I hate steam...

DareDevil_747 · Mar 5, 2006

I just bought Half Life 2, game of the year edition, to complement my new pc, and this really dissapoints me. I am unluckily still on dial-up, and I let that fricken steam crap download god-knows-what for over 5 hours last night, finally cancelled it, and still get an error message when I try to play HL2. What in the heck is steam, and why do I need it? If valve wanted us to have to have more software than the game comes with, THEY should friggen include it! I understand needing to be online to verify your cd key, I got through that, but thats when it started downloading the longest fricken files ever. Someone please help! :bang head

gt24 · Mar 5, 2006

I am pretty certain that Half Life 2 NEEDS broadband even if you plan on playing it single player and offline. The Steam software not only checks your CD key and alike but also forces you to install patches (correct me if I am wrong...). After you go through that massive ordeal the first time you connect I believe you can download additional files to allow for faster offline play (IE, the server connect is shorter). It isn't that you don't have all the files that you need on the CDs, it is just that you have to install whatever extra files Valve feels that you need as well as go through whatever piracy checks that they deem appropriate.

Also, you cannot get around the online connect requirement. Thus why the game absolutely needs broadband even if you are playing the single player campaign.

Half Life 2 was a game that I decided not to get due to my feelings for Steam, by the way.

<edit> If you can literally take your computer to a location with broadband then it might resolve your first connect issues... I know it isn't possible for most people but for some it is... </edit>

DareDevil_747 · Mar 5, 2006

I'm just going to sell this game, dont know anyone with highspeed... I'll never buy another game thats affiliated in any way with Steam/Valve!! Thanx for the help!

Amarkarian · Mar 5, 2006

yeah i hate steam 2, it is riduculous and all the piracy measures that its ispposed to fix people break anyway and play on cracked servers.

cornbread · Mar 5, 2006

Sad reality is as long as people buy games like that they will continue to do this crap. I have no problem with a game company protecting their game, but Steam is a bit to much, especially when it makes a game unplayable for a lot of people.

Its the same with Midway talking about selling ad space in their games, if this happens I will no longer buy anything with the Midway name on it. I don't buy games to look at ads, I buy them to play and get AWAY from ads.

shard · Mar 5, 2006

All this was done in the name of anti piracy, and I think it was a good idea, but in practice not done all that well, what they should have done is let you opt out of the patches, and only need the online verification of CDkey.

cornbread · Mar 5, 2006

shard said:
All this was done in the name of anti piracy, and I think it was a good idea, but in practice not done all that well, what they should have done is let you opt out of the patches, and only need the online verification of CDkey.

Good idea. Something like the activation Windows uses would be fine with me, BUT I think game companies should also market that on their box in bold text so people know its there, not some little footer text that can't be read.

shard · Mar 5, 2006

cornbread said:
Good idea. Something like the activation Windows uses would be fine with me, BUT I think game companies should also market that on their box in bold text so people know its there, not some little footer text that can't be read.

Yeah, do what games like EQ2 and WoW do on their boxes "THIS GAME REQUIRES AN INTERNET CONNECTION"

gt24 · Mar 5, 2006

I don't think this game can be sold... certainly can't be if the key was in any was associated with you (as in, email address, user name, credit card numbers, and alike). That was another drawback of this system.

Karbon · Mar 5, 2006

Just to get the facts straight...you dont need to install every patch. You can simply set it to "Do not automatically update this game". You only need steam to verify your CD key and download the files for HL2. As far as downloading the HL2 files, you could ask a friend with the game to put the .gcf files on a CD and give them to you. As the .gcf files are a few hundred mB each, I'd imagine having those already on your computer would drastically reduce the download time.

Personally, I think it is a great system for game distribution. If you are on dial-up and for some reason can't play the games, then either don't play the game or find another way to get the files

aniwarp86 · Mar 6, 2006

Well, hopefully you will remember to check the system requirements next time.

Janus67 · Mar 6, 2006

Karbon said:
Just to get the facts straight...you dont need to install every patch. You can simply set it to "Do not automatically update this game". You only need steam to verify your CD key and download the files for HL2. As far as downloading the HL2 files, you could ask a friend with the game to put the .gcf files on a CD and give them to you. As the .gcf files are a few hundred mB each, I'd imagine having those already on your computer would drastically reduce the download time.

Personally, I think it is a great system for game distribution. If you are on dial-up and for some reason can't play the games, then either don't play the game or find another way to get the files

agreed.

I won't say that I love Steam, but I do prefer it over the old way of patching/waiting in line at fileplanet to get the patches for the games I play online. They slipstreamed a lot of work into the little program and I found it to be a great idea. I also have broadband and have had it for years so I am not bothered by waiting 20mins to download a few hundreds megs worth of data.

As others have said I would try to find someone that can put the necessary files on a cd for you, copy/paste and you are good to go. That or just say you don't want to keep the game updated. I know that it wasn't perfect, but very few things are. And this is why some magazines/reviewers gave HL2 a very low score... not because of the game, but because of the distribution process (a bit unfair imho, but to each their own).

nickyhoward55 · Mar 6, 2006

i really like steam. it patches very quickly (for me) and its never let me down. i can run all the hl2 based mods from it and ive bought a couple of games off them. its alot easire if u have broadband, ive also found that when i reinstalled windows and then steam it still had all my saved games files from hl2 sp (was on a new HD....) that was cool.

true that they could have made a version of the game that just runs from u pc without an internet connection, i also read somewhere that u can mod the files somehow to run on a pc with installing it with a connection. but that was when it first cam out....something to look into maybe.

i really wouldnt sell it, such a great game.

AZNBoiOnFIYA · Mar 6, 2006

i havent had any problems running hl2 even when i dont have it connected to the internet. you shouldnt need certain things to play it as long as you have the retain cd's. i think i updated 1/2 a year ago and im still able to play it offline.

Fireside85281 · Mar 6, 2006

I agree with Janus67. This way of patching certainly is much easier and faster than finding patches off some other hosting site. Steam has some really great download speeds for me too. I especially liked when I wanted to install HL2 on a system, yet strangely I could only find my case, and not the dvd. So I downloaded steam, put in my cd key, and downloaded HL2, Aftermath, and Source in under 4 hours(obviously, I'm on broadband).

And I'm still not going to complain because this doesn't offer near as many problems as Star Force. And lastly, I can't help but feel like most people complaining about anti-piracy software, ARE pirates themselves :shrug:

It only makes sense. Eh, not specifically anyone here, but when it first came out, there were alot of disgusted pirates disguised as customers.

asusradeon · Mar 6, 2006

i think steam makes it easy for novice users to download and install patches, but they should be optional for single player....

Wiggles · Mar 6, 2006

It hasn't bothered me at all, but that's because I'm on broadband, and all of the updates after installing went very quick.

But I can definitely feel for the dial-up guys.

Karbon · Mar 6, 2006

asusradeon said:
i think steam makes it easy for novice users to download and install patches, but they should be optional for single player....

I don't know why everyone thinks you have to install patches for single player.

gt24 · Mar 7, 2006

Karbon said:
I don't know why everyone thinks you have to install patches for single player.

Heh, I remember how Halo for the PC had some neat cheating software for single player. This software came out after a few patches came out for Halo and only would work on the unpatched version of Halo. It essentially FROZE the gaming universe except you so that you can fire missles, throw grenades, and pretty much do anything you want gathering up a huge potential of explosive power. Unpause and you can fly across the whole map (dead, that is). It didn't cause online play issues because it didn't work on patched versions and it allowed the single player user to enjoy a pretty nifty trick that made gameplay a bit more interesting for a while longer.

So, yeah, patches for single player isn't hugely important. Besides, patches usually fix bugs and if you don't run into any, why worry? (knock on wood) Just keep your eyes peeled for those lovely patches that add features to games and/or fix vital bugs...

redrumy3 · Mar 7, 2006

Karbon said:
I don't know why everyone thinks you have to install patches for single player.

maybe cause patches fix bugs..

i have no problems with steam, im on roadrunner so maybe thats why it patches very quick for me.

I hate steam...

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