Well Valve have got one thing right, that's for sure.

Post by **Foo** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:22 pm

Steam.

Yeah, Steam. Most vocal are the haters, but I just fired up a random mod linked in tnf's thread and... damn. Steam is the fucking bomb.

Think about it. Having a central launch pad for all your games, which updates them as necessary without your involvement.

Yeah, alright, everything beyond that is gravy, and some of it is quite irritating gravy. Having to decrypt game files is bullshit (although you can back them up), as is firing it up for the first time in months and finding you've got a couple of hundred megs to download before you can play (although the update process can be turned off individually per game, and halted mid-update if needed).

My biggest gripe is not having non-valve games on there, although that's quite obviously never going to change. Having an independant Steam clone would be awesome, but unlikely

Post by **booker** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:26 pm

http://www.vapour-online.com/

Post by **Foo** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:27 pm

Sweet zombie jesus

Post by **Don Carlos** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:28 pm

a cunning name there...

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:31 pm

i dident like steam at first eather, but after a little bit of using it... it is rather handy..

cheats get adressed quickly, no need for install's anymore. etc etcc

also, if you dont like it decryping the game files anymore, go into the properties of the game, and select it to be backed up.. burn the back up to a DVD-R...

after you want to reinstall, download and install steam, and re-instate the backup.

p00m, a little update and you are off to the races

Post by **BlueGene** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:40 pm

Here is a good source for HL2 mods, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life_2_mods

Post by **Grudge** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:43 pm

Steam-like products are the future of computer game distribution. You will probably no longer be able to buy retail game boxes in stores in 5 years, at least not PC games.

Post by **Foo** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:47 pm

Grudge wrote:Steam-like products are the future of computer game distribution. You will probably no longer be able to buy retail game boxes in stores in 5 years, at least not PC games.

I'm not really interested in Steam as a distribution method (that's just one small part of what the app does), but for the record I think you're wrong.

Is iTunes the future of music sales? Of course not, it's just a new option. Digital content delivery wont replace tangible sales anytime soon, if at all. There is demand for games you can put on your shelf.

Post by **Scourge** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:49 pm

Just did a complete reinstall of HL2 last night. After the install I was up and running in about 10 minutes. That's including decrypting and updating. Steam has been good to me so far.

Post by **eepberries** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:15 pm

Yeah buying and recieving games electronically is bullshit. I like steam, but I'd never buy a game through it.

Post by **Scourge** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:20 pm

I'd rather have an original copy myself. I bought my HL2 at a retail store.

Post by **neh** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:22 pm

theres lots of none valve games -

Post by **mjrpes** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:29 pm

Does steam let you redownload the game if your harddrive gets borked and you don't have a backup?

Besides the DRM issues, that's the one thing I disklike about itunes... you should be able to redownload your music if your harddrive gets borked and you don't have a backup.

Post by **dzjepp** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:45 pm

Of course they let you re-download for any reason. You payed for the key, and the license granted to use the software allows you to re-download as long as you want.

Post by **dzjepp** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:46 pm

And yeah, there are a lot more games popping up on Steam now that are non-valve. They are getting more deals through at putting developers on there. Which is a good thing, look at the winners of make something unreal contest (red orchestra). They will save a lot of hurdles and cash by going with Steam instead of brick-n-mortar.

Post by **mjrpes** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:49 pm

Online distribution is already becoming a successful model for selling older games. What could be better than downloading a fully playable trial of a game (not a demo), liking it, then pressing a button to pay and get full access to it?

That's what websites like http://www.trygames.com are doing.

I bought the game Patrician II in just such a way.

There is a downside to sites like http://www.trygames.com. You only get three chances to reinstall the game before you have to pay extra.

Post by **R00k** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:49 pm

Foo wrote:
Grudge wrote:Steam-like products are the future of computer game distribution. You will probably no longer be able to buy retail game boxes in stores in 5 years, at least not PC games.
I'm not really interested in Steam as a distribution method (that's just one small part of what the app does), but for the record I think you're wrong.

Is iTunes the future of music sales? Of course not, it's just a new option. Digital content delivery wont replace tangible sales anytime soon, if at all. There is demand for games you can put on your shelf.

I have to agree. I'm a technically savvy person by any estimation, but I don't trust digital products nearly as much as hard copies. By that I mean I don't feel I can rely on the manufacturer/retailer to compensate for loss of data. If I have a physical copy of something, loss of data isn't an issue, but when buying soft copies of products that isn't the case. I would much rather have a physical disk I can lay my hands on when I need it.

And if I feel that way, you can be sure the computer lay-people are a long way from accepting this kind of method.

Post by **dzjepp** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:51 pm

Yeah well, call me stingy but I would prefer these digital copies to be at least a little bit cheaper. Like if I buy fear from that site it'd be nice to get it for 10$ bucks less but meh. On one hand you don't get the extra hard copy and manuals/box, on the other you save the 5$ in gas by not going to the store.

Post by **Canis** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:51 pm

Foo wrote:Sweet zombie jesus

Post by **R00k** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:52 pm

dzjepp wrote:And yeah, there are a lot more games popping up on Steam now that are non-valve. They are getting more deals through at putting developers on there. Which is a good thing, look at the winners of make something unreal contest (red orchestra). They will save a lot of hurdles and cash by going with Steam instead of brick-n-mortar.

I hadn't thought of it that way. Enabling start-up developers to sell their games without the expensive distribution process would probably mean a lot more independent, small game studios, and a lo more variety for consumers. More competition is always a good thing.

Post by **R00k** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:54 pm

dzjepp wrote:Yeah well, call me stingy but I would prefer these digital copies to be at least a little bit cheaper. Like if I buy fear from that site it'd be nice to get it for 10$ bucks less but meh. On one hand you don't get the extra hard copy and manuals/box, on the other you save the 5$ in gas by not going to the store.

Yea, I would be a lot more likely to buy online if I could save 20 bucks off the price of a store-bought copy. But if it's only a 5-10 dollar difference, it's worth it to me to have the CD and manual.

Post by **S@M** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:58 pm

Uts not competition for steam tho...

Post by **dzjepp** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:58 pm

Ok this Vapour thing is seriously sweet. They need to have more extensive config options and allow users to add their own mods manually though. All it picked up for me under q3 was osp. But damn it's pretty cool.

Post by **mjrpes** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:06 pm

dzjepp wrote:Yeah well, call me stingy but I would prefer these digital copies to be at least a little bit cheaper. Like if I buy fear from that site it'd be nice to get it for 10$ bucks less but meh. On one hand you don't get the extra hard copy and manuals/box, on the other you save the 5$ in gas by not going to the store.

I also agree the the prices on some, maybe most, of the games are too high. Yet I bought the game Patrician II because I liked it so much $19.99 was well worth it to me.

I'm sure these guys are experts with pricing the games so that there is the right combination of demand and profit. Sort of like how the music industry found out they could sell CDs at a premium and demand would be there, even years after the cost of manufacturing fell to floor.

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:07 pm

we'll in a few days i am going to order DOD..

at stores around here its $50, off of steam its $35..

mmhmmm,

hopefully they keep it like that though, make the price higher in stores simply because of the manufactuing cost, rather then "we add'd this to your account, please download the install"

*glares at dial-up users*