quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
I'm still waiting to hear whether the former VM games will be rereleased without the registration hooks. It's great not having to worry about connectivity during game play, but if there will be a completely Internet-free release in the future, I'd like to know before I buy.
Perigee, the versions available right now can be installed completely VM-free. Let me elaborate while it's all still fresh in my head.
When you put the CD in for the first time and click play/install, all GC games pop up a dialog box asking what pieces you want to install. All the old games, your only options were "Game Application" and "DirectX". The 5 VM games have an additional checkbox called "Virtual Mate Launcher". Just un-check that box and VM will NOT be installed.
I'm quite anal about what exactly is installed on my PC, and I made very sure that VM was indeed NOT installed.
This was true for all 4 that I bought except for one (Pick Me Honey I think). That one didn't have the VML checkbox on the install menu, but even so it did NOT install VM. Apparently that game requires you to install VM separately and doesn't do it for you automatically.
Then, after installed, go to the GC support site, type in the 24 (?) digit key code from the back of the VM manual inside the box, and you'll be able to download the patch for the game. You can download the patch 5 times. They say to delete the patches after installation, but I think I'll be saving them on a CD in case I need them later. Anyway I'm not sharing them with anyone, and that's what's important.
Verified the unpatched versions tried to phone home, applied the patches, and confirmed that everything works perfectly after applying the patch. (Verified with an unplugged ethernet cable and disabled wireless).
Of course you can still wait if you want to, but you don't have to. And who knows for sure if they'll ever do another print run.