Yes, I don't think you will get newer Chrome/CEF working on Windows 7 at all, unless you have some kind of KernelEx to add missing functions.
I don't think just spoofing the version number will do.

It seems that Ubisoft Connect has unceremoniously dropped Windows 7 too. Downloading the latest version (which it does even if you use an older setup exe) and it just comes up with a kernal error. It seems there is a work around but it's only that and won't stay up to date.

What adds insult to injury was I was trying to play AssCreed 4 on steam but the stupid "needing more than one launcher" thing means I now can't play it even though steam works fine on 7 (for 200 and something more days).

For Black Flag (assuming that's the one) you can use the Ali crack. It's actually a uplay emulator and not a crack but that's the internet for ya.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vogonsorg/O … es_04162023.txt

I think I've done all the research and from everything I've found providing an xdelta diff for download is compliant with the DMCA, still haven't done any uploads yet since I'm testing passthrough of gpu with esxi for game testing and also testing os compatibility of gog games so I can delete 6tb of gogrepo orphaned files so I can get some space back since I'm down to 2tb free currently and want to put off spending $300 something x 13 22tb drives for as long as possible.

Odd...the Ubi Connect I have has been working for me so far - updated today & still seems ok; I know it claims to require Win8 now, but for my Win7/64 it still works somehow.

(I do expect it and all other game portals to drop Win7/8/9/etc eventually, but then I haven't purchased a game needing these portals for years now, anyway.)

Is that new interface update working on 7?

Yes, but sometimes crashes to command line mode during boot or account swap.

Apparently there might be a way:
https://github.com/vxiiduu/VxKex/releases
Sounds very interesting and promising.

https://github.com/vxiiduu/VxKex/issues/79#is … ment-1564607047
Of course there is nothing preventing such solutions from working if/when a missing API is implemented.

Since Valve is a shit company run and operated by shit people then the best solution is not to use the shitty steam DRM and remove the requirement from the games either by using a steam emu or crack so that consumers can play "their" games. It's way past time that Valve should take the example that Amazon, GOG and other stores have set for the games on their stores to not require a launcher and do the same and the consumers of Valve services should take action to force Valve to do so. It's hard to say which is most disappointing to me but I'd have to say the users edge Valve out due to their ignorance and apathy.

I'll say it again .. oh nooooo's, Steam and other platforms are dropping support for decade old OS's.

I would do the same if I was running those platforms.

Windows 7 has been EOL for years and Windows 10 is going EOL really soon.

Just from a security standpoint it makes perfect sense not to mention the massive amount of time and money it will save those companies not having to support them.

Maybe they could do the same thing as MS for support for old OS's. Last I heard, it was something like $100,000 per year for support for XP from MS.

filipetolhuizen wrote on 2023-08-04, 01:41:

Apparently there might be a way:
https://github.com/vxiiduu/VxKex/releases
Sounds very interesting and promising.

Well, unfortunately no. It was last updated a year ago so it's hardly promising. I suspect that we'll have to wait for another project, perhaps dedicated specifically to Steam/Ubisoft Connect/EA App.

cyclone3d wrote on 2023-08-04, 02:04:

Windows 7 has been EOL for years and Windows 10 is going EOL really soon.

As usual, Valve will most likely drop Windows 10 support after corresponding embedded/server OS variation will be dropped from support, which is still beyond 2025.

In that case, since their business is not sustained, they have to go out of business. I still think that they stole my money, deceiving me by not saying that it was not a sale but a rental under their conditions and keeping them all the power to change the conditions to their sole interest, the same as a dictatorship would do, deceive the people. But each one does with his money what he wants. And each one is free to defend his interests as long as he does not use deceit or scams.
Surely everything is more or less hidden in their license conditions, but the problem is the term "buy" which is what they use and then does not correspond to its real meaning.
And another curious thing is that they do this because they use technology from another company, Google in this case, it is not because Microsoft does not continue to support their operating systems, so if it is not enough, they save money by not using their own software and they use the decisions of the other company as an excuse.
In short, they keep the money and they don't need to work as much because they use another company's software and use it as an excuse not to work. A great business.

Outside of GOG, there's not many options to play modern games without some workarounds or hacks. Consoles? They had issues with DLC and patches since Xbox Classic era.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2023-08-04, 20:02:

Outside of GOG, there's not many options to play modern games without some workarounds or hacks. Consoles? They had issues with DLC and patches since Xbox Classic era.

Even GOG has to use DOSBox on many old DOS games; after all, not every retro gamer has corresponding retro hardware.

dormcat wrote on 2023-08-05, 07:50:

Even GOG has to use DOSBox on many old DOS games

I actually like this, since those games can be copied over to a real retro system without too much fuss. Generally, you just need to delete any files that don't conform to the 8+3 naming convention, and you're good to go.

In comparison, when they use ScummVM, it becomes very difficult to restore such a game to its original (retro hardware friendly) form. Unfortunately, GOG ships most LucasArts adventure games with ScummVM nowadays.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-08-05, 08:04:

I actually like this, since those games can be copied over to a real retro system without too much fuss. Generally, you just need to delete any files that don't conform to the 8+3 naming convention, and you're good to go.

I still have a gripe with how GOG packages CD-ROM based DOS games in not providing a proper .CUE .BIN or even a CloneCD based image file with subchannel data, etc. They instead provide a ISO suspiciously named "game.gog" and the CD audio as lossy Ogg Vorbis files, sometimes the CD-AUDIO was clearly ripped from a damaged CD-ROM with broken audio, loud buzzing, drop outs, etc...

When I got Z.A.R. on Steam, which was republished by Night Dive apparently... That included a actual .CUE .BIN CD image which is the first time I have ever gotten a digitally re-released MS-DOS game with such a disc image provided. Wished GOG would do that instead of providing weirdly named ISO filesystem images and Ogg Vorbis audio.

DracoNihil wrote on 2023-08-05, 09:01:

I still have a gripe with how GOG packages CD-ROM based DOS games in not providing a proper .CUE .BIN or even a CloneCD based image file with subchannel data, etc. They instead provide a ISO suspiciously named "game.gog" and the CD audio as lossy Ogg Vorbis files, sometimes the CD-AUDIO was clearly ripped from a damaged CD-ROM with broken audio, loud buzzing, drop outs, etc...

Yeah, games that use CD Audio music are definitively GOG's weak point. It's a real shame that they opted for a lossy file format instead of using something like FLAC, or even better supplying the proper BIN/CUE image, as you say. Sadly, this also affects many Win9x era games that use CD Audio tracks for music.

Why GOG chose to go this way is a mystery, but I suspect it might have something to do with how (badly) CD Audio is handled under Windows Vista and up. Still, that should have zero bearing on games which run under DOSBox, so who knows what drove them to such a poor implementation.

What's the sub channel data used for in games? copy protection? I searched but just got results describing its purpose for use in tracking location during audio playback which I wouldn't think would be very applicable to games or is that really it? AKA it doesn't seem like it's important but apparently I'm missing something.

awgamer wrote on 2023-08-05, 09:41:

What's the sub channel data used for in games? copy protection? I searched but just got results describing its purpose for use in tracking location during audio playback which I wouldn't think would be very applicable to games or is that really it? AKA it doesn't seem like it's important but apparently I'm missing something.

I don't know for certain if the sub channel portion of CloneCD is useful for copy protection satisfication purposes, but the "purposefully bad sectors", etc definitely will be.

By the way, on the topic of Steam. This latest update, the new UI, is completely atrocious. It's very prone to breaking, I don't understand why VGUI is being replaced when that worked just fine for years. There seems to be a grotesque braindrain going on in the tech field where literally everything must be run inside of Chromium Embedded Framework/Electron and I just cannot fathom why.

"If it isn't broke, don't fix it." right?

gog is getting in on the make it worse action too, and it's not like galaxy was great to begin with, poor man's steam, way worse launchbox, messing up sorting; they got rid of that ease of use listings and replaced it with filter selection from the top pull down menu, where they now have it to where you can only select one rating listing at a time, want to check out different rating, off to trawl through the pull down menu and select another individual rating, before it listed all star ratings on the main menu where star ratings you didn't want to list you just clicked on and it rolled up hidden, want to see it again, click, rolls out. Old way far superior.

DracoNihil wrote on 2023-08-05, 11:41:

By the way, on the topic of Steam. This latest update, the new UI, is completely atrocious. It's very prone to breaking, I don't understand why VGUI is being replaced when that worked just fine for years. There seems to be a grotesque braindrain going on in the tech field where literally everything must be run inside of Chromium Embedded Framework/Electron and I just cannot fathom why.

Sadly, I think that's down to "developers" all just focusing on PHP and Javascript and building everything by tacking on more and more libraries. It makes things cross-platform, but there is just soo much overhead for something that should be a small simple application.

awgamer wrote on 2023-08-05, 12:14:

gog is getting in on the make it worse action too, and it's not like galaxy was great to begin with, poor man's steam, way worse launchbox, messing up sorting; they got rid of that ease of use listings and replaced it with filter selection from the top pull down menu, where they now have it to where you can only select one rating listing at a time, want to check out different rating, off to trawl through the pull down menu and select another individual rating, before it listed all star ratings on the main menu where star ratings you didn't want to list you just clicked on and it rolled up hidden, want to see it again, click, rolls out. Old way far superior.

I gave up on using Galaxy, and it looks like even the 3rd party extension creators have given up maintaining them as well. I've moved over to Playnite and have been very happy. It even has a controller-driven full-screen UI option. All of the filters are combobox dropdowns letting you select multiple values for everyone single one. It's able to start the different launchers as needed, and allows triggering of installs and uninstalls. It can sometimes get into a state where you need to mouse to close a window that grabbed focus, but for the general tasks of navigating and searching through the library, as well as launching games, it works well.