Okay, okay, so Anadius is gone (for now). I nearly shat myself because I hadn’t opened the game for at least 10 days, and I only opened it today to check if it still worked since I honestly couldn’t remember whether I’d used the Anadius updater or not. And obviously I didn’t try to open my main long-term save, just in case it got corrupted and when I opened Scenarios, of course the downloaded ones weren’t there…
BUT I still managed to get the latest version working.
Through some posts here and on Reddit I managed to recover the download drive for the updater and the DLCs via the Wayback Machine. YOU WILL NEED BOTH.
Even if the mod says it’s permanently closed, you can still launch the updater from the terminal and it works anyway!
Now, we know Anadius has already pulled a stunt like this before and then came back, so let’s hope this update works long enough until he returns (given that he’s practically worshipped like a god, I doubt he won’t come back), or that someone else takes his place. Because not everyone is able to pirate the files on their own, and saying ‘then just do it yourself’ is pretty simplistic and honestly a bit arrogant.
I have more than decent computer skills, I’ve been using it since I was 4, now I know HTML, I can use programs like Blender as a self-taught user but I don’t know jack shit about terminal commands or even more complex stuff.
I can, however, follow instructions when they’re provided for installing this kind of software.
(Please read and fully understand the meaning of this part, because apparently some of you had misunderstanding it.)
(Still, I have to say that quitting because ‘people keep asking stupid questions’ is kind of stupid in itself… I mean, I worked in a gelato shop for years, people always asked me the same questions even though they could’ve easily read the signs, and yet it never crossed my mind to shut down the gelateria because ‘customers keep asking the same stupid questions.’ The harassment reason makes much more sense, because the guy has a life outside the internet and didn’t immediately update the new DLCs.)
(“Yeah but Marcel, you can’t compare working in an ice cream shop to what he did!!1!1 he put himself at risk of jail by doing something illegal for trashpeople like you!!!1?1”
And that’s exactly the point: I was obliged to be polite and not walk every customer who asked absurd questions straight to the door. Instead, no one forced him, it was his own choice to put himself in potential danger (which, for the record, I actually support and admire, because I think EA is the real thief with the stuff they want us to pay for, just to be clear!) BUT precisely because you’re playing Robin Hood in this situation, you have a DUTY toward the people you’re helping. And disappearing and shutting everything down just because “ugh, you keep asking stupid questions” is honestly imo… stupid.
I’ll say it again: if the main reason of the ragequit had been the harassment, he would have had my full support. But the primary motivation seemed to be “you’re all stupid, I won’t keep doing this for you idiots” and in that case, no, I don’t agree)
In conclusion, by following these steps you should be able to keep using the updater until the next update breaks it, and hopefully a replacement will show up in the meantime who doesn’t want to steal our data.