gain Ground (Sega) thru Sun

vherub

vherub

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Is there activation or other DRM on this? Require an installer? I'm sure I already own a couple of copies of this, not sure I want to bother signing up for an account...
 
Thanks for the code, OP!

[quote name='Wolfpup']Is there activation or other DRM on this? Require an installer? I'm sure I already own a couple of copies of this, not sure I want to bother signing up for an account...[/QUOTE]

It's one of GG's DRM-"Free" games. Which means it still has a light form of DRM, but it's all only in the install process, and so badly made that while it causes annoyance if you use it, it is very easy to bypass (it's probably an attempt to fit "DRM Free" into an already existing download system that wasn't built for it). Once you get it installed, the game itself is DRM Free.

You need to use their download client (standalone -- click download on the site and you'll get a self-contained "Download Gain Ground.exe" which does the rest), which tries to keep the installer file "encrypted".

After downloading it runs the installer, and then afterwards asks if you want to keep the installer as a backup. If you want to use a backup of the installer, you must rerun the downloader (which performs a quick authorization check each time -- an internet connection is required) to reinstall.

That said, it's pretty easy to break the "encryption". You can make a copy of the unencrypted installer out of the download folder while it's running, or you can look up XOR on wikipedia to break the encryption very easily.

Once you have an unencrypted copy of the installer, it really is DRM-Free. You can back it up and reinstall at any time, without any sort of online checks.
 
Thanks for the heads-up, vherub!

I like Gamersgate. I've purchased a lot of games on sale from them this year with zero problems. Unless you absolutely have to have a game through Steam (which I also love), GG is in my opinion right up there with Direct2Drive, Impulse and GOG.

As for Gain Ground, I do hope a lot of you give it a try. It's a thinking person's action game and executed wonderfully. So don't play it like Mercs, Commando, Gun.Smoke, etc. Instead, play a bit more methodically and make sure to rescue the other characters in the game as you proceed. Eventually you'll see that levels are designed with an optimal character and their special abilities in mind (but you can still get through levels with your other characters). I'm making it sound really rigid, but don't read it as such. It's truly a unique, fun and rewarding game, and one of my true favorites from the 16-bit era. I still have my Genesis copy with the box and manual :)

Oh, and you can now save state your progress with this version since the emulator program offers that feature. That alone makes games like Kid Chameleon possible to finish (that game was waaaay too long).
 
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