[Edit 2017-08-26: per a post from vv221 below, GOG finally (and silently) updated the AI War installer to claim version 8.024. I have not confirmed whether the installer actually installs this version, but have no specific reason to doubt it, other than the lack of update notification.

I would fix the title to indicate that this thread is no longer quite so severe, but the GOG forum software only permits editing post content, but not the title.

The new Windows installer is https://www.gog.com/downlink/ai_war_fleet_command/en1installer0 with filename setup_ai_war_fleet_command_8.024_(14441).exe and sha256sum ebf0ecf56a045dd974a960d2a5be735ec722efad856216360869b962dfd73034.

Links in the below post were valid when I last reviewed it, but some now appear as their forum markup instead of actual links. I have tried to fix up all original links (again). Other than re-repairing the links, the below post is as it was when I first posted it.]

As of this writing, the GOG installer for AI War: Fleet Command <https://www.gog.com/downlink/ai_war_fleet_command/en1installer2 (login required)> is setup_ai_war_fleet_command_2.1.0.6.exe, with sha256sum 6bb7f2a0bac7ecfaf16b2d174207f24051dc9934e8c6f844565a8a74bfeb4d28. This installer gives you game version 7.061, according to the in-game version data in the top left of the opening menu. As I read the Arcen Games (AI War developer) Wiki changelogs ( https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War:Current_Post-7.000_Beta ); ( https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War:Current_Post-8.000_Beta ), version 7.061 was released August 11th, 2014. There was one additional beta release the following day, then the 8.0 release August 17th, 2014. There were numerous patches in the 8.00 line, ultimately leading to official release 8.024, published October 18th, 2016. Based on the in-game version data, it appears none of these later patches are available through GOG. Therefore, the GOG version is more than 2 years out of date relative to the latest developer patch.

As with most games, playing with someone on a different patchlevel is not supported. Beware using the GOG version with people who bought direct from the developer. (Curiously, the developer's price on their site is exactly equal to the non-discount price GOG charges, so buying direct from the developer probably means they get more of the total price, as well as the customer being able to get current versions.)

Buried down in an old (but recently bumped) thread is a note from Judas < https://www.gog.com/forum/ai_war_fleet_command/selection_box_bug/post6 >; that GOG does not intend to carry newer patches, but instead relies on users to run the game's automatic updater (which unfortunately requires Internet access on the gaming system, and seems to be completely nonfunctional for me). An offline patch installer would be most welcome.

[Edit 2017-06-14: forum auto-generated URL tags incorrectly included closing brackets, rendering the links unusable. Manually fixed.]

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its not TOO bad at least we can update it to 8.024 in the main menu; only took me seconds to install.

granted GOG should have the latest game version for download; but..

If the in-game auto-updater works for you, then yes, you can do that. It doesn't work for me, which is why I'm stuck on the outdated version GOG sells as "current" (note that the store page makes no mention of the need for a post-install update). Even if it did, getting version 8.024 (or any other newer version) is contingent on the developers continuing to host the patch. If they stop hosting it, whether through bankruptcy, disinterest, whatever, then you can only get the outdated version offered by GOG's installer.

I found the update URL in the AI War updater logs, but no sign of how to authenticate the download (it's done over HTTP, so it requires a post-download verification). Normally that is handled by a Microsoft Authenticode signature embedded in the exe/dll, but none of the downloaded files seem to be signed. I had hoped that a bit of public pressure would get GOG moving to update their installer. No such luck.

I love that the AI War developers have put so much effort into doing updates for so long. I just wish the publisher would actually put forth the token effort required to let the developers' work reach end users in a smooth manner.

ah.. i see.. you are right about if in the future the devs shutdown their update servers.

unfortunate that the installer doesn't work for you. since my updater worked fine for me, is there something i can do to help you out? or is it contingent on the authenticator

I have the patch files (probably; not tested until I can authenticate them). My use case calls for being able to uninstall the game today, reinstall it next year, and be able to reproduce the install precisely at that time. Ideally, this should not mean needing a full backup of all game directories, but instead just copies of the compressed installer plus compressed patches. Although I make it a point to retain local copies of such installers, it ought to be possible to rely at this stage on GOG's archives to redownload everything necessary to get to the target version. To achieve that, I need offline-capable patches, which usually means blocking auto-updaters.

For the benefit of others reading, here is the procedure for patching (until GOG posts proper patches). This is derived in large part from advice given by the Arcen developers on their forum to someone who had trouble with the auto-updater.

1. Get the index download URL from <C:\gog\aiwar\AIWarGame\AIWar_Data\output_log.txt>. When using the outdated version currently offered by GOG, this URL will be <http://aiwar.s3.amazonaws.com/newupdates/AIWarBetaUpdates4.xml>. Subsequent Arcen patches might change it. If your version is not 7.061, check your log to confirm. This log should record the update URL even if the auto-updater is unable to connect to the target server (but likely will not show it if you disabled automatic updates in the game UI).
2. Download the named file.
3. From that file, identify which available versions are newer than your installed version.
4. For each version newer than your installed version, download the corresponding zip file. Important: patches are not cumulative. You must download all intervening versions, not only the most recent.
4(a). At present, and again assuming the outdated GOG 7.061, you would download three files:
* <http://aiwar.s3.amazonaws.com/newupdates/AIWar8001.zip>
* <http://aiwar.s3.amazonaws.com/newupdates/AIWar8014.zip>
* <http://aiwar.s3.amazonaws.com/newupdates/AIWar8024.zip>
5. Authenticate that the downloaded files are the same as the files that the Arcen developers uploaded. Since the zip files are downloaded over http (so could be modified in transit, unless you trust every step of the Internet connection between you and Amazon) and spent months sitting on an Amazon server that nobody has reason to directly monitor (so could have been modified post-upload and left waiting for someone to stumble onto them), you cannot assume that the files you fetch now are unmodified relative to what Arcen published. This is the magical step that I cannot determine how to complete, since I have not found any indication how the files are authenticated. Traditionally, there are four approaches:
* Assume malware does not exist. Do no checking. Hope for the best.
* Distribute the update in a signed container file, such as a cabinet file with a Microsoft Authenticode signature.
* Distribute the update with a signed manifest file, such as a zip file that contains a text file showing the digests of all contained files, and have a verifiable signature on the text file to prove that it was not modified after the developer created it. Recipients verify the text file signature, then cross-check that the other files have digests which match the verified listing.
* Distribute only files which can have an embedded signature (or which cannot be exploited if modified), and embed the signature in each such file.
6. After you authenticate the patch (or, if like approach #1, after deciding that you do not care about computer security), then install the patches. Starting with the oldest patch newer than your installed version, unpack the zip file in the game data directory. You will overwrite some existing files. If you are not prompted to overwrite at least some files, you likely started in the wrong directory. Some files may be new. Proceed to unpack each zip, going forward in time so that a file updated multiple times is ultimately overwritten by the most recent patch to touch it.
7. Start your game and verify the version number.
8. Drop a note on the Arcen forums thanking them for having an easy-to-manually-apply patch process. (Some vendors do crazy things with delta compression that make it very difficult to hand-apply patches. Arcen's is easy to do, with the exception of the magical step 5.)
9. Drop a note to GOG support asking them to update the installer so that others do not need to follow steps 1-8.

sha256 sums of the zip files, as observed by me during my last test. Important: there is no reason to believe these are, or are not, unmodified relative to the files published by Arcen.
5e25ce21e7521fcf31afcaeb2e2c7fe63424df378b46a8623016150a6597e48d AIWar7061.zip
20032d709922a4ea2cd3c324024d452e23dbcb55ab9b3827a3d678be631990e5 AIWar8001.zip
d11163eec5e43e350f5d74fd0372a50bf7c522ac702af660b6b29fed2b818a4c AIWar8014.zip
5ee84093518e0641f4300b82cb0b3a63ded4f9e5664f58b1b76d3cc0fd962542 AIWar8024.zip

[Edit: and, of course, the GOG forum again mangled all the URLs I posted. Fixing them, again...]

Thanks advowson!

You're welcome, but I can't take all the credit. My instructions are slightly more detailed than on the Arcen forum, but comments from one of the AI War developers about how to use the zip files were a critical part of the steps. I probably would have worked that out independently eventually, but their commentary made the process much faster.

On a related note, it seems someone read my post and contacted them about step 5. Per the response to Nat in How to authenticate downloaded game patches?, branch (a) in step 5 is the officially supported solution for verifying your download:
(5)(a) Assume malware does not exist. Do no checking. Hope for the best.

This is unfortunate, but sadly rather common. Even big name companies have been caught doing unsigned/unverified updates over the Internet. We can at least take comfort that subverting AI War downloads is probably not a particularly scaleable way to distribute malware, and is thus unlikely to be a target.

Linux version got updated to 8.024, I guess other versions got the update too but I didn’t check.

Yes the windows version has been updated to version 8.024.