1) No key at all? Not on the manual or cd case? (I have digital dl, so I don't know where the key is supposed to be). You aren't asked on install, but registering the account needs the serial number. If there really isn't any, there are 2 things you can do.. first, go back to the store you got it from and show it to them. A lot of stores remove the cd key stickers and are supposed to put them back when you buy it, but sometimes they forget. If that doesn't do anything, take a picture of the manual or cd case (wherever it's supposed to be) and your store receipt, and send them to support@stardock.com so they could issue you a key.

2) AFAIK, it's supposed to launch Impulse (http://www.impulsedriven.com). See this thread that describes account registration: http://forums.demigodthegame.com/346099

You can download the Impulse client from the above link if for whatever reason it's not launching from the game. You will need it to patch, but otherwise it's not required to run to play the game (though it does display rankings, games in progress, and allow you to join games). Registering the account will also let you re-download Demigod whenever you need to.

Hope this helps a bit!

Er, well, do they just throw them away? That's a bit odd.. but according to stormcrow the key is on the manual so if you can't get the manual you would have to email SD support (support@stardock.com) and figure something out with them

If it is the official Russian release by Snowball/1C, you should contact Snowball support. AFAIK you must register with them first, then they issue you a serial to use with Impulse/Multiplayer. If it is not the Snowball/1C release then it's probably an illegal booteg copy, and you're pretty much out of luck.

as you can see its a legal original game but with no manual
this is not the first time i buy games and usally the key is right there above the disk
nothing in there as you can see...

ты купил пиратку, русская боксовая версия от 1с выглядит не так...

картонная коробка (сзади скрины из игры с теснением), сам бокс из прозрачного белого пластика (под диск выемка только на одной строне, на другой стороне крепление для книжки), внутри книжка с описанием героев и под диском стикер с кодом

Man, 15 years and I can barely read Russian anymore, yipes.

Please understand that if it is a bootleg copy (you'd be surprised just how fancy they make them these days--they do it professionally and have actual factories, etc), you're the victim here and are not guilty of anything, so don't think you're being accused of anything. You wanted to do the right thing and buy the game and we thank you for that.

This is what the box should look like for retail copies in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in the areas Snowball publishes for, from Snowball's site (the large DVD-sized one is a collector's/gift edition, the small CD jewel-case one is the normal version):

The only other retail version that is out already is the North America release, which looks quite different. Your picture is probably most similar to the Atari Europe box (the PC DVD part in the top corner), but they don't serve Ukraine and theirs won't even be out for another month or so (so it is likely not yet or still in manufacturing).

There are definitely very good bootleg copies out there already--there have been users who reported them for sale in Eastern Europe already before Snowball even got theirs on shelves.

Bottom line though--as before, Snowball is in charge of Ukraine distribution so they would be the final authority on what is authentic. So if you contact them they should be able to find out.