 | |
| Developer(s) | Stardock |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Type | Content delivery |
| License | Proprietary /Freeware |
| Website | http://www.stardock.com/products/sdcentral/ |
Stardock Central was asoftwarecontent delivery anddigital rights management system used byStardock customers to access components of theObject Desktop,TotalGaming.net andThinkDesk product lines, as well as products under theWinCustomize brand.
Introduced in 2001 to access games on TotalGaming.net (then known as theDrengin Network), Stardock Central was later expanded to cover all Stardock products, replacingComponent Manager (1999).
As of 2010, Stardock Central had been phased out in favour of its successor,Impulse. However, in March 2011 Impulse was sold to GameStop and Stardock soon reopened their own online store. As of April 2012,[1] the Stardock Central software has been revived and released as a Beta to once again provide a proprietary platform for Stardock's digital product downloads.
Software on Stardock Central was divided into components, and further divided into packages. When users purchased a product or a subscription, they gained access to it via Stardock Central. The program had the ability to break products into components so that users on slower connections could 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 only downloaded updated files for new versions. A productarchiving and restore function was available to back up components and to allow their transfer to other computers. Users could also use the program to interact on Stardock's discussion boards or access the Stardock IRC server via a built-inIRC client. WinCustomize subscribers could use theSkins and Themes section to browse and download the WinCustomize library.
Stardock Central was similar in concept to the later-developedSteam content delivery system; unlike Steam, it did not require a permanent connection to the Internet, only being required when a user wanted to install or update a product (or when needed for its chatting, content libraries, or forum support).
While Stardock Central started development in 2001, it got its biggest test in March 2003 whenGalactic Civilizations was launched simultaneously at retail and online — the first commercial PC game to debut in both venues at once.[2] Those who had purchased Galactic Civilizations at retail could also enter their serial number and download updates to the game. In 2004, Stardock Central began to deliver third party content as well such as games fromTake 2,Strategy First, andUbisoft.The Political Machine was released in 2004, and in 2005, TotalGaming.netphase 2 was released, adding over a dozen new third-party games.
