Download and Installation
Downloading the update requires one to install a new way of managing Storm Eagle’s games. One thing that has been a drawback to theDistant Guns series in general is the developer’s mode of copy protection, which requires one to have an open Internet connection to play the game. Additionally, losing your unlock codes meant you’re in trouble, especially if you’ve changed email addresses since buying the game. I’ve had that one come up.
Storm Eagle is trying to address the problems by going with a download and install interface that is much like Steam. It is calledStormpowered, and to update games you have, you need to get Stormpowered. You have to uninstall existing copies of your games first, then install them from the Stormpowered client interface. I did this, and it’s easy to use, though they’re still working out the bugs. I had the interface crash multiple times on my Windows 7 based machine during downloads, and it wouldn’t recognize that I had downloaded games to install without shutting Stormpowered down and restarting it. Additionally, it didn’t recognize my email address, so I had to pull my account info and use my account number to sign in. That, by the way, is now ridiculously easy. You can get your license codes and account info simply by inputting your email address. Just don’t change email addresses without telling Storm Eagle, because it sends the info to your email addy they have on file. Once I’d got that done, and got past the crashes, I got everything installed and playable in fairly short order.
The interface is exactly like Steam; easy to use and intuitive. The message you should take from this is that in my case, for every problem I had with the Stormpowered client, there was a quick and simple workaround that even I, a computer idiot, could employ. That’s unusual — in my experience, bugs like that are almost always showstoppers. Not so here.
And bonus: Stormpowered allows you to play offline, using your activation codes, a first for Storm Eagle and a welcome thing for times when your Internet is down.
Game Engine Update
They’ve been incrementally updating the game engine, and it shows. I enjoy the graphics in the update greatly. The water isn’t Silent Hunter standard, but it gets the job done without bogging down your computer, and it captures the mood very well. In the screenshots, I point you to the AC’s Blücher, Roon, and Yorck and the battlecruisers Seydlitz and Derfflinger. How about that detail?
