Joy and Sadness

[Jerkoj]

Imagine my joy when I saw that not only could I download my copy of Alpha Protocol off of Gamersgate.com, but lo and behold, the activation key was there as well. Activation was quick and painless, and I am on my way to Bond'ing my way through the game.

 

So I play through 3 missions. Happy happy joy joy. I quit the game to have dinner with the girlfriend, and then I come back.

 

And now comes the sadness part. I start the game again, only to find...

 

I cannot load a saved checkpoint.

 

Now, I made sure to save the last checkpoint before quitting, but still, there isn't a single game in the list that I can load.

 

What. The. Hell. Is this some kind of mind boggling bug, or is this the DRM trying to mess with a paying customer?

 

SEGA support search for 'Alpha Protocol' yields:

 

Sorry, we were unable to find any results for the given search phrase.

 

I do believe I am feeling slightly screwed right now. Anyone else having this problem?

[fuZZ]

perfect example why the tech forums should be up and running by now...

[Thorton_AP]

Is this even the place these forums will exist? Not Sega here?

[Alvin Nelson]

That should only be available for pre-order. How were you able to download and play the game?

[Jerkoj]

As it says right there in my post, via Gamersgate.com. I had it their AP + Space Siege pre-order, and yesterday I was able to DL the game from them. This morning, the serial appeared.

 

If you need further info, contact me directly.

Edited May 26, 2010 by Jerkoj

[Thorton_AP]

I wonder if the problem is that you got it before hand (that seems weird though). In that it wasn't actually the entire thing.

 

Like I said. Weeeeeeeeeeeird.

 

Hope it gets resolved!

Edited May 26, 2010 by Thorton_AP

[Jerkoj]

You never know these days. Wouldn't be the first time a DRM scheme screwed up and started removing bits and pieces of a game. It'd be quite brilliant to remove save/load capability for pirates. Only, I paid for this

 

I contacted SEGA support already, explained the situation, showed them exactly where I got it, and now they're being silent as the grave. Hoping for a solution to this, because Obsidian seems to have made a fun spy game. And me wanna play

[jokerwoker]

You never know these days. Wouldn't be the first time a DRM scheme screwed up and started removing bits and pieces of a game. It'd be quite brilliant to remove save/load capability for pirates. Only, I paid for this

 

I contacted SEGA support already, explained the situation, showed them exactly where I got it, and now they're being silent as the grave. Hoping for a solution to this, because Obsidian seems to have made a fun spy game. And me wanna play

 

And this is why I never preorder games online.

 

Not a knock against you, but the "online preorder" systems still needs them polishings.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I'm not an expert about this, so I hope I'm not wasting your time but, is it possible that GamersGate does something similar to Steamworks and uses its servers for your saved games?

There is the possibility, in this case, that they noticed they broke release date and momentarily locked save games and such since it still would be a pre-order (just checked their homepage and AP was listed as a pre-order).

... I admit, this sounds far-fetched, but it's the only thing I can think about for now.

Hopefully when I get the game I'll be of more help.

[ProtocolX]

Actually, as I have already paid for my preorder at a local Gamestop I saw this, thought . . . Hmmm, got some spare change, lets see if I can get a jump on this...

 

When you buy the game from Gamersgate.com you IMMEDIATELY get the serial number for the game. now if that is what is stopping you from playing . . . then yeah if you buy from them you can play right away. I will know in a few hours (when the dl stops)

[Tigranes]

Gamersgate doesn't have anything to do with your game once you install and activate it, it's not Ubisoft or Steam. So that won't be the issue.

 

Either it's some sort of hidden DRM-lock from Sega coming into the works, your install was buggy, or it's a bug in the game itself. Frankly I'd say it's likely to be the middle one, at the moment.

 

Anyway, what the hell is with everybody breaking release dates? It's everywhere!

[Deraldin]

Anyway, what the hell is with everybody breaking release dates? It's everywhere!

More importantly, why aren't they breaking it here?

[ProtocolX]

Confirmed, Live in North America and playing now.

[kreese12]

Oh damn. I can maybe play the game tonight...! Whoa . I may be off the forums for a while...

[Oblarg]

I'm going to wait for the official release date (maybe a bit after that), partly because I'd like to stop my computer from crashing every four hours before I play the game, and partly because I'm going to be taking a short trip soon anyway and would like to play the game from start to finish uninterrupted.

[Pop]

Is Gamersgate supposed to give you a serial # when you pre-order? I bought a copy for my brother and he says it's given him one. Steam hasn't given me one yet.

 

They may very well have broken street date in the US. We'll see in a few hours, I suppose. I'm going back home for the night if it is indeed playable.

[ProtocolX]

Is Gamersgate supposed to give you a serial # when you pre-order? I bought a copy for my brother and he says it's given him one. Steam hasn't given me one yet.

 

They may very well have broken street date in the US. We'll see in a few hours, I suppose. I'm going back home for the night if it is indeed playable.

 

 

sorry was playing Alpha Protocol.

 

Yes Gamersgate is giving out the serial when you preorder, they jumped the gun. So if you buy from there it is playable right away.

 

6 hours in, just finished Sahara, this game is going to take me way longer than 10 hours.

[Pop]

I was gonna go with a "no comment" but you just had to let the cat out of the bag, eh?

 

Yeah, it's out. And I'm loving it thus far.

[Bos_hybrid]

Warning, Gamersgate has now corrected the error. Not happy since I can't cancel the order.

[Pop]

Don't worry about it, the Gamersgate one was actually the 4th copy of the game I'd purchased.

[Bos_hybrid]

Don't worry about it, the Gamersgate one was actually the 4th copy of the game I'd purchased.

 

[Oblarg]

Warning, Gamersgate has now corrected the error. Not happy since I can't cancel the order.

 

Just noticed this. ****, I caved and bought it, and now it's not there anymore.

[Jerkoj]

Well, SEGA support is still stonewalling me. I guess they're more interested in finding out which unholy entity broke the release date, than giving me even a simple "Hi, we're working on it" e-mail. Screw you, SEGA.

 

Anyway, I guess I might have found out what the problem is, but I have no idea how to fix it. This is my Binaries folder in the Alpha Protocol install:

 

 

Now, this looks completely FUBAR. I'm Danish, and I'm running an English install of Windows 7, so why my folder is filled with strange looking Korean (or whatever) characters is beyond me. Each of these folders contain a checkpoints sub-folder, some of them containing files. I imagine the game is having a tough time decrypting these characters, and detecting the savegames.

 

Hope I can get some freaking help soon, or I'll have to request a refund from Gamersgate and skip the game entirely.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Jerkoj

[ProtocolX]

That is messed up, let me check my install...

 

nope, mine is normal. have you tried to uninstall and reinstall?

[Jerkoj]

Yeah, but I re-installed in the same location. Right now I am trying to install into C:\Alpha Protocol. We'll see if that makes a difference.