When Good Old Games, now simply referred to as GOG, first launched it was all about updating classic PC games to allow them to be played on modern hardware and free of DRM. That aim continued as GOG's gaming library expanded, but we also got GOG Galaxy. Galaxy is a gaming client that unlocks new features and allows support for online play in games.
Version 1.2 of GOG Galaxy launched yesterday, which also signals Galaxy coming out of beta. With it comes a number of key new features every gamer will appreciate.
Top of the list is universal cloud saves. Typically you download a GOG game, install it, and save games are stored locally on a hard drive. But with Galaxy 1.2 running, those saves will now be stored and synced online for sake keeping. So if you upgrade your PC, you don't need to worry about your save games as they will be available once Galaxy is re-installed. Whether cloud saves are available or not depends on the game, which will be made clear on GOG.
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Galaxy 1.2 also introduces an in-game overlay. While playing a game it will be possible to hit Shift+Tab and bring up the overlay allowing access to a chat system, notifications, and achievements for the title.
Other new features include the ability to capture in-game screenshots using F12, bandwidth limiting and scheduling for downloads, a brand new chat system, an auto-hibernation mode for greatly reduced CPU usage when idle or even while playing games, desktop notifications, a new settings window for tweaking which features you want active, and a FPS counter to see how fast games run on your system.
Of course, you don't need to use Galaxy to enjoy the games offered by GOG, but it does streamline the experience and the introduction of cloud saves should help encourage more users to at least try it out.