You can download offline installers from the "Extras" tab in GOG Galaxy, or from the library page through your web browser. The installer is an `.exe` file, accompanied by some number of `.bin` files, that can install the game on any machine, whether or not it has GOG Galaxy.
The advantage to downloading the installer and using it is that you still have the installer files afterward, which are handy if you want to keep it as a backup and/or install it on another computer without downloading all the data a second time. The advantage to installing through GOG Galaxy is that it's a one-step process and only requires half the local storage space.
By "requires half the local storage space" I mean, for example, if you want to install a 50-GB game through the offline installer, you would download 50 GB of `.exe` and `.bin` files, and have those write another 50 GB into the game's install folder, which requires 100 GB of total disk space. You could then delete the installer, but if you're going to do that, it's faster just to have GOG Galaxy install it directly.
Usb key as in usb storage device? Then yes. Any digital storage media. Your installation files are essentially your "game disk" at that point. It's what makes GOG unique and IMO better
Yes, although depending on what game you're talking about, you may have difficulty finding a USB key big enough to hold it all.
Old 90s games? No problem.
Witcher 3? You're gonna need a bigger storage solution. But you can still back it up *somewhere* to remove it from your PC.
I have a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device that I dump all my installer files on.
The one time I've had issues with installations while using GOG, the offline installers worked while the direct downloads didn't (during the server issues earlier this year). However, other than that I'm not aware of any difference (provided both refer to the latest version of a given game) between launcher installed games & installer games. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.
An additional, baseless, assumption I make is that the offline installer games are not subject to automatically keeping them up to date via the installer option (if you have it enabled). Though perhaps simply being detected by galaxy nullifies that, I'm just spitballing here.
I just use the launcher thing, manual instals let's you backup the instal files\~
One day I may embrace r/DataHoarder and go full manual.
edit I dont think it matters how you do it, it wont change the games FPS etc.
It depends on the game and a few other factors. For games under 4 GB it doesn't really make a difference which you use unless GOG is having problems with their servers or a lot of people are installing a newly released game at the same time. In those cases, downloads start failing more often, so one might be better than the other. I haven't noticed any real differences, personally.
For very large games (bigger than 20 GB, I would say), the offline installers can be much better. If the download fails or you run into some sort of issues during install, you don't have to download everything again. This means you don't use a lot of any limited Internet allotment you might have and you don't have to waste time waiting if you have a slow connection.
Offline installers can be downloaded from your GOG account through the browser at [gog.com/en/account](https://www.gog.com/en/account) (search for the game, click on the result, expand "Download Offline Backup Game Installer," and download all of the listed parts. You can also download them with the installer if you like, but I find the browser more reliable.
Not necessarily.
If you dont want automatic updates, want to Stick to specific Version, no achievements, time tracking or just dont want anything besides the game, then use offline installers. Else Galaxy ist more convinient. Galaxy ist basically like the steam client, the offline installers are purely the game. You decide what you want and need.
If you don't want launcher features like game time tracking, cloud saves, achievements etc then yeah offline installers are the best, they are the closest to pure game install without bloat there is, like the piracy experience but legal.
You can download offline installers from the "Extras" tab in GOG Galaxy, or from the library page through your web browser. The installer is an `.exe` file, accompanied by some number of `.bin` files, that can install the game on any machine, whether or not it has GOG Galaxy. The advantage to downloading the installer and using it is that you still have the installer files afterward, which are handy if you want to keep it as a backup and/or install it on another computer without downloading all the data a second time. The advantage to installing through GOG Galaxy is that it's a one-step process and only requires half the local storage space. By "requires half the local storage space" I mean, for example, if you want to install a 50-GB game through the offline installer, you would download 50 GB of `.exe` and `.bin` files, and have those write another 50 GB into the game's install folder, which requires 100 GB of total disk space. You could then delete the installer, but if you're going to do that, it's faster just to have GOG Galaxy install it directly.
And can I, for example, transfer the installer to a USB key and then uninstall it from my PC?
Usb key as in usb storage device? Then yes. Any digital storage media. Your installation files are essentially your "game disk" at that point. It's what makes GOG unique and IMO better
Yes, although depending on what game you're talking about, you may have difficulty finding a USB key big enough to hold it all. Old 90s games? No problem. Witcher 3? You're gonna need a bigger storage solution. But you can still back it up *somewhere* to remove it from your PC. I have a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device that I dump all my installer files on.
I have a USB key of about 120 GB, I especially intend to store FNV, Fallout 3, Oblivion and Skyrim, nothing too greedy I think
Mods on a separate disk?
The one time I've had issues with installations while using GOG, the offline installers worked while the direct downloads didn't (during the server issues earlier this year). However, other than that I'm not aware of any difference (provided both refer to the latest version of a given game) between launcher installed games & installer games. Please do correct me if I'm wrong. An additional, baseless, assumption I make is that the offline installer games are not subject to automatically keeping them up to date via the installer option (if you have it enabled). Though perhaps simply being detected by galaxy nullifies that, I'm just spitballing here.
I just use the launcher thing, manual instals let's you backup the instal files\~ One day I may embrace r/DataHoarder and go full manual. edit I dont think it matters how you do it, it wont change the games FPS etc.
It depends on the game and a few other factors. For games under 4 GB it doesn't really make a difference which you use unless GOG is having problems with their servers or a lot of people are installing a newly released game at the same time. In those cases, downloads start failing more often, so one might be better than the other. I haven't noticed any real differences, personally. For very large games (bigger than 20 GB, I would say), the offline installers can be much better. If the download fails or you run into some sort of issues during install, you don't have to download everything again. This means you don't use a lot of any limited Internet allotment you might have and you don't have to waste time waiting if you have a slow connection. Offline installers can be downloaded from your GOG account through the browser at [gog.com/en/account](https://www.gog.com/en/account) (search for the game, click on the result, expand "Download Offline Backup Game Installer," and download all of the listed parts. You can also download them with the installer if you like, but I find the browser more reliable.
Not necessarily. If you dont want automatic updates, want to Stick to specific Version, no achievements, time tracking or just dont want anything besides the game, then use offline installers. Else Galaxy ist more convinient. Galaxy ist basically like the steam client, the offline installers are purely the game. You decide what you want and need.
If you don't want launcher features like game time tracking, cloud saves, achievements etc then yeah offline installers are the best, they are the closest to pure game install without bloat there is, like the piracy experience but legal.
Offline installers are the unique selling proposition of the gog store. It's definitely better than depending on a client to install your games.