Any hope for a GOG release?

[Álvaro Núñez de Lara]

Any hope for a release soon? Anywhere. I dont care

 

[Sirbab]

Any hope for a release soon? Anywhere. I dont care

That info isn't known but I think a release by end of year is likely. If not, then q1 next year is the latest I would assume is feasible when they announced the game.

 

[constablegeneral]

So much misinformation in one post is incredible honestly.

1. You can absolutely play steam games without needing to update them first if you don't care about multiplayer anyways that's what offline mode is for.
2. Offline mode lasts indefinitely and is not tied to a specific system or anything. It most definitely doesn't just last for two days.
You only need to be online for the initial activation of the game after that never again, at least not because of steam. Read their TOS please.
3. Games that release a drm free version on gog have a very high chance to have their steam version drm free anyways too just because it's on steam doesn't automatically guarantee drm.
4. Recent paradox releases work even if they can't connect to steam when started via the exe tested with CK3 just a moment ago so you don't even need offline mode or have steam open at all. This also works with no Internet connection ofc.

So most of your reasons are either completely false or irrelevant.

Offline mode is certainly not indefinite. Here is an experiment for you, don't log into steam for 3-4 days, and turn it on again. I've mentioned over and over again that many of us play on weekends or holidays, and are not regular gamers. Your Steam client needs to update itself or at least requires you to log in to the online mode.

Here is the thing, I don't want my access to the game intermediated by Steam or any third party software.

As for the Crusader Kings 3 launcher not requiring logging into steam (offline or online), can anybody else confirm it? If such a thing is implemented in EU5 as well, it would be a huge relief for me indeed.

 

[Sirbab]

Offline mode is certainly not indefinite. Here is an experiment for you, don't long in to steam for 3-4 days, and turn it on again. I've mentioned over and over again that many of us play on weekends or holidays, and are not regular gamers. Your Steam client needs to update itself or at least requires you to log in to the online mode.

Here is the thing, I don't want my access to the game intermediated by Steam or any third party software.

As to the Crusader Kings 3 launcer not requiring logging into steam (offline or online), can anybody else confirm it? If such a thing is implemented in EU5 as well, it would be a huge relief for me indeed.

I think you can bypass the launcher and launch via exe directly? I know third party launchers do something like this (like mod organizer 2).

 

[constablegeneral]

At the moment, the only storefront planned for Europa Universalis V at launch is Steam. It is less about being DRM free or not, it is about being available where most of PDS player base is and where to focus our internal resources on for launch.

That does not prevent a release in other places in the future, or even console ports, but there are no plans for it as of now.

Will we be able to use the Steam Keys of EU 5 to access it and all its DLCs on say if it is released on GOG later?

EU 5 is probably going to be the biggest grand strategy game till now, it certainly deserves a GOG or DRM free release. I suppose you could say that many gamers of late want more control over their purchases then what most store fronts allow us. As good as with Steam is currently service wise, I'd rather not rely on a company for my continued access to the game.

 

[constablegeneral]

I think you can bypass the launcher and launch via exe directly? I know third party launchers do something like this (like mod organizer 2).

Perhaps through some mods, but it would really be great if from the get go Steam would only be required for the initial installation and authentication, and not for everytime I want to play the game.

 

[NoobishHeadache]

I think you can bypass the launcher and launch via exe directly? I know third party launchers do something like this (like mod organizer 2).

While I was without access to Steam for a year due to their dropping support for older Windows versions, launching direct from exe worked fine for EU4 and HoI4. However, for Stellaris all my owned DLC's were disabled and I was stuck playing the pure base game version. According to other posts in the Stellaris forum, this is working as designed: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...-launching-steam-first.1469515/#post-29066585

 

[pdx-sanke]

Thanks for the info. Could you tell whether Johan's "Steam" here meant SteamOS or the point of sale? If it meant the point of sale, are ports for other OSs (Linux or Mac) possible in the future, if even console ports are?

I realize this may reflect poorly on the chances of getting an answer to the above, but have to try. You wouldn't have any info on EUV hardware requirents, DLC model, or the fate of EU4?

At the moment we are aiming only at having steam as a storefront and Windows as OS. Other OSs, Storefronts (GoG, EGS, Microsoft Store, etc) and console ports are options that we will definitely explore after release, but as Johan said, our resources are locked at the moment to guarantee a good release on Steam.

 

[r3xm0rt1s]

I think you can bypass the launcher and launch via exe directly? I know third party launchers do something like this (like mod organizer 2).

I use the launcher to make changes to modlists and switch between them. Bypassing the launcher might work for vanilla purists, but not everybody. And Mod Organizer 2 asks for me to start Steam if it is not on, though I do not remember if I ever tried to tell it to launch Skyrim anyway, instead of starting Steam and then retrying.

 

[honkajoki]

At the moment we are aiming only at having steam as a storefront and Windows as OS. Other OSs, Storefronts (GoG, EGS, Microsoft Store, etc) and console ports are options that we will definitely explore after release, but as Johan said, our resources are locked at the moment to guarantee a good release on Steam.

Thanks for the reply!

Do you have an idea when there will be info on those other options, or decisions should be made based on lack of info? Eg if nothing has been said about those options six months after release it would mean they're not coming.

Would of course be nice to have some info before release.

Any possibility of a demo or free weekend or something at or near the launch? So that one can check how it works with Proton (or Mac equivalent) on own hardware. Steam's 2h return window is small for a gsg, it's not inconceivable that it's over before the game is unpaused for the first time. And definitely not possible to experience late game performance (or lack of it) within the 2h. Actually that may be problematic to do within a weekend...

 

[Thorum]

Do you have an idea when there will be info

Yes.

Will they put it on page two of a random forum thread?
No

 

[pdx-sanke]

Thanks for the reply!

Do you have an idea when there will be info on those other options, or decisions should be made based on lack of info? Eg if nothing has been said about those options six months after release it would mean they're not coming.

Would of course be nice to have some info before release.

Any possibility of a demo or free weekend or something at or near the launch? So that one can check how it works with Proton (or Mac equivalent) on own hardware. Steam's 2h return window is small for a gsg, it's not inconceivable that it's over before the game is unpaused for the first time. And definitely not possible to experience late game performance (or lack of it) within the 2h. Actually that may be problematic to do within a weekend...

Official and final info for release will be available when we start having prepurchases for the game, as we will update the Steam store page to show final specs, OS, languages, etc.

We evaluate the possibility of having a demo, but decided against it after some discussions about how a GSG is developed and what a good timing would be. So no plans for it at the moment.

 

[honkajoki]

Official and final info for release will be available when we start having prepurchases for the game, as we will update the Steam store page to show final specs, OS, languages, etc.

Not sure if you're answering what I asked. I asked about your comment "options that we will definitely explore after release", seeking to find how long after release such info would be available. Am I now to interpret that whether those will happen at some point will be communicated at release, not later?

We evaluate the possibility of having a demo, but decided against it after some discussions about how a GSG is developed and what a good timing would be. So no plans for it at the moment.

Again, thanks a lot for the info. Does that also apply for free weekends? Vic3 and CK3 have had those.

 

[honkajoki]

Yes.

Will they put it on page two of a random forum thread?
No

That's odd, given that there already is some info, which for atleast me is new, on page two of this thread.

 

[pdx-sanke]

Not sure if you're answering what I asked. I asked about your comment "options that we will definitely explore after release", seeking to find how long after release such info would be available. Am I now to interpret that whether those will happen at some point will be communicated at release, not later?

Yeah you are right, sorry about that. I don't think we will make a call super close to release. When the game is out, we will actually see what the game is and is not (the players decide, not us), adjust development plans and etc. I think after a few months we might be able to look and say "Ok, now we have the bandwidth to support one more OS/storefront" and make plans, and we probably will share that close to its respective release.

Again, thanks a lot for the info. Does that also apply for free weekends? Vic3 and CK3 have had those.

Free weekends are usually done once per year. So probably not during release year for EU5, maybe starting the year after? Hard to make such projections now before it is out. But eventually we will have them.

 

[honkajoki]

Yeah you are right, sorry about that. I don't think we will make a call super close to release. When the game is out, we will actually see what the game is and is not (the players decide, not us), adjust development plans and etc. I think after a few months we might be able to look and say "Ok, now we have the bandwidth to support one more OS/storefront" and make plans, and we probably will share that close to its respective release.

Free weekends are usually done once per year. So probably not during release year for EU5, maybe starting the year after? Hard to make such projections now before it is out. But eventually we will have them.

Once again, thanks for being helpful and giving some answers.

 

[Kovax]

Thanks for the info, at least there's a chance I'll be able to play it within a few months or a year of release, rather than waiting 3-5 years until it's available anywhere else than Steam, as has happened to several older Paradox titles.

 

[Johan]

The reason for Steam is very simple. Its a lot of nice technology for achievements, modding workshop, a really really good multiplayer system, and most importantly, by far most importantly, a good distribution system for updates.

 

[Brynjar]

Any possibility of a demo or free weekend or something at or near the launch? So that one can check how it works with Proton (or Mac equivalent) on own hardware. Steam's 2h return window is small for a gsg, it's not inconceivable that it's over before the game is unpaused for the first time. And definitely not possible to experience late game performance (or lack of it) within the 2h. Actually that may be problematic to do within a weekend...

If it's lategame performance you are worried about testing you could just ask for someone to share a lategame savefile a few days after launch, load it up and see how it performs. It's not like you have to play through 450 years yourself for that.

Judging by other Paradox releases, an OS being supported doesn't guarantee good performance.

 

[Lord Lambert]

a really really good multiplayer system,

No Nakama? O.O