How to preserve our games for future use?

[Bert the Derp]

Hey Forum,

 

I'm reading / watching the news about content providers simply removing content from ppl, what they already bought (looking at you Sony  ) and since similar things happened to me on Steam too, I was wondering.

I'm from the age where we stored the content on physical media. Cassettes, CD, then DVD.... Now, obviously, this is not a solution when a game install requires 150+ GB. I remembered, Linus and his group made something in the past as a local cache for your games to download. That was the "Lan Cache" video.

 

Now, this is super and all and I believe this MIGHT be the solution to my issue. All I want is to preserve my games even is Steam or any other gaming library platform removes it from their store and I want capability to still install it if I want to. Have any of you actually tried it and worked? Were you able to install games that were pulled out from the online store, but were cached on your Lan Cache?

Or if you have better ideas, how to keep my games and not to worry about they getting removed, that would be great.

[8tg]

Local downloads, cracked launchers, and modifying the game to remove DRM, internet access requirements and sometimes the entire launcher.

 

GoG is pretty good for this and any game you want that you can buy on GoG, you should. So you always have simply an offline executable you can use at your discretion.

[Mumintroll]

When companies like Sony and Valve and others remove the games and media, or restrict access by implementing newer system requirements, they justify piracy. It's wrong to suddenly lose access to what you've paid for.

 

Many Win 7 & 8 users are boiling of anger because Steam stopping the support, and some Win 10 users are worried about their future when their OS will be unsupported and perhaps they cannot update to Win 11, with the TPM requirements.

[jaslion]

Pirated copies stored somewhere locally or in a online place.

 

Most of the pirated copies from like fitgirl for example focus on HEAVY compression of the install. Like I remember gta V which is normally 100gb+ download was 40 or so. Saved me heaps of download time and I just told steam to verify game files and played on.

[Bert the Derp]

42 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Pirated copies stored somewhere locally or in a online place.

 

Most of the pirated copies from like fitgirl for example focus on HEAVY compression of the install. Like I remember gta V which is normally 100gb+ download was 40 or so. Saved me heaps of download time and I just told steam to verify game files and played on.

Yee, probably this is going to be the best solution. Now, would you help me make a custom installer application to install my "pirated" (some are just simply CD RIPs) games from the network from an ISO? I don't want it to be just a network folder that I open, double click the ISO and install as usual. I want the comfort that the game stores provide. A simple, one click install solution. Or maybe I'M aiming too high?

[thrasher_565]

its been a problem for a long time and number one reason to emulation. nintendo dose not want you to keep playing mario kart when they want you buying and playing the new mario kart. so making new games meh for replayability is the norm.

even if you emulate there other problems with it or part plaing on console and part preserving it like a modded console or everdrive. i triyed it on wii i got a mod chip in it and a way i can back up games to a hdd but only like 50% of them worked and i didnt no how to back up the games on the hdd... so i gave up. i buy games when i can and switch games are already expensive and ill everdrive the rest. i do have steam and also use w7 but im building a gaming pc for w/e os to keep playing my steam for now. but buy games on gog when posable. moding games to work off line is an up hill battle.

 

i just got tiberian sun on cd off ebay a moth a go.