[Mergatroid]

Is it legal (or has it ever been, technically) to download Freespace 1 and 2 since Good old Games is now selling both?  I'm just wondering because I don't want anyone here to get in trouble for anything.






And so I can download it before I have to pay for it. 

But seriously, I'm just looking out for you guys.   

[Jeff Vader]

Downloading both FreeSpace and FreeSpace 2 is illegal. But it is good to keep in mind that there are far more horrible crimes than downloading a couple'o ten-year-old games without paying.

So... you know. Hush hush...

[DREDHAWK]

It dosnt matter for me I have copies of both games and the silent threat add on. 

[Akalabeth Angel]

     Seriously people, I don't care how old it is.
     It's going to be 5-10 dollars, anyone can afford it. The "I can't find it anywhere" excuse isn't going to cut it anymore. Not to mention you can get the games, in a box, for like 3 bucks+shipping off a certain auction site.

     

[Jeff Vader]

K... In that case my excuse is that when I download FS from teh Interwebs, I contribute to saving the planet, since I only get the game I want and not a boatload of papers and plastic with it.

[Akalabeth Angel]

K... In that case my excuse is that when I download FS from teh Interwebs, I contribute to saving the planet, since I only get the game I want and not a boatload of papers and plastic with it.

       That would be true if Freespace was print on demand, but it's not. Freespace along with most computer games are printed X number of times and therefore there are X number of such games in circulation. By not buying a copy of the game you're not saving anything, you just ensure that that the paper and plastic sit in someone's store/house instead of your own.

 
       Not to mention the fact that soon you'll be able to do exactly that, pay for a game from Great Old Games, and not get a hardcopy. Whenever their store opens up.

[Jeff Vader]

K... In that case my excuse is that when I download FS from teh Interwebs, I contribute to saving the planet, since I only get the game I want and not a boatload of papers and plastic with it.

       That would be true if Freespace was print on demand, but it's not. Freespace along with most computer games are printed X number of times and therefore there are X number of such games in circulation. By not buying a copy of the game you're not saving anything, you just ensure that that the paper and plastic sit in someone's store/house instead of your own.

But by keeping up my Ways of Teh Evil^TM, I encourage publishers to give up and just distribute their games via teh Interwebs with some means.

Or alternatively, if I don't buy the printed game, someone else indeed will. And in that case, it is the other person's fault, because he now owns unnecessary paper and plastic ****.

[Akalabeth Angel]

But by keeping up my Ways of Teh Evil^TM, I encourage publishers to give up and just distribute their games via teh Interwebs with some means.

     It's called "Steam"

[Mongoose]

Now that FS2 is (or will soon be) available via Good Old Games, I kind of feel like there's no reason for us to keep condoning posting the download links around here.  That was all well and good when the only way to get your hands on the game legally was to pay $120 on eBay, but now that we have a cheap, DRM-free means of obtaining it, one would think that we'd want to encourage supporting the company that's making it available again.

[WMCoolmon]

But by keeping up my Ways of Teh Evil^TM, I encourage publishers to give up and just distribute their games via teh Interwebs with some means.

Or alternatively, if I don't buy the printed game, someone else indeed will. And in that case, it is the other person's fault, because he now owns unnecessary paper and plastic ****.

It's a $6 game that's been out for ten years. If you want to try and save the planet, go not buy a game that's $50 and was just released. You'll be depriving the game company of at least ten times the amount of money you will be by buying Freespace.

In a roundabout way, you're supporting the community by buying it instead of illegally downloading it, since Interplay can say that they got a sale because of you and because of this community. If you download it illegally from this community, well, you can hardly complain about the price given the content you're getting with it. It's probably not that much more than the CD, the cost of packaging, and the infrastructure required to distribute it at $6.

If that's not good enough, look at it this way - you're getting several shiny coasters and an extra cereal box for when you travel.

[Jeff Vader]

Alright. Alright! If someone dies a slow and horrible death because of my actions, I'll send a formal letter of apology.

[chief1983]

Steam is an annoying method of distribution.  I hate paying for something that has to check back with big brother to see if I can use it.  GOG is the way to go, I'm guessing you're just downloading an exe or an ISO or something, either way you could easily make yourself a hard copy of it once you've downloaded it, that you should be able to use, I'm guessing without GOG.

[Akalabeth Angel]

Steam is an annoying method of distribution.  I hate paying for something that has to check back with big brother to see if I can use it.  GOG is the way to go, I'm guessing you're just downloading an exe or an ISO or something, either way you could easily make yourself a hard copy of it once you've downloaded it, that you should be able to use, I'm guessing without GOG.

      Oh I hate Steam with a bloody passion too. It's more of a copyright protection tool than a distribution method in my opinion. Especially seeing as how a game, I bought from a store, cannot be played without an internet connection to Steam to verify the fact I own the game I have in my hand (not to mention to download the last 5% of the game which apparently didn't come in a box).
      But I'll cut the rant short this time.

[lenard27]

FreeSpace and FreeSpace2 are both $5.99 US at Good Old Games. Quite a deal, especially considering FreeSpace also comes with Silent Threat. So there really is no excuse to download it for free.

 Off-Topic: I do like that site, I just wish they had a bigger selection.

[chief1983]

If someone does buy it, I'd like to know exactly what you end up downloading.  I would buy it but I already have FS1, ST and FS2.

[Getter Robo G]

QUESTION......

WE (the company I work for) last printed FS2 that Nov of 2002/3? about 500 copies.
I secretly think it was bogus from Schoolpop.com (I pimped them at $15.00 a pop+shipping  for FS2), but since the paperwork was legit we made them and shipped them to the NEW Distributor...

Did GOG get the rights permission from Interplay to do this? (Digital Download)...

[chief1983]

They do seem to be securing the rights from a lot of publishers, I think Interplay might be one of them.  Interplay has been reaching out towards various methods of distribution of their old titles lately.  But it is something I would like to know for sure as well.

[tinfoil]

will the upgrade scp still be available or did GOG murder that too?

[chief1983]

Uhm, GOG hasn't murdered anything.  On the contrary, they've given FS2 fans a legal way to acquire the game we all love (I hope) at a more than fair price, which should support Interplay as well.  And they can't take back the fact that the engine is open source, that's like worrying that open source Doom engine projects would end because id started selling Doom again on Steam.  If all goes well, this could become the preferred way to acquire the original FS content, but the MediaVP enhancements will always be around for free, as well as the SCP engine.

[tinfoil]

ok that's what i was wondering. also since freespace was afaik considered abandonware does this mean GOG now has custody of it?