Old Steam Poll posts split and 'archived'

[Chris0132]

Steam is kinda weird about download sizes yeah.

I generally just tell it to download it and play when it's done. It gets there eventually, just does it in somewhat odd timescales and sizes.

[frymaster]

Again, you will NOT need to download huge amount of data IF you get the Boxed DVD version. All it takes is a few bytes for activating the game. Dont make this an issue, its not.

MFG

Ketraar

for the (small, but non-zero) people with extremely limited internet access, this is an issue if they install the game some time after launch. The act of activating the game will trigger any update that might be pending. This will leave the game unusable until the update is complete.

This is a problem for them, because their previous approach to patches would have been to ignore them, get a friend to download them, or simply download them slowly over a long period of time. That approach doesn't work with steam, because once you start updating a game, it's unusable until the update is downloaded.

@apricotslice: you at least seem to have a decent download speed, so that issue doesn't apply. As regards wanting to play the game offline, be assured that steam does work perfectly well in offline mode. The only caveat is that once you put it online and tell it to download an update for X Rebirth, you're committed to completing the update before the game is playable again.

That being said, if disabling your internet is causing any kind of noticable effect on the capabilities of your system, and your system is at least, say, Pentium-4 or equivalent, you have serious OS and/or software issues.

[Le Baron]

Updates?
Thought I have read they will be distributed via Steam only as well?

You got updates other than online? Guess that answers the question.

MFG

Ketraar

Yes I do. Not me personally, but as we have discussed in german forums there other possibilities to get your patches (a friend can download for you). But your friend can not download your steam patches for you, unless you bring your PC to him just for "Updates".

And besides this you have confirmed, that your previous answer to his question is partly wrong and more important again irritating!

errrh, just saw, that frymaster has replied the same way.

[Chris0132]

Again, you will NOT need to download huge amount of data IF you get the Boxed DVD version. All it takes is a few bytes for activating the game. Dont make this an issue, its not.

MFG

Ketraar

for the (small, but non-zero) people with extremely limited internet access, this is an issue if they install the game some time after launch. The act of activating the game will trigger any update that might be pending. This will leave the game unusable until the update is complete.

This is a problem for them, because their previous approach to patches would have been to ignore them, get a friend to download them, or simply download them slowly over a long period of time. That approach doesn't work with steam, because once you start updating a game, it's unusable until the update is downloaded.

@apricotslice: you at least seem to have a decent download speed, so that issue doesn't apply. As regards wanting to play the game offline, be assured that steam does work perfectly well in offline mode. The only caveat is that once you put it online and tell it to download an update for X Rebirth, you're committed to completing the update before the game is playable again.

That being said, if disabling your internet is causing any kind of noticable effect on the capabilities of your system, and your system is at least, say, Pentium-4 or equivalent, you have serious OS and/or software issues.

If you can get a friend to download them, you should actually be able to put them on your computer even with steam.

It's a bit long winded, but if you get your friend to install steam, log in with your account and install/update X:R on their computer, using your install disk if needs be, they will have a fully functional local copy of X:R, under your account name of course.

Then, use steam's backup feature to create an up-to-date installer, take that home, and use it to install X:R on your PC.

If you use your install disc to put it on their computer, they only have to download the patch, so they won't need to spend too much bandwidth or time on it, and your updated backup will always be at that version, it effectively replaces your original install CD because steam doesn't use CDs for anything other than data-storage. Authentication is done through your account. Backup discs are not account-linked and even if they were, it was created with your account anyway. They're virtually identical to the thing you buy from the store, except they don't include a CD key like the store-bought case will.

At this point you should be able to put steam in offline mode and play X as much as you like.

A bit fiddly, but steam is an online distribution platform, it isn't really supposed to support people without the internet.

[Le Baron]

Oh that's easy That's as customerfriendly as it could be in an ideal world.

and yes in a kind of way that's what we are talking about! This is nearly as useful as telling everybody, who doesn't want to use steam for certain issues to buy a second PC only for X Rebirth.
So in your case his friend has to use steam as well, even though he may not want to use it or he has to look for other friends maybe? Yeah: New marketing: If you don't have enough internet access buy a game with Steam and a friend with enough internet access at a discount

We know steam is a online platform, so no need to talk about something, which is obvious! The point is he not, that he want to use steam in any way. The point is he can't really use it.

[Chris0132]

Oh that's easy That's as customerfriendly as it could be in an ideal world.

and yes in a kind of way that's what we are talking about! This is nearly as useful as telling everybody, who doesn't want to use steam to buy a second PC only for X Rebirth.

?

Not sure what you're saying, I'm suggesting it as a workaround, if you don't want to use it that's fine, like I said steam isn't exactly designed to do that, but you could make it do it if you wanted to. Backups are really intended for if you have a big library of games and need to reformat or something. That's what I use them for. But there's nothing stopping you using them like that.

It's also easier than it sounds, all you do is install the game, let it update, hit the backup button, and then install the backup at home. That's a little bit easier than buying a second PC if you already have a friend who can download things for you. You're doing the same thing as always, it's just a bit fiddlier.

[Scoob]

Very interesting post there Chris0132.

I think I might try exactly that, but using one of the demos I've downloaded and trying to back it up and install on my gamer - my gamer being (for the purposes of this test) TOTALLY isolated from the internet.

This might make it possible for people to download XR on a machine that maybe cannot really play it, or won't play it if it's a friends, then install a backup made of said install onto a gamer or offline PC.

I really didn't expect that to be possible, though I will attempt to try it.

I will try to do it myself, and document it, but I might get it wrong lol.

Cheers,

Scoob.

[Chris0132]

Very interesting post there Chris0132.

I think I might try exactly that, but using one of the demos I've downloaded and trying to back it up and install on my gamer - my gamer being (for the purposes of this test) TOTALLY isolated from the internet.

This might make it possible for people to download XR on a machine that maybe cannot really play it, or won't play it if it's a friends, then install a backup made of said install onto a gamer or offline PC.

I really didn't expect that to be possible, though I will attempt to try it.

I will try to do it myself, and document it, but I might get it wrong lol.

Cheers,

Scoob.

Please do, I'd love to know if it works, I see no reason why it wouldn't but if you want to test it that'd be great. And potentially useful for anyone who could find use for it.

You might need to connect to the internet to get it running of course, as I think the backups actually come encrypted like they do from the store, but you shouldn't need to download very much if anything. After all as far as steam knows, you just changed computers and want to restore your backups, which is exactly what they're for. You get most if not all of the data in the backup. Saved me a lot of downloading last time I reformatted.

[Le Baron]

Dear Chris

Sorry if I misunderstood it in one way. I understood it as an honest argument to buy XR with Steam, not really as a "real" workaround for everybody who likes to buy XR, but has no (sufficient) internet connection. If it works, for sure it may be an option for some, but even if the internet connection would be the only problem for me (which it isn't), I wouldn't invest so many efforts to play the game if I was used before to just buy it, install it and have fun. Just my opinion.

[Ketraar]

Demanding that every Service works perfectly for everyone is just plain naive. There will always be those who have very unique issues. Now if you are not willing to accept your own limitations, that's your problem IMO. You cant seriously expect that Company makes a product tailored to you, not going to happen.

Its like saying, don't make new shiny games cause I don't want to upgrade my aged rig. Seriously? This is called evolution, and its not even always for the best.

@Scoob
You might need to log in to steam for the backup to work the first time. Also SteamGuard is likely to ask you to authenticate your new PC the first time you use it there. (you get an email with a security code)

MFG

Ketraar

[Chris0132]

Hmm, I might do it, if only because I kinda like X3 and definitely like the look of X:R, plus I also know how to do it and it's pretty easy, but if you don't feel like it that's fine. It is a lot more fiddly than steam is supposed to be. Half the reason I use it is because I can log into it, check the store, see a game I like, buy it with paypal, and be playing it half a day later without leaving my chair. For me it's significantly easier than going to the game store which is in town and may or may not even carry the game I want, and might charge more for it if they do, but then I have a good internet connection.

For me, steam is easier, cheaper, and less hassle than finding the CD every time I want to play, or the manual every time I want to install, or the website every time I want to update. If you strip those out though it's basically just as annoying as the stupid blizzard battlenet thing, or the ubisoft thing, or EA origin, or any of the other dumb systems I have to run on top of steam for the occasional game or two.

[VincentTH]

Updates?
Thought I have read they will be distributed via Steam only as well?

You got updates other than online? Guess that answers the question.

MFG

Ketraar

In the past I get my updates at work on a USB flash drive, then bring it home to update my standalone X3TC.
That does not work any more with XR since Steam does not work with HTTP/HTTPS

[Scoob]

Hi,

Yep, let's see what it takes to do as Chris suggests. Even if I have to re-authenticate, that could still be quite the bandwidth saving for someone.

I.e. Install game (with steam of course) on separate laptop say while at a friends. Ensure all is updated an back it up. You could back up to the laptop or to an external drive. Then install the backup on your gamer, log on and use minimal bandwidth to authenticate.

I don't know (yet) if the backup > restore process automatically installs the steam client too, so I'm going to try this on a virgin PC and document the steps.

Scoob.

[VincentTH]

Hi,

Yep, let's see what it takes to do as Chris suggests. Even if I have to re-authenticate, that could still be quite the bandwidth saving for someone.

I.e. Install game (with steam of course) on separate laptop say while at a friends. Ensure all is updated an back it up. You could back up to the laptop or to an external drive. Then install the backup on your gamer, log on and use minimal bandwidth to authenticate.

I don't know (yet) if the backup > restore process automatically installs the steam client too, so I'm going to try this on a virgin PC and document the steps.

Scoob.

Been there done that. You will be required to authenticate and enter a security code sent to your Steam registered email account. Steam will also download the newest patch and update your XR executable

[Chris0132]

Yeah steam recently introduced steamguard so you can't log into steam on a new computer without email authentication.

As I recall it was optional, but I opted in because hey, more security for my account is appreciated.

[Scoob]

Just trying it now.

Sadly, the restore process doesn't install a copy of the Steam Client, I've been prompted to do that separately.

So, my gamer cannot be solely offline, which was expected, and it must first download the steam client - not sure how large that is.

Once that's done there's the authentication stuff as mentioned...not seen that bit first hand yet.

Can anyone tell me...if I have steam on more than one PC can I access my games on more than one PC? I mean, I'm testing on my Gateway PC, but the moment I move the Magicka demo (that I'm testing) to my Gamer, will it be unavailable on the Gateway? What about the "Orcs Must Die" demo that's currently only on my Gateway? Will that get disabled once my Steam account is enabled on another PC? Guess my testing will tell.

Cheers,

Scoob.

[Chris0132]

Just trying it now.

Sadly, the restore process doesn't install a copy of the Steam Client, I've been prompted to do that separately.

So, my gamer cannot be solely offline, which was expected, and it must first download the steam client - not sure how large that is.

Once that's done there's the authentication stuff as mentioned...not seen that bit first hand yet.

Can anyone tell me...if I have steam on more than one PC can I access my games on more than one PC? I mean, I'm testing on my Gateway PC, but the moment I move the Magicka demo (that I'm testing) to my Gamer, will it be unavailable on the Gateway? What about the "Orcs Must Die" demo that's currently only on my Gateway? Will that get disabled once my Steam account is enabled on another PC? Guess my testing will tell.

Cheers,

Scoob.

You can download the steam client offsite as well if you want to, I was kind of working off the assumption you already had steam installed, I think it comes on the disk if you buy from a store, but either way it isn't particularly large.

You can install steam and your games on as many PCs as you want, but you can only log into one at a time. If you try to log into both at once, either the second one won't log in, or you'll get logged out of the first one. Basically don't try it, steam doesn't like it.

[Mightysword]

Demanding that every Service works perfectly for everyone is just plain naive. There will always be those who have very unique issues. Now if you are not willing to accept your own limitations, that's your problem IMO. You cant seriously expect that Company makes a product tailored to you, not going to happen.

Exactly, this is why earlier I said the people who are making extreme case is just shooting themselves in the foot. You think you are providing good reason for others to care about you? In actuallity the more extreme way you provide your arugment, the more you prove yours is an isolate case that can be generally ignored in favor of the mass. So people who have been typing in cap and use the phrase "i don't care", I hope you get your cue

[Scoob]

Steam is small, 1.5mb, but it's doing an update now of an anonymous size...doesn't seem too large though judging by the time it's taking. Still, a fair bit larger than 1.5mb that's for sure!

Scoob.

P.S. Gonna likely keep posting snippets as I go through the process.

[Chris0132]

Hmm it might actually be downloading the actual client through a 1.5mb installer. Been a long time since I had to install steam. If so you might actually be a little hard pressed to get that data without downloading it on your main PC.