Newbie asks: Could somebody tell me about Steam?

"Steve" <stevered.TakeThisOut@acadia.net> wrote in message
news:129gpgnefe0fdfd@corp.supernews.com...
>
> Well, I guess I can deal with that. It does not say I "must have an Internet
> connection"on the box. I bought it at Walmart. The box is just big enough to
> hold the CD's.

Check the small print, though it was never very clear, at least not on the UK
edition. The Game of the Year edition made it somewhat clearer.


> I only have a dial-up connection. Do you think that the sloww connection will
> affect game play?

It won't affect gameplay, as the single-player game is played offline, but
unfortunately it will seriously affect the validation/unlocking of the game when
you initially install it. Don't start unless you have a lot of time available
that evening. You must be online for the installation. I was on a dial-up when
I first installed it, and I had to do it over two consecutive nights.
Fortunately it remembers where you got up to last time. You will be asked to
create an "account", but no more money need change hands as long as you have a
valid "CD key" code number. This should have been supplied with the game (in
fact, it is essentially what you paid for, as everything else can be
downloaded).

Once you have installed and validated the game, you can launch Steam without
being online (Steam must be launched before you launch HL2). It will then offer
you a "Start offline" option. Occasionally, however, you may find that it
insists you go online. This can be a pain, as it may well download further
updates, sometimes quite sizeable, before it lets you play. Once it has "seen"
that there are updates available, it will insist that you download them before
you can play ever again. Therefore, play offline whenever you can! During
updates, select the "don't update" option for any game on Steam that you have no
intention of ever playing, otherwise you'll be there forever.

HL2 as a game is probably worth the PITA delivery system... just.

--
Paul
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie asks: Could somebody tell me about Steam? 

"Shawk" <shawk RemoveThis @clara.co.uk.3guesses> wrote in message
news:1150839535.25791.0@proxy00.news.clara.net...
>
> I think Steam is great but I have BB. If I had dial-up the mandatory patches
> would be a real put off.

It was. At least I did it before there were patches, but I had to do it twice
as the first time it gave me a royally screwed-up game.

Would the initial unlock now include mandatory downloads of CS Source and HL2DM,
as well as all pure HL2 patches?

--
Paul
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie asks: Could somebody tell me about Steam?