since someone on another site said the other day that this game doesn't have an installer/exe file (this was 2 nights ago) I decided to buy the game as a d/l and see exactly what he means and also to test this game (as well as play it).

Originally I d/l this game from Gamers Gate on my Acer laptop (runs windows 7) installed it on that computer,

then I decided to try and see what would happen if I simply copied the game's installer from my Acer laptop's My Documents folder, and pasted the installer onto my Dell laptop, and clicked on it.

Ok, I did this, and guess what? The downloader zeroed in on Gamers Gate with no searching online/prompting from me (it showed up as a small dialogue box onscreen with a progress bar indicator) and it started d/l the game proper (since this was now on a Core 2 Duo CPU PC w/ XP instead of the Acer (which has an i3 370M CPU) it took ~20 minutes for the game proper to d/l.

As soon as the downloading finished, the setup dialogue came onscreen asking if I wanted to install the game. This time since I wanted to check what kinds of game proper files there were in this new d/l to see if there was an install/exe file in there somewhere, I clicked "no" on the setup dialogue, it asked if I wanted to delete the temp files or to keep all files (if I wanted to install later), I chose "keep all files to install later)" and exited the setup dialouge.

Next I went into My Documents (on the Dell PC - XP), found a Gamers Gate temporary files folder there, opened it, found another folder with the numbers 50836 next to it, opened this, found 3 files in there - a launch file (R-clicking it and selecting "properties" says its a Type: file - no exe, etc extension) and 2 VLC media files, named start-0, and start-1, both of these files have a .bin extension, so this tells me they're binary files (possibly containing the game's code, maybe).

Then, I tried clicking on the launch file in this folder with the numbers 50836 next to it, and since this file would not respond of itself, I used the "Open With" and associated it with the 1953 KGB downloader, and the setup dialogue appeared onscreen once again. This time I happened to check the spot where that launch file was inside the 50836 folder, this launch file was now replaced by a official-looking "Start" setup/uninstall icon - your usual fare for normal game installation.

New to run 1953 KGB's setup dialouge - I clicked "next," dialouge gives me the default directory in which to install the game, I chose the default, click "next," it says folder doesn't exist - create this folder? I chose "yes," and "next," it then asks to create a desktop icon or a quick launch icon, I chose "desktop icon," and "next," it now displays (in braod daylight, yet!) the "install" button.

I click on this install buttom, and the game installs (as indicated by a progress bar), next comes up is a dialouge with a checkmarked box indicating "launch 1953 KGB", and the "finish" button.

I uncheck the "launch 1953 KGB" box and click the "finish" button.

The game has been successfully installed. The "installation finished" dialouge is onscreen, asking "remove temporary files",

or "keep temporary files (to run the installer again later)", this time I chose "keep temporary files", again I checked in my documents in the Gamers Gate temporary files to see if anything has changed, but everything there's back to these 2 media files and that one launch file as it was before I used it with the "open with" command.

so concludes my tech report of 1953 - KGB Unleashed.

(to mods/admins - I don't know if this post belongs here in Discussions or if it belongs in the Tech forum, if it belongs in the Tech forum, kindly move it there, thanks.)

Is this the same game as Phobos 1953? I could only track down a russian copy of that and not knowing Russian was unable to get past the radio dial puzzle. Loved Outcry, and by the same team, 1953 has a great feel from what I was able to experience.

Originally Posted By tincup2 (18 JUL 2012 1:42pm)

Is this the same game as Phobos 1953? I could only track down a russian copy of that and not knowing Russian was unable to get past the radio dial puzzle. Loved Outcry, and by the same team, 1953 has a great feel from what I was able to experience.

Yes, Tincup, this game - it was Phobos 1953 when the devs were working on it while we were waiting, and around July 6 2012 these devs renamed, that is, they changed the game's name, to 1953 KGB Unleashed, but yes its still the same Phobos 1953 we've been waiting so long for, only its under a different name.

Its being sold as a d/l at Gamers Gate, a Swedish company/website/file server, that is, they have a server over at their HQ in Stolkholm Sweden where they store all of these game downloads on. I think their HQ might have 2 servers networked together, one server set up as their web server (for hosting their "Gamers Gate" website, and their file server (where their customers d/l these games from), and I believe these servers have several very large HDD's for storing lots of game files.

Oh, and Tincup, if you cannot get past the radio dial puzzle - no need to fear, the 1953 Walkthrough is here! If you install the game onto your HDD, go into the game directory, you'll see a pdf named either "EN" or "Walkthrough.EN" or the likes of this. this is the game's complete, full w/t. Simply copy it from the game's directory and paste it somewhere on your computer where you'll know where it is, and then you can print this pdf out, and fastion the 17 pdf pages of your printout together, and see if this w/t will get you past that radio dial puzzle.

Thanks, I'm going to Gamer's Gate.

EDIT: went for a boxed copy on eBay for only $2 more than GG..

@ AlienBZ I have heard about this type of file before I was talking with our tech guys about it. The first installer file is what's know as a stub installer and we use those here sometimes as well on larger games, but we have not yet gotten to the dependant file system they are using. The .bin files would contain chunks of the games directory structure I would assume that's compressed and chunked. I would bet dollars for donughts that it's some type of hybrid .msi. Very interesting. On our version we just use a single installer file executable. I don't really know why they are breaking it up like that since it's only 600MB. Very interesting though thanks for posting this. I think the thread is ok here, unlesss anyone objects I'll leave it be. 

@Tincup2 In our shop we host full versions of the games that you can download and play for free for 20 mins. Although then again none of our games are in Russian. LOL

Originally Posted By tincup2 (19 JUL 2012 8:19am)

EDIT: went for a boxed copy on eBay for only $2 more than GG..

Didn't see that a few days ago. Thanks.

Originally Posted By tincup2 (19 JUL 2012 8:19am)

 

EDIT: went for a boxed copy on eBay for only $2 more than GG..

Gee, if I'd known that, I'd gone to ebay and got my copy, not GG (sigh).

EDIT :  Just checked on ebay for 1953 kgb, came up "no suggestions" then tried searching for phobos again came up empty.

Theoretically though it would not make it faster, unless you hade a download manager and highspeed and could make mutiple connections to the server instead of a single. That sure would speed it up a lot. I haven't seen anyone do that yet, so maybe I'll have to buy it and run it through my webfilter. You sir have piqued my interest. Thanks

Originally Posted By Elliot (19 JUL 2012 1:40pm)

@Tincup2 In our shop we host full versions of the games that you can download and play for free for 20 mins. Although then again none of our games are in Russian. LOL

I like the the CD/DVD, box and manual, especially when it's almost the same $$$. Oldskool I guess..

...same thoughts here. From day one I always seem to have a backlog of adventures to play given my time constraints. Only on very rare circumstances do I buy digital downloads from sources other than GOG. As much as I appreciate the new JA shop for their offerings and fair prices (but not always) most often I patiently wait for the box, disc, manual (if supplied), and any other goodies that come inside. I miss the old JA store, I bought a lot of my games there.