How does buying Demigod online work?

I want to buy Demigod online, but have a few quick questions I hope someone can answer.

How does the download from store.stardock.com work? Do I have to install a program that will run in the systray like Steam and download from there?

Is it a one time only download or can I download it again later?

Can I make a backup of the download?

Is it an .iso image perhaps?

Any info of the process appreciated. I just want to know how the process is before I buy it.

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Downloads are handled through the Impulse client. It's similar to Steam, except that the always-on tray app is optional, and the Impulse client is not required to be running to play. The game will be automatically registered to your Stardock/Impulse account, which is what you will use to log in for online play.

You can download it as many times as you need to, there is no limit.

You can make a backup, but not an .iso. Impulse uses its own encryption and file format and so you'll need the client to install from the archive. You can also use Impulse Anywhere (http://anywhere.impulsedriven.com) to download pre-made archives that will still require Impulse to install from, but won't need an active internet connection on the target PC if that's an issue for you.

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You need to install Impulse to download the game:

http://www.impulsedriven.com/

Once the game is installed, unlike Steam, you do not have to have Impulse running in order to play Demigod. You will need Impulse to install updates, however.

You download it again as many times as you want to as many PCs as you want.

You can archive the download and burn that to a DVD to be used for a reinstall. It is not an iso image; it uses their archive format.

Edit: Ooh, beaten to it; plus the Impulse Anywhere info!

-HM

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Great, thanks for the replies guys!

Ok, see if I get this.

I have to install Impulse. Impulse downloads and installs the game. Impulse is not needed after the download except for updates.

Impulse Anywhere is a downloader to download the files needed by Impulse to install a game, but Impulse Anywhere doesn't install it, just download. These files can also be backed up and installed with Impulse at a later time.

Correct so far?

Lastly - does online play work yet..?

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Right on everything. The online play barely works, in my opinion. It's tough to get an online game going, and when I did it was quite laggy. I had the game during the beta, and it was much smoother then. With luck they'll sort out a good deal of the multiplayer issues over the next few weeks, although with their choice of peer-to-peer technology as the basis for the MP, I still think there will be some problems with certain people trying to play online.

-HM

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Online play I think depends on who you ask. It's been working fine for me without even needing to forward ports (which was the whole idea behind it). It should work for most with forwarded ports. But people with really bad routers and/or ISP limitations (since it is P2P) cause problems for the game they try to join. If you get a game with people who have it all working, it plays great. Otherwise, it's a bit of a hassle.

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I also agree with Annatar that I don't believe you have to forward the ports they say you do (with the exception of the person who initially hosts, who I believe needs to forward the one UDP port: 6073). But I sat for 2 hours trying last night, and even though I could connect to people and usually get into a lobby, only once did we get to the point of launching the game. When we did, one person instantly dropped, and even so, the game lagged like crazy. Could've been a bad connection to one player, who had well over 200 ping to me.

-HM

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Well, the port forward is to help the NAT Facilitator, it's actually a different port range than the game host (the range starts at 6100 I believe).

Brad did post in another thread that the instant dropping is a known issue and will need GPG's input to fix since that's actually part of the netcode, on their side they can just just relax the time limit a bit.

I'll admit that I don't play custom, though, and only had time for one Pantheon game last night after the latest server upgrade but it went very smooth and everyone connected in the 2v2 in about 20-30 seconds.

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