Got a surprise gift today which enabled me to buy and download Syberia : The World Before - from GOG - whilst only having to add a little cash myself
So I used Galaxy to download it and it's now sitting in the Download Folder of my Win10 machine.

But I want to play it without using Galaxy and I'm sure I've seen instructions on how to do that here on Gameboomers.

Could anyone please offer simple instructions on how I can ??

Thanks.

Mad

From a discussion at GOG.

Mad! I hope you enjoy the game!

What a nice surprise, Mad! Enjoy.

I rarely play games inside Galaxy, although I download all of my GOG games through Galaxy. When I am at my desktop with Galaxy closed, I just find where the game is located on my computer and launch the executable from there. Galaxy is never involved when I do this.

Thanks, Draclvr, oldbroad and Marian.

Don't be surprised to see me back here, though, if I mess things up !!

And you know we are always here, Mad!

Syberia 4 is part of a sale today. Maybe write to GOG explaining that you purchased just prior to the sale and could they refund you the difference. I bet they would. I have read of folks doing this and GOG did refund the difference to them.

Definitely worth the effort to ask for a refund!

Well, folks, I chickened out and downloaded without using Galaxy

Just have to find out now whether I will need to use any of the plentiful patches I also downloaded

A question I definitely have though is ....
How often does the auto save happen ?? And is it obvious when it does ??
[ I really dislike not being able to do manual saves as it's not always convenient to wait for the next one to happen !!!! ]

EDIT :

I followed your advice and requested a refund - in the circumstances. So I'll let you know if I get anything

Please make sure you install all the patches. The game used the Unity engine which is why there are only autosaves. They are quite plentiful and I haven't had any issues yet, but I agree that I much prefer manual saves.

Mad - it is easier to find the game file and make a new shortcut than to worry about what to download and what to install - just MY opinion!

This is what I like about downloading the game through Galaxy - you get everything you need without having to wonder if you are getting all the relevant files. It takes all the guesswork out of it.

And I agree with oldbroad and Marian. I let Galaxy do the work for me. Making a new shortcut is about 4 or 5 clicks.

OK. OK. I hear you all but I'm so "old school" I just find it easy to do things the "old way"
And only one of the patches was actually required.
[You are told when a game is already installed that if that installation is newer than the patch you are considering applying, not to apply it.]

But I have other amazing news !!

I went to GOG to apply for a refund of the difference between the "pre-sale" and "sale" price, as you suggested, seeing as it went on sale only the day after I bought it.
[Although I couldn't find a place to apply for just a partial refund.]
And about two or so hours later I was told I had been refunded the whole cost
It has been refunded to my GOG Wallet !! [I didn't know I had such a thing ]
So how about that ????

Just hoping now that I am still allowed to play the game

I know about the GOG wallet from getting refunds in the past. The next time you purchase a game, you will be asked if you wish to use those wallet funds, which is very nice.

Since GOG refunded the whole cost, maybe the thinking was that you would get your money back and then proceed to re-purchase the game at the sale price? Try going to your Order History and see if GOG has removed the game from your purchases.

On a side note, GOG is really great about stuff like this. Their return policy is that you can ask for a refund for any game purchased within 30 days, which is a far cry from Steam's policy of giving you a maximum of two hours of having played the game in order to qualify for a refund.

Does the game still show in your library?

Right !! Thank you all AGAIN !!

Yes. I realised that the game most likely would have been removed from my GOG Library so I checked up - and it had.
After which I re-bought it at the sale price using the funds in my game wallet. YEAH !! What a great idea that is !! Gotta Love GOG !!

Then I uninstalled and deleted everything from the original download and downloaded and installed the new[i][/i] files just purchased.

And hopefully all is now well in Syberia

Sounds great, Mad! I do hope you enjoy the game.

Thank you, Marian.

Right now, though, I think I need a cold compress to calm my brain down after all this excitement !!

I know just what you mean.

It does save very regularly Mad, and it was certainly obvious it was happening. There is a little set of gears that spins bottom left of screen. All sorts of things trigger a save so you shouldn't have any issues.

When I need to quit, but didn't have a save, I was sometimes able to just walk in a shop and it would create a save. Of course, that depended on where I was! It's a huge world.

new locations certainly seem to work (be it a room, or building, or just going outside).

Thanks for the info., folks

I often can't play long sessions and was really hoping for a "Save On Exit" but knew deep down that that wasn't going to happen

So I'll just have to see how I go ....