Offline gaming

[Veronica Hohenheim]

I am on a brake on this game and only launched it once recently and when I did it asked me for my password.Does this game do not exist without verifying proof of purchase repeatedly ? I tought first time was enough and it never showed up again so I wasnt thinking abt it but now I am.Do I need to connect to the internet if I am not logged on for a while to able to play it ? 

[Forceous]

Well, isn’t everything else on the internet like that? If you don’t use an app or a website for a long time you’ll have to login in to them again.

[MKMoose]

5 hours ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

I am on a brake on this game and only launched it once recently and when I did it asked me for my password.

Is it on the same device that you used before the break? Normally it should only require you to log in once, after which you're free to play offline.

If I recall correctly, it's more like verifying a device than proof of purchase. It caches data on the device, so a different device would need to be authenticated separately.

[Forceous]

33 minutes ago, MKMoose said:

Is it on the same device that you used before the break? Normally it should only require you to log in once, after which you're free to play offline.

I think it's just a security measure, it's everywhere on the internet, if you haven't used a service for quite a while it logs you out as a security measure, probably the same for VS.

[Dilan Rona]

Unless you logged out of the game, switched between two operating systems, or launched with a script with a different data dir, you only need to log in once. And as long as that session is valid, you'll be able play the game without logging again. Even when offline.

What you describe is probably you choosing logout, or you going from say windows with vintage story, to a linux side with vintage story.

Edit: Or playing on two different computers entirely.

Edited Thursday at 03:54 PM by Dilan Rona

[LadyWYT]

16 hours ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

I tought first time was enough and it never showed up again so I wasnt thinking abt it but now I am.Do I need to connect to the internet if I am not logged on for a while to able to play it ? 

If you have multiple installations and switch between them, you will need to log in each time you switch even if on the same device. For offline mode, you will still be prompted for a login, and entering the appropriate information will allow you to continue playing as normal despite being offline--no further logins required unless you switch installations or something. The way it works, I think, is that the game stores a copy of your last login and uses that as the check instead if there is no internet connection. As long as you've logged in with an internet connection once on that device, you should be able to play.

[Zane Mordien]

11 hours ago, Dilan Rona said:

Unless you logged out of the game, switched between two operating systems, or launched with a script with a different data dir, you only need to log in once.

I have to log in about once every 3-4 months myself.

[Dilan Rona]

Yea, that caught me as well today.

[Cladow]

On 1/22/2026 at 7:54 AM, Veronica Hohenheim said:

I am on a brake on this game and only launched it once recently and when I did it asked me for my password.Does this game do not exist without verifying proof of purchase repeatedly ? I tought first time was enough and it never showed up again so I wasnt thinking abt it but now I am.Do I need to connect to the internet if I am not logged on for a while to able to play it ? 

This game does have DRM. When you log in, a session key and signature are stored on your device, and when you launch the game that data is checked by the server, which can reject it if either a new key and signature have been generated (e.g. logging in on another device) or, in my experience, despite what most people say, after some period of time.

If a connection to the server could not be made however, it will just check if the key and signature are valid (i.e. plausible, not necessarily active).

 

On 1/22/2026 at 1:02 PM, Forceous said:

Well, isn’t everything else on the internet like that? If you don’t use an app or a website for a long time you’ll have to login in to them again.

One counterexample - literally every game on GOG.

23 hours ago, Forceous said:

I think it's just a security measure, it's everywhere on the internet, if you haven't used a service for quite a while it logs you out as a security measure, probably the same for VS.

While not keeping an account logged in indefinitely can have merit as a security feature, what can not be considered a security feature is demanding authorization to an external service to access data that is entirely on your own device.

[Forceous]

31 minutes ago, Cladow said:

what can not be considered a security feature is demanding authorization to an external service to access data that is entirely on your own device

Well that is the only way to verify ownership, through your game account created in the client area with the key. I would understand if the game didn’t require signing in but then let’s say a group of friends wanted the game only one would buy it for everyone to have it lol

[Veronica Hohenheim]

people argued and answered eachother before I checked appereantly my concern was game preservation.I mean I am also afraid loosing my logins,forgetting em and have to buy it again but beside that every server ever dies eventually and this is a indie title too.They may change it in the future but as of now there  is a chance to loose this game at some point 

[Forceous]

3 minutes ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

They may change it in the future but as of now there  is a chance to loose this game at some point 

Yeah I don't see that happening anywhere in the near future at all. Just because it's an indie title doesn't mean there is a chance lol.

[Veronica Hohenheim]

15 minutes ago, Forceous said:

Yeah I don't see that happening anywhere in the near future at all. Just because it's an indie title doesn't mean there is a chance lol.

I meant as if they decide the abonden the game they may remove the drm.And similiar things happened before w other titles.

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

my concern was game preservation.I mean I am also afraid loosing my logins,forgetting em and have to buy it again but beside that every server ever dies eventually and this is a indie title too.They may change it in the future but as of now there  is a chance to loose this game at some point 

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Writing down login information and storing it somewhere safe is a good way to keep track of things like that, and it's also the reason that pretty much every website has a "Forgot password?" option. Forgetting login information is a fairly common occurrence.

As far servers dying or games falling to the wayside, it happens to most everything eventually. For games still in development there's always a risk that they could fail for one reason or another, but that risk is just...part of life in general. Vintage Story is still growing quite well and receiving regular updates that are stuffed to the gills with goodies; I really don't see that changing anytime soon. The game design itself is quite replayable, so even after the game isn't popular, it will likely maintain a base of dedicated players that keep it alive for quite some time after. There are certainly more obscure game titles that have been preserved and are still played.

If you're concerned that they may decide to change the rules and just pull game licenses arbitrarily after purchase...sure, there is a risk of that, but that kind of behavior is a good way to get sued and destroy customers' good will completely. Given what I've seen from Anego Studios so far though, they don't seem inclined to behave like that at all.

Edited Friday at 05:54 PM by LadyWYT
Forgot a word

[Forceous]

17 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Writing down login information and storing it somewhere safe is a good way to keep track of things like that, and it's also the reason that pretty much every website has a "Forgot password?" option. Forgetting login information is a fairly occurrence.

Apart from that @Veronica Hohenheim, you can also always contact the devs to restore your account if you have the email with the key or any kind of receipt, you shouldn't worry much.