No, but I surely would if… a DRM-free Linux version was going to be released.
Please, at least, someone should reveal the intentions about this subject!
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Yes, @Someone, reveal them! You always keep these things for yourself.
Seriously, I think that a DRM-free Linux version will come, but not on the day of the first release. The focus is on Windows, macOS and Switch. I’m afraid that everything else will come later.
Not even Thimbleweed Park was released on ten platforms on day one; it would have been a killing experience for the developers.
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…it will be released on GOG or any other way that allow me to download and physically own my copy of RtMI forever. Sorry, I don’t thrust Steam, Epic Games or any other platform that doesn’t give you the full control on what you buy.
I bought and still own MI and MI2 (boxed) and I still play with it. I bought and own Thimbleweed park and I still play with it. I plan to play with these games for the next 40 or 50 years (I didn’t plan to live far more than 100 years LOL).
I wish to have a chance to play with RtMI for the next 40 or 50 years without depending on Steam.
PLEASE, RON GILBERT, PLEASE: RELEASE RtMI AS AN OFF-LINE GAME (better if boxed and with the 5.25" floppy disks option LOL)
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That depends on the game. If the game doesn’t use the DRM system, you can copy and run it on every PC you like. You just have to find the directory with the game.
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I don’t remember: did TWP use DRM on Steam?
Uh, can’t say. I’ve never used TWP on Steam. 
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It checks the steam libraries. It opens the steam client, then it runs the game.
Does it only check if the libraries are there or does it use them?
That’s a workaround. Full control is just downloading it from the website without any weird clients. 
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Indeed, yes. But if you haven’t any other options… 
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I suppose it uses them, because then it connects to my Steam’s user account in order to verify if I own the game, then it starts it.
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But that’s because you start it using the wrapper file for which it creates a shortcut by default?
Did you check in the steamApps folder and see of there is another exe file there?
I am not claiming it is the case for TWP (though I suspect so, as there is no DRM added to the game by the developers). I bought Space&King’s Quest and Sam & Max (TT) on Steam and I run all of them without DRM and without connecting to the Steam servers (which is ridiculous anyway… the only updates here are for the Steam client, not to patch the games). The only thing I had to do was find the exe files and create the shortcuts myself.
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If I open my Thimbleweed Park folder (…\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Thimbleweed Park) I found all the TWP related files:
- ThimbleweedPark.exe
- Resources (directory)
- some DLLs related to the game
- steam_api.dll
From this directory, when I double-click on the ThimbleweedPark.exe file, it opens the Steam client, logs in to my account, do some checks and then starts the game.
I assume it’s the executable that has embedded calls to the steam_api.dll library.
It’ll be related to achievements. You could try sneakily renaming that steam_api.dll temporarily?
@Nor_Treblig Another thing I just realized while talking about Terminal Velocity to a friend is that the experience of having the Terminal Velocity CD-ROM included a lot more than just Terminal Velocity. It contained the demos of Duke Nukem 1-3, Wolf 3D, Hocus Pocus, Wacky Wheels and some more I don’t recall otoh.
I suppose you can’t really blame GOG for that, but it does mean that if I didn’t have the CD anymore, an ISO of it would provide definite value to me that isn’t available in the purchase of Terminal Velocity.
But the scan of the manual is actually nicer than the manual I have. Which is a Dutch translation, but just plain text on one or two pages.
The existence of the steam_api.dll doesn’t mean that the game needs the client: I have several games that call the steam_api.dll. If this library detects that the client isn’t available, it gives the control back to the game that is running as expected - if the game doesn’t use the DRM system. (If you call the exe from the command line you’ll see an error message regarding the missing steam client, but the game is running as expected.)
So you have to run TWP on another PC without the Steam client to get the prove that the game doesn’t need the client.
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Oh yeah, especially when the CD-ROM arose they often put multiple demos on discs because there was so much space left on them.
I remember a demo of Dark Forces on the CD with Full Throttle.
I also think Monkey Island Madness contained a demo version of CoMI/MI3?
They make old games purchasable again but then also need to ensure they are working on modern platforms, so it’s often inevitable that the have to modify stuff (at least regarding execution) anyway. Also they may even fix very old bugs.
Btw., all those games you’ve mentioned are or were available on GOG as full version (sadly the new publisher of Duke Nukem doesn’t seem to like GOG :-(, they pulled DN1, DN2 and DN3D; also, not that I have missed a lot, but I would have liked to try DNF).
If you are more concerned about preserving demos then yes, I like to have them preserved too.
But normally it’s not a problem to have them (freely) available without getting in trouble.
Those auto-scroller demos of LFG adventure games were interesting for instance, or the demo mode of TWP was also nice (especially since I didn’t attend any events where that version was playable).
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I just preordered it. Took my sweet time, didn’t I.
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steam_api.dll is a file that can be replaced by a steam emulator.
Steam emulators are legal. Sus opener but for good reason.
Steam emulators may be against Steam’s TOU, but the cops aren’t enforcing Steam’s TOU. And Steam can’t catch you either.
Steam emulators do allow for piracy, so most of the information you can find out about them comes from piracy sites and discussion. They are not inheritly piracy, but are commonly used for such, so this is just how the discussion has gone. Its like torrents and console emulators (legal but heavily assosiated with piracy). Good luck…
If you want a DRM free RTMI, replacing steam_api.dll with an emulator is the current best move. (Assuming the game doesn’t ship with further DRM, which is possible but not likely.)
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Given that RtMI isn’t DRM free.
But thanks for the hint to the Steam emulators! These interesting replacements are new to me. Do you have experiences with them?