Possible to get Pirates of the Caribbean on GOG.com?

[Pieter Boelen]

Does anyone know if GOG.com was ever contacted directly about our dear pirate games?
I am very seriously considering sending them a message to check if they have any plans regarding "Sea Dogs 2"; see if we can't nudge them in that direction....
They already covered the first and third game in the series;
but it is the second one that keeps getting renewed interest whenever we post a new modpack update.

I highly doubt Disney would allow them to change the name though - should PotC ever make it to GOG. They want to milk that name for every little doubloon they possibly can... also understandable from a business point of view.

Indeed the whole Disney business probably doesn't simplify matters.

It wasn't released under that name though in Russia, I think; there it was probably just "Corsairs 2".

 

[Flannery]

This true, but I suspect Disney have rights onvolved on all English spoken releases. Probably noone on the Russian. Which probably means they cannot release it as Corsairs 2 in English.

Unless they were smart and Disney made a poo poo when drafting up the deal. And that does not really sound realistic either.

But I am at least grasping at straws - hoping for a miracle anyway

 

[Pieter Boelen]

hoping for a miracle anyway

I think I'll send GOG.com a message. We can at least ask the question; then we'll see what happens.

 

[Thagarr]

Does anyone know if GOG.com was ever contacted directly about our dear pirate games?

I have not contacted them directly, I know someone from PA did many years ago, just after GOG first went online during our first efforts to get them to carry the game, but I forget who it was. It certainly wouldn't hurt to contact them.

This is just pure speculation on my part, but I am wondering if the delay has something to do with the Intel graphics problem. That would be an even bigger issue for the general gamer population than it has been for us, and it has certainly been a monumental issue for us! If I recall correctly, it was still there with AOP, but to a lesser extent, and Storm 2.8 for CoAS seemed to really make it less of an issue. I have no clue what the differences were though.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

This is just pure speculation on my part, but I am wondering if the delay has something to do with the Intel graphics problem. That would be an even bigger issue for the general gamer population than it has been for us, and it has certainly been a monumental issue for us! If I recall correctly, it was still there with AOP, but to a lesser extent, and Storm 2.8 for CoAS seemed to really make it less of an issue. I have no clue what the differences were though.

As far as I'm aware, the Intel graphics problem has been an issue in EVERY game in the series, starting with the first Sea Dogs and it still affects even CoAS.
At least... I thought it did.

Of all the games affected by the issue, PotC is the ONLY one that does have a good and workable solution:
Intel Graphics Fix addon - Pirates of the Caribbean: New Horizons mod for Pirates of the Caribbean

All the others are still forced to rely on the Software Rendering workaround:
SwiftShader V2.0 Demo download - Age of Pirates: Historical Immersion Supermod for Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales

So if anything should NOT be a problem specifically for PotC, it is that.

 

[Thagarr]

There were several CoAS players with Intel graphics that were able to play the game straight out of the box. I was as shocked at that as you are! It maye have been a combination of Storm 2.8 and Intel hardware and driver changes though.

Swiftshader works, yes, but it absolutely kills performance. The Latest Intel fix is much better, but there are other issues with that one too.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

There were several CoAS players with Intel graphics that were able to play the game straight out of the box. I was as shocked at that as you are! It maye have been a combination of Storm 2.8 and Intel hardware and driver changes though.

It could indeed be better in CoAS. I do vaguely recall something about that, which is definitely a good thing.

Swiftshader works, yes, but it absolutely kills performance.

Yep. That probably affects "Caribbean Tales" the most.

The Latest Intel fix is much better, but there are other issues with that one too.

With the latest Intel Fix for PotC, the only issue is that it disables the reflective layer of the sea.
It has to, because that is specifically what crashes the game on Intel cards.

Admittedly not 100% ideal. But compared to the game not working at all, it is a small price to pay.
I am not aware of any other issues with it at all.

 

[Thagarr]

That is the issue I was referring too, just couldn't remember the specifics right off.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

That is the issue I was referring too, just couldn't remember the specifics right off.

Quite a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. Not 100% ideal, but so much better than "game crashes" or "terrible performance".
I don't think a better solution to the Intel Issue could possibly be made. Not without an engine upgrade, which obviously isn't happening.

Long story short: I think out of all the Storm Engine games, PotC has the smallest issue with Intel GFX cards.

 

[Armada]

Long story short: I think out of all the Storm Engine games, PotC has the smallest issue with Intel GFX cards.

Did the original Sea Dogs have the same problems with Intel hardware? If so, then I'm guessing that shouldn't be one of the issues stopping PotC from being on GOG.

I recall trying CoAS on my Intel-powered laptop some time ago, and it did indeed work without crashing. I assume Storm 2.8 is the main reason for it.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Did the original Sea Dogs have the same problems with Intel hardware?

I seem to vaguely remember seeing some people posting on the forum about that.
But I never had Sea Dogs and there aren't all that many people who drop by here to post about it, so chances are that I'm misremembering.

If so, then I'm guessing that shouldn't be one of the issues stopping PotC from being on GOG.

I do know for absolute certain that Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales does have the problem,
so I'm assuming that applies to the renamed version they currently have on GOG.com as well.

I recall trying CoAS on my Intel-powered laptop some time ago, and it did indeed work without crashing. I assume Storm 2.8 is the main reason for it.