Stardock Central
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Stardock Central is a software content delivery and digital rights management system used by Stardock customers to access components of the Object Desktop, TotalGaming.net and ThinkDesk product lines, as well as products under the WinCustomize brand. Introduced in 2001 to access games on TotalGaming.net (then known as the Drengin Network), it has since been expanded to cover all Stardock products, replacing the Component Manager which had been released in 1999.
Software on Stardock Central is divided into components, which are further divided into packages. When users purchase a product or a subscription, they gain access to that product or subscription from Stardock Central. Stardock Central has the ability to break products into components so that users on slower connections can start using the main portion of the software as soon as possible, and download extras — such as in-game movies or music — at a later date.
To cater for the various frequent updates provided for many products, once a package has been downloaded and installed Stardock Central downloads only updated files when a new version comes out. A product archiving and restore function is available to backup components and to allow for their transfer to other computers. Users may also interact on Stardock's discussion boards or use a built-in IRC client to access the Stardock IRC server, and WinCustomize subscribers can use the Skins and Themes section to browse and download the WinCustomize library.
While Stardock Central had been in development since 2001, it got its biggest test in March of 2003 when Galactic Civilizations was launched at retail and electronically at the same time. It was the first commercial PC game to debut both at retail and available for purchase and immediate download. Stardock Central allowed anyone who had purchased Galactic Civilizations at a retail outlet to enter their serial number into Stardock Central and re-download the latest full version of the game.
In 2004, Stardock Central began to deliver third party content as well such as games from Take 2, Strategy First, and Ubisoft. The Political Machine was released in 2004 both at retail as well as a download via Stardock Central on the same day. In 2005, TotalGaming.net phase 2 was released which added over a dozen new third-party games to the TotalGaming.net channel on Stardock Central. Stardock Central gained the ability to support tokens (users who purchase a TotalGaming.net membership receive tokens that allow them to purchase games on the network at a discount).
Stardock Central is similar in concept to the Steam content delivery system, however unlike Steam it does not require a permanent connection to the internet and is only required when a user wants to install or update a product it supports (or when a user wants to make use of its chatting, content libraries, or forum support).
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