Download features?

Planning on buying...

from Sins Forums

I'm planning on buying the game, and to avoid the S+H cost I am looking into the download version. As far as I can tell, you download it through Impulse, which seems analogous to Valve's Steam. I am familiar with Steam, how I can download and install my games on whatever computers, no limits, and for the most part the only way to lose my games is to compromise my password. How does Impulse compare to Steam, and are there any concerns about how it works/limitations? I've heard good things about Stardock (which is how I found this game), so I expect there to be no issues, but I want to verify from users how it works out.

Also, as far as LAN games, does everyone need their own copy, or is it possible to run multiple games from one copy (like I do with Starcraft/Age of Kings/Civilization 3)? Do I need a physical copy to do this? This doesn't make or break the game, but I may as well be aware of how this would work.

Thanks for any input (sorry if this is off-topic); hopefully my next post will be asking how to stop losing to you guys in multiplayer matches (better yet, why I somehow keep winning).

10,159 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Impulse is great - you can download as often as you need to. As far as I undersand it (since I only have the 1 computer), the archives taken of an installed game are for that OS, so you need to download the archive (platform independent) first if you want it to be platofrm neutral.

LAN should work by just copying the game folder and maybe the one under the user for settings (if it doesn't create them for you). Everyone needs it "installed", but since there are no CD-key checks, that isn't an issue...

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Acutally Impulse is exactly copy of steam except it is for Stardock. It bacially use the password you have here and then logs you in. Once you buy it, which is secure..., it will show up in the download section of the program, once you downloaded it, you can start playing it.

And you don't need internet connection to play Sins so you don't have to connect to Impulse to play it.

And as for LAN, as long as you download it from your account onto multiple computers, it should be fine

But Hack might have said all of it.

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Mooster, reply 2
Acutally Impulse is exactly copy of steam except it is for Stardock. It bacially use the password you have here and then logs you in. Once you buy it, which is secure..., it will show up in the download section of the program, once you downloaded it, you can start playing it.

And you don't need internet connection to play Sins so you don't have to connect to Impulse to play it.

And as for LAN, as long as you download it from your account onto multiple computers, it should be fine

But Hack might have said all of it.
End of Mooster's quote

A big difference betweeen Impulse and Steam is that no internet connection is required while playing. And for LAN you can download to the other computers through Impulse without a problem.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

A big difference betweeen Impulse and Steam is that no internet connection is required while playing.
End of quote

why did you need to quote me to say that, and besides didn't I already say that

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Yeah Steam sucks without internet. I have DOW II and if i dont have an internet connection, my Steam rejects the game startup and does not let me play.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

The Stardock policy has a non-specific line about activation limits- once I get a response to my email about that I think I'll be buying the game. I don't expect to have a problem with whatever limit they have in place, I just like to play it paranoid after being forced to not buy Spore thanks to the DRM (which is okay now that I know EA ruined the game anyways).

Thanks for the input- none of my friends have Stardock games (yet), and of course Stardock won't tell you if there are downsides to their software. I'm aware of the problems people have with Steam so seeing the parellel I wanted to clear things up. I guess in the meantime I should take advantage of my last weekend of playing TF2 and L4D for a while.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

The Stardock policy has a non-specific line about activation limits
End of quote

Please post that here. AFAIK there is no copy limitations on Stardock software, and you do not need to run Impulse EVER to play their games (this may differ for games they sell on Impulse that are not published by them). You DO need to run Impulse to get the patches, and to play online for some games (i.e. log into Impulse to play online Demigod - not an issue as you need to be online to play online:D). There are restrictions that you CANNOT sell/transfer your licence (due to the fact that you can download a copy after you have sold the CD/DVD).

You are also not allowed to leave the game installed on other people's machines after the LAN session.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

From the Stardock policy:

Your IP address and number of activation attempts willalso be logged. There are reasonable limits on how often you can activate a given product to help deter piracy, but for most users, this limit will not be reached.If you have difficulties, please contact [email protected].

From the email response:

Typically, to hit the activation limit you would need to activate dozens of times with different IP addresses within a short span of time. If you activate say once every 6 months, you will have no problem at all. Even if you hit the limit, we can review your record and reset it for you.

I have to admit Stardock is plenty reasonable on all counts so I can deal with having this limit on the game. At least now I know for sure what I'll be doing this weekend.

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top

Hmm - either spanking the monkey OR

WE HAVE A NEW SINS PLAYER!!! YAY!!!

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Wewt, welcome to Sins :P

and of course Stardock won't tell you if there are downsides to their software.
End of quote

Well, what kind of downsides are you expecting? Some people have issues with it just like any other software, but most of the issues are fairly minor.

Sometimes firewalls and antivirus hold up the files when it's trying to install games/patches and it gets stuck on "verifying" downloaded files. Restarting without AV enabled and in Admin mode fixes that.

It also does not allow you to revert to previous game versions, so you need to keep archives if you want to preserve your old versions, but unlike Steam it does not force you to update - it tells you that an update is available and you can choose to ignore it (or just launch from your own game shortcut since Impulse is not required to be running to play the games, also unlike Steam).

Other than that, there's nothing else I can think of for an Impulse "heads up".