Stardock Impulse?!

K

Klob

Gawd
Joined
Oct 15, 2008
Messages
900
WTF is this crap? I wanted to get the latest patch for Sins of a Solar Empire and it directs me to install Impulse to get it. I don't want to have to install some Steam like app just for a goddamn patch.

http://www.impulsedriven.com/
 
What's wrong with Impulse to get patches? Valve makes you use Steam for their games.
 
Steam distributes more than just their games though, so its a bit of necessity honestly. Stardock trying to recreate that is just bollocks. They can provide seperate patches for their stuff (since there isn't much of it), instead of doing the whole "hey, look what I can do too!"
 
Having you download patches from Impulse is Stardock's means of reducing piracy by disincentivizing pirated copies. Impulse isn't malware/badware/spyware, so you don't need to worry about having it installed.
 
phide said:
Having you download patches from Impulse is Stardock's means of reducing piracy by disincentivizing pirated copies. Impulse isn't malware/badware/spyware, so you don't need to worry about having it installed.
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+1

it is safe to install impulse. a side note, i had issues using their internet install of impulse and d/l'ing the full exe file was the only way to get it to work. Sins 1.1 works great and the AI actually kicks ass now.
 
inotocracy said:
Steam distributes more than just their games though, so its a bit of necessity honestly. Stardock trying to recreate that is just bollocks. They can provide seperate patches for their stuff (since there isn't much of it), instead of doing the whole "hey, look what I can do too!"
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Stardock is distributing more than just their games if you haven't noticed. What's wrong with giving Steam some competition? Much better for us, the consumer. Also the nice thing about Impulse is you don't need to launch it in order to run a game, unlike Steam.
 
inotocracy said:
Steam distributes more than just their games though, so its a bit of necessity honestly. Stardock trying to recreate that is just bollocks. They can provide seperate patches for their stuff (since there isn't much of it), instead of doing the whole "hey, look what I can do too!"
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Stardock was doing this before steam by like 2 years I believe. Impulse is just the new engine for delivering the products they offer.
 
The problem that alot of people don't get is that the old Stardock downloading service, Stardock Central, was so out of date they had to rewrite a new one from scratch.

This is Stardock Central:

img5.jpg


This is Impulse:

impulsegames.png


Adding to Stardock Central would've taken them alot longer and might've put them out of business. Making Impulse helps keeps them as competition.

The simple fact is Stardock Central was originally released in 2001. That's a LONG ass time ago. If any other digital download service let their download manager rot for 6 years, they'd need to remake a new manager too.

Just download Impulse. You won't hafta worry about downloading a new manager unless Stardock lets Impulse rot for 6 years ;)
 
FatFed said:
What's wrong with Impulse to get patches? Valve makes you use Steam for their games.
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The difference is that I use Steam to purchase and download games. With Impulse all I am getting is a bleeding patch and nothing else.
 
phide said:
Having you download patches from Impulse is Stardock's means of reducing piracy by disincentivizing pirated copies. Impulse isn't malware/badware/spyware, so you don't need to worry about having it installed.
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And whatever happened to Stardock claiming they don't use DRM? They are liars and that claim was nothing but a publicity stunt. Sword of the Stars is a better game than GalCiv anyway and has no DRM at all.
 
Klob said:
And whatever happened to Stardock claiming they don't use DRM? They are liars and that claim was nothing but a publicity stunt. Sword of the Stars is a better game than GalCiv anyway and has no DRM at all.
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No, its a centralized place for all of their games, and for users to have one point of contact for updates and patches. Get your panties out of a wad.
 
I'm not wearing panties. Look, I just want the goddamn patch and not have to install an app and register to be able to get it. Fair enough, I will just make sure not to buy anymore future Stardock games. I'm sure that is what Brad intended from the beginning.
 
Klob said:
And whatever happened to Stardock claiming they don't use DRM? They are liars and that claim was nothing but a publicity stunt.
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DRM stands for digital rights management, where "management" effectively means "restriction". Sins of a Solar Empire does not employ any form of digital rights management. You can open the box and install it on as many machines you wish and resell it in whatever manner you see fit. No problem there.

If you want optional updates or additional content, you can get that for free -- again, without any form of DRM. All you need to do is register your copy and install Impulse, which is isn't in any way malicious, nor will it slow down your machine or restrict you from using any other software in any other way. It's as malicious as Notepad.

So, to make a long story short: They didn't lie, you're just misinformed. It'd do you well to learn a little bit about what you're talking about before throwing out silly accusations.

 
phide said:
So, to make a long story short: They didn't lie, you're just misinformed. It'd do you well to learn a little bit about what you're talking about before throwing out silly accusations.
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Klob tends to do it a lot :rolleyes:.
 
If I am forced to install an app and register then that is a form of DRM. Call it what you like but it is still an annoyance I can live without. I will give my support to companies like Matrixgames that have no DRM or copy protection apart from a simple serial number. And I am getting sick of seeing that stupid roll eyes icon from the peanut gallery brigade that have nothing of value to add to a thread.
 
Klob said:
If I am forced to install an app and register then that is a form of DRM.
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No.

Klob said:
Call it what you like but it is still an annoyance I can live without.
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Call it something that makes sense, like an annoyance, and you might find people in agreement.

Klob said:
I will give my support to companies like Matrixgames that have no DRM or copy protection apart from a simple serial number.
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Sounds like you're really confused. I can take my SoaSE CD, put it in my computer without any internet connection, and be playing with no problems.

Stardock having me use impulse and my CD key (the only time I use my CD key) in order to get updates, is not DRM. It is not copy protection. It is an attempt to leverage a customer base... and a very weak form of piracy management.

Klob said:
And I am getting sick of seeing that stupid roll eyes icon from the peanut gallery brigade that have nothing of value to add to a thread
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Well, from my perspective, they're adding more value than you are. Pointing out BS and wrong information for what it is is worth something... providing it... not so much.

:rolleyes:
 
Klob said:
I will give my support to companies like Matrixgames that have no DRM or copy protection apart from a simple serial number.
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Feel free to throw your money at a company that simply rehashes the same tired stuff over and over while charging a premium for each iteration. Really? $50 for a digital copy of a hex-based engine? Go right ahead.

Stardock has put out a quality product and actively supporting it. Requiring the installation of very small footprint portal application to retrieve patches is hardly the invasive "DRM" that you seem to be spouting on about.
 
Riftsaw said:
Looks like you're just searching for a reason to dump on Stardock.
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That's what it looks like to me too. Seeing people trashing a company like Stardock for what seems like no reason at all just bugs the hell out of me.

Hell, I've installed Impulse without actually ever having used it for anything. It's just number 237 of 334 apps (or whatever) I have installed on this rig. No big deal.

 
I didn't like impulse. I installed it and it kept trying to send unapproved information out when I booted my computer (and the program was set to not automatically start) so I uninstalled it.

As far as a downloading service it is leaps and bounds ahead of stardock central, but it is still cluttered and unweildy.
 
I haven't used Impulse yet since the last game I bought was GalCiv II: Dark Avatar. However, I find that Stardock generally has one of the least invasive form of DRM. I don't even bother to register my game with them unless I'm looking for a patch.

I can appreciate that some people do not like installing a program just to get a simple patch. But having purchased GalCiv I & II, I personally would not mind installing Impulse for future patches of those games or for any of their newer games.

GalCiv III?
 
Demigod and Elemental are their currently announced projects. Along with the Sins of a Solar Empire expansions, but that goes without saying :)

I like Impulse, I plan to purchase all of Stardock's games through it from now on. Gotta support companies who like to go against the tide.
 
PanzerBoxb said:
$50 for a digital copy of a hex-based engine?
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Those hexes actually serve a purpose and are not there as eye candy. I went and installed the dreaded Impulse and looked at their game catalog. Most of the games they are selling are B grade shovel-ware so I wouldn't be bashing Matrixgames too much. Had to send them name, email address, create username and password. All that for a patch, wonderful. And anyone who doesn't think Impulse is a form of DRM is just naive.

Oh yea, went and tried to run GalCivII on my other PC today and it said my hardware config had changed so it wouldn't run. Didn't know the patch for GalCivII was going to tie the activation to my hardware when I installed that. Yea, last patch I installed for GalCivII required activation. And you don't think that is DRM? :rolleyes:
 
Impulse served me Space Rangers 2: Reboot, one of my favorite games of all time. I like Impulse :D

I did hit a bit of a speed bump when I first tried Impulse though. When I purchased Space Rangers 2 on the Stardock website, it asked me to install Impulse, so I did. When I ran impulse for the first time it said it was updating and the program seemed to hang, so I closed it. I opened it again and tried to register Space Rangers only to find it wasn't on the list of games to register nor was it listed under "My Games".

After relentless forum hunting for answers I ended up re-installing Impulse and this time waited patiently for the program to update. After that, Space Rangers 2 was then showing in the "My Games" section.

I wrote an email to Stardock suggesting they implement a progress bar for the initial program update as it did not show any indication that it was working. I don't know if they did anything with that suggestion but it sure would prevent the same thing happening to others.

Since then, Impulse has been hassle free.
 
I have Space Rangers2 but I bought the Cinemaware version and didn't know it contained Starforce. :mad:
 
Klob said:
I have Space Rangers2 but I bought the Cinemaware version and didn't know it contained Starforce. :mad:
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Yeouch.. I wonder if updating to Reboot would remove the starforce protection. As far as I know, Stardocks games don't come with any DRM. I could be wrong tho, as I quite regularly am :confused:
 
Klob said:
Those hexes actually serve a purpose and are not there as eye candy. I went and installed the dreaded Impulse and looked at their game catalog. Most of the games they are selling are B grade shovel-ware so I wouldn't be bashing Matrixgames too much. Had to send them name, email address, create username and password. All that for a patch, wonderful. And anyone who doesn't think Impulse is a form of DRM is just naive.

Oh yea, went and tried to run GalCivII on my other PC today and it said my hardware config had changed so it wouldn't run. Didn't know the patch for GalCivII was going to tie the activation to my hardware when I installed that. Yea, last patch I installed for GalCivII required activation. And you don't think that is DRM? :rolleyes:
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I have the same copy of galciv2 on several different computers and have never had an issues running it. Honestly from what you are saying it doesn't sound like DRM, it sounds like you need to rerun the setup of the game because you changed your hardware. Not every program out there adapts automatically when you replace a video card or some other hardware, sometimes you do need to reinstall.
 
The thing is I never changed any hardware. Doesn't matter as I have uninstalled it now. It was just a copy I borrowed from a friend to see how it compared to the original GalCiv. The point isa that Brad Wardell brags that his games do not contain any copy protection and he used that as a self promotion publicity stunt and they don't contain any CP. That is, until you need a patch, then the game contains CP so IMO he lied as to claiming his games are CP and DRM free. Not many people want to play an unpatched game.

I doubt Stardock will let me update SR2 because it is not the version published by them.
 
The problem you don't get is that Impulse has been non beta for only a little while, and their just now making it automated.

Your not limited to amounts of installs, or what pcs you use SOASE on whether you use Stardock Central or Impulse, so understand your still free to continue being your own ignorant self.

And btw, the reason for Stadock's game store is the simple fact that, their just now getting developers to noitce and add games.

Try and imagine them as 2005 steam and you'll get the point.
 
Klob, from the posts that I've read here you strike me as someone who makes up thier mind about something, and then looks for evidence in support... ignoring anything that suggests they might be wrong.

I hope that I'm wrong and you're just not saying what you mean, but so far it's appeared that you've ignored the definition of words, you've ignored reality, and you're fixated on finding something to incite others to hate Stardock as much as you appear to regardless of the truthfulness of the something you find.

Hint, you'll have a lot less pushback if you made true statements or statements of opinion. For example:

Bad) Stardock is evil because Impulse is DRM! (this is factually false)
Good) Stardock makes you install Impulse to update games. That's annoying as hell. (this is factually true and contains your opinions of said facts)

Stick to facts and your opinion thereof and you'll have people treating you much nicer. (and more seriously)
 
It's quite simple

Impulse == Download Manager != Digital Rights Manager

Instead of using a website to register on & gain an update, you have a fairly lite application that provides a good feature set to do what Stardock wants done.
 
Seriously, since they don't include DRM in the game the primary way they discourage piracy is through requiring registration for patching. I see no problem with that at all and wished all gaming companies did it.

There is no DRM, you just have to prove you actually own the game to get any support. No problems there.
 
Zellio2009 said:
Your not limited to amounts of installs, or what pcs you use SOASE on whether you use Stardock Central or Impulse, so understand your still free to continue being your own ignorant self.
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Impulse itself is the DRM. WTF should I be forced to install Impulse for a retail game I bought at a store a long time ago just to get a patch on a game that Stardock claimed has no DRM? BY using Impulse I am allowing Stardock to know more aobut me than I want to and allowing them to connect to my PC to see what Stardock games I have installed to get a patch. That is not what I agreed to in the EULA of the copy I bought. Changing the goal posts after I bought the game does not sit well with me.
 
Did the EULA happen to mention anything about post-purchase support (e.g. patches) at all? No?

The "goal posts" haven't changed.

 
Klob said:
If I am forced to install an app and register then that is a form of DRM. Call it what you like but it is still an annoyance I can live without. I will give my support to companies like Matrixgames that have no DRM or copy protection apart from a simple serial number. And I am getting sick of seeing that stupid roll eyes icon from the peanut gallery brigade that have nothing of value to add to a thread.
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Who's forcing you to patch the game? You can play the game just fine without it, something that DRM would NOT let you do.

I think it's a great idea to not implement DRM with their software, but to support their paying customers with patches/updates. You did buy SofSE, right? ...right?

I didn't even know about Impulse until recently, was playing SofSE and GalCiv 2 just fine without it.
 
I installed Impulse after I reformated my computer and reloaded the OS. After installing Impluse I didn't have to find my DVD and re-install, I just clicked the button and it installed all the stuff I had bought from Stardock. Gal Civ II, Sins, ObjectDock, etc.

Oh wait, I bought Sins via the Stardock website, so it just added it to my old Stardock Central, so I was playing the game that night. A few nights later I got my DVD with all the extra goodies.

Oh yeah, I also have it installed on my laptop, and desktop, so I can play it when I travel or when I am home. Truely they are putting much onerous DRM on their products.

Oh, and I have replaced my laptop once, and desktop once during the time since I bought Gal Civ II. They really are bastards, I mean letting me put it on both my machines, and let me get new machines and put them on there too. Bastards all of them. :rolleyes:
 
Klob said:
I couldn't care less how people treat me and this is not a popularity contest.
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If you don't care, then why the heck are you posting?

Obviously you care or you wouldn't be trying to convince people you're right.
 
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